Manchester is RED | A wild ride at Spurs | Bournemouth preview
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Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Manchester is Red podcast with the Manchester Evening News. I'm your host Tyrone Marshall today, joined by Samuel Luckhurst. We are stuck in the same, I say stuck, I mean we're not stuck, it sounds like we're being held hostage, but we are in the same North London hotel, Samuel, in different rooms because we don't want to record together, we've seen enough of each other over the last 24 hours. Still recovering from a pretty wild and pretty bonkers night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Yeah, I'd actually dispute that. We are definitely stuck in this hotel where you get Wi-Fi free for 30 minutes. But that was definitely not our choice. It's a nice little early Christmas present. But the game was, yeah, we just asked for one normal day of covering Manchester United and we're not getting it at the moment. It was a pretty extraordinary game last night.

Yeah, I was talking about this with one of our colleagues in the press room beforehand. I mean, United winning Europe on Thursday, win the derby away from home on Sunday. And it is still a completely wild, completely chaotic week at the club. We'll come on to that. We'll discuss the game first. I mean, it's difficult to know where to start, but it was just crazy, really, wasn't it? A crazy, crazy game. Not a good night to be a goalkeeper.

Neither, both number twos playing, neither looked convincing. Tottenham asked going to goal with grey hair to pass out from the back. United's number two looked all over the place and they kind of added to what was essentially just a wild game that could really have gone either way, couldn't it? I think what United will rue about it is that they should have progressed in their eyes. I thought they were the better team over...

The course of the game, there was some very promising approach play. They had good chances. They really had Tottenham up against it. But there were just two goalkeeping errors and two goals conceded within a quick period of time. With this, Andre Martins is really the culprit with the two goals just after the second half restarted.

And that killed them. And that's given away four goals. And if you give away four goals in a game, you'd have to be pretty exceptional not to lose it or to win it. And in the end, they fell short there. The other glaring issue is that this team does lack bite. That inevitability about United coming back, pegging teams back, that is starting to resurface. But they never strike you as a team that is going to get the...

going to get a goal when they really, really need to. Of course, they did on Sunday. But you look at that two goals within 115 seconds of each other and it does look like an anomaly. And I think Amrim, having just coached these players in two very, very different games

I think the Tottenham game is a more reliable gauge of where United are at, the issues they have, the positive aspects about them. They are a more strategic side. We saw that with the subs last night. It wasn't just you, you and you go on and let's see how we get on. There was a strategy behind it. But I said this before the derby, if you've got two full-backs as your wingers, that is going to compromise how you attack players.

And I think that was apparent again last night. Dalot is soldiering on in a position that is not his forte. He's right-footed. He's a right-back by trade. He's playing as a left winger. And there's nothing clinical about him in the final third. Masraoui, they are starting to coax a little bit of the attacking instincts out of him and have been in the past four or five weeks. But he's not...

I don't think he's half the attacking full-back that Trent Alexander-Arnold is, for example. And that's the level that you need. And we've spoken before about

the balance that's required for those two wide roles. I mean, I don't see them as wing-back roles. They are... You're playing as a winger. Your prime objective has got to be to service the forwards. And, of course, there is going to be an awful lot of diligent running in the opposite direction that's required. And that's why it's such a fine balance to master. But they're not going to get there with Dallow and Masraoui and...

There aren't many other options in those two positions. And fortunately for United, those two players are two of their most durable as well. And then in terms of the front three last night, Fernandes and Anthony are not the paciest of playmakers. Hoyland...

who put in a really good shift last week against City. I think he was quite easily handled by Dragusen on this occasion and some of the balls United were playing up to him were somewhat illogical. There was the odd occasion where Hoyland was caught on his heels, which has been a criticism of him in the past as well, where the odd ball went across goal.

And that is what's going to frustrate Amram when he looks back on this game, because particularly in the first half, it felt like they had three good chances from those three cutbacks, two to Eriksen, one to Anthony. One of them had to go in. They didn't. And really, Tottenham scored at the times which were most crucial. They went 1-0 up.

