Manchester is RED | United BEAT City | Amad is brilliant
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hello and welcome to the manchester is red podcast i'll repeat that the manchester is red podcast my name is stephen ralston we're recording this episode on a monday afternoon a day after united won 2-1 against manchester city at the yeti hard i was at that game with samuel luckhurst samuel is with me today as usual i'm going to reflect on that performance and give our thoughts

Samuel, a really incredible ending to that game. United were trailing 1-0 as the closing stages came around. A few moments of brilliance from Ahmad and the CL2 won victory. There's no better way than to win a Manchester derby than in a last minute kind of goal and a win like that. And the United fans in the away section, they absolutely loved it.

It was a Derby win that will rank with Scholes in 2010, Van Persie in 2012, Pogba, Smalling in 2018 as well. That comeback that denied City winning the title against United that day. And it is quite incredible how many times United have won Derbys late on at the Etihad. I mean, it's a stadium that's only been open

21 years but they've won there in some extraordinarily memorable manners and that was another example of that was the latest entrant yesterday from Ahmad and I did think that obviously United were what 88th minute and they're one nil down

And had they lost that game yesterday, I think they would have been extremely disappointed because City are a parallel imitation of the team that left United in their wake for so long under Pep Guardiola. You watch City in the flesh and

something is fundamentally wrong there they've they've not refreshed the squad they're not as intense they allow opponents to have a hell of a lot of the ball as well and United had a reasonable measure of control you just just watch them you thought that unfortunately for them as is often the case that they're quite toothless and they've not got enough attack minded players on the pitch

Of course, I think, although there's a lot of mitigation to it with Garnaccio and Rashford's absences, but if they were to have lost that with two wide players who were full-backs, that would not have reflected well on Ruben Amorim. That's always been my concern about starting Masraoui and Dalot. I don't think you should be having two essentially defensive-minded players occupying roles that are quite attack-minded.

Yet, it was another winger who came up with the goods, who conjured up the magic. And he's been a gem for quite some time now, Ahmad. And

I don't think there was a more popular match winner in that Manchester United team yesterday than him, superbly taking second goal. And I think there was just that sense, quite poetically, I think there were 115 seconds between the two goals. I'd have to look at the specific time they both went in to know whether that's not just an urban myth, but a friend gave me some exact times this morning and he's not the only one who's been banging on about it.

but in that short period after united equalized and there was the restart

There was this weird sense in the stadium that almost among City fans, almost as though they were resigned to this not being the end of it. And of course, they have had capitulations recently. I mean, the Feyenoord one was pretty extraordinary. Yesterday was worse because it was United. And just in that short period of time, you had this sense that actually the scoring doesn't feel like it's over and done with here. And of course,

one perceptive pass from Martinez brilliant brilliant play by by Ahmad's a little bit of luck where Vardy all completely misjudged it on the line somehow and everything like turns to dust for City at that point and it was not a good game the in some ways I think for the most dysfunctional Derby and in a generation the the standard of it

it matched the build-up and that both teams were in very, very strange funks, to put it mildly. Yet it had that extraordinary climax and that was down really to one man in Ahmad. Just an extraordinary day for him, extraordinary ending. And when you win a game like that, belief is going to absolutely course through the place as it should be. I mean, I don't know what Matthias Nunes was doing with that pass back,

Brilliant from Ahmad because he did anticipate it, the position that he'd got himself. He kind of read what was going to happen and he put himself in a position to pounce if that did happen. I mean, he makes the pass, which is the first gift. Then Edison comes out and me and you, I think we both thought the chance had probably gone at that point. Ahmad kind of looks to come back inside. Edison, you think, has it covered and the City players have got back into position to clear the lines.

if Amar kind of passed it or had a shot himself. And then Nunes comes flying back and just takes him down. And that was a storm hole, apparently. And the run was actually really good for the winning goal, wasn't it, Samuel? Because he made the initial run and then checked it a little bit. It was quite intelligent to do that. And the finish was just really, really majestic as well. Brilliantly taken. Guardiola, as you said, might have done better. But watching it back, I thought he's done incredibly well there. He could have ballooned it over the bar or mistimed it or whatever. So he did really, really well.

How good has Ahmed been, Samuel? When we talk about this season and we've kind of said sometimes he's seemed like the only player who's had really something about him and he's making chances. And then you think back to the Liverpool game in March in the FA Cup, he seems to have a knack for scoring these big goals in these big games. And it's been a really good year for him. It's been the best year for him at the club since he joined.

I think it might have been the only year he was at the club since he joined in a strange way. Certainly when he arrived in January 2021, a lot of the tail end of that year was spent recovering from injuries

From injury, of course, the following years, on the Rangers and Sunderland season after that, and with the injury he got in New Jersey, he didn't play last season until December. So this calendar year has practically been his first proper year at United, where he's fortunately not had any significant injuries. He's been available for pretty much every game throughout the calendar year, and you can't underestimate the importance of that in a squad that,

still does have some players who are particularly vulnerable to injury. Coming into the new year, there was some uncertainty about his position because Ten Hag had taken so long to actually play him at Forest. It was just before New Year's Day when they lost their last game of the calendar year in 2023.

