Manchester is RED | Amorim draws his first game | Change has arrived
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Hello and welcome to the Manchester is Red podcast. My name is Stephen Railstone. We're recording this episode on a Monday afternoon, one day after United drew 1-1 with Ipswich Town in the Premier League down at Portman Road. Me and Samuel Lucas were down at that game in East Anglia. He's joining me on this podcast as usual. We're going to give our thoughts on the game and dissect it in some detail and it'll go on for two parts. So

First of all Samuel how are you? Had a very long journey yesterday and you seem a bit more yourself this morning or this afternoon I should say after a long journey you were a bit unwell weren't you? I lost my voice coming back as you know and my voice is still not back to normal as people can probably detect from that even listening back to myself in the press conference when I was asked Amarim a question I thought who the hell is that? I don't remotely sound like myself so yeah there's a

There's a winter bug of some sort going around. Was it the illness? Or was it singing along to Natasha Bedenfield and written on the way back that made you lose your voice? That's the question.

Well, well, I can confirm I was I was singing along to one song, but it was not. It was definitely not Natasha Peddingfield. You know, I've had some good playlists on these long journeys and yours was was decent. But there were some pretty, pretty major flaws in there. Cindy Lauper being another one. So, yeah, Rich Faye's playlist was much missed, I think, to an extent.

The very long journey he's on there, it's a four hour journey there and then another four hours on the way back, but we'll make the most of it, we'll have some fun on the way down. Right, let's talk about the game. A very different formation as expected, Ruben Ambrun promised that fans would see an idea, Samuel at Portman Road, we saw that from the first whistle, I mean even before the first whistle to be fair because, well I'm sure we'll get onto it, but United changed the pre-match routine which was quite interesting.

having said that though it was a similar performance from what we've seen this season the second half was pretty underwhelming and i think the the draw was probably the fair result in the end well lips which had a greater goal threat throughout the whole game uh united didn't really trouble them too much after after the first 80 seconds when they when they got that goal and

As I said to you, it was déjà vu in that it was Rashford getting an early goal under a new manager as he did under Solskjaer at Cardiff nearly six years ago when he scored in the third minute. He was a little bit earlier yesterday in the second minute. But United just didn't, they didn't build on that and they should have gone in for the kill. They didn't have the

just the... It almost felt like they didn't have the wherewithal to do it, which is odd because they did, but they operated as if they didn't. I thought in the first 15 minutes you could see the makings of an identity there. As you said, all those red shirts, they were positioned perfectly. There was a structure to what they wanted to do. It seemed like the players were pretty attentive to what Hamrim wanted.

But then once they kind of relinquished control and allowed Ipswich to get a foothold in the game, the equaliser was coming. And Anana, who I'm sure we'll get onto later on, made a couple of good saves before the equaliser went in. The second half was a weird non-event. It just meandered into a draw in the end. And there was quite a raucous cheer at full time from the Ipswich fans because it was a positive result for them. I know they've not

they've drawn too many games already. They've only won one game in the league all season and

So long term, I don't think that's going to serve them particularly well. But of course, they're going to be encouraged by getting a point against United. But watching Amrim was quite educational. I mean, we had a good view. We were in terms of that tactical vantage point, but also being pretty much directly above him. We could see how he was conducting himself in the technical area. He doesn't seem to be... I don't think he was that animated yesterday. He wasn't that...

visibly vexed. I think there was a measure of control and calmness about him, but there were times where he couldn't contain his exasperation at some of the things he was seeing. And when you see that he's having to give him a rollicking for not pressing later on in the game, you think, unfortunately for him, he's going to have to get used to that because this team have been useless at pressing for a long, long time, probably dating back 15 years. And

And when there was that familiar sight of when a United player seeds possession, shoulders slump, heads go down and they're not tracking back quickly enough. So Amrim had to clap them to almost try and jolt them into sprinting back, chasing back.

with more intensity and as he was at pain to stress afterwards they only had three days they had a lot to take on and you do that give them a bit of leeway but what i would say on that is that the two best probably the only two good or respectable outfield performers were um masraoui and ahmad who of course playing out of position effectively ahmad was playing in a new role which i think he's got potential to be very good in

Masraoui has played in four different roles already now this season and has had a pretty decent season so far. I thought that continued yesterday despite that luckless deflection off his crown. So you can't really cut the others too much slack. Rashford seemed to think a goal after 80 seconds accounted for 90 minutes work. He regressed almost as soon as he scored, really. Fernandes expended as much energy protesting and complaining earlier.

As he did playing, it felt like Garnaccio needs to cut out the theatrics at times. And I thought that certainly in the second half early on when he didn't play the ball to Rashford when he should have done, that was just poor. You can't excuse him just because he's a 20-year-old in that situation. That was just selfishness. It was a poor piece of play, whatever the age of the winger or an inside forward, whatever his role is now.