They scored 47 seconds into the second half. They got a goal pretty quickly after that. And even though it felt like United were on the cusp of completing a comeback,

It was still one goal too many and when a goalkeeper chucks away goals like Buick and Deer did last night as well, it's not going to help matters. So there was an awful lot to unpackage but there was also quite a lot to like about United last night even though they conceded four goals and lost.

Yeah, and the attacking comparison, I think, is a valid one because certainly first off, it was at least an equal game. If not, United work with a better team and you can argue even at 3-0. And I was saying to you that I actually think they play pretty well, even though they're 3-0 down. But, you know, Solanke is a better, more experienced striker than Hoyland. Son and Anthony, there is no comparison. Kulishevsky and Fernandes, I mean, there's probably not much in it being truthful.

Dalot was probably United's next highest attacker. That right-to-left switch worked an awful lot. They got him in good positions. Madison was probably the next Tottenham front four. Every one of those is better or equal than United, and they were just more ruthless than...

But it was still, I made the argument to you and wrote this in my morning piece, that it was almost the opposite to what Ten Hag used to struggle with in a way. Ten Hag's team never looked cohesive, never had a structure. It relied on individuals producing brilliant moments that would so often bail United out or get them a result last night.

Tottenham arguably strengthened their team through their changes. United was weaker. There was a lot of fringe players there and they almost played well regardless of the individuals last night. You could watch that and see, right, this performance is more than the sum of the parts of those players on the pitch. It's not getting a result because Tottenham

The individuals in key areas just aren't quite good enough, such as Anthony. You play out instead of Anthony. And I'll say that that's a very different game of football last night. But structurally, you could really see Amarim's imprint. And I think in possession, arguably the best they've looked under him last night. And, you know, like I said, I just still think there's real positives from it in terms of the way they played, despite the changes they made.

That's why it's such a strange game to dwell on in that it's

It's been a long time since United lost a game and we've been very upbeat about them. And that was the dilemma in terms of writing the piece last night as well and trying to capture that because they have gone out of the competition. It's one down and two to go on the trophy front and they will be gutted at how they lost last night. But there was an awful lot of positivity about them as well. And as you said, with certain players, he...

He's yet to master the rotation.

And it felt like there were more changes last night than it seemed. It was five changes, but when you see Lindelof starting, Eriksen starting, these players will not be at United next season, I think it's safe to say. And it gives the illusion that there's a lot more, there have been a lot more changes that have gone on there. Anthony as well, I think you can throw in the mix, it must have been his third or fourth start of the season. So at least two of those players are real fringe players. And so...

Amrim is consciously blunting the team or weakening the team, but he is still getting a performance of sorts because I felt the first half they were good. I thought the approach play was promising. The switches from right to left were working well.

But he can only work with what he has got. And it's a big problem with the wings, even though the players are pretty respectable. Or in Masraoui's case, he's had a good first four months at United. But you've not got that attacking instinct that you need from wingers there. I know I've banged on about it before the Victor Moses, Marcus Alonso thing.

double outs that Chelsea had when they won the title under Conte with a 3-4-3. But United need something similar to that and

Garnaccio is not going to play in one of those positions. They've tried Anthony there, but I think we all know that Anthony is not good enough for United. I mean, you think of that Ahmad goal last night. Can you imagine Marcus Rashford busting a gut like that to charge down a goalkeeper? No. And at one point later on in the game, Amrim was actually urging Ahmad to run back. He felt he could have been running even more. And those are the demands that Amrim has of

of these players. But it did give you... If you're a United fan, you should be reassured, I think, by a lot of what you still saw last night. There's a clear connection between the supporters and the team is absolutely sound. The support for the head coach is...