But then it's, well, it was almost like a matter of convenience in that Ahmad had just regained fitness. Palistri had had his auditions and had not cut it. And at that point you thought, well, Palistri is logically the one to go out on loan. And you can't really send both of them out on loan because United weren't going to bring anyone in. They needed bodies, they needed options.

and Amarim yes say at the post-match press conference he said he magnanimously referenced ten hug in the work he'd done in bringing Ahmad into the first team I think that's been extremely generous this is ten hug I think it's becoming an on-running joke like what was Amari foursome doing at the weekend it turns out that he was playing for Monza for

The sixth time this season, that selection against Fulham in February when he started Fawcett ahead of Ahmed and ahead of Anthony as well, was just one of the dumbest things I've ever seen from a United manager. Some people said, oh, you know, trying to get him to hide down a new contract. I genuinely don't think, I think people are aware of thinking it, I genuinely think Ten Hag thought Omari Fawcett was a good player and was up to it, and he wasn't.

And even by that time, I think that day Amat did come on and played quite well because he tended to do that. He'd come on in games when United were losing or drawing and he'd have a good impact.

but this was also a player that tenard was extraordinarily reluctant to bring on against commentary in the fa cup semi-final and would not have brought him on if if marcus rashford hadn't got injured that's how reluctant he was to use him and you could still see signs of that reluctance in this season where ahmad started was it against porto wasn't it and then

He didn't really get a look in again under Ten Hag and he dropped out of the team a little bit before then as well. And you can debate these things. And has his performance level always been really high? No, it's not always plummeted to the depths of other players in that squad. And he's someone who just tends to make something happen. He made something happen in Pilsen. He made something happen against City.

He must be a dream for Amrit because he has demonstrated he can play on the wing in the midfield four or he can play as one of the two behind the striker. And I don't think any of us had any doubt that he was capable of playing as one of the two tens behind the striker. And he's probably more of a goal threat from there as well. As you saw before, he scored yesterday, scored

In the first half, he had a great chance with that one-on-one. And it was a great chance because although he was offside, he should have kept himself onside.

And he got himself in the position there, the header as well, in the second half where Edison got across and just tipped it round the post. So he was becoming more and more involved. And what I particularly liked about his performance on Sunday was that the first half he got flagged offside three times. And they were really careless, avoidable offsides. They weren't unfortunate offsides. It must have been driving Amrim and his staff up the wall.

But the lad learned from it and in the second half, look what he did. And I completely agree and we said it at the time, in terms of his decision making for the penalty,

he did hesitate he wondered should I go for goal no no what are my options but if you look at that one replay of the camera from behind the goal he has a little check and he sees Nunez coming and he just adjusts his body ever so slightly to ensure that Nunez catches him flush and I mean like he could have tried to get out he could have tried to run away from Nunez and Nunez probably would have kicked him it was that brainless a piece of defending but

But even with that little bit of play, it was really cute, really intelligent what he did to win the penalty. And the way he took the goal was fabulous. I mean, it was a really good pass from Martins, but he felt quite challenged to get on the end of that. Oh, he has got on the end of it. And then it's an acute angle. And then, oh my God, he's put it in the back of the net. And it's like watching Mark Hughes against Barcelona and Rotterdam all those years ago. So,

I'd call it the Diallo derby but we're not to call him Diallo as George McCaffrey has told us many times but it was certainly Ahmad's derby It's two podcasts out of two for mentions for George I'm sure he'd be happy with that That's why he gave me three in the mix so yes, clearly

I still think Ahmed can go up another level as well. That's the thing. He's still only 22 years old. And as you've said, we've not actually seen that much of him. He started to really kick on this year. But in terms of starting each week, he's not done that across a full season. So there's still plenty to look forward to. And just a quick word on the celebrations at the end. I mean, just brilliant. Similar at the FA Cup final.

Of course, in May, all the City fans started leaving their droves. Some even left after the equaliser and it was half empty before the final whistle. The United fans was a lock in at the end. They're having the time of their lives. No doubt some of them would have went into town despite it being a Sunday night. And some fans would have spotted, I think the footage has gone viral on social media of Joshua Xerxe, how he celebrated. Now Xerxe isn't exactly the most popular player at the moment, is he Samuel? Because he's not been a great signing.

But what he did will endear himself to fans because he went up to City supporters, kind of goaded them and taunted them. And then De Ligt comes up, he tries to pull them away and Xerxes blows a kiss to the City fans. That's definitely a different side of his personality. I'm not sure we've seen that yet. It's because he obviously went back to the dugout and he celebrated in front of them, clearly because he'd been getting grief from...

some City fans there and if you're a football fan you've got to be prepared for that if you're going to give some and a player gives some back then fair dues to the player and look the yeah it will have probably particularly hurt them as well but it was it was Xerxe who took that game away from from them he was the one who carried the ball from United territory into City territory

with pretty much the last act of the game and then he ran probably even quicker back to the dugout to give some stick to the City fans who were berating him while he was sat there as a substitute. So,

Yeah, it wasn't a good week for him up until he came on at the Etihad. But I think that's something that Amrin deserves an awful lot of credit for because it's clear that he knew he was limited in terms of what he could do from the bench. And that's why he took until about 76th, 78th minute to make that triple change. Yeah.

