15 Sep 2025 01:46:30
I recall 1989 very well, a thrashing by City 5.1 and the mood was very dark indeed. SAF was in big trouble yet the owners stood by him. I was told at the time they saw what he was doing behind the scenes.
Forward to present day and yesterday's loss. I like what RA is saying, he has seen the issues and has made the right decisions on some of the problem players. He talks the talk.
Then I look at the results. It just isn't good enough. Zero scored after spending £200m on a new attack, drifting in the league and out of one of only two competitions we could win and that against Grimsby. This is not all on RA. Why did they wait until far too late to buy a GK so we have to put up with Altir too far into a season. Then RA played Onana in the cup, when it clearly appeared he wasn't trying, his efforts for penalties atrocious. Midfield is a shambles, a disjointed mess that has lacked proper investment for so many years. GK and CM are down to the owners.
Sorry but again I must repeat, we should have sold Bruno for £100m, even if it meant pushing him, whoever decided to keep him is deluded. If that was RA insistence then it should be a demerit against him. It should have been decisive and seen the arrival of one or more appropriately two young strong CM. Before yesterday's game I felt a Ugarte Bruno CM was very worrying, Bruno losing his man again was not a surprise to anyone except it seems RA.
I remain behind RA, but. It is clear Bruno is not a CM, good looking forward but terrible tracking runners, lost the Fulham run that cost two points. Yet RA keeps playing him there. Shaw, the question is why? Heaven looks a player, there are options, yet he goes for Shaw.
SAF survived 1989 and the 5.1 but am not sure the present regime will be so patient. It is clear this cannot go on. I don't think this is just a system issue but more the wrong players in the places like Shaw and Bruno, with a totally inadequate midfield and that is on the board. Still RA is now, I believe, on rocky ground whether we or I like it or not. Better selection is needed and sadly RA seems too enamoured with Bruno to see anything clearly. I sense RA needs to see improvement quickly. Chelsea is tough, but Bruno in CM against their CM. That may be RA's undoing.
15 Sep 2025 08:34:43
Luke Shaw was appealing yesterday. But he’s not a centre back I guess if and when he’s fit.
The Fergie comparisons are a bit of a red herring too I think. He’d had sustained league and incredible European success north of the border before he came here.
But in all honesty, I am genuinely at a loss as to what the best way forward is. Stick, twist, who knows?
15 Sep 2025 08:35:22
I also my have had a type in there. There is nothing appealing about Luke Shaw!
15 Sep 2025 09:22:37
Good post Red Man - I agree completely with Bruno. He should have been sold. Those funds given our financial position and what is needed for the squad were worth more than £100m. Again, do we point towards the owners and scream incompetence again?
My issue with Amorim, is it seems like all he does is talk the talk. I could get behind him as a coach if he was willing to break his stubbornness on his system. We can all see where the issues are, we know we are lacking in midfield and yet he continues to play a system where we know we are going to be dominated. We have signed two young talented PL proven players in Cunha and Mbuemo, and they look a shadow of themselves.
For me, its simple, if he can prove he can tactically adapt to suit the players we have, then I'll be happy to support him a bit longer. If he is unwilling to change his system, then I think we need to move on and look at someone who can get the best out of our players.
15 Sep 2025 11:05:49
Kurtis
I don’t think it is the system but the players used in the positions that means the system doesn’t function properly. Bruno is not a CM, by selecting him there it is causing a major problem.
15 Sep 2025 11:57:53
The fallacy of United fans comparing every manager to Fergie is a common one. I do agree managers need time, but they also need to buy themselves time by showing a glimmer of hope for the future.
Amorim has not done anything to show he has a future at the club. As you point out Red Man, Bruno might be the biggest issue at the club, but if he had of been sold and for instance Baleba came in, we'd still be all over the place.
Bruno still is our most effective player and he's been wasted in a 2 man midfield. Amad was one of our best players last year also and has been shoe horned as a full back at times. Shaw again being played out of his natural position.
We have a formation that isn't working with personel that don't fit it. We struggle to defend, we struggle to create and we struggle to score. Replacing the manager is always a sad day as a fan because it means we're not going in the right direction, but Amorim stating that he will not change his "philosophy" is telling every opposition manager how we'll set up in advance.