His name was aired in the 12th minute. There was a bed sheet that was essentially imploring Rashford to pack his bags and clear off to Saudi Arabia or wherever his exit route may take him. And at full time, there was a lot of appreciation from the supporters who stayed behind. Quite a few had left, but they were bound to have been disappointed and frustrated that United had somehow not won that game. But, you know,

The away end was in a pretty deafening voice for the majority of that match last night. And we all know this, as Amram said himself, two years in is the fair time to judge him. So he's going to have...

three or four transfer windows by that point. And they will need them. I know it's an obvious thing to say, but they do need certain parts to make that formation really function because Spurs were literally sharper in the box last night and they have sharper tools in the box than United. As you quite rightly said, Solanke and Son are better goal scorers than any other

any goalscorers or part-time goalscorers United have in their squad. Maddison is a better player than the majority of United's forwards. Kulosevsky, I think he's technically one of the best players in the Premier League and just going off that front four, front six that Spurs had last night, they should have expected to beat United and watching United as encouraging as it was, the problems they have are that the

The wingers are not wingers and they don't have a potent goal scorer. And when you look at just how Amrim oversaw Sporting's 4-1 victory over City, although there was a lot of, you know, there's a bit of luck involved in it and a lot of mitigation around that final score.

It was all about providing depth to the striker and it had wingers who were attack-minded. If you look at the profile, I can't remember the name of the other guy. Giovanni Kenda was the one who played on the right. But the other one, he is profiled as a winger. He's not profiled as a full-back. And I thought at the time, well, that's interesting because I don't really see that working with outright wingers at United. But it's...

Those are the two, for me, they are the two main areas of interest for United when it comes to strengthening. They're going to need a dependable goal scorer and they're going to need pure wide players, I think, who are really going to be able to service that striker. Yeah, absolutely. Let's look at a few examples.

Individual performances then, and we'll come on to the exceptional, arguably exceptional player later in the podcast for a specific reason. But I guess a couple of the negatives. I mean, Lissandro Martinez is a bit of a concern this season. I don't think he's having a good season by any measure. And he was poor last night, a poor clearance for the goal. And then just really passive against Solanke for the third goal, which is very unlike him. And let's look at Bayenda in the same answer, I guess. I mean...

As a paid-up member of the goalkeepers' union, I had a little sympathy with the fourth goal. I don't think he needs to go with two hands, but when he's jumping with two hands and one does get pulled, I can see why he's claiming interference. But I'm not sure he was saving it, even if he got both hands up there, to be honest. And the first goal, there is just no excuses. And as harsh as it sounds, every time he plays, he just looks out of his depth. And as a number two, I don't think he's good enough.

No, you've summed it up perfectly there. I've never looked at him and thought, yeah, he's a good number two or good enough to be a number two. When you rotate goalkeepers for big cup games, you need them to be dependable. Liverpool, with Alisson and Kuiper Kelleher, they can do that and they have no problem doing that. United used to be able to do it with Sergio Romero six or seven years ago, however long it may have been. But

when you're taking a goalkeeper off Fenerbahce for about £4 million and Fenerbahce are happy to let him go, it's not really a ringing endorsement. And I think he made a pretty good save against Leicester in the previous round where he tipped it onto the bar, but he had made a couple of mistakes in that game as well. And

I mean, it was possibly a little cruel what they did last night because they showed a replay of Son's ultimately winning goal on the four big screens in the stadium, which is not necessarily the done thing or it's certainly discouraged, but it did at least, you know, it did...

it did show to Bayern Deer how futile it was just protesting against this phantom foul that he was claiming. There was a little bit of contact on his arm, but it was absolutely not a foul if VAR was active.

I dread to think what VAR would have done. You can never predict what those robots are going to come up with. But VAR was not needed for that incident. It was just rank bad goalkeeping. And it was shoddy goalkeeping for the first goal as well. I know there was a slight deflection, but the ball didn't really deviate that much. It was straight down the centre of the goal. And he punches it back straight out into the danger zone. And Slonky took it really well. Really, really clinical.

with that first-time finish. But those are the risks you take against strikers who've got reasonably good Premier League records or are, you know, in Slanky's case, he's a £60m striker. I think a lot of people would expect him to score on the rebound there. And I just, you know...