I wouldn't say Amarim was completely absolved of blame for that performance. I just didn't understand the midfield selection. I thought that at least one of Mainu and Ugarte would have started. Mainu, given that he trained on Monday, you'd have thought that he'd have played some part in that game, but he didn't. And I think you said afterwards he looked quite downbeat when he left the stadium, having been completely unused.

And okay, his hand was forced with a back three because, yes, again, there's another minor defensive crisis with United centre-backs. And already it's becoming quite startling how often Matthijs de Ligt fails to take command of defender-striker duels. And that was another example yesterday. I thought Liam de Lappe gave him a real chasing. I think my takeaway at full-time was, at least it was the beginning of an identity there. Yeah.

we talked about Eric ten Hag and his failure to kind of implement a style and an identity during his two and a half years at the club spent over 400 million and that just wasn't good enough and it was we used the word fascinating a lot on this podcast but it was watching United in those opening 15-20 minutes seeing where the players were seeing where they were trying to pass to in the positions that were taken up was fascinating I actually quite enjoyed it and as you said we had a really good kind of position up

high and that press box to look down and see what was going on seeing what Amram was trying to do Ahmed obviously started at right wing back Dalo got the nod on the left and

And I think you saw in the first half the advantages and disadvantages of playing a winger in one of those roles, didn't you, Samuel Ahmad? Because his run for the first goal was fantastic. It's great to see that the international break hasn't disrupted his momentum because he was so good in that little spell under Ruud van Nistrooy, those four games, he really excelled.

a brilliant assist but then later on in the half he kind of the ball goes over his head his positioning wasn't the best and obviously Anand had bailed him out with that save to deny Liam the lap but considering all that though Samuel it's his first time playing a right wing back Ahmad it was a very pleasing performance I thought he was a United's bright spark wasn't he along with Masrari from the outfield players it was decent going and Amram said afterwards that he'd made a lot of improvement on the defensive side in only

three days of training which is why when you when you hear that and that's that's coming straight from the manager you're

that that leeway you feel you're inclined to give some of the players as they're adjusting to a new formation new system you think well crack if a 22 year old is is coming on leaps and bounds in just three training sessions maybe you know we shouldn't be too kind to them in in terms of giving them that amount of leeway he also had that run right at the end where um he almost almost not almost maybe but he he threatened to to get a late winning goal when he came inside and

I think that's the advantage of having him in that team. You can have him doing what he was doing in terms of hugging the touchline and creating the goal for Rashford. But as the game goes on, if he's still involved, of course, he can drift. He's got to have licence to drift inside because that's where he's been at his most devastating, not just for United, but during that loan spell for Sunderland as well. He's very dynamic when he cuts in. He's very direct as well. He's got that incisive attitude.

play about him as well, which United's attacks, certainly it needs because it doesn't have anywhere near enough of that. I know Amrim said earlier in the week, last week, that those two wide roles would probably be occupied by

by fallbacks because it's easier to teach a fallback to be defensive minded and attack minded I think he said or words to that degree and I understand that but I also think that you've got to try and get the balance right and

I think if it's two full backs, I think you're possibly restricting yourself. That was why I was pleased to see that Ahmad was in one of those positions yesterday, because I think he has got potential, whether it's on the right or whether it's on the left as well. I mean, I think in my ideal line-up, I had him down on the left just for the sake of having that opportunity.

That natural width, and I'm sure he would do pretty well there as well. But of course, he has been developed and grown up in Atalanta's academy and he was bought by United as a right-sided forward. So if you want to play to his strengths, that's absolutely fine. And you saw that with the goal yesterday. He did get caught out for that chance that De Lappe had in the first half just before Ipswich equalised, where he got turned far too easily. And you saw there and then, that's why he's an auxiliary wing-back.

But he's one of the few players who's having a good season. I know his contract situation, although technically it's up in the summer, there is that plus one option. But he is a player that United should really be nailing down for the long term because before yesterday, it was easy to see why Amrim would take a shine to him and why he would want to maximise him. And obviously he did that yesterday.

Yeah, fair play to Ahmad. He's continuing to go from strength to strength, isn't he, at the moment? We'll move on to Amrim kind of being on Gnacho's case then, Samuel. It wasn't really tough love, was it? It was just kind of coaching, but it was constant throughout that first 45 minutes of the game. Gnacho was obviously on Amrim's side and it just shows you, I think, how much the players have to learn in this new system.

He's only had two proper sessions with the full squad and he's trying to implement a full new strategy and formation and a way of playing. And it's going to take a little bit of time to learn. That is just natural. And he was in Gannaccio's all the time, wasn't he, in the first half? I mean, we couldn't stop looking down and seeing and observing it. If there was a break in play, Gannaccio would come across, speak with Van Buren again. And that was fascinating again, really, to spot that at Portman Road.