Chelsea next week will run through us in midfield and that's where the game will be lost. There is no tur ingredients this iteration of United around with Amorim at the wheel. The only games he's won have included a penalty for us, or a Red card for the opposition. His sharp tongue tell it like it is was refreshing at the start, now loss after loss he sounds disrespectful. Stating he will not change, maybe the club should change the manager is poor form.
Maybe it will click given time, but as I said before, Amorim hasn't shown a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I suspect because Wilcox and Barrada ran Ashworth out of the club to appoint Amorim, he'll get more time, but a loss to Chelsea and Brentford, we could see ourselves in the bottom 3, something that should be instantly addressed by sacking the manager.
15 Sep 2025 13:24:18
Up until yesterday, United were leading the attacking statistics in almost every area—except the one that truly matters: scoring goals. Yesterday, I felt that had we converted our chances, we could have earned a result. Mbueumo’s volley at 2-0 and Casemiro’s open goal were clear examples of opportunities missed.
I think people are focusing too much on the result rather than the performance. I understand that football is ultimately a results-driven business, but we aren’t as far off the mark as some would have you believe IMO. Performances aren’t as poor as we’ve been accustomed to; it’s often just fine margins and perspective.
Consider this: United scores a late penalty to beat Burnley, and pundits call the celebrations embarrassing. Liverpool scores a late penalty against ten-man Burnley, and it’s hailed as a mark of champions. Context matters.
I actually agree with Amorim: the issue seems psychological, ingrained in the club and players at present. The team needs is greater resilience and a few more leaders on and off the pitch.
{Ed001's Note - context matters - Liverpool scored a late penalty to go top, United scored a late penalty and it made little difference to the league table.}
15 Sep 2025 13:28:57
The biggest alarm bells that ring and have been ringing for me since he took over, is that the players have not reacted to his tactics/ formation/ instructions at all.
The bare minimum is a persons ability to work hard, to run himself into the ground for club and manager and I have never seen a bit of that at all.
I looked over the Moyes at Everton when he took over and there was an immediate lift, a basic structure, players working harder and results followed.
We, on paper, have better players but none of these so called better players have reacted to whatever Amorim has been saying in there.
A win rate of 25% and we are nearly 12 months into his tenure. I am absolutely astounded. I don't care too much about the system, the tactics and the rest of the ? that comes with it. I want to see a man give 100 percent, bare minimum and be can not get that out of the players.
That is the biggest alarm bell that rings.
And let's forget the fergie comparisons. A completely different man, with a different outlook and he had an incredible ability to get the best out of people.
15 Sep 2025 13:30:16
Back to the blame Bruno posts I see Redman. Like a broken record.
Still out most effective and best player when on the ball. How about play him in his best position, not shoehorn him into somewhere he has never played before.
15 Sep 2025 13:49:35
I am also big RA fan.
However by sticking with the same thing over and over when results keep failing is not good imo.
I agree with redman that playing bruno in midfield is not working.
Persistence is an admirable quality but so too is showing flexibility.
If the right people are not there then a tweak is required to more suit who is there.
It does not mean a full overhaul but his refusal to try even a tweak in the face of adversity does not bode well and is not good management imo.
15 Sep 2025 14:58:20
angel
I thought that’s what I said, he can’t play CM. Fact is he has lost two players to runs, City and Fulham and we lost goals. Selling at the right time is vital, Liverpool sold Coutinho as an example. The club should have taken the £100m. It was the right time.
Tumble
Yes agreed and I am worried, there is one thing having principles but any leader or manager needs to be pragmatic and listen. You learn that with experience and I sense the tide is turning above him because it is basically intransigence. A thrashing by Chelsea, which is on the cards given our midfield and see the same issues may put him in a very difficult spot.
15 Sep 2025 16:06:10
Red man, you want him sold instead of actually playing him in his correct system.
15 Sep 2025 17:01:00
What does everyone make of Dorgu?
By all accounts he's getting more touches than the rest of the team, notably in the opposition penalty area, and yet he seems utterly ineffective in end product. Good engine and he certainly has a go anyway.
15 Sep 2025 18:54:54
Don’t matter what 2 you have in midfield they will always be over run, it’s not rocket science but seeing that in every game which everybody does but RA is of real concern.
Moving the best player at the club out of best position is crazy. Buying 3 forwards and not an experienced midfield or GK and a proper striker is a joke.
We collect number 10s.
No player improved under RA, Rasmus goes to Napoli scores, is Sesko even any better than Rasmus was?
And the substitutions are beyond belief.