07 Sep 2026 10:24:30
I think we should all calm down as a fanbase.
We have always been terrible at first games of the season. Hull actually deserved to win as they did play well. We are not up to our races and our captain missed a penalty. We defended horribly.
Yesterday again, we defended horribly, Carrick did make attacking subs bring Sesko and Dorgu on. But the team just gets back to old routines. Have we not seen this before?
Do you ever notice how Bruno never slows the tempo of the game and always wants that flashy line breaking pass. We get counters after counters. And we have been poor defensively. Shaw gets sucked in and then chases the winger. Maz made a stupid pass when he should have just hoofed the ball.
It was 95 mins.
We score 1-0 and our intent is to just sit back and absorb. Amongst a lot of players, I feel we need to stop starting Maguire and Shaw.
Let Amass play and let Yoro play. We are conceding 2 goals on average anyway. At least we can play a high line.
Rashford has not scored a goal yet but he is actually playing well as a forward.
We have to also understand that a lot of players are not fully fit yet. Bruno was extremely rusty, Sesko has barely had any mins.
We also have to factor in we have lost Casemiro who was papering over the cracks and was a leader and formerly world class.
Give this time. The United shirt is heavy for new signings.
07 Sep 2026 11:09:14
Agreed, I think the first 3 games have confirmed what we already knew deep down.
1.) Not good enough to compete at the top with Arsenal and City.
2.) In a battle for top 5 with Chelsea, Liverpool and others.
3.) I think we should be okay, considering Champions League-aspiring clubs like Newcastle, Villa and Spurs all seem to have issues as well.
The bigger worry for me is the Champions League. After Sabah, every game looks tough on paper, and if we get into a negative momentum cycle, as we did under ETH and Amorim, I think we could struggle to make the 24 team cut.
07 Sep 2026 11:47:09
We should have won yesterday. Carrick cannot keep making these substitution mistakes. There was absolutely no need to bring on Mazraoui, and if he couldn't trust a lot to avoid a red card for 14 minutes, what the hell is he doing wt the club? Ridiculous changing the back four. Amorim and Ten Hag did this almost every game, and it drove me insane. So stupid, no wonder we aren't organised and structured during the final moments of a game.
Changing the back line is nothing but a disruption. An injury, fair enough, but refreshing them? Get them fit instead, and stop making stupid, obvious, and predictable decisions that only serve to encourage the other team. I was fuming and could see it coming, and what happens? Mazraoui not up to speed, wrong position, and passes it to Maitland-Niles. Bloody clown.
07 Sep 2026 11:50:33
This team actually brings their performances up against the big team.
It is the teams like Hull away and Everton away we become pants.
07 Sep 2026 12:50:10
Shaw has cost us 2 games.
Not strengthening the backline and delaying Baleba transfer has already backfired.
07 Sep 2026 13:47:22
I support the idea of waiting for your preferred target. But I am not convinced that's true. We are painting Baleba as if we waited a year and got a discount. But we did the same with Sancho after he had a worse season.
So it's not that we were waiting because we were chasing Anderson and Fernandez instead at the beginning, not Baleba. I just think that the Glazers were happy to put the whole club in massive debt to serve their dividends, but they're not prepared to go into debt that doesn't deliver dividends to actually get the whole squad urgently into the right shape.
We need these owners out, and a Chelsea or a City-type owner with no debt and a long-term plan, where we get immediate success also. This lot just aren't good enough owners. I think Wilco and Barrada and the recruitment team are good enough, but they're being undermined by tightwad economics that doesn't work against the competition, either here or abroad. We're saddled with debt that's never been reduced. That is PE-type governance, not venture funding or something like foreign funding. The model is never going to outperform them.
07 Sep 2026 13:59:45
I don't know how anyone can point to Bruno as a reason for us not picking up more points. His job is not to control the tempo of games. He's a play maker, and will always be looking to create chances. Tielemans is the one that was brought in to dictate play, and he hasn't done that.
However, the main reason why we're sitting on 4 points after 3 very winnable games is the defence. We have created chances and played decent attacking football in spells. The issue is that the moment any pressure is applied against us, the defence crumbles.
Dropping Shaw and Maguire won't fix this. Amass is nowhere near ready and Yoro has looked lightweight as a central defender.
Playing him with Martinez makes us even more vulnerable to crosses.
The clear solution was to bring in a better left back during the window. As others have highlighted, Shaw has been the weakest link in our defence. He looks to have lost a bit more pace, and doesn't have the positional intelligence to compensate.
I'm not fully on the doom train. I think we should have a good shot at finishing in the top 5. Still, this season was an opportunity to push closer to the top 2, and our lack of ambition in the market has left us fighting to make the Champions League instead.
07 Sep 2026 15:53:46
Rohan,
How many excuses do you want to type in one OP?
Sometimes it is better not to make excuses. Fans used to get on Giggs' back, Beckham's, Rooney's, Fergie's.
Demanding more and voicing that it is not good enough is part of being a supporter.
Work hard and play well, and the fans will love you. Play poorly and give up poor goals against weaker opposition, and the fans will voice their anger. Welcome to Man Utd.
07 Sep 2026 16:39:55
I think the fan reaction will change if we beat Man City, which could very well be possible.
07 Sep 2026 17:51:12
Rohan,
Agreed, we could best City but then we would likely lose to a relegation candidate and back to where we were.
07 Sep 2026 18:23:07
Well I feel better after reading all those posts. ? Blimey, it's real doom and gloom. But when was the last time Utd actually started well? Seems to be every season: poor, not ready, unfit, stupid, sloppy play, etc. Anyway, beat City and we'll all feel better. Be typical Utd, awful 3 games then beat City.
07 Sep 2026 18:56:17
Two chances to beat City. Slim and virtually nil, and Slim has left town. They will boss midfield and our defence couldn't stop Hull or Everton, so what chance against Haaland and Cherki.
07 Sep 2026 19:58:02
Tbf, they said that last season, Utd will just counter attack, which suits them fine... Im more hopeful against City than Everton, tbh.
07 Sep 2026 20:00:36
Coventry only conceded one against City, so there's some hope United won't get a battering.
If City get the first goal early, it could get ugly.
But United have shown they can up their game when needed, which is partly what makes the Hull and Everton games so annoying.
07 Sep 2026 20:44:30
Carrick at the wheel!!
{Ed0666's Note - with the handbreak on
08 Sep 2026 10:46:37
You could swap Carrick for another guy, but that would not make the players smarter.
Bruno will still, at 87 min, try stupid, risky balls that lead to counter attacks, rather than holding and slowing the play and then attacking. Maz would still try to pass the ball, and Martinez would as well. Last game, when we conceded the second, it should just have been out for a throw.
I feel we need a new fullback, maybe 2. Dalot and Maz are backups, Shaw is backup. None of these are starters. Last year all we invested was in forwards and GK was a gamble that worked, but I'd be wary of the second season syndrome and we have a terrible backup if Lammens regresses. Is Lammens ready for 2 games a week? This year was the year of midfield, and next year will be fullbacks.