Well, the front three he went with was the front three I would have gone with in that it's... The two starting strikers, I was pleased that he...

he didn't go with either of those two uh because i just don't think they're good enough to be started strikes for united i don't think marcus rashford is good enough to be a long-term starter striker but he needed to vary it up there and that did you know he was vindicated inside 80 seconds and as i said earlier brushford did regress so after that um as we've come to expect from him really during games uh where he can't get that level of consistency but

It was the right call. Fernandes was always going to play. Garnaccio, I think, has been United's best outfield player this season, even though he's had some patchy periods here and there. And of course, with Garnaccio, it's going to be trickier.

I think as a 20-year-old who's just been a pure winger, it feels like, certainly since he came over to England and came into United's academy. And that's the way he's been developed. And Manchester United have a huge history of wingers and developing wingers, particularly teenage wingers, coming through the academy and then breaking into the first team. And now he's having to adjust to an inside forward role where you're playing more like a playmaker. But it is possible. We saw Pedro do it with Chelsea when...

Him and Eden Hazard were playing behind Diego Costa, I think it was, when they won the title in 2016-17. It's a very different dynamic with Garnaccio in that he's a much younger player than Pedro was. I think Pedro must have been 29, 30 maybe at the time. And of course, he'd won Champions Leagues with Barcelona. He'd won major tournaments with Spain as well. He's extremely experienced. And Garnaccio is pretty much at the opposite end when it comes down to that. But there are still times where

You look at Garnaccio and I thought that he certainly could have been doing better in terms of his understanding being a bit more intuitive. I think a lot of what we saw yesterday, there was almost a counterintuitive chaos about United. The chaos wasn't massively obvious, I think, to people watching on TV. But when you see Amrim having to tell players where to stand...

where to go to when you've got the ball uh where you've got to go to when you've not got the ball i don't think it should be that hard and he said on friday he tried to simplify it saying whether it's a back four back three back five it's still the same principles and i can understand why he's trying to simplify because he doesn't want it to seem too onerous for the players

Yet these players are clearly not particularly intuitive. There's a reason why they finished eighth in the Premier League last season. There's a reason why they're under a new coach a third of the way into this season. And the irony, I suppose, is that Garnaccio has been one of the better performers, but that is a mini project there for Amrim in that

He obviously needs to maximise a very talented player and someone that United have invested a lot in, in terms of developing him since he came to Manchester just over four years ago. I maintain that the two years he's had in the first team has just been an upwards curve, his trajectory, and I still think that's the case. I don't think he's...

plateaued at any point this season. I think he's had a pretty decent season, even though he has also squandered some very good chances along the way. But he is a 20-year-old and I think there's a lack of understanding, certainly among maybe younger football fans or

the content creator, a faction of football fans who can't recall or don't remember or maybe not even watched Cristiano Ronaldo when he was a 20-year-old at Manchester United and the inconsistencies you get with 20-year-olds when they're operating at the most scrutinised sporting institution on the planet. And Garnaccio has done very, very well so far. And having done that well, you expect him to get better. So when there's the slightest trough,

It feels like some people are unnecessarily on his case. But that example, as I mentioned earlier in the second half yesterday, where he's, you know, the ball went through and I think Garnett and Rashford were still inside United's half. Ipswich were that high up.

you've got to maximize um opportunities like that United should be going to one up there you've got to always decision-making was poor Samuel if I'm honest in the game there was a couple of moments wasn't it yeah it was hard to break away and if you played the pass a little bit sooner or made the better decision you know it could have capitalized but that was quite disappointing for me he was obviously kept on when the initial changes were made though wasn't he so yeah and I mean the Amram was proactive with his substitutions I mean

Clearly, they didn't all work. Shaw, he wants to build up into form. You'd think if Shaw is fit and firing, you'd rather have him in the back three on the left-hand side than Johnny Evans. Because Johnny Evans did struggle yesterday as someone who's turning 37 in January is bound to against a pretty physical and energetic side. So I can understand bringing Shaw in. One question that really probably won't ever get answered as well is,

Ugarte, whenever he plays for Uruguay, he always seems to be late coming back. Ten Hag said he was the last to get back after the September internationals. Amrim yesterday said he only had one team training session. Well, why is that? When he last played for Uruguay, that was...

Tuesday night, South American time. Yeah, is it logistically? Because I looked at the last thing in the national break, actually, it's an interesting point. And I looked at when he would be flying back and when he could possibly arrive back in Manchester. The thing is, Casemiro is not in the Brazil squad at the moment, is he? And Anthony isn't. So we've got no South American players in the squad to compare to, really. I can't remember...

martin is with argentina wasn't he i suppose but i know martin is with him yeah but you're right ganacho was back and it's so it is interesting it's a good point and you're right martin has started against southampton and brentford which were the first games back after

the september and october internationals garnacho came off the bench against southampton scored he he started uh the brentford game so they they were that's two south american players who were away in south america came back started and i know with ten hog he he had a distrust of ugata he didn't he clearly didn't really fancy him

