Dan Ashworth's departure was a shock because he was a highly regarded sporting director who had been courted by INEOS for a long time. His exit came just five months and six days after he officially started at United, following a four-month gardening leave. The suddenness and the circumstances of his departure, including being escorted by security, suggested internal turmoil and a lack of alignment with the club's leadership.
Dan Ashworth's exit was driven by internal disagreements, particularly over the appointment of Ruben Amorin as head coach. Ashworth had pushed for Gareth Southgate instead. Additionally, there were broader issues with the club's leadership and decision-making processes, including a lack of alignment with INEOS's vision. His departure was effectively a sacking, despite United's attempts to downplay it.
INEOS's management has been widely criticized for continuing the chaos at Manchester United. Key issues include the decision to extend Erik ten Hag's contract before sacking him, the hasty appointment and subsequent departure of Dan Ashworth, and significant cost-cutting measures like hiking ticket prices and scaling back academy coverage. The club's poor results and lack of clear direction have further fueled dissatisfaction.
The 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest highlighted United's ongoing struggles, as it marked their lowest position after 15 league games since the 1986-87 season. The loss underscored issues with player form, defensive errors, and a lack of cohesion. It also emphasized how far United have fallen, with Forest, a recently promoted team, now seen as being in their slipstream.
Manchester United's recruitment under Erik ten Hag has been criticized for its over-reliance on Dutch players and connections, such as Antony, Lisandro Martinez, and Sofyan Amrabat. This strategy has been seen as narrow and ineffective, with many signings failing to deliver. The club's failure to address key positions and its continued spending on underperforming players have compounded their on-field struggles.
Harry Maguire's absence has weakened United's defense, particularly in set-piece situations. His height and aerial ability have been missed, and the team has struggled to defend corners and free kicks without him. Maguire's experience and leadership have also been lacking, further exposing United's defensive vulnerabilities.
This episode is brought to you by Bleacher Report. How do you follow sports? From college football to the NBA, Bleacher Report brings you the latest news, live scores, and epic highlights from your favorite leagues, teams, and athletes all in one app. Dive into exclusive shows hosted by your favorite athletes and original Bleacher Report series with breaking news, rumors, and predictions all season long. Download Bleacher Report to personalize your coverage.
This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. The holidays mean more travel, more shopping, more time online, and more personal info in places that could expose you to identity theft. That's why LifeLock monitors millions of data points every second. If your identity is stolen, their U.S.-based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Get more holiday fun and less holiday worry with LifeLock. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
Hey, aren't you that PBM? Middleman. At your service, doctor. Don't you get rebates that save money on medicines? Oh, PBMs like me get big rebates. So why do patients tell me they're worried about their costs? No one says we have to share the savings with patients. Congress should make sure medicine savings go directly to patients, not middlemen. Visit prma.org slash middlemen to learn more. Paid for by Pharma.
Hello and welcome to the Manchester is Red podcast. My name is Stephen Ralston. We're recording this episode on a Monday morning and I'm joined as usual by Samuel Luckhurst. Samuel, we'll jump straight into it because we've got the big news of Dan Ashworth's departure that was confirmed on Sunday morning. In the second part, we'll look ahead or look back on the Nottingham Forest game and dissect that. But as I say, we'll start with Dan Ashworth because it's the big story.
That was a big shock for me. I was working yesterday morning, that came through. You obviously had a day off, but still contributed with quite a few bits. What was your reaction, Samuel? Because I didn't see it coming. No, it was certainly a shock. I mean, coincidentally, Dan Ashworth strolled through the press conference room on Saturday evening, about 20 minutes after full time, half an hour, and he was escorted through by Colette Roche, the chief operating officer, and he looked pretty grim-faced.
There was a security official stood behind him and it's not unusual to see Clare Roach walk through the press conference room after a match. She's done that a few times. It's quite labyrinthine, the corridors of Old Trafford. And if you're heading in that direction through the press conference room, it's to access the corridors to get round to the east stand where the main offices are.
And in retrospect, Ashworth was being frog-marched, if you like, to possibly the boardroom where they ratified his departure from the club, his sacking. I mean, it is effectively a sacking. I know that United have tried to dilute the impact of it, but...
From what I've been told, things hadn't been rosy there for a few weeks. He was not in favour of Ruben Amram's appointment. He was pushing for Gareth Southgate. And when you consider that, the timelines kind of tally with him leaving the club. And it's not a good look for him. It's not a good look for Ineos. Ineos spent longer court in Ashworth than Ashworth actually spent at United.
Okay, it was an Amiga fee that they eventually paid Newcastle for him, something like between £2 million and £3 million. But every penny does count at the moment when supporters are starting to foot the bill with ticket prices being hiked to £66. Ratcliffe said in February to us that Ashworth is a world-class sporting director.