And I know they were summoned around about 70 minute mark and the reasons for the delays in terms of those players coming on. But I think Anthony deserves praise because he put in a shift. What I'd say about Anthony, and I'm sure we'll get onto it again regarding the two wingers who weren't there. But when you watch him as he warms up during games, he's extremely attentive. He's like a cheerleader as well. He's very encouraging. So he's someone who's clearly observing a lot that's going on.

and last week well this it was last week wasn't it the two games he had an impact in both of them i thought he was pretty good in pills and then yesterday helped turn it around and xerxes contributed as well uh in in a different way just carrying the ball up the pitch that that that was a big contribution in terms of helping united over the line and that just goes to show that yeah

we talk about talent and i know we've said this so many times but you've got to have the right attitude if you're playing for for a huge club like man united and too often there have been players there who've been signed by the club who've uh been allowed to have been allowed to outstay their welcome who have just not had the right attitude and they've come from all different backgrounds different cultures some have been academy players have been big money signings and you know no

nobody's discriminating whatsoever there, but it does boil down to attitude an awful lot of the time. And the attitude of the whole squad yesterday was impeccable, impeccable. You couldn't fault it. And it would have been a big win, however they won that match yesterday. And to have won it the way they did, you know, it's borderline seismic. And they've really got to ensure that

They build, they kick on from this now. It's a very obvious thing to say. But I like the cut of Amrim's GBSA when he said, I'm going to enjoy this for 10 minutes and then we're moving on because it's just three more points. And he remembers, it's still very fresh in his mind, what happened against Nottingham Forest not long ago.

I hope he had a pint of Superboc when he got back home. It's a nice drop that from Portugal. Let's address the elephant in the room then, Samuel. It's a nice little segue when you talk about attitude. Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Ganacho were not in the squad as the, well, as

as you thought might have been the case before the game. It was seismic that when that was confirmed in Aaron 15 before the kickoff, it kind of threatened to overshadow the game because the Manchester derby and the performance itself should be the narrative. It should be the biggest story of the day when United play City. But when two of your leading goal scorers are left out of the squad, it's huge.

am room kind of provided a brief update to sky sports before the match he elaborated on it in the press conference do you just kind of want to talk about what i'm room said samuel because there were some really interesting quotes that i kind of thought in a way don't know if you agree with this he might have contradicted himself a little bit by saying it wasn't a disciplinary thing however he's then proceeded to say however it's important the performance in training the performance in the game the way he dressed the way he

the way you engage your teammates. So he's seen something that he doesn't like with Rashford and Garnaccio, and they trained at Carrington on Sunday morning before the match. Hence, they weren't included.

I think if we're to try and get at the shades of grey, I mean, he said, for me, it's important that performance and training, performance in game, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with teammates, the way you push your teammates, everything is important in our context, in the beginning of something when we want to change a lot of things. I can see how that's not a disciplinary issue because I

it's not necessarily them doing something outright wrong. It's not them insulting a teammate or breaking a rule or breaking a curfew or...

committing an act that's a findable offense it's not you know rushford last year the birthday party on deansgate hours after he was cheered off in a 3-0 home derby defeat that's a disciplinary issue him going on a belfast bender days before the season restarts that is a disciplinary issue

Having a bit of an attitude around the training ground, that is not necessarily a disciplinary issue. And that's what I think Amrim was probably getting at. I can completely also see why people are saying, well, it seems like a disciplinary issue because he essentially said that,

they're not engaged enough with their teammates their presentation um in terms of the way they dress isn't good enough their nutrition has is apparently an issue uh the way they've performed in games and in training hasn't been right as well

And therefore he makes the tactical decision to omit both of them from the matchday squad when I think we certainly, well, they both would have been expected to have been in that squad. Garnaccio maybe from the start. Rashford was never going to start. And I think Garnaccio was the bigger call.

because he is United's top scorer he has been in much better form than Rashford this season even though it's just one goal between them in terms of the scoring charts Garnaccio is a more important player to United but what what I thought it was rather minor at the time but in retrospect now maybe it's not but when he was preparing to come on against Pilsen

how garnacho this is, I did think his body language looked a little bit disengaged. And, okay, it's minus three. It's the 81st minute of a Europa League tie, but it's 1-1. Man United's going for a win. You're a forward. You're being sent on to help Man United get a win. If your body language is not absolutely right, and this coach is not missing a trick either, he is entitled to pull you up on that.

And with Rashford, he's a lost cause as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't have played him again after the Belfast incident in January. I wouldn't play him again after this. I know that he will play again for United. I think that we'd probably expect him to play against Tottenham on Thursday. But he's getting more lives than a cat and he's not worth it.