But already I'm looking at Ugarte, I'm thinking, why am I getting shades of Edson Cavani here, who was 30-something, who was just passing through, taking United for a ride, spent as much time in Uruguay as he did in Manchester. Ugarte should be getting back to Manchester ASAP. And I know he'll have his recovery time and I know there's a time zone difference, etc., etc.

but that's twice now and two different managers have suggested or said effectively that he was late coming back. Why is that happening? There are a lot of issues at United and in the grand scheme of things that's probably one of the more minor ones but it is an important one if they want to be at the elite level again because Ugarte is seen as the long-term number six for them but

Every time there's an international break, you know, next game back, he's not going to start it. And the case of Cavani, there was that time infamously where he just didn't even bother coming back for the FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough. It was like, well, it's only in Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. What happens? United go out to them, having lost on a penalty shootout. And the guy who missed the penalty was Anthony Alanga, who may not have taken one if Cavani could have been bothered to come back from Uruguay quickly enough.

I think everyone had Mainu and Ugarte down as starting against Ipswich. I definitely think that's what I expected. It seemed the logical choice. And for everyone to go with two 32-year-olds in midfield was obviously a surprise. Omari Hutchinson's goal, the equaliser just before half-time, it obviously deflected off Manzrari. But there was a moment there when I think if Casemiro's 10 years younger,

and he's not done for two he could probably get a bit closer maybe i'm a bit being a bit harsh because it was a good opening from hutchinson he kind of cut inside with it was impressive touch however i think casimir probably could have done better um does manu or you got to stop that that's the that's the question and i think looking ahead to first day changes are going to have to be made in that midfield you can stick with casimir and ericsson can you no you've just got to change up completely it's just got to be you got in and manu i don't think much

That's not even one for debate, really. I'd be pretty staggered if anyone was thinking, yeah, let's continue with Casimir and Eriksen after how they got on at Ipswich at the weekend. I know Amrim is learning on the job a little bit in terms of trying to understand who's going to be particularly important this season and beyond. And of course, Mainu's just come back from injury, so...

There's the element of easing him back. Ugarte came back from South America, doesn't start whenever he comes back from South America. So there's that to factor into it. I get all that, but I thought that it was a miscalculation to go with Casemiro and Eriksen. I'd have understood if it was... I mean, Casemiro obviously was in that team training session on the Monday, but so was Mainu and...

You go back to last year and I know Ten Hag could be very flawed in terms of his handling of players regarding injury, but Mainu, his full debut in the Premier League was the game straight after the November internationals at Goodison Park and he was brilliant. That was his first game in four months, wasn't it? It was a surprise not to see him come on the pitch, wasn't it?

And like I said, when he came through the mix zone, he did look a bit disappointed at our thought his face, which was a shame. Look, I think he'll start on Thursday night and hopefully he'll kick on from there after the little injury that he's had. We'll just end this part of a word on Inanna then, Samuel, because we've touched on him. Another wonderful performance, I thought. Some excellent saves again. And I've just done my lunch piece there.

on Onana being the best player for United this season and again nobody would have predicted that or didn't see that coming when you think about his first few months at the club I think last winter was the turning point wasn't it because he endured a really bad really bad might be a bit harsh but

difficult three, four months. And I think that's the word he used himself when describing that period. Difficult, didn't he? He lacked confidence. He didn't look convincing. He made a series of errors in the Champions League group stage. And he's gone from costing United points to saving them points now. And he looks like a really convincing goalkeeper. And again, he's impressed me this season. He really has.

i think the turning point uh for him was when he talked to me at the city no i think it was anfield it was the first time to give a clean sheet wasn't he last last season at that stage yeah i'm obviously suggesting um no i it was it was a lot later than that because certainly looking at his um you look at january obviously played against tottenham before he went away on afghan duty and he had a dreadful afghan with cameroon that he was

He turned up for the first game. They decided not to play him. He started the second game. I think he made a pretty bad mistake when Sadio Mane scored. And then he was dropped. And he wasn't the first choice for their remaining matches. And came back to United. And I seem to think that... I think Wolves' equaliser at Molineux, he was suspect for that. And he made a mistake early on in that second half where he came for an aerial ball and was beaten to it. So he was still having some iffy performances there.

In January, February time. But certainly from towards the running of last season, you know, he wasn't as obviously bad at times as he was last

in the first months and there must have been probably a dozen savable goals he let in last season not necessarily all of them I think in the Champions League gifted way that penalty didn't even he passed out and Casemiro got sent off against Galatasaray he dropped the ball from Leroy Sane going for his hands and then Galatasaray away the 3-3 when Ziyech scores the free kick that was probably the worst one for me

He had an extraordinary group stage in that he was responsible for United's only win, effectively with a sudden death save from Jordan Larson, his penalty against Copenhagen. Yet he was heavily responsible for the Bayern Munich defeat, the Galatasaray defeat, the Galatasaray draw.