Ashworth clearly was familiar to Dave Brailsford. They knew each other before they started working together at United. So they wanted best in class. They wanted their first choice. They got their first choice.
but all of a sudden things have disintegrated quite rapidly and it's been extremely turbulent five months for United since Ashworth started, not only because of him of course, I mean there's been so much that's happened during that time, they've sacked a manager, they've incurred some dreadful results, they've spent a lot of money on players coming in, they've got a few million on players going out, some of them have
Obviously, supporters not entirely happy with some of the players who have left, but I think that's been a relatively moot point. Ultimately, it comes down to the choice of coach and the politics at play. I always found it quite intriguing when we spoke to Ashworth and Omar Barada on September 1st, I think it was just a few hours before United played Liverpool at home, we were in the boardroom with them.
And both of them were very keen to make it clear that they started work in July. Ashworth was July the 1st, Barada was July the 13th. And at the time I thought, well, this is quite a good convenient way to wash their hands of any decision that was taken with Eric Ten Haag's future in the summer. Because part of the reason why Ten Haag stayed was because there was a leadership vacuum at the club. Ratcliffe didn't want to be the one taking the decision because he clearly feels as though there are people
below him who are at the coal phase who he would like to delegate to to make that decision it would have been a bad look had a cycling guru taken that decision to dave brousford so he didn't make that decision so who else was it going to be was it going to be josh thompson who just seems to linger around carrington um with with a questionable existence it wasn't going to be him making that decision either he's another one of the um another member of the inyosu cabal um
So that's why Ten Hag stayed. But clearly, and you saw it last night from the numerous pieces that were done, that people at INEOS have certainly been trying to get their ducks lined up and they've gone into bat for Ratcliffe, stressing how unimpressed he was by some of the answers that came out of our Q&A with Brad and Ashworth in September. And the irony of that is that Ratcliffe has avoided talking to the dedicated audience
correspondence by and large. I spoke to him in Knightsbridge in February because the MEN was quite rightly invited down to that briefing. But the majority of the journalists there were not Manchester United correspondents. They were
chief sports writers or some writers who have had dialogue within yours for quite a long time, or the sports news reporters, for example. I think there must have been about a dozen of us there, but certainly I was the only one who you would look at and say, well, he's a dedicated Man United writer. The only other one I can think of would be Jeremy Cross of
of the Daily Star, who of course is their chief sports writer anyway, but he did work on the United patch. Yet of all the questions Ratcliffe has fielded or Ratcliffe's underlings have fielded, it's been questions asked by the dedicated correspondents that appear to have piqued him. And those questions were,
the ones asked of Barada and Ashworth and apparently their answers about you know well we started in July so it wasn't our decision and I you had to take that with a pinch of salt because Barada was clearly working for United while he was on gardening leave because two of his former colleagues at Manchester City
rocked up at United and Jason Wilcox as technical director. He of course used to be the academy head at City. Toby Craig, chief communications officer as well. He also used to work at City and from what I've been told, he was pretty tight with Barada as well when they worked over at Eastlands.
So when they say that you think, OK, you technically did start in July, but while you were in your garden tending to your roses or mowing the lawn or what have you, there's no way you weren't dialing into the back channels or using a burner phone to speak to the people who are running Manchester United at the time, because it was pretty clear that Ashworth was eventually by hook or by crook going to end up working at United.
And I do think he's become a full guy because I don't think you can pin too much of the recruitment on him if he's coming in July and that's his official start date. Targets have got to be lined up long before then. Now, maybe he was really, really thoroughly involved in that in the background, but I don't I think he'd have had to have kept his distance for legal reasons over some processes.
But he did tell us in September, he said, I like the squad. He's got to say that, doesn't he, Samuel? He does. He's a few months into the job. He can't really come out and really criticise them, can he? It's not a good look.
No. And to be honest, I thought at the end of it, if you were looking at it through an ultra optimistic prism and you were an employee and they'd got all their targets per position, the priority positions anyway, then you could look at it and think, well, yeah, that's it looks pretty decent. It's not perfect, but it feels progressive. But it always came back to the the issue of
of the manager and them just losing their nerve to sack him in the summer. And it's not a coincidence that United are currently in their lowest position after 15 league games since 1986 to 1987. And the common denominator of those two seasons is the manager was sacked in the spring and quite rightly as well. But in the case of Ten Hag, he should have been sacked. He should have been sacked in the summer. But the people at United acted like,
a lot of United fans and kept him just on the evidence of 90 minutes when there were what
38 Premier League games, six Champions League games, that's 44 matches. I think that's more compelling evidence to judge a manager on rather than just an FA Cup final, which they were brilliant in. Nobody disputes that. It was a wonderful day. We've praised them all to high heaven on the day. We praised them all to high heaven after the game. But that was an anomaly. And it's no way to run a football club if you're just judging a manager on the back of...
of one cup final. And Vicente del Bosque was sacked by Real Madrid in 2003 after he won the La Liga title. And this was a guy who had also won the Champions League the previous season and had won the Champions League while he was the caretaker there in 2000. So that decision just played them into trouble from the off.