The chronology, the way it plays out, it's not rocket science. Man gets a huge salary hike of 325 grand a week after having...

the best season of his career. After that salary hike, his body language stinks. Friction develops with match goers. He decides it's a good idea to have a birthday party on Deansgate hours after he was cheered on in the Manchester Derby home defeat. Days before the season starts, he decides to go off to Belfast on a bender. How many goals has he scored during this time since he got his salary hike? I think about 15 goals.

which is half the total he got in that 2022-23 season. And...

I wrote about the game yesterday and essentially the two victories Amrim had, one the result, two winning without those two being in the team. And when he talks about that quote again, the way you engage with teammates, now the engagement goes a little beyond that as well. And we have had dealings with Rashford where he has not appeared the most engaged of individuals. I was...

a little bit pleasantly surprised when we interviewed him before the League Cup final that his answers to our questions were as engaging, were as engaged as they were in the answer at length. But he also did turn up for the interview and leave his sports car, the engine on it, running outside for more than half an hour. And then a couple of colleagues interviewed him at UCSD about six months later.

And as they were asking him questions, he just bent down and started tying up his shoelaces and talking to them without making eye contact. And then mid-question, he just walks away, just to the bemusement of the press officer, the bemusement of colleagues. And unfortunately for Marcus Rashford, money has changed him.

I don't think you can dispute that. His mother even did a piece in the Times earlier this year when she questioned the company that he keeps and he does keep questionable company and he clearly doesn't care about the optics or how people perceive him because he keeps on carrying on regardless. They hauled his brother in to Carrington in January

to essentially have a discussion about his situation after the Belfast incident. And, in fairness, that did blow over relatively quickly because Russia scored a good goal against Wolves a couple of nights later.

but this is someone who I highly doubt anyone in the United way end on Sunday missed Rashford or were longing for Rashford to be in the squad. And when you're, when you've lost confidence from the match goers, that is at that, at that point, it's probably time to consider a change of scenery. Um, we had a similar discussion about Rashford 11 months ago, post Belfast. Uh, this is another pretty serious discussion, maybe not as serious. Um,

Yeah, because everything considered, Samuel, when you analyse this season, it's not been a good season, obviously. But I wouldn't say it's been a bad season for Rashford. Yes, it has. Okay. Bad season? Yeah. So he's got seven goals, brace against Everton.

Okay, a brace against Everton. I mean, how many other Premier League goals has he got? Southampton, is it? He's had one very good half against Porto.

I understand, however, we're sitting on this podcast and talking about being left out of the squad for something that Amber M is clearly spotted. And we spotted that on Thursday night as well when he came off against Pilsen. So it's just so frustrating that we're sitting here and we're talking about it again, as you've said, because...

It just seems to go round and round in circles with Rashford, doesn't it? We're in this cycle. He might have a good season, play well, and we praise him. And unfortunately, he regresses again. And you're right, it's not good because it's happened after this bumper contract. Is it coming to the point now then, Samuel, as you've just said, that you think a divorce is the best option? Because there is kind of this growing...

feeling from matchgoers and supporters, we've all seen it. We talk to people who are just not happy with Rashford and they've had enough. Is it time for United and Rashford to part ways? And if that does happen, how much would they get for them? Because we actually discussed this at the game in the press room, I think, yesterday when I said 40 million would probably be fair. But who's going to pay that? Because PSG have always been linked, but they've moved away from that kind of model of signing those kind of players. I think the fee is becoming...

become an insignificant he whatever fee they would get for it would represent a profit and you can't hold out for big money for someone who's not been in the England squad since March who scored three Premier League goals this season against Southampton and Everton who got seven goals last season who has crossed his current coach having crossed the previous coach

In Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's final game in childhood, Watfield I remember Mike Thielen coming out and sends him to Rashford and his body language being abysmal. Next thing we knew he'd been substituted at half time. So this is going back three years, probably more than three years, more like three and a half years.

You can't keep on harping on about that great season that he had. This is a player who just blows hot and cold. His seasonal form shows that. He's...

He's completely expendable. They'd have sold him in the summer if someone had come in, but nobody was ever, ever coming in for him. That's why I didn't write chapter and verse on Rushford in the summer or before the summer, because I just knew that he wasn't going to be sold. There was no way.

But it was a failing of United that they accommodated him and Ten Hag because that relationship was unsustainable beyond last season. And it's not a surprise that one of them has gone before the end of the year. And it had to be Ten Hag. But there will be a hell of a lot of Manchester United fans that will regret that Ten Hag went ahead of Rashford. And I just... I don't see a way back for him at United now. Um...

He's not a kid. He's 27 and he's been a very mature player for a long time. February marks nine years for him in the United First team. He does not act like a senior player. You look at him and he strikes me as one of the junior players that you've got to get a hold of. And it is important not just to home in on him because Garnaccio, you cut a bit more slack because he is 20.

He moved to Manchester from Madrid at the age of 16 at the height of the pandemic. He became a teenage father. He can be puerile online. I think it is fair to say some of the things he's done, one of the most recent things being liking Murray Hutchinson's post celebrating a goal against Manchester United. I mean, go figure. But

that's a lot of Gen Zers, their behaviour is inexplicable. And you see the odd Instagram posts and yeah, sometimes you can mistake him for an influencer. Maybe that's something that Amram doesn't like, or maybe it's just the way he wore a tracksuit around Carrington or on a European trip. I've no idea in terms of the specifics of that.