And that's kind of enough, really. He had an extraordinarily eventful group stage, to put it mildly, given the amount of goals that United conceded in those six games and just how dramatic those matches were as well. But I thought coming into this season that he would be more dependable just because he had a season under his belt and he was settled. Going back to that chat that a couple of us had with him at the City ground in February, he said how he'd had a difficult season

Six months off the pitch, settling in, not necessarily on it, even though it was clearly difficult on it as well. But he was talking about the mental side of things. And he's a really lovely bloke as well. He's so amiable and so engaging when he speaks to you. And as you know, as well from chatting to him in mixed zones.

What you were going to mention the bright and last day of the season. No, I'm being extremely sincere. This is an example of when we're actually permitted to speak with footballers, more often than not, we come away rooting for them. And that was certainly the case with Inanna when I spoke to him at Forest back in, I think it was late February.

And I was completely supportive of United letting De Gea go and bringing in a more modern goalkeeper. I think they did get an upgrade in an honour overall. OK, De Gea is, I think he'll always be a better shot stopper because there have been few

in my lifetime who've been better at actually keeping the ball out of the goal but Anana is also pretty good at that as he showed a handful of times last season it's certainly become a lot more regular this season he's made some world-class saves against Fenerbahce and Crystal Palace

And he's also made important saves, the penalty save against Southampton at 0-0, that one-on-one against Porto when it was 3-2. United obviously got a late equaliser. And yesterday, you were hoping for his sake and Amrim's sake and United's sake that those saves he was making would allow United to kick on and get a win. But in the end, he was breached, but he still made another good stop early in the second half from Liverpool.

From De Lappen. I don't know who the man of the match was yesterday from the rights holders, but he'd have been worthy of it.

Yeah, he did really well to actually make himself so big, closed down the angle and it hit it off his bicep, didn't it? The lap shot, unfortunately, concedes a few minutes later. But as I said, you could do nothing about that. I'm chuffed for him. He's a really nice guy. Comes across really well, as you say, when he speaks to us and when he does other interviews. And I think I turned to you after that, the lap save and his name was begun to be sung from the away end, which I believe is the first time that's been audible in the stadium as well. So that was nice to see. His popularity is increasing, isn't it?

Indeed. And I think he's, you know, you look at the way he conducts himself, his body language, how, as I said, how affable he is. And he's a good, he's a good character. I mean, for that dressing room, it's certainly lacked good characters in recent years, but they've certainly got one.

in Inanna and he's earned that. I think there's probably no greater compliment really for a player than having their name chanted by supporters and it was probably overdue given the way he's playing this season but he got it yesterday and that should also fuel his confidence. Inanna's been helping his teammates and they probably need to return the favour, don't they, for the remainder of the season. We'll leave that there for part one. We'll be back in a moment for part two.

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Welcome back to part two of the Manchester is red podcast. She was focused now Samuel a little bit on the defense. I mentioned that kind of drill before the game when the back five or the back three were warming up and they set out some fluorescent cones and it was kind of a pressing drill and they were practicing keeping their shape as a five. It's really interesting to watch and

though, I would say struggled during the game when it started. We talked in the car, there was a lot of talk before the international break about the kind of improvements that he'd made, but the caveat is it wasn't exactly a test and run, that was it, those four games under Van Nistelrooy. You just mentioned Evan struggled as well, but

But Masrari had a good game. And I think I thought, when I looked at that defensive line at the start of the game, I thought if they keep a clean sheet, they've done very well because it was a makeshift back line. Lenny Euro wasn't in the squad, unfortunately, before he might make the cut. And Lissandra Martinez was out. And of course, Harry Maguire is still recovering from a muscle injury and he was absent. So they've still got key players missing in the back line.

Yeah, and Amram's already encountered what turned hard. Last season, having an injury crisis at centre-half with four of them, four of the senior centre-halves being unavailable yesterday. So his hand was forced. He was always going to go with a back three and I suppose he'll...

the other way he could have gone about it was put Shaw straight back in. But I think it was clear from what he spoke, what he said about Shaw in the week that he wasn't, he wasn't going to start him, which is sensible for someone who hadn't played in, was it nine months? I think it was nine. 80th of February. Yeah. So, you know, that's how long he'd been out for United. Of course, he managed to turn up for England at the Euros, but he got injured as soon as he came back to United in the summer. So,

So he was never going to play, yes, I think it's a credit to Masrari, really, that he's played in four different positions already this season after the United played 18 or 19 games this season. He's played at right-back, left-back. He's not in a bad game, has he? I can't think of a game where I thought he struggled, to be honest. No, I mean, I'm sure...

I'm sure he didn't play well against Tottenham or Liverpool. But he didn't stand out and you think, oh, yeah, he was glaringly bad. No, no, no. It's not like... I completely agree. You think of the Liverpool game, you think of Casemiro, you think of the Tottenham game, you think of Fernandes before he got sent off. So, yeah, I think that's...

that's kind of the backhanded compliment to him, but the greater compliment is that he's come in in a pretty difficult situation for the club in general. And certainly with there not being a fit left back for the first three months of the season, I know he had the benefit of playing it right back for most of those games, but he settled in very well. He's looked defensively solid. I think he's starting to show a little bit more

in the final third. What Ten Hag said about him in the summer, about how he's very good against teams who press against him. You saw that again yesterday. He's a very, very skilful full-back and he manages to get out of trouble quite cannily. And for the money they paid for him, it's actually been shrewd business so far. And hopefully for his sake and United's sake, he continues in that vein.