And in the end, Ashworth is the fall guy. The amount of times we've heard from people at United how they do their due diligence on people and they're really thorough and very fastidious in terms of getting to know the people who are going to come in or what their personality is like, etc. If they really did their due diligence on Ashworth, they would not have hired him. And I know it's easy to say they wouldn't have hired
that they couldn't possibly have foreseen these circumstances. Well, you could because you've always got to be prepared for SACA manager. You've always got to have a contingency plan. If you haven't got a contingency plan or if you're not prepared for that eventuality, you're not doing your job. And the man who said this, and he said it on a podcast as well, so you can hear him say it, was Dan Ashworth a couple of years ago when he gave the podcast to the Express and Star. So that was always going to be a big problem. The fact that Ashworth...
in favour of Amrim. From what I was told, he believes that Amrim is too hands-on, which is kind of ironic because you'd think that Ineos, having given him the head coach title rather than the manager title, they don't want him to be hands-on. They want him to be the head coach and they want recruitment to be overseen by Ineos.
Whoever that may be now, but certainly when I wrote at the time that Amarim had agreed in principle to take over at United, I was told that Barada was convincing him to go to United rather than wait on the off chance that Pep Guardiola could leave City in the summer and that he could take over there.
It didn't really occur to me at the time that is this a bit odd that it's the chief executive driving this rather than the sporting director? Shouldn't it be the sporting director who's overseeing the decision making process or this specific process? John Murtagh picked Eric Ten Haag back in April 2022.
when the dressing room's preferred pick was Mauricio Pochettino, obviously before then it was Ed Woodward who was the kingmaker. In a strange way, United have...
regressed or reverted to that way of operating where the chief executive is the kingmaker. Barada was the big driver behind hiring Amrim. I don't blame United for going for Amrim over Gareth Southgate. I'm sure the vast majority of your Manchester United supporters probably breathed a huge sigh of relief when they discovered that Southgate was Ashworth's choice, but United opted for Amrim.
But ultimately, it is still a horrendous look for Ineos that this guy that they really fought tooth and nail for for longer than he was actually at the club has left after five months and six days.
That's why it's so incredible, isn't it? To push so hard. It was such a song and dance, wasn't it, at the start of the year? There was a soap opera of Newcastle negotiations for Ashworth. And then to push, what, he was on gardening leave for four months and from the leave after five months. It just does not look good. I mean, Sergio Radcliffe kind of came with the promise that the chaos at the club would end, but it's just continued, hasn't it, Samuel? I mean, we're 10 months into his kind of co-ownership and it's just still an absolute mess, unfortunately.
Yeah, it's an omni-shambles. It's difficult to pinpoint where to start there. And Amrim has got a hospital pass, really. You look at that team and their position in the table is not an unfair reflection. It is tight, of course, between the teams.
points-wise. And yes, you've got Newcastle and Tottenham just above them. You've got Newcastle, Spurs and United in 11th, 12th, 13th, which is pretty, I think it's a side by Kovski, our colleagues said yesterday, it's quite mind-blowing given the quality in those squads. But United, the quality is really quite suspect. And
i could look i'm not i'm not a football administrator i'm not a head coach but in the summer could i see this coming yeah could others see it coming absolutely could some fans see it coming as well of course they could
And United frittered millions. Do you think that's been the main reason in the breakdown of relationships since Samuel, the Eric ten Hag decision? Because it was obviously hugely contentious in the summer. We both give our opinions on it. And as you've just said, Ford, it was obviously the right reason to get rid of them. But the decision was made before Ashworth started work, wasn't it? He started work on July the 1st and it was announced that he would remain in charge in June.
i i just think it's back passing from from ratcliffe and there was a lot of back passing in his interview with united we stand last week as well when he was complaining about the data and how it stuck in the the previous century that there are people who worked at united and there are people who work at united who could tell him that he is factually wrong on that i mean i went back and looked at a
quote speaking to Nick Cox about the process they went through to recruit Alejandro Garnaccio in 2020. Now that process they went through was data driven. It was a model they used pre-Brexit as well, bearing that in mind, and it whittled down to five names and Garnaccio was one of the five, scouted five players, they decided go with Garnaccio, they signed Garnaccio.
