Manchester United Banter

13 Sep 2026 22:22:09
It's impossible to understand the rules of this game anymore.

13 Sep 2026 22:57:40
Ridiculous decision, but so was the one in 2023 when Bruno scored in the same fixture.

Also, 75 minutes against 10 men. I'm worried so much of the post-match reaction is focused on the decision for their goal.

13 Sep 2026 23:40:57
That decision aside, it was mind boggling.

1. Take off the tinted glasses, and Bruno was perhaps lucky to be on the park. Silly of Foden to react.

2. We had our first shot on target against 10 men at 70 minutes.

3. We bring on Sesko (too late), and don't give him any service.

4. We are far, far too slow playing it through the midfield, and City had two well disciplined banks of four set up before we were in position to even think about creating any chances.

We never really looked like scoring, and another concerning stat is the goals on target to attempts ratio. The stat that counts is goals for versus goals against. Possession, the ridiculous Xg, touches in the opposition box, et al, mean zip if the ball is not in the net. To be in the net, it needs to be on target. It seems we have nobody that can put it in the net with the minimal number of chances. Haaland had one clear chance and put it in the bag.

Shocking watch.

13 Sep 2026 23:46:13
Yep. Ridiculous. But we have had many that have gone our way. The more worrying aspect is that we were in a position where it mattered.

Against 10 men, we did not open them up at all. Look at the City defence. By the time we had moved the ball past half way, they had a double four player bank defending. Too slow and pedestrian, and, decision aside, probably deserved to lose.

14 Sep 2026 00:08:02
Hit the post twice and Mbeumo maybe might have equalized at the death, but you always felt that no one would take the bull by the horns and actually put it in the goal.

The game reminded me of the one against Everton last season when we were a man up from the 13th minute and lost. We are a team that cannot score against a low block. Too slow, too tight, too predictable, and, ultimately, too many mistakes. Their goal came from a failure to address a bouncing ball, a loss of possession in a dangerous position, and that's all it took.

Dalot was awful. Dorgu is not really a left back, and has yet to show any of the ability he was starting to show last season. Mainoo had some very good moments, but also tired badly at the end, and started making errors. Rashford had some good moments, looked enthusiastic, and gave it his all, but the reality is that we're not getting enough from too many players. Cunha was poor. Bruno created nothing against top quality midfielders. The fact that he wasn't taken off with maybe 1/2 an hour to play in midweek was criminally poor management.

I thought Bruno deserved at least a card for kicking Foden. And I don't see how the offside player wasn't interfering with play when he tries to head the ball in front of Martinez.

That game put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

We're still so far behind the top two teams, it's depressing, and if this continues, and we fail to stay in the Champions League places, there's no way we'll ever have the money to get back to the top.

13 Sep 2026 19:21:23
After being in hospital a few weeks back I’ve learned not to get too wound up about football anymore, I’m not angry about today, just disappointed and tbh I want surprised. Seems like Ole 2.0 is under way and the deficiencies of the squad are being exposed. Honestly I’m just tired of the repeating cycle that the club is in and sadly it won’t change unless the decision makers do.

We had a chance to kick on but don’t look like we will do that, instead be right back where we started, with Carrick another sacrificial lamb to appease the masses. I see Ratcliffe the rat and Berrada all there today… sadly they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

13 Sep 2026 19:54:14
Hope you're okay now, Tim.

13 Sep 2026 20:38:54
I'm grand, thanks. Have a few tests and scans coming up, so hopefully those are all clear. 👍

13 Sep 2026 22:33:27
Wish you a speedy recovery.

13 Sep 2026 18:58:44
I've had enough of watching this walking pace football. Watching the two centre backs and goalkeeper hold onto the ball for what seems like an eternity. And when they finally do decide they should probably pass it, they pass it to the other centre back and we start all over again.

Also getting sick of Carrick. He is so out of his depth it would be funny if you're not a United fan.

Don't get me wrong, the board and recruitment team haven't helped him much. Leaving him with that back 4 for the season should see the recruitment team and board sacked.

However, when you see a teams like Hull, Brighton or Brentford with lesser players doing a better job, it's shows it's not always about having big names on the team sheet. If you have a good manager you can get average players performing well. And that's where United fail, they have same bang average players, but sadly the head coach is below average.