I've said before, I'd have Tom Heaton playing in these games ahead of Bayer and Deer. I know he's probably 13 or 12 years older than Bayer and Deer, but he's a better goalkeeper than him. He's more authoritative. I think he'd probably be able to...

play the ball around a little bit better as well. I mean, before the goal was conceded last night, Bayern Dier scooped one ball into touch and for some reason he didn't come for a ball over the top when he should have come for it as well. So he'd had a bad start before he made the error for the first goal. And ultimately, I think he cost United more than any other player on the pitch last night. And next in line,

was Martinez. He got... The first one where he lays it on a plate, puts it on a plate for Kulosevsky is lazy. But the bigger concern was the third goal. I mean, Solanke just made mid to meet out of him. He dribbled past him as if he was no more of an obstacle than a training cone. And Solanke gave Willy Kamwala a real going over at Bournemouth last season when United went down there.

I think he had an easier time up against Martínez last night, which has got to concern Martínez and Amarim. And again, in terms of these glaring issues, which were certainly exposed last night, that was another one. Amarim said at his first press conference, I think,

that United need to improve the physical aspect. And there was no physicality there whatsoever from Martinez up against Solanke. And Solanke is a unit, but he's also a unit who moves quite freely. And he's starting to find his groove at Tottenham.

Yeah, yeah, he looks a smart player, it's fair to say. And I think too often we're seeing transfers, strikers who've moved in the Premier League recently, who you look at and think they could probably have done a job for United. And as much promise as there is there with Hoyland, he's too far off the finished article, I think, to be starting every week. Excuse me. That's all for part one. We'll be back after the break to look ahead to Bournemouth and discuss a couple of other issues.

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Welcome back to the Manchester is Red podcast. Pre-match last night then, there was interesting one player in particular, and once again it was a player who wasn't on the team sheet. The teams arrive at Tottenham, or the away team arrives at Tottenham, and has to walk across the side of the pitch behind one of the goals, basically, not far from the press box. So we were all gathered there at half six just to get confirmation of what we knew from last night, that Marcus Rashford wasn't there. I thought you were going to say Matthijs De Ligt.

Well, of course, yeah, yeah. Poor Matthias Delix, who's unwell and is eliciting no sympathy because nobody even noticed he wasn't there in all the ferrari around Rashford. Apologies, Matthias. Get well soon. But you have been relegated to a very minor mention on this occasion, I'm afraid. And then, yeah, the bedsheet. Excuses, Tara Marcus unveiled just before kick-off. And I...

I said it half-time, actually. It's almost more interesting that they put their postcode on that banner. M34 Day Nights, you know, a Denton postcode. And essentially, you've got Mancunians calling out one of their own, another United fan, a Boyle's United fan, an academy graduate, who they clearly want out of the club. And, you know, it split opinion a bit on Twitter. There was other, you know, Mancunite fans who weren't

particularly fond of the banner or keen on the idea, but it just kind of shows when you've got United fans from Manchester who think that of Rashford, it shows his standing among the fan base at the moment, doesn't it? And if he does play again for this club before he leaves, it's going to be very interesting to see what sort of reaction he gets.

Yeah, I think I know one of the chaps responsible for the banner and he made me aware, please, please don't forget it was signed off by the M34 Dane Bank Reds. So I made sure that that was included in copy.

But it was quite amusing before the game when the team news dropped and United clarified Matthijs de Ligt is unwell. And you, quick as a flash, were like, well, what about Marcus Rashford? And then it was quite quickly confirmed that it was on selection grounds and that he was well. And there is an outside chance that he'll be back in the squad on Sunday because Lindelof is injured. So that means someone new has to come into the squad.

who wasn't in the squad last night. That could be De Ligt, logically. It should be De Ligt, one defender for another, and you'd hope that De Ligt has recovered from illness by that point.

I think Amrim has handled the situation pretty well so far. It was a little bit bizarre when we went to Carrington on Wednesday morning and he was informed of this new challenge that Rashford wants and then he interpreted a completely different challenge at the

almost a phantasm of a challenge that that rushford can have to to make united a force again but that was only going to you know he was not going to be able to get away with that let's say for for the entirety of it and come the end of the press conference he he did take it on a little bit saying that if it if it was him he'd have he'd have spoken to his manager and

voiced his opinion on whether he wanted to leave or not. I think during that press conference across the two sections, there were 16 questions on Rashford. In the press room at Spurs last night, our colleague Mark Critchley was suggesting that there were some online fans who were like, yeah, good on Amrim giving it to the journalists. I don't really understand that because Rashford has come out and said that he wants to leave. We're duty bound to try and...

get as many specific details as possible from it. And also, I think it's in United's interests and United fans' interests that Amrim treats him in a way that's not exactly contemptible as such. I mean, he's got to be professional about it, but just remove him from selection altogether. And obviously he did that on Sunday and he did that last night as well. I think that should just go on indefinitely until Rashford's future is resolved.