But De Ligt is, you know, I'd certainly, you know, qualms about United signing two players that Bayern Munich wanted to sell, but

And, okay, with Masrari so far, so good. But De Ligt is one I just, I really, I hoped for United's sake they wouldn't go down that line. Just because of his association with Ten Hag. And also clearly, having looked at his pretty gradual decline over five years, he was a player that they were signing on the basis of what he did five years ago under Ten Hag, rather than what he had done in the past five years and

Of course, there's a lot of context behind that in terms of the amount of managers he's played and the styles that he's had to adapt to in Italy and Germany. But if Juventus want to sell a player after three years and Bayern Munich want to sell a player after two years, those are red flags. And as you said, he was doing decently of late there.

But he's not overall been decent this season. I think he's looking like, certainly if you're a starting Premier League striker at most clubs or you've got the general characteristics that a striker requires, he seems quite easy to get past. He's not very agile, is he? No, he isn't.

And we've said this before in terms of centre-backs in the Premier League, you always need a pacey option there. And United haven't really had that for, I'm trying to think of the last, Christ, would it have been Bailly possibly? It's a long time. Maguire's not... But then you caveat back Bailly's pace with the clangers that he threw. And if you're talking about a pacey quality defender, it's probably 10 years ago, wasn't it? Yeah, I'm going back to Bailly first season, which is eight seasons ago.

So that's, and United have signed a lot of centre-backs since then. And Martins says he's not slow, but he's not rapid. Lindelof's not quick. Maguire's not particularly quick at all. Varane was quick, but when he came to United, there were times when you'd watch him last season and he would run and he wouldn't sprint because it was almost as if he was fearful that if he actually embarked on a sprint, he would break down again, given how injury prone he'd been.

And De Ligt, you know, he's a big guy. He's very physical. But I thought Liam De Ligt bullied him yesterday. And certainly for that chance early in the second half, he was all over the place. And come next year,

Or in the summer, certainly. If you're playing with a back three, which clearly Amrim is going to want to do as long as he's manager of United, you would think, or head coach of United, he's going to need five senior options just because you're going to need at least two to provide that cover when three are starting. And Lindelof's got to be released. I think it's probably advisable that Johnny Evans will be released given that he'll be 37 and a half come the summer.

Maguire, there's a decision to be made there because they have got the plus one option on his deal, but he has become injury prone. He's only played in nine of their 19 matches this season. He missed quite a few games last season as well through some different injuries. So if they want to, they can halve their central defensive department next summer. And I certainly don't think that United's starting defensive trio

at the start of next season should be De Ligt, Joro and Martinez. I think they've got to be looking for an upgrade there. And the player who you'd be looking to bring out of it would be De Ligt because Martinez, although he's not had a good start to this season...

I think playing him on the left of a back three with his passing range when it's back to normal because it's Benefi this season and Jorah on the other side and a real top-drawer centre-back in between them, I think that's got greater potential than just trying to stick by someone that they signed for the previous manager because that's the other issue they've got with Dele. He was...

they would not sign let's face it they would not have signed him if the manager wasn't ten hard the market's stable isn't it when you think of that player Samuel who could actually be in the center of a free and Jared brand for it there's obviously been interest in him he's still a very young player though United as we said in the car they need players who can come in and be immediate successes he's also been injury prone recently yeah he's not really played for Everton has he um

So who is that player in the market? And you look at Arsenal, for example, who have now got Saliba and Gabriel, and it's taking them time to kind of develop them and have trust in them. And it's taken them a few years to get to the level where they're at now. Is it the case that United might have to accept that and go, well, look, this is a three-year project with Van Ryn, might have to get a player like that in?

uh play like play like watching as in someone who's got something to work on who needs to develop to get to that top level instead of someone who is immediately ready to excel and really be a leader in that team quite possibly but I as I said I think they need to set they'll need two cents backs next summer and it would be illogical as you probably would agree for them to get two of the same profile so if you could get I don't know someone of

with brand weights mold someone who's of that age where there's a lot of long-term potential and then you get someone who is is a lot more experienced and is is going to be is a good character has has been around the block a bit but is still quite sprightly and has the right attributes to to be can we put johnny evans in like an age machine and just make him take six years off him or seven years off him and put him back on the pitch

no i wouldn't do that because people forget how bad he was during his final years uh at united there's a lot of cognitive dissonance going on there just because he's probably just because he's irish and he came through the united academy and he won some titles it's amazing if you if you're a title winner at man united it's almost as if you've you you're going back seven years ago not getting linked with city he was wasn't he there was interest briefly he was he was but he didn't join he didn't join them

um you know when he left United he went to West Brom there's now there's a reason why the the two clubs who were in for him when he left United were West Brom and Everton and again people people forget that uh but yeah there was there was some interest from City because but I think the caveat to that is it's it's it's evolved with City Centre back since then but back then