That is not a way of recruitment that is stuck in the 20th century whatsoever. And John Murtagh did do some good work as well in terms of recruitment, trying to make it a more sophisticated setup. I'm not defending United's recruitment whatsoever. I mean, people can see what I've written and said about United's recruitment in the past, and it is still diabolically poor in
under the current regime, which Murtagh has nothing to do with. And Murtagh, of course, allowed Ten Hag to have far too much sway
But it was around about two years ago, less than two years ago, that there were a lot of pieces being written about how the set-up at United was a lot more sophisticated. They were more modern in their thinking. It was a better-run football club. Richard Arnold was a better chief executive than Ed Woodward. He was not as hands-on. They had a football director who'd got his feet under the table.
and was quietly doing some pretty decent work. Those pieces were written and United were winning quite consistently and they were having a good season. But you are always as good as your results. Of course, results deteriorated last season. The three main men at that point, Arnold, Murtagh, Ten Hag, all of them are no longer at the club. There are several reasons why those figures are no longer employees of Manchester United.
There's only so much time, there's only so much you can go on about harking about the past and what the previous regime did. Ratcliffe has, I mean, that Ineos delegation went to Old Trafford and
during the strategic review in March 2023. So I had a good look around and, you know, there were people at United who tried to give the illusion that we were really impressed when I don't think they were whatsoever. And fair enough, United have got a lot of catching up to do still. And at that time, had a lot of catching up to do as well.
It was not being operated anywhere near well enough after Stratis Ferguson retired. They were completely exposed and then they were very dilatory and they were always behind the curve and they still are behind the curve. And okay, it is going to take time. You bear that in mind. But this regime decided to let a manager stay who really should have been sacked. I said it in April. I'll say it again. And I know a lot of fans out there were swayed by one match in an FA Cup final and thought he's got to stay. But fans are not objective.
and objectively he should have been sacked and i know i'm i know i was right at the time and i've been proven right because he was sacked in october and i know you said that he should have been sacked as well and a lot of colleagues uh felt he should have been sat some didn't think he's always big isn't it says that but there was a reason we were saying that at the time he needed to go in the summer
everyone is entitled to their opinion, everyone is entitled to change their mind. That is absolutely fine. But I was looking at it objectively. You could not keep a manager who they were trying to replace, actively trying to replace. And Ten Hag, that interview he gave to the Dutch newspaper in July, that laid bare a lot of the problems as well. You knew then that it was still simmering because he said how communication stopped.
and all the signs suggested that he was going to lose his job and in a way they probably inconvenienced him by visiting him on holiday and saying actually you're staying because i suspect he was braced for what felt like the inevitable that he was going to lose his job as manager schneider manager given the season that they just had and then not only do they keep him when they should have sacked him they extend his contract which runs with it the risk of a larger payoff which of course was the case
Worse than that, they continued to recruit the way they recruited during Ten Hag's first two summers under the previous regime, which clearly the evidence showed did not work.
yeah this was another summer where they signed three players born in the netherlands out of five and okay masraoui has been a good signing so far and he was the cheapest signing as well which again shows you that it's not about how much you spend it is the quality it's doing the due diligence and having the confidence and sometimes it's the right man at the right time unfortunately for masraoui he's fitting like a glove
He's versatile. He's clearly a very good, technically a very good footballer. And in a bad Manchester United season, he is having a good season.
But they signed a striker who does not score goals, really. I mean, it's three goals in 20, 21 games. I know he got a couple of goals the other week and he's not started since, but it's still three goals in 21 games. It's a goal every seven games. You can't be getting away with that as a striker in the Premier League, never mind at Man United. They signed a defender based on what he did five years ago rather than what he did in the past five years.
Ugarte, clearly there was an issue there because Ten Hag wanted someone else, whether it was Amrabat, whether it was another midfielder. Ugarte was not his first choice pick. There was clearly an issue there.
Lenny Oro, his potential signing, there's no point even, we can't judge him at this point. It was unfortunate that he fractured his metatarsal in the summer. But the fact of the matter is the majority of their signings were born in the Netherlands. And I remember when I mentioned this to Ashworth and he said about Xerxe, you can't say just because he's Dutch.
Well, you can't because look at the track record of Ten Hag signing Dutch players and then look at United, previous United managers. How often did they sign Dutch players? Solskjaer signed one who he didn't want, Donny van der Beek. I don't think Mourinho, I don't think he signed a Dutchman. Van Gaal was Dutch. There were a couple of Dutch players who came in. David Moyes didn't sign a Dutchman. So before Ten Hag came in,
Of the nine years of previous United managers, how many players were signed that were Dutch? Three, I think, is that? So Blind, Depay, Van de Beek, and two of them were by a Dutch manager. A Dutch manager comes in and it's Malasia, Weghorst, it's Anthony from Ajax, it's Martinez from Ajax, it's Mason Mount who played on loan in the Eredivisie, it's Andre Anana from Ajax, it's Sofian Amrabat who was born in the Netherlands.
and played for Ten Hag at Utrecht. There is a common denominator there. It is the manager and they continue to go in that direction, which was just foolhardy. It had to be a clean break this summer if they were going to keep Ten Hag with the recruitment. It wasn't. That has compounded matters and that's why they're, what, 13th in the Premier League table at the moment.