13 Sep 2026 19:57:40
Fallguy, it was a terrible watch. Very little sense of urgency. Some of the worst full-back play I've ever seen. No composure after they scored. Really strange substitution, imo, that totally backfired: Tielemans for Sesko. No zip in our play, no confidence to take a man on. All too slow and safe.
Dorgu was shocking and Dalot the same.

Maguire falling for their gamesmanship was silly.
I can't understand how the goal was allowed, but you could argue we got what we deserved from the game. Terrible decision; it should not even need 10 seconds to decide. Enzo made a play for the ball that prevented Martinez from playing it.
A very poor show altogether.

13 Sep 2026 20:32:25
Appointing Carrick was a huge mistake, which a lot of people predicted at the time. You either need experience to coach at this level, or be an up and coming genius. Carrick is neither.

He's a manager that failed at Middlesbrough and walked into the United job.

Nice work if you can get it!

Someone said it above, it's got Eddie Howe in by Xmas written all over it. He's better than Carrick, but still not the right person.

13 Sep 2026 22:56:41
I'd struggle to argue we got what we deserved from the game. You don't deserve to lose a football match in which you don't concede a legitimate goal in my opinion.

13 Sep 2026 23:43:07
Agree, GDS, but those decisions come and go. You can only play what is in front of you. Against 10 men, we should not have been in a position where it mattered.

13 Sep 2026 18:34:49
Absolute joke, 1000% reminiscent of Ole, outplayed and outclassed, some of the worst fullbacks you could possibly have, and the fat ones injured again, can't make it up.

Can't believe that dinner lady on the lw was given another chance after Villa and Barcelona passed up the chance, having Cunha and Sesko accommodate him is mental! Inevitably sacked soon, rinse and repeat, get this yes man failed Boro manager out!

Really good protest before the game too, and then went in, unbelievable, the vermin will never sell up with a full stadium every week.

13 Sep 2026 18:48:21
So many here just focused on results at the expense of every other metric. I, and others, argued that the underlying trends clearly suggested we weren't improving at all, and in fact had regressed in multiple aspects. But all that was rubbished because "results are all that matters".

Well, here I am to say that we should not judge Carrick so early. Last year, I felt that as our forwards settled, the clear trends we saw early on would translate into results.

Now we have a new midfield, and we need to learn patterns. And, more importantly, several of our front players - Mbeumo, Cunha - primarily have gotten off to slow starts. I think Carrick has made multiple errors already, but I also think everyone is entitled to errors; the issue is if they don't learn from them.

As it is, two clubs are already well ahead, and a couple of wins and things will look a lot better.

13 Sep 2026 18:54:29
Embarrassing performance.

13 Sep 2026 19:06:24
We could have played all week and not scored today. Tactics were a joke.

It's not Jay and a team we're piecing together. But that was poor.

13 Sep 2026 22:58:25
We did hit the post twice, and their keeper made a world class save in the last minute. This narrative that we didn't create anything or could have played all night is a bit mad. Their goal wasn't a goal.

13 Sep 2026 15:14:01
On Sunday, there will be no flag display on The Stretford End. In its place, a single banner will hang above the players' tunnel with a clear message to the owners, directors and decision-making staff at Manchester United:
"THE WAY YOU TREAT US IS A DISGRACE"

13 Sep 2026 16:15:44
I agree with some of it but this lumps in a crackdown on some people touting their season tickets and getting theirs revoked. Quite frankly, I don't have any sympathy for them and wish all clubs clamped down on it.

13 Sep 2026 18:31:03
Never seen anyone on this site ever back the owners like you, DonRed.

13 Sep 2026 18:49:06
What the hell are you on about, Scholes? I detest them.

13 Sep 2026 18:53:36
Point out when I have ever backed the owners. I've pointed out when complaints about them weren't valid but they have saddled the club with debt and mismanaged a successful club into almost defaulting on debt.

They put Ed Woodward on us. That alone has my ire. But I won't say we haven't spent a lot on transfer fees and I won't support ticket touts just to have a dig.

13 Sep 2026 20:04:06
Don, I feel your pain. 🤣