Otamendi was an important player to Guardiola. Now, Otamendi is a bad defender, but he's a decent footballer. And as we've seen with Guardiola, he can take defenders and make them into, like, make them just look better or, you know, just make them better. I mean, Guardiola is a great example of that last season that it

I think any other manager or coach in the world would just see this guy come from Croatia and how imposing he is and think, right, he's my centre-back for the next five or six years. Guardiola has to, he has to, the contrarian that he is, he has to do something different. He's like, no, no, no, you're going to be my left-back, my marauding left-back. Then you're going to be scoring goals. You'll score goals away from home all the time.

um i think my my poorly voice is possible i was gonna say i don't think your illness is helping it yeah um so that's that's an example of the project you can you can do with um a relatively young young centre-back and i think it's fair to say that with with the interest in brandthwaite in the summer that was more in your sled than than ten hard lead but

It's something that you can imagine United will revisit in the summer. I mean, there's no chance of anything going on there in the winter. I saw something about that. The other, I think it was last week, just the prospect of United trying to sign a £70m centre-back in January when they've got six centre-backs as it is. It's just not going to happen. And here we are though, Samuel, talking about the need to sign two centre-halves and

It just feels like Brian Hogday every season we're on the podcast half of the campaign and we're talking about this position needs addressed and he's saying this player. But the money that they've got can only go around so far. And Joshua Xerxe came on yesterday, blared that shot over the bar.

did it go to the stand that I'm not actually sure where it went. We discussed it on the way back home in the car and you made the point on the podcast recently that you just cut your losses immediately, get rid of them in the summer. I feel like my principles are

make me think that every player should be given a season. But having said that, I agree with what you say in the sense that if United want to sign another striker in the summer, which they're going to need to do, then they're going to need to sell someone. And Xerxe is the logical choice to sell. I completely get that argument. Yeah. I mean, you ask your dad about Stefan Givas. Did he want to give Stefan Givas a season at Newcastle or did he just want him out? And I suspect the answer would be

would be the latter there. I'm struggling to think of a more recent reference to a misfiring new car. Albert Luque, that's another one. I'm not sure if he'll achieve that status.

So you just watched Xerxe and the startling thing as well, we saw it in the 93rd minute. Amrim was having to tell him to get in the box and he is purportedly a striker. I think I'm at the point now where I'm convinced he's not a striker. There's no point even referring to him as a striker. And I know there's been that debate. He's kind of said that himself, hasn't he? Yeah, yeah. But I think it's at the point now where

If I was a sub-editor and someone referred to him as a striker, I'd probably omit the word for something else. Forward, probably. I see what you're trying to go for. Yeah, I think if, you know, 36 and a half million pound cart horse Joshua Xerxe, that would be far too unkind. But United fans have said stuff to that degree so far. But the fact that

We saw that and then Amrim said afterwards in one of the several interviews that he did that he was having to tell Xerxe as well. And you think this is a 23-year-old who has played in Germany, Italy, Belgium and now England. He's apparently a striker and he has to be told to get into the box when the game's 1-1 and it's pretty apparent that

Manchester United would want to beat Ipswich. Maybe Xerxe thought, oh, it's not bad getting a draw at Ipswich. I really don't know. But they have made a major, major cock-up with that deal. I will be pleasantly surprised if he becomes a success at United because I just don't see it. And we've been through it all before. And it was interesting that Amrim decided not to start either of those two players at

that Ten Hag signed yesterday, Xerxe or Rasmus Hoyland. I mean, with Hoyland, I think Amrim said something about him as well in terms of his positioning. And that has been a problem this season. A lot about United yesterday, what you saw about them, and it's been the case for a long time.

is that they're a reactive team. They're not a proactive team. And Amrim pretty much said as much on Friday when he was saying about their performances last season, how the first half would be dreadful and then they do something without any tactical intervention or tweak in the second half and perform. And that's why United are a reactive team. And Hoyland is a reactive player. He doesn't anticipate things. And there've been, in recent years...