So if you break down Ineos' time running the football club then Samuel, extended to long contract when as we've just said all the evidence that he needed to leave, sacked a few months later, wait a long time to appoint Ashworth, his exits now also going to cost money, they've hiked ticket prices, made mass redundancies, scaled back academy coverage, European away collections have been scrapped.
The women's team is beginning to be overlooked. Obviously, Radcliffe discussed that in his interview with Andy Maitland, didn't he? And most importantly, they've overseen awful results. So they've talked a very good game, haven't they? And they promised a lot when they came into the football club earlier in the year. But it's been a really, really bad first impression, hasn't it, this year? Berrada told us in September they'd make mistakes and he certainly wasn't kidding on that. But some of those mistakes are just entirely avoidable.
And I've just gone through it with the manager. That was the biggest issue. And another issue there was that Ratcliffe underestimated the importance of the manager. He said, oh, it's about structure and blah, blah, blah. However successful or unsuccessful you are in football, it is defined by the manager. The reason why United won a League Cup and an FA Cup was because of Ten Hag. The reason why they finished eighth last season and were in the bottom half of the table was
in late October was also because of Ten Hag. And there's a lot of accountability that comes with it, of course, with the players. But he had enormous sway in recruitment and they spent more than £600 million on him during his time.
And really, speaking to someone at the time that Ten Hag was sacked, they said that this is almost like the football administrator and they said that this is like karma for Ineos because they have underestimated the sport. And you look at the results during their time and I don't think anybody would dispute that whatsoever. They are not really experts in the field. I know they have, of course, owned previous clubs and I think they hoped that would...
Those were warm-up acts for taking on the headline of running Manchester United. And that's why they wanted best in class, left, right and centre. And certainly at the start of the year, they were talking a good game. They had the coup of getting Barada from City. Ashworth was a very worthy pick as a sporting director. That just showed you the level of their ambition there.
But it's very, very quickly. It's not happened overnight, but it's just a number of things. It's obviously the job cuts. And I don't dispute that the staff at United was bloated. You'd see people on the pre-season tour that you'd never see again until the next pre-season tour. And it was a...
staff was well over a thousand wasn't it um okay they were going to have to be people if you want it to be a sustainable business and if you want to challenge it if you want to balance the books in this area of PSR you're going to have to get the ship in in a better state than than it was previously but it has come at the cost of morale um and
i i don't think they've got the balance right with that whatsoever and i didn't agree with what ratcliffe said in his interview as well that morale will be dictated by results i don't think it is it's as black and white as that with staff and he does strike me as far too detached for someone who of course we know the working class hero story of growing up in failsworth counting learning to count by counting the chimneys from his council estate
But this is someone whose office is a couple of goal frames away from the entrance to Harrods, who has a pub in Belgravia Square, is ferried around by a Mayfair chauffeur firm that some United players are using, which does raise the question whether that really tallies with the cost cutting that's going on at the club. And really, he's very detached from reality when he's talking about why
you know why why should a ticket to fulham cost more than a ticket to man united that that's just touches me samuel that's turned out yeah completely out of touch that is someone i mean sir alex ferguson infamously said in 2005 to some fans who
coloured him over the Glazers takeover. He said, if you don't like it, go and watch Chelsea. And Radcliffe did go and watch Chelsea. He had a season ticket at Chelsea. And he's been in that part of London for a very long time. He's obviously...
you know, kind of embedded in that circle. And now he's trying to bring or he is bringing London prices to Trafford Park. And I'd say you can't do it, but he has done it. And the worst could be yet to come. If you go on Fulham's website and the ticket in their newsstand, the Riverside stand that overlooks, backs onto the Thames,
It can cost £80 or £85. So I fear that the worst could be yet to come regarding ticket prices at Old Trafford, particularly if they go with a new-build stadium. We see it all the time, new-build stadium. That means higher ticket prices as well because you're in a different facility and there's got to be a way of recouping money from it.
I think Tottenham have got the most expensive season tickets done in the Premier League, which just shows you they've got this lovely new stadium, but they've had to find a way to pay for it. Going back to Dan Ashworth, then just end this part quickly, Samuel. In terms of the short term, I guess the expectation is Omar Barada and Jason Wilcox will kind of absorb his responsibilities. But is there anyone in your head who you think could replace him as a sporting director? Because we've said it before and we said it when Ashworth was appointed. Well-run football clubs need sporting directors, don't they?