But he was also late for meeting him pre-season on his first tour under Ten Hag. And that cost him any playing time in Australia and Thailand. And you do have to grow up, you know,

sometimes in certainly in the position he's in and the team he's playing for he has to grow up quicker than other 20 year olds do every 20 year old needs to grow up I mean there are times even still at the age of 36 where I need to grow up so I I you know I I empathize to to an extent but clearly Amram has seen things he does not like and

I don't know if there's a separate section on the whole leaking stuff and everything because it seems to fascinate every man and his dog even though it's been going on for quite some time but United they're conscious of not wanting to scapegoat an individual and they think that

I mean this is them thinking, this is their suggested working theory on it even though I was the one who obtained the team on the Sunday night, sorry the Saturday night. They don't think it's necessarily one individual. What I can say on all that is that either Alejandro Garnaccio or Roberto Garnaccio sent me a message on Saturday night saying here's the team for tomorrow and it wasn't someone with the surname Garnaccio either.

The way I've got that information in the past and recently, it's not like Bob Woodward going to meet Deep Throat in All the President's Men. It's really not quite as exciting as it appears in the film. But occasionally you know someone whose intel is gold. And fortunately I've been in that position before. I was in that position on Saturday night. And to be honest, when I think I stuck it up on my podcast,

social media feeds and I offered a lot of context as well because I'm always very reluctant to do a story on Team News until I've seen the actual team sheet because that is the final confirmation. Someone might get injured during that 15 minute period between the team arriving at the ground and the team sheet being printed. But I kind of naively thought that it may be circulating out there in the ether already but

But it wasn't. And I know a lot of people have speculated that Garnapcho's brother was behind some leaks. There was a relative of a United player who was absolutely behind team news leaks our season. I wrote that in a piece on Ten Hag sacking. That's nothing new.

But the internet is not lacking amateur sleuths. And I think the operative word is amateur. It happened a lot.

after the Rangnick season or during the Rangnick season about players leaking. I think Dean Henderson copped it probably because I've got some stories regarding the goalkeepers. I never spoke or exchanged a message with Dean Henderson or any member of the Dean Henderson family.

Again, you are more often than not dependent on the conduit, a go between, so to speak, someone who may know them or may not know them. I'm not saying I did know someone who knew the family or not.

And I was fortunate that I came across someone who has got, you know, gets pretty stellar information from time to time. And that's why the team was obtained on the on the Saturday night. But I find it crazy at times how fascinated, not fans necessarily, but some colleagues and other people,

other outlets get over these things i mean the bbc journalist asked asked amram about a team news league about the team news league on his post-match press conference i thought it's quite meta i mean the bbc would obviously never ever do a team news league story they made it

I'm not sure if they'd ever get a team news leak story and then today it's the splash on the Mail Online there's a follow up on the Sun as well and I completely respect and understand that desks will want their reporters to follow up on something that is of widespread interest and it clearly does fascinate fans out there and as Jose said I've got a talent for it and

Clearly, I've still got it. And you need to get the Fenerbahce shirt signed, as I said in the last podcast. Lastly, for me, and just to end the part, I was incredibly impressed with how Ambrim handled that situation, how he spoke about it. He comes across so well. He is a savvy communicator.

and every time he answers something in a press conference or when he speaks to Sky Sports he just hits every right note I think and to leave two of your biggest players out of a game it sets the right tone earlier in his tenure and he's letting everyone know who's boss which is the right thing to do we'll leave it there for part one then Samuel and we'll be back for part two

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Welcome back to part two of the Manchester is red podcast. If you're a United fan and you're going into work today, you might have a sore head.

but you definitely would have entered work with a spring in your step. There was a few controversial moments, Samuel, in the game. United conceded from another set-piece, which was really disappointing in the first half. Guardiola, obviously, with the header. Dalot and Haaland, he kind of got in between that pair and found the bat on the net. It's quite funny because in the last few weeks, United seem to be warming up and practising defending set-pieces before games. And yet, what is it, is it four in the last three league games now they've conceded?

And then in the second half as well, tempers boiled over.

with Rasmus Highland and Kyle Walker. That was the first half, wasn't it? Was that the first half? Yeah, sorry, the end of the first half, moments after the goal. It was a foul on Highland, of course. Walker's tripped him up. Highland's not been happy. He's approached him. And it was just pathetic, wasn't it, from Kyle Walker? He goes to the ground, tries to get Highland sent off. And thankfully, referee Anthony Taylor didn't buy it. I found it really interesting this morning. They've got a segment on Sky Sports called Referee Watch.

I can't, it's Dermot someone, who's the Gallagher? And he was saying, yeah, and so you discussed that incident, right? And then he came on to the penalty incident when Hoyland got took down by Diaz. So they talked about the two incidents and he was saying that wasn't a penalty. Like unbelievable. How can you be a former referee and say that's not a penalty? Do you want to sink your teeth into those two incidents? Yeah.

