05 Mar 2026 06:49:13
What we saw last night and increasingly over the last two or three games was Gareth Southgate's England, I suspect tactically driven by Steve Holland. The lack of any drive cannot be fatigue, yet when playing against 10 there was no urgency, no Manchester United way of going at a team, little width or crossing a ball. The Carrick honeymoon is over, he can either continue setting us up like Southgate with Steve Holland in his ear, or be the manager who wants a chance at the job, attack with more energy, urgency. Last night has been coming, same set up over the last two or three and settled into don't lose Southgate football.
Great advert for why Southgate should never ever be considered as well.
05 Mar 2026 08:00:13
I could have put more energy into that midfield last night and I'm 50 years old. My issue is the same thing as always. The players can do it, they showed it against Arsenal. They hammered City, but the same effort has not been there for the last few games.
Sometimes they just don't show up, regardless of who the manager is. Trippier was racing forward yesterday, with Cunha following at a light jog, and the same with other players.
05 Mar 2026 08:32:34
Absolutely awful. There is something intrinsically wrong with the attitude in the club. No matter the manager, they revert to walk ball. Don't get me started, re Mainoo. I will bet that if the club decide to offload him, he will insist on his new club having European football.
Yet, whilst the chance is there right now, right in front of him, he can't be bothered to fight for it. Strolls around like an entitled nob!
Watching this dirge sickens me.
05 Mar 2026 08:42:17
Banjoe, every team could say this. People here have pushed yet again to make things player centred. We saw a clear pattern and improving trajectory under Amorim. It derailed due to AFCON and his feeling of being undermined. But we've thrown away a lot. The results have papered over a clear regression. But the main thing that's clear is we have two ways to reliably progress the ball: Martinez and Bruno.
Amorim had Bruno in CM, and he had no option otherwise. Carrick used Martinez, but with him out, we're clueless. The formation also has to either play Mbeumo out of position or sideline Amad. It's a more defensive set up now. Hopefully Carrick gets a grip of it. Ultimately, I think we're reliant on Licha getting back quickly and Casemiro lighting it up.
05 Mar 2026 09:04:38
That's a mental frailty the squad has had for years, not a physical one. We simply don't turn up mentally against the "lesser" teams.
The Geordies were excellent last night - energy, aggression, pace, desire. We showed none of that.
05 Mar 2026 09:30:13
I'm not reading too much into the game.
We've played eight games under Carrick: won six, drawn one, and lost one. Were we realistically going to go unbeaten until the end of the season? Absolutely not. Playing against ten men is always tough, and St James' Park is a difficult place to go at the best of times.
It is what it is. Overall, it's been relatively positive so far. People just tend to read far more into things than they need to, often without any credible basis. Sometimes teams just have bad games - it's happened all season to lots of teams.
Let's just get to the end of the season before making assumptions.