Well, given that Barada seems to be is in danger of cultivating the Ed Woodward culture of being surrounded by allies from Bristol University and Barada is surrounded by allies from Manchester City. Maybe you'll go for Cheeky Big Eerestein next summer. I said that yesterday. You never know.
you know, that would be amusing and quite the statement and also an upgrade, but somehow I don't think it will happen. But I honestly have no idea, you know,
It's unclear whether United will hire a sporting director, but they need to be pretty transparent with supporters as to what lies ahead because the January transfer window opens in a few weeks' time. Who exactly is leading recruitment now? Is it Jason Wilcox? You go back to that quote that Sofian Amrabat gave to the Daily Mail in October about how ten-hard...
I wanted to keep him, but Jason Wilcox said no. So that would indicate that Wilcox has a hell of a lot of input into recruitment. Is he going to take over that permanently? Is that the right thing to do, given that this guy was overseeing recruitment at a championship club last season that are now sinking like a stone back to the championship from the Premier League? It's pretty dubious. It's certainly not best in class.
No. Jason Wilcox is not a best-in-class choice for recruitment. Michael Edwards would have been, but obviously he went back to Liverpool. Maybe Ashworth and Paul Mitchell can have a job swap. I think they'd probably be happier at different places right now. The chaos has continued. We'll be back in a moment for part two.
Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently, I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous two-year contracts, they said, what the f*** are you talking about, you insane Hollywood a**hole?
So to recap, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 upfront for three months plus taxes and fees. Promote it for new customers for a limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month. Slows. Full terms at mintmobile.com.
For prescription only, safety info found at FreestyleLibre.us.
This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like you know to check the date of the big game first,
before you accidentally buy tickets on your 20th wedding anniversary and have to spend the next 20 years of your marriage making up for it. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Savings vary. Terms apply. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Northbrook, Illinois.
Old Trafford as usual. It was just a big reminder of the challenge ahead for Ruben Amram, wasn't it? I think we feel sorry for him, considering how we were just discussed Asperger's departure and the club has basically been destabilised. And he's got this mammoth task really ahead, doesn't he? When you watch that performance on Saturday, look at some of the individual performances, some of the errors, which we'll get on to, and the first goal as well, conceding from a set piece. It's so disappointing, isn't it?
It's amateur hour and the game at Arsenal started with Diogo Dalot needlessly giving away a corner when he was caught in two minds running for the ball with Martinelli and he ended up just miscontrolling and he went out for a corner. And I hate this in doubles tennis as well when they lose a point and their reaction is high five.
and what dallo did after conceding the corner to the kings of the corners the best team you've ever seen at corners what does he do there's andre nana high five and of course from that corner partay should score and he missed the sitter against fulham yes so um it turns out he's clearly although he's quite quite a imposing figure he's not good at heading the ball which was just wealth united but the game at arsenal started with conceding a corner
and the team, the opponent nearly scoring. The same player concedes a corner, not quite as questionably against Nottingham Forest early on. What happens this time? The opponent scores from the corner.
The mentality that Tan Haag repaired in the first season, it is absolutely broken. If a player is doing that, having conceded a corner, their instinct is to high five. It drives me up the wall. And I know it's a different generation thing with players and it's all about, you know, be positive in mind because this self-help book said that you've got to have good vibes only and all this crap. You're not going to get anywhere doing that.
Yeah, it's absolute bollocks. And as I said, it drives me up the wall just watching doubles tennis when players lose a point, it goes and says, oh, high five, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no. Have a bit of constructive criticism or give some pointers. There is merit in that. The world hasn't changed that much. And Forrest, the thing that's striking about watching United at Old Trafford now
is that teams turn up and they are utterly unfazed. And I know it's been that for a while, but it is becoming a lot more striking when even someone as... I mean, I think he really didn't help himself at all this season. I think he's become somewhat unlikable in a way, but Steve Cooper, with all his chuntering on about referees, but after Leicester got...
walloped 5-2 at Old Trafford in the League Cup. He said, I didn't find it intimidating whatsoever. It was good to play out there. And it was a stupid quote because they still got battered conceding five goals, losing by a three-goal margin. But it did give an insight into how coaches view going to Old Trafford now. They're not remotely intimidated by it.
I think last season there were a couple of games, and Liverpool certainly felt it, where the stadium does have this underdog aura where United can get a result out of nothing, as they did against Liverpool, I'd say in both the FA Cup and the league games last season, Brentford at home being another one.