By the way, look, it's background watching. When I'm working away, I have Sky Sports on. Don't shoot us down. It really is not what it was, I can assure you of that. No, it's not. It's certainly not my background view and hasn't been for many years. Unfortunately, and...

They had a former referee. I'm not giving his name because everyone knows his name anyway. He has enough attention. He was on Co-Con yesterday as well. And he came out with some nonsense about, oh, you can't get a penalty in a game like this, mate. He said to Gary and everyone, he used the word mate.

which just made it even more cringe-inducing statement. I don't know why broadcasters and outlets get these former referees on to give their view because they were crap at it.

And they're even proper at giving a view on the current referees and how they should go about it. You don't, I don't think they're giving a review whatsoever. And I mean, with Walker, one is say he could have been sent off because he could have got a booking for the Chav and he could have, he should have got a booking for the play acting. And I think that would have been a very, very good deterrent for any other budding play actors out there. I mean, that,

that idiot um ben brereton diaz in the first weekend of the season when he claimed agony to get uh i can't remember he got sent off up at newcastle fabian char was fabian char that's it thank you but from that point on you knew he's not going to get anywhere with referees again this season

because his card is marked from that incident and it was a mistake like you know it was so it was i think sharp was from memory did he he nuts i say nutted him but didn't he put his head in and bravis just had an over elaborate reaction i think it's very similar incidents to be fair you could you could kind of understand why the red card was given because char was too aggressive

But the behaviour of Brereton Diaz was probably more offensive. And that was the case with Wonka. It was embarrassing for Wonka. Not the first time he's cheated.

yeah uh I can't I can't claim credit for that I think that was uh pretty much widespread on on social media Richard's in the window Studios watching the clip today and he went oh he's better than that as a person Roy Keane just looked and went is he is he yeah of course he isn't yeah

yeah maybe I I think he was maybe going on uh referring to uh what we were just referring to there uh Roy King but look that those those decisions were material in the end I I thought it was a penalty I mean it was really clumsy challenge by Diaz he certainly took out oil and didn't get anything off the ball it also winds me up with watching much the day last night the commentator said oh did he get the ball made could he have got the ball just

Say it how you've seen it. I've seen it and I've seen he's not got the ball. He's tripped him. It's probably a penalty. You can even catch it as that might be a penalty. But he's speculated whether he got the ball when he did it. And that's why, I mean, some of the reasons, it might be the Leicester goalkeeper who said that he watches football with the commentary turned off. It would be great to have that function a lot of the time. It really, really would be.

um moving on then a few positives from the game because there were plenty to discuss uh harry mcguire had a fantastic performance i thought he came back into the starting team we were both banging the drum weren't we from the to start at the eddie hard were considered the the threat of erling harland

and the kind of balls City can provide into the box from their dead ball scenarios. So Maguire had a really, really good match. Haaland didn't have a shot on target. He won fewer than half of his aerial duels and Maguire just basically bullied him. He spoke in the mix zone after he discussed his contract situation. Obviously, his contract ends at the end of the season, but United have the option of a one-year extension. I've said to you, Samuel, I'd actually give him a new deal. I think two years would probably be the sweet spot.

He's had a really good... We're talking in calendar years. I know football's not in calendar years. Maybe I've got the bug from that survey that Rich Bielsaier brought around. But Maguire's had a really good calendar year. In the spring, I was just so impressed with him. You might raise your eyebrows at that, but he was playing through the pain barriers. I think, again, you've... Well, he has picked up a few injuries. The injuries killed his Euros and they killed him in the running as well last season.

And I think he had a period out in the February time or March time. Yeah, but I just think about that time earlier in the year, in the spring, when he was coming back and he was clearly playing for a knock. And I remember we were down at Bournemouth and before halftime, he was holding his hamstring, looking like he was going to come off. He comes out, plays the game. Then it was the semi-final against Coventry.

tenog said he had an injury and he still played that game and he played was it the full 120 minutes i think so he's a player that i mean amram called him perfect yesterday for a back three and that might be what swings it because this this formation is non-negotiable this is going to be the way forward for united pretty much as long as amram is at the club and

realistically, Jonny Evans should be let go in the summer. Victor Lindelof will be let go in the summer unless somehow a team come in with a fee for him in January. And do you want to just completely halve your central defensive department or do you want to keep an element of continuity given that Lenny Oro's learning his trade is quite a raw defender and then you've got Harry Maguire at the opposite end of the scale who's an extremely experienced defender.

And also, is the oldest of the centre-backs available to United? And that's not a bad thing. That's not a negative whatsoever. I suspect maybe an issue could be his salary. Would they want him to be on that salary for another year? We've seen that happen already, how it played out with David De Gea and Rafael Varane in recent years, and they didn't get their contracts extended and they did end up leaving in the summer. I remember speaking to De Gea. I had a one-on-one with him in the mixed zone

in the new year of 2023 and he told me about his contract like he was he had a pretty good feeling that it was going to be a good outcome and of course it wasn't the outcome that that he wanted so things can change Maguire needs to stay fit the next six months five six months to ensure that he's got the best chance possible of being at the club next season but performances like yesterday Stephen Gates to

i mean harland is is not the force he was of his first season at city or his second season at the moment but it he is still a handful and it still takes immense concentration to get through a game against montague city and help your team to to victory at the s hat and mcguire did that he was after amad for me he was united's best player on the pitch yesterday

But Manuel Ugarte was another really solid performer as well as Samuel. He did a lot of good work breaking up play, intercepting, releasing balls forward, played a few good passes. He's made a few good positive strides, I think, in the last month. I mean, when he first came to the club, obviously his integration was delayed and he wasn't in the squad to face Liverpool just after he signed. And I had my doubts whether he was really cut out for the Premier League because he seemed to be struggling with the intensity of the game.