And by that, of course, I mean, get to move in January. That needs to be the aim for Rashford and for the club. I think Rashford actually did United a favour on Tuesday by conducting that interview a day after he was unwell. On Tuesday, United players had a day off and where he said that it's time and maybe it's time for a new challenge and the next steps. I think those were the words. And when he does next play,

I think he will get quite a caustic reception from the majority there, but it is a unique dynamic because...

There are kids in Greater Manchester who absolutely idolise Rashford. And speaking to people from United last night, they said that he is pretty much the most popular media request or in terms of poorly kids wanting a signed shirt, he is the go-to player. He is the poster boy still for Rashford.

for thousands in the Greater Manchester area. And I'm sure he's got a legion of followers and loyalists around the world who won't have a bad word said about him. But matchgoers, certainly adult matchgoers, they do tend to view things more objectively. And less than 12 minutes in last night, Ruben Amarin's name was chanted there.

The support is completely for the head coach rather than the player. And, OK, that bed sheet last night, it was a minority of fans, but I think it was draped down over high up. And I think some guys who probably didn't know the chaps who made the banner were actually trying to stretch it out to make it as visible as possible. So it got ample airtime.

I imagine there were like 5,700 United fans in the away end last night. I think the majority of them would want to see Rashford sold or loaned next month. There's been friction between Rashford and the matchgoers for years.

Coming up to 18 months now, I'd say, and I think the majority of those really noticeable public tics, if you like, between player and match goes, they've happened at Old Trafford. So, and normally you think Old Trafford, you know, it's a much more diverse crowd. It's 70,000 fans rather than a few thousand fans at an away game.

but a lot of supporters have turned on him or voiced their disapproval of his body language or the way he's gone about playing for Man United. And when we thought it might have turned when he came back into the team at Wolves in February, a few days after the Belfast bender,

he nipped it in the bud really quickly because he scored a very good goal after about five minutes and he was playing in front of the away end as well that night at Molyneux the away end stretches along the pitch on that far side and

But he scored within five minutes and that was that. And, you know, they were chanting Rashford's on the pitch. So it went from one possible atmosphere to a completely different atmosphere because he'd scored. And ultimately, that's all United fans want to see from players. It's for them to perform. And if you're performing, you're going to be all right with them. But Rashford hasn't been performing for...

For a very long time. I got the gist just from speaking to Amrim on Wednesday at Carrington, the way he spoke about Rashford, the way he spoke about, very briefly, Garnaccio as well. My gut feeling then was that Garnaccio would go to Spurs and Rashford wouldn't go. And then in the evening, fortunately, we got the story in.

In terms of the squad, and I was saying to my editor quite early on as I was doing it, checking who was there and whatnot, I said there's no way Rashford is going to be there. And he wasn't there. So Sunday's a different day, but I still think it's in United's best interests that Rashford stays at home. They did not miss him last night. I mean, there was a question about the possibility of a mistake of not selecting him.

after the game I think that's almost a moot point at no point watching United did you think yeah they could really do with Marcus Rashford I mean there were issues with the attack last night but Rashford is not a reliable goal scorer and he's not always dependable when it comes to properly putting in a shift either No and

We talked about this on Monday anyway, that it was a really brave call from Amarin on Derby Day to basically not select Garnaccio and Rashford.

It's actually even braver again last night with Garnaccio back. One game, dropping those two players for one game is a statement, isn't it? It's basically a message to the rest of the squad and a message to those two players. These are the standards. If you don't meet them, you're not in the squad. Lesson learned. You're back. That's fine. But everyone's got the message in the squad now. To leave him out for a second game, it kind of elevates it a little bit further, doesn't it? It goes from...