Villa at home on Boxing Day being another one as well, where the behemoth that is Manchester United, eventually it stirs and it just rides roughshod over the opposition in however way they seek to do it. But we've not really seen that at all this season. And certainly the weekend, although United made it 3-2 with way more than half an hour to play, I think with added time it'd be about 36, 37 minutes,
I never got the sense that they were going to equalise. I mean, I think it was Ty who said, I said, oh, they could, you know, they could win this. And I just, I disagreed with him. And it's strange times when you're saying after United have made it 3-2 and Nottingham Forest still leading, when you say that, you know, Forest may regret not making it 4-1 here.
This is a team that had not won at Old Trafford in literally 30 years, who were only promoted back to the Premier League in 2022.
And really, Nuno Espirito Santo has done a very good job there. I wasn't convinced that he'd be a good fit at Forest, but he's made very good adjustments. I think they've benefited from the recruitment calming down. They've actually recruited some very good players. Gibbs White is a quality player. Chris Wood is the right man at the right time.
um you know they've got some very quick silver players behind the striker i think murillo's really good center back they sorted the goalkeeper out after having matt turner masquerading as a goalkeeper last season and they've got the right balance about them and there's a reason why they're having as good a season as they're having
And this is where United are at now. It's not an extreme statement to say that Nottingham Forest are in their slipstream. That's how far United have slipped.
I mean, let's talk about Andre Inanna then. Pardon me, Samuel, it's time, isn't it? That shot, Morgan Gibbs-White, wouldn't have thought that was going to hit the back of the net. It did swerve a little bit. I almost thought he was a little bit complacent in the way he was trying to make the save. He didn't anticipate it well enough. And for that to go in, I mean, that was Andre Inanna of last season in the Champions League, wasn't it? We talked about it a couple of podcasts back. I mean, for me, he's been the best player in that dressing room in this calendar, yeah.
And I said that because he's kind of eliminated these mistakes out of his game and then he goes and does it again. It's so frustrating. Well, that first goal was just inexplicable. It was like watching a cricketer on the boundary who just misfielded the ball somehow. The only thing I can think of is that he...
thought that Gibbs White, because he had such a big gap to shoot at goal, that he just instinctively thought, I'm going to have to dive here because he's going to go to one corner or the other. And in the end, Gibbs White just hit it straight. I mean, it was nothing like, you know, you talk about swerve, but it wasn't like the, I mean, even that Chabulani ball at the World Cup in 2010. I think it was a little bit overrated as to how much it moved.
But it was just, it was the Inanna of his first six months last season. And I mean, it's Sunday's night up, that free kick, United at the death when it was a foul inside United's half. He rolls the ball and the ball trickles over the halfway line, which is ridiculous. And then he took about, it was at the fifth or sixth attempt, he had the ball where it should be to take the free kick and
And I didn't even play amateur football, but I know that if you've got a free kick, you take it in line where the linesman is. Do you think his mistake from earlier in the game, sorry, so he's come into his full process there? Because that's sort of character, isn't it? That's such a bad decision. Do you think he's lost his head a little bit?
That's someone who is desperate to atone and claw the game back. And, you know, I've spoken to him a few times. He is a really good character. He's a really nice guy. And I know that people hear him and think, oh, but it doesn't mean he's a good footballer. But he has been good this season. He had a day to forget the weekend. And, of course, we're dwelling on it now because we have to. It's a podcast and that's fair enough. And
We've been we've showered him with praise this season and now we've got to criticise him. Unfortunately for him, he is a good character, but he just he had an absolute. I mean, it was a brainstorm of a day, even the winning goal. It's almost like three of them leave it for the other.
i i'm i'm convinced that anon i think martin is up for it i think he thinks mark i think i think anana thinks no no no no i think anana leaves it because he knows martin is there and he thinks well he's going to clear this off the line and in the end martinez probably thinks anana's going to go for it and by the time he reacts it's almost as if he he's already committed to anana getting it even the ball has gone past him and it's like oh jesus it's just one of those moments where
the player probably does not do that ever again in his career, but there are just times where your mind just shuts down and you don't think clearly. And Martinez did not have a good game either. Um,
But has he had a good season, Samuel? I think I'm going to do my lunch. Yeah, he's just not the same player as he was in his first year. He's obviously had a few injuries. We've made the point where he's become quite rash in games, where he dives into quite a few challenges. His passing as well has actually dropped off a bit and that's backed up by the stats. He's not kind of playing for the lines as he had. He's not really himself at the moment. And that was showed on Saturday night when he made that mistake. He was out fought for that goal for me. I can definitely see it for Narnia as well, though. They both could have intervened.