But again, I think he's really improved the last few weeks and that performance against City was what we expected from him when he joined the club. Well, he was always going to take a little bit of time to adapt coming from PSG, having been at Sporting before then.

and also the belatedness of his registration that meant that it was always going to be another two weeks for him to wait until he could make his debut because it was the international break he of course went away to south america that always increases the chances that you're not going to be starting the first game back and he's not starting the first game back after any of the internationals that united have had and ten hard let's face it he

Ugarte was not his primary choice of midfield signing in there. And Ugarte's debut coincided with a very brief purple patch from Christian Eriksen, where Eriksen all of a sudden started more games than we thought he'd start all season. And it's not a coincidence that since Amram came in,

He used Eriksen as a starter in that first match at Ipswich, but Eriksen has not started since. And Ugarte, who is known to have room for the time they had together at Sporting, is becoming a much more important player for United. And he became a pretty important player just for that brief period under Van Nistelrooy. He started all four games that Van Nistelrooy managed. And a little bit like Ahmad, with every change of manager,

he's become better, he's become more important. I think we all knew that he was going to start yesterday. We all knew that he had to start as well. It was a well-intended move to go with Mount in the starting line-up as one of the two behind Hoyland with Fernandes staying in midfield because I think we

We've spoken about this before and we probably talked about it before the Ipswich game, but Fernandes has absolutely got it in his locker to play in a deep midfield role. We'd seen it before. He's extremely versatile from his club career to his international career. He's played in back threes, played in back fours, formations.

He did very well from a deep role a couple of times under Ten Hag, maybe more than a couple of times, in fact. And it's slightly different, of course, where it's midfield four rather than having four players ahead of him, which would have been the case with a 4-2-3-1. But it's quite a steely combination, Ugarte and Fernandes. And let's face it, if you're not Pitters against Rodri...

You almost feel like you've got an advantage already, even though City have got other brilliant midfielders to call upon. But the fact of the matter is, looking at Ilkay Gundogan, he looks like his race is run. Yeah, I'm probably faster than Gundogan at the moment. Kovacic, OK, has been injured recently, but he's like a lot of the players at City, he's not...

He's been struggling this season. De Bruyne, I think, looks a little bit stocky these days, doesn't quite have the conditioning that he used to have, but age eventually catches up with all of us. So I think that for the first time in a good while, as far as Premier League games are concerned anyway,

in derbies. United were pretty well prepared for midfield yesterday and it didn't really harm them with Mount coming off after 12 minutes because I thought May knew Slotin quite well. He was good on the ball. Fernandes moved further forward. If that happens, you know that Fernandes is going to be more of a goal threat and he was. He had a great chance at 1-0 down. You thought that might have been United's one shot at getting a result at City but

Fortunately for them, a combination of Mateus Nunez and Ahmad gave Fernandes another shot. Mason Mount went down to the ground after 10 minutes. He looked absolutely heartbroken. He almost looked like he was consoled by Bruno Fernandes. He was accompanied by a member of staff as he went off the pitch and went straight down the tunnel. Khabib Meynou came on. I thought he actually had a very good game after maybe the first five minutes adapting and he was good in tight spaces.

Just a quick word on Mount Samuel. I feel really sorry for him. I know when fans discuss footballers and they take a lot of pellets for picking up so many injuries, but they are humans too. They are obviously handsomely paid, but these players worked very hard to come back. And he was very good off the bench against Pilsen on Thursday night. That looked like he was a really promising performance. He deserved to start against City. And to see someone break down after 10 minutes in such a high profile game, it's never nice.

No, it isn't. And look, you've got to look at it objectively still as well. His conditioning, his fitness, what adjustments need to be made there, etc.

How has his body got into a state over the past two years where it's clearly become difficult for him all of a sudden to play games, to play twice a week or sometimes once a week? And he's had a wretched injury record since the 2022 World Cup, I think it is. And it's ununited, of course, for spending £60 million on him. But no player goes onto a pitch and wants to get injured. Of course they don't.

and you could just tell from yeah he was he was visibly crestfallen and i think there were about six players six six starters who went up to him and consoled him because they all know how how how awful that must have felt for him then they'll see the hard yards he puts in in training and we we know just from going to games what hard worker he is and there's

It's a shame that none of us have really been able to speak to him because I think there's clearly quite a nice, he's quite a nice lad, like the activities he was doing at the local hospitals recently with other players, engaging with poorly patients, kids who sadly will be in hospital over Christmas. And he's clearly got that avuncular side to him. From what I'm told, he's very family oriented as well.