It goes from, I'm making a point with the selection to you're still not there. And, you know, it's a brave thing to do because it changes. And I know Rashford himself changed the dynamic of it on Tuesday. But for Amram, it does change the dynamic of it now. It's not about Garnaccio and Rashford. It's solely about Rashford now. He's...

I say throw him under the bus, that's not the right phrase, considering most of this is Rashford's doing. But he will have turned some fans against Rashford. And that is purely because of Rashford's performances and the way he's played and not looked to be enjoying his football over recent years. But like we say, if he does try and bring it back on Sunday now,

What sort of reception is he going to get? It's probably not going to be a good one. So, you know, I thought it was another really brave call from him to say, right, the message hasn't got through. So again, you're not in my squad. And he's really laying down the standards very early on, isn't he? Yeah. With Garnaccio, Garnaccio didn't say anything after he was removed from the squad and made to train.

at Carrington on Sunday. Within seconds of the final whistle, Rashford's put in a post up on Instagram and it was

I've got no time for that. I think it's pretty phony. I think it's pretty hollow. And if you're going to do that, just leave it at that. But then, of course, he felt, well, no, actually, I'll conduct an interview as well and essentially ask for a transfer. It was tantamount to submitting a transfer request. He knows he's come to the end of the road at United, but...

The way he goes about it, he was... I think of when he came into the team and how driven he looked and not looked he was. He didn't do a great deal of media, but

On the few occasions he did, he really captured the imagination and he was the poster boy. Mourinho took to him very quickly, as you'd expect him to, given the talent that he had available to use there with Rashford. And

You look at him now and the way he goes about his job, it's almost like an academy player who just knows he's not going to make it at United. And so it's like, well, I'll just while the time away until my contract ticks down. And that is not what Rashford used to be. And that's what makes it such a shame because he was, when he came into that team, he was extremely driven. I mean, he got into the squad first.

matchday squad a few months I remember doing a story on the Friday night a few months before he made his debut against Michelin and some people were aware of him and then extraordinary circumstances enable him to make his debut and gets two goals against Michelin and then two goals three days later against Arsenal and you know that this kid is here to stay and really he should you know he is a player that everybody would have expected or assumed would would

stay at United for the rest of his career, but that's not going to happen now and it can't happen as well. Things have changed. Too much has changed. I think what's particularly, you know, it's almost a clincher really with Rashford that when a new manager comes in at United, apart from Ralph Rangnick, who didn't really take to him, he always put

performs. He always bedazzles the new manager. He always goes on a good run of form. We thought that was going to happen again under Amrim because he scored after 80 seconds at Ipswich. Yet, even on that day, it felt like watching him, Rashford seemed to think that a goal after 80 seconds accounted for 90 minutes of work.

And it didn't. And he got a couple of goals against Everton the following week as well. One somewhat fortuitous. The second one, I thought, was more that was the run, the directness, no hesitation with the shot. That was more like the Rashford of two seasons ago. But

It was an anomaly. And OK, he wasn't going to be happy with being put back on the bench against Arsenal. And then he was on the bench against Forest as well. And United lost both those games. But in a way, that kind of works to his advantage because he was on the bench for both matches. United lost both matches. But then in Pilsen...

He wasn't the only one, but he just didn't really turn up. There was literal distance when he was subbed that night because Amram was on the left side of the touchline. But Rashford had absolutely no interest in...

in acknowledging him and you could look at it the other way as well you could say well Amrim should have made a beeline for him it's the manager's obligation to acknowledge the player who comes off but even last night you saw every player who came off Amrim made a point of acknowledging them and with Rashford

there's just you know we you obviously had that infamous shoelace incident with Rashford when you were interviewing him and he's not making eye contact with you he just walks off mid-question and I think a few of us have

have seen that side to him and I've said it before wealth has changed a lot of people in the world and I think he's one of the more recent examples where he is just a very different personality it feels like just looking in from the outside and that's a great shame because he is someone who probably should have been

becoming United's all-time record goalscorer in four or five years' time, but that's not going to happen now. He's got no one to blame but himself. I don't think United have done anything wrong. There was some pretty preposterous punditry from Micah Richards at the weekend at

about Rashford being scapegoated. If you're one of the highest earners in the squad and you're a forward and you're expected to score goals and you're not doing that and your body language is bad and you're going out for a birthday party on Deansgate hours after losing a Manchester derby that you were cheered off in and you're going on a Belfast bender days before the season's about to restart, that's not the fault of the club. The club of...