In Scandinavia, three brilliant goal scorers produced by Norway with Erling Haaland, Sweden in Alexander Izak and Victor Kjokris. Which one did United sign? Oh, they signed the one from Denmark. The amount of times United are a punchline with transfer deals is

You run out of it. And of course, the fee that they committed to spending on Hoyland has to be higher than the fee that City paid for Haaland. I know there was a huge signing on fee, huge salary, etc, etc. But it was obviously worth it. It was a higher fee than what Newcastle paid.

for Alexander Izak, which was 63 million. And it will be a higher fee than what Victor Giochris goes for next year because of his sell-on clause, sorry, not sell-on clause, the release clause at Sporting Lisbon, or how much he's available for, which is reputedly 63 million as well. United seem to be the only elite club that make these cock-ups and make themselves the punchline of these deals. And it's the decision-making...

has been bad. And even under this hierarchy, it is still bad because they signed Xerxe. And okay, Masraoui has been quite decent. De Ligt hasn't been decent. It's due result, isn't it? That's the way to describe it, I think, with De Ligt. The fair way to say it. I can't say anything on him so far. Ugarte, you know, we have to reserve judgment still there. It's been very, very hit and miss to say the least. But the Xerxe deal, they just need to... I mean, if it's at all possible to...

get rid in January or loan someone in and loan him out. That might be the way forward. I think they might have to be quite active or proactive in the loan market if they want upgrades. Because you look at that squad, it's a 28-man squad. They're doubled up in every position and they're tripled up in some positions. I mean, centre-back's an example of that. They've got six of them.

Highland looks really low on confidence, I think. There was a moment in the second half when he created the yard of space. He could have had a shot and he chose to pass instead. He gave the ball away, didn't he, as well? You just want to smash your head against a laptop sometimes when you watch things like that. Just put it in the back of the net.

A confident striker hits that and probably scores. And he's got the quality to do that. When he had his purple patch last year, he was doing things like that and everyone thought, right, this is Hoyland's time. He's actually becoming the player that people thought he would. But yeah, he's regressed this season and it's not been too good. Should we end on Amram's press conference then, Samuel? You obviously attended that. I was down in the mix zone. Some interesting quotes. You said United need to suffer. When I heard that or read that, sorry, I thought back and

To my interview at the weekend, I interviewed one of Amram's former players at Casa Pia. And he said, look, at Casa Pia, we could have sat down as if it was a test on tables away from each other. We could have noted down the positions where we're supposed to be, the passing lanes we were going to do. It was just drilled into them so well. And that is going to take time. United are going to need to suffer to get this into the players' arms. It's just patience, I guess. It's the start of something new.

And in a way it probably helped that they, they didn't win yesterday because he may be an overnight sensation, but he can't work miracles overnight. And he saw that yesterday and that he said the word he used about some of the players was that they got stuck because he thought he said they were thinking, where should I be? Because they're learning, obviously these, this new formation, this new approach it,

It was quite interesting what he said about the centre-backs, how previously they would go forward. Now it's holding their position when they've got the ball, I think is what he said. He talked about Salah playing inverted under Ten Hag and now he's asking them to go wide. So these players have been doing one thing and now they're doing the opposite in some cases. Yeah, he said some details. They used to pass the ball and go forward, even the centre-backs. Now they have to go back. These type of things, they start going forward and they have to think too much.

Dalot used to do it, pass the ball to centre-backs, go inside, play as a midfielder. Now he has to stick to his position. It's hard for the players in three days to cope with everything. So you completely take that on board. And as we covered that earlier, the caveat to that is that the two best outfield players yesterday were players playing out of position. They adapted pretty well, Masraoui and Koumou.

And Ahmad, in fairness to Amram, he said about Amram's, sorry, Ahmad's position and his remit, he said that although he said that he'd improved defensively during the training sessions, he

He said that in a way it was kind of simple for him because the opponent he had all the time was the left back, which is, is it Leif Davies, I think, which is left back. And so he said it's like a winger follows left back. It's so much easier, I think, because he doesn't have to think, can I jump in the centre back? I come inside and just cover the centre back or not. So he said he just follows one guy and goes forward and it's like a game of man to man.

in that area so although it's a different role the way the way Amram simplified it he suggested that that's why Ahmad performed as as reasonably as he did but I still think that yeah ultimately a lot of these players are not are not going to be good enough they're not they're not going to be in that team if that team does go going forward if the team does indeed go forward in in both senses of the word

because it's clear they're not up to it. I mean, as I said, a completely endorsed starting Rashford as the striker yesterday, but he is a stopgap striker. He's not going to be a long-term striker. They just needed to trial someone else there because Xerxes has been pretty hopeless. Hoyland's been pretty hopeless. Rashford is capricious, but he has got form for scoring under a new manager and he did do that yesterday. The problem was after that, he didn't do an awful lot whatsoever.

Yep, unfortunately. There'll be changes on Thursday and there'll be more changes after that one. There's going to be a lot of change coming. Could we perhaps see Anthony on Thursday, Samuel? Is that too much of a stretch? We laugh because he's played fewer minutes. For the sake of those who are turning up, I hope not. He's played less than our time by India this season, but...

Bayern days made two starts. That's around 190 minutes. And I believe Anthony's sitting around 160, which is pretty insane, isn't it? As a statistic. 180 minutes for Bayern. There you go. Yeah. So, yeah, we'll leave it there then Samuel. Anyways, thanks for your time. Thank you very much. And thanks to listeners as usual. We'll be back later in the week for another podcast. Take care.