So there's a lot to like about him, even though we've not really got to know him. And that kind of typifies his time at United, that he's just this presence that nobody's really...

been able to suss in a positive way because he doesn't play enough because he's injured so frequently. And he's not at that face time in terms of speaking with us. And we've not really been able to get a good gauge as to how he felt during his first year or since then. I mean, I think pre-season would have been a good time for it, but clearly there's reluctance on his part

to talk to the press but that's his prerogative and it certainly doesn't determine how we cover his performances for United and unfortunately for him, unfortunately for us there have not been many performances to cover because of his injury issues but him and Luke Shaw are two players who there needs to be a real brute and branch review of their conditioning if United are to ever have them in a

not just a fit state but a fit enough state that they're going to be available for a prolonged period because when they are at their optimum that they are they're going to be two players who will be in the match day squad i would like to see the win lifted united up to i don't know maybe eight for ninth but they're still in 13th in the premier league table um it's just so tight at the moment in the top flight united now six points adrift of the champions league places not on forest so i was still in fourth actually

United got Spurs in the Carabao Cup course, obviously, on Thursday, Samuel. After that, it's Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle. That's a really attractive run of fixtures, is it not? Because if you can beat Tottenham, you're through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on the back of a derby win. And then you've got three games that you should be winning on paper. Wolves have just got rid of the manager. Obviously, Newcastle and Bournemouth are better sides. But with the wind in your sails, it could be a really positive Christmas period for United.

it could but you don't want to predict you can also say well they could lose against yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah they have a top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top

Wolves even, they'll have a new manager by then. Does the new manager bounce take effect? That game has become more difficult now than it would have been had Gary O'Neill somehow still been in charge on Boxing Day. So

predictions are i mean i find predictions pointless uh unless why i brought that up i mean you're you're you're the you're the best yeah i like to bet on a saturday yeah that's that's that's why you're um no the reason i brought it up is because when you have momentum and you get a result like that that does breed confidence and they're going into that game on thursday against tottenham now and they're thinking right hang on a minute we've had a few bad results here and there but

the mood will be very good around the place and that's a cliche but it will be heading into that game if you go into Christmas and you've beat City in Tottenham you're in the semis of the the Carabao Cup it's things are starting to look completely different completion yeah absolutely yeah and it was it was particularly important that they did not lose yesterday because if they'd lost that would have been three successive league defeats for the first time since December 2015 and that period Louis van Gaal really should have been he should have been sacked

But he somehow survived. So it was huge that they won anyway. But particularly given that context as well and what they avoided, it does make a huge difference. And of course, as you said, just looking at the table again now at the moment, it is extremely tight. I mean, Forrest has got 28 points behind.

Their fourth, United, they've got 22 points. Their 13th, the whole top four situation is still very much up for grabs. But United need to do something that they have not done in probably two years, and that's gone a consistent way around in the Premier League. I don't think they've done that probably since the restart.

of the season after the world cup in um in december 2022 under eric ten hard and that's been beyond them since that particular particular run of form where i think they won i think they won eight games in a row during that spell from from december it might have been november even because the world cup started then november into

into January and they need a repeat of that and as you said it helps that one they've just had a really really big win also the squad is pretty full they have got of course with Mount getting injured joining Luke Shaw in the treatment room that's a setback but they have got

They have got options and they've also got to have that bullishness about them. What I liked about them yesterday was that I think the possession stats were something like 49% for United and United have never ever got near that figure going to the Etihad with Guardiola as City coach.

And so you are starting to see signs that this team is mastering the style that Amram wants them to play. And they've got to take that foolishness into every game. Now, regardless of who the opposition is, they've beaten City, the champions, so

So there shouldn't be any inferiority complex. They know what the formation is going to be. They know what the manager wants from them, or the head coach, sorry. And they shouldn't be fearing anyone. Teams won't be fearing them either, of course. But

Because look at the way United are in the league, look at their form this season. It is still the worst United side in 38 years. But nevertheless, this is a team that have just had a pretty big scalp and they've got to turn the page now and ensure that this is the start of something new, as Amram alluded to yesterday.

it was 10 shots each free shot on Target each and yet at 48 possession and the players actually alluded to that as well in the mix on they were aware of that I think Dallow said that that does represent progress and it does yeah yeah I think I've been said in his press conference before the Forest game he said look

the perception of the team can change in a week, in seven days, because the games come fucking fast. You're playing twice or maybe three times in a week or in eight days. And it really could have united this week. Hopefully they have another good result against Tottenham on Thursday and can really kick on. Apologies for any background noise during the podcast. Samuel's been in transit again. So we might start a hashtag,

where's samuel because he was coming back from the czech republic for the last podcast samuel you're going to end up in a park or something next week where you're recording on this episode from uh fridays it'll be fridays fridays well well there is a train journey to navigate on the last friday before christmas so um but no i'll hopefully be in a quieter place

And hopefully warm. Thanks for your time, Samuel. Thank you very much. Thanks, Stephen. Thanks to the listeners. As usual, enjoy your week. I'm sure you will. We'll be back on Friday. Take care.