they've given him everything really and he's given them a lot back in return but it's in the interests of all parties that that association ends next month Yeah I would completely agree with that and whatever happens on Sunday whatever his status in the squad I think it's fair to say he's not going to be starting but it does feel like

Amarim's strongest team is probably starting to take shape. I mean, in terms of Sunday, I think it'd be nice to see Ugarte and Mane play together again. They've only started once so far. It feels like that's going to be the Forest game. It feels like that's going to be the strongest midfield too. Yeah, under Amarim, yeah. That's going to be the strongest midfield too, but...

Not seen an awful lot of them. I thought Mane was good when he came on last night. I guess the other question is, is the striker issue kind of resurfacing? Does Hoyland need a break? Zirksey actually did pretty well last night, buoyed by his goal probably early on, but a much more energetic performance. And like I say, I thought Hoyland was handled pretty easily while he was on the pitch and

I think Hoyland's the one you'd probably want to invest in long term, but that position remains a real issue, doesn't it, for each game, really?

I think there's going to be a lot of chopping and changing with that position, partly because of the workload, also Amrim's rotation. I don't think he's going to stop that anytime soon. He may want to rein it in when it comes to the goalkeeping situation for any upcoming cup games. But as we said earlier, there were five changes last night and it did feel like there were more than that. Looking ahead to the weekend, I don't

And it's sometimes pretty futile trying to guess Amram's teams because I don't think anybody's ever got anywhere near to correctly predicting the XI unless it was leaked in the case of the derby team last week. But Xerxe at least has got some confidence at the moment in that he got a goal last night. He had a header just before that where he was a little bit unlucky.

So he hit the ground running and he ended the game running against City as well, where he took the game away from them with that charge into their territory right at the death. And it was pretty much the final act of the match. And then he probably ran...

even quicker back to the dugout to celebrate in front of some City fans who were giving him a stick. And United fans will have a lot of time for that attitude and you think good on him in those circumstances as well. So I'd certainly be tempted just to try and strike while the onion's hot with Xerxe. And speaking to someone at United, they said that Amram does tend to pick players who are specific for

for the game and Bournemouth do have some, Bournemouth are quite a tall team and sometimes that is going to have to come into it because Amrim has said that United are not that tall a team so also I think you look at Harry Maguire and you think there's a good chance that he'll come back into the side at the weekend

When Lindelof went off injured just before half-time last night, Maguire rather hopefully trotted over to Amrim just behind Johnny Evans and Amrim was very quick saying, no, no, no, you're not coming on because he...

feel as though he's durable enough yet to play another 45 minutes, having played 90 minutes on the Sunday. But I think there's a very good chance that Maguire will come back into the team. Also, United, they are better at defending crosses, corners, free kicks. With Maguire on the pitch, I think it's pretty

it's been pretty obvious that they're worse when he's not on the pitch. I mean, they scored, sorry, they conceded from another corner last night, but I don't think you can pin that one on

On Carlos Fernandez or the set-piece drills, that was just a dreadful goalkeeping howler. So Maguire, I'd certainly be looking at. But we've not mentioned him. I thought Lenny Oro had a really good game last night. I think the more you watch him, the more you can see why Real Madrid wanted him. He does not play like a 19-year-old. He's very good under pressure. He's very good on the ball. His reading of the game,

It does belie his age. He only turned 19, I think, last month. So that was another definite positive from last night. So that's another thing that Amrim can be pleased with. He has got multiple options in certain areas. There were just a couple of areas where

When it comes to picking it, you think it's not ideal having that player in that position or it's much for muchness if you're chopping and changing. But United are, it feels like since Ten Hag went, they have actually started to score quite a few goals, even though we still look at them as a team that struggle for goals because sometimes it's all about the timing of it. And that's what did them at Spurs.

Yeah, absolutely. And finally then, the arguably star man again, even though he only came off the bench yesterday, Ahmad, the

The winner of the MEN's Fans Footballer of the Year, reach titles doing Fans Footballer of the Year, because we like to be different and do it for calendar year rather than season. And Ahmad has won the United honour, despite only starting 17 games in 2024 and not starting a game until May, which probably says an awful lot for his impact then. I mean, it's incredible to sit here and think that he has been voted by United fans as their Footballer of the Year award.

When in, you know, you think back before that Liverpool Cup game in April, I think we all probably thought he was going to be sold in the summer. He failed to get a real chance to,

Under 10, Haag. He was at an age where he either needed to be playing or be sold. And frankly, in March, late March, we'd barely seen anything of him. And now you look at him and you think, you know, I said to you last night, whatever team Amarim picks, Ahmad has just got to be on there, whether it's right wing back, whether it's number 10. He is electric at the moment and he's United's best attacking weapon, isn't he? He's had an incredible year, but more importantly, an incredible seven, eight, maybe nine months since that Liverpool game.

He has. And play of the year awards, they should really just be judged on their performance over a season because that's how it works. But there are a few exceptions. I think England still come up with a calendar play of the year, which I suppose there's a little bit more sense to it because of the way the internationals are staggered.

But, I mean, Stephen Ralston was suggesting the Narnia about two weeks, not even two weeks ago. And obviously the timing there did not coincide to his favour. I just think with Ahmad, he has literally got better as the year has gone on. He was coming on in games at the start of the year.

doing quite well. Then he got the winner against Liverpool, which is one of the most celebrated goals at Old Trafford. Had quite a good end to the season to the point where he was a little bit unlucky not to start the FA Cup final. He was good in pre-season and with every managerial change this season, he's got better. And even under Ten Hag, who froze him out a little bit towards the end of his time,

I think he produced probably one of the best individual performances by a United player this season at Southampton when they won their 3-0 in September. And also personality, you can't underestimate. During that pre-season tour, there were five British players who refused to speak to the press because they're...

for whatever reason, different reasons, some of them understandable, some of them not understandable. And then you've got Ahmad, who's 22, quite softly spoken, not done a lot of media, going up and sitting in for a press conference and coming across extremely well. And I think Fernandes said at the weekend how he knows more Spanish or more Italian than English, but his English was really impressive that day as well. And

When you have that face time with a player, and they come across as well as he did that day, you will them to do well even more. I don't think anybody who covers United or watches United would begrudge the experience.

the acclaim he's got recently. He is, he's a little gem and, uh, yeah, United also over a big debt to, uh, Tony Mowbray for the job he did with him up at Sunderland. I mean, there was a managerial change there as well. Uh, Alex Neal was the man in charge when Ahmad was signed, but, uh, but he left the Stoke in late August. And normally when that happens, I'd say 90 times, 90% of the time, it,

It goes against the low knee, but Ahmad became a better player through playing under Mowbray for the remainder of that season. And all I'd say now with United is I don't know what they're waiting for in terms of getting him tied down on a new long-term contract because they've got to do that pretty sharpish.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. He got my vote and it's nice to be in the majority for once. And I think he definitely deserves it. And he has got to start on Sunday. That's all for today's episode. Thanks for joining us, Samuel. And we'll be back on Monday looking at the rota for a festive pod. So get your Santa hat.

Ready, expect to see some sort of effort with Fancy Dress, please, on Monday, Samuel. I have got one. I think it might be my son. So, I mean, not many hats fit my rather large head, but if my son can just tip on top of me, then maybe it'll make a showy.

That's it. That's it. I think watch us on YouTube on Monday to see Samuel Santa hat everybody. That's a promise that's been made now. So we expect to see it. Please leave us a like, remember to subscribe to get the latest podcast in your feed. Thanks for listening today and we'll speak to you all on Monday.