I think for the image of Martinez, where he's an Argentinian centre-back and he's quite diminutive, you think he's going to be this really pugnacious and
by brand character when actually he's for the majority of his time at United he's been pretty cool he does put himself about he is aggressive but it's a control it's usually a controlled aggression when he's most effective and he does keep his cool you think back to the FA Cup final after Garnaccio scored and he was celebrating and chiding the City fans the one who was trying to calm him down and keep him in check
was Martinez. And normally it would be the South American players who would be the most febrile in that setting. And of course, Garnaccio was, but Martinez was the opposite. And that is partly why he had such a good first season at United. There was that controlled aggression
where he would be able to read the game and he wouldn't be diving in. But this season he has looked a very, very different sense back. As you say, he is far too rash. He is too impetuous. His distribution has deserted him quite a lot. And that was one of his biggest strengths, wasn't it? His passing was brilliant. Yeah, yeah. He was a huge asset to attacks in that first season.
But he's what, two and a half years in now at United and you cannot be dining off your first season and your second season, never mind your third season. And the more you watch him, the more you think, come next summer when they will have to sign two centre-backs. I'm not being extreme here. They could easily release three centre-backs in the summer, but I think realistically it will be two who go. The Maguire situation...
There could be a bit of a Varane or De Gea there because do they really want to extend his contract by a year with the salary that he's on as injury prone as he's been having not with him not being a regular starter as well. It's going to be interesting to see how that plays out.
But they will need two centre-backs next year. And you look at De Ligt and you look at Martins and you would not necessarily be certain of those two starting next season when hopefully for Amrim's sake and United's sake, they have got a squad that is far more in his image and the image of this new team and this new club rather than the one that he's inherited that is obviously, you know, it was built up by Ten Hag.
When we talk about Martinez like that, I just think of Dalot as well. I think it's kind of very the same at the moment. They're both struggling for form. We'll come on to the Europa League. Obviously, that's on Thursday, Samuel, an opportunity to bounce back after two defeats. I'd definitely give them a rest. I think they're just screaming for a game out, really. Dalot in particular, he just looks quite lethargic at the moment. There was a moment at the end of the game where he hit it into the Stretford end, wasn't he? Almost by, or was it the scoreboard end?
he blared it into his stands regardless yeah but so would you agree with that assessment that both of those players could probably do for game out? Do you say Martínez and Dalot or De Ligt? Yeah for me they're really looking like they could do for rest for me. Certainly he's going to rotate on Thursday because they've got the derby on Sunday and I think
I think the other thing that has probably been overlooked a little bit, apart from I think there was an account that kind of just lampooned his defending for Timber's goal, even though it wasn't in his area. But United are worse at defending corners without Maguire, which United have got to factor into their games this week because teams are going to be redoubling their efforts when it comes to corner practice, head of playing against United,
Forest could have scored from a couple of other set pieces after going 1-0 up on Saturday. And at the moment, the way United are playing back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, there are not too many players, if any players in that team, who've got to be assured of starting in the next Premier League game. I mean, Amarim has been keeping them on their toes, making...
as many changes as he has, what is it, something like 23 changes now, I think it might be, across these matches. So, you know, that will probably continue because it is the Europa League in midweek and I know Pilsen are not, you know, it would be remiss to underestimate a side who've not done too badly at all whatsoever in their own Europa League campaign.
But the bigger picture this week is the Derby. The Derby is the bigger game. Nobody's going to dispute that.
And he's got to, I mean, I thought the team at the weekend was actually more, he'd said on Friday or Thursday, whenever the press conference was, that he was more or less close to settling on his best 11. And I thought that team at the weekend was more or less close to the best 11. At the moment, you'd have Masraoui in there some way or other for Dalot, even though Masraoui is not, I don't think he's been playing on the left wing in this 3-4-3 situation.
But then for them to perform the way they did, that does raise questions all of a sudden as to what the team on Sunday is going to be like. Because I thought at the weekend that the majority of starters who were going to be picked against Forest, he should have in mind a starting against City eight days later, which is a completely logical way of thinking. But when you get beaten the way United did at the weekend,
that there were going to have to be some some adjustments there and certainly a center back i i would not be you you can't say that martinez or delete their positions are safeguarded whatsoever and maguire did demonstrate earlier in the season when he came on against porto getting the goal and then he started the weekend against villa coming in with evans as to lit and martinez were dropped and of course that was under 10 hogs so that goes to show that
it doesn't matter who the manager is they've got to exercise some ruthlessness from time to time and amram has been ruthless i think his his rotation has has been it has been flawed the results
bear that out. It's not worked entirely and two players get two goals and then they don't start in either of the next two games. I think that there is some flawed thinking there, not necessarily in relation to Xerxe, who I don't think was ever going to start against Arsenal, but Rashford certainly, it was a surprise. Speaking to someone at United, they said that he's looking at players, who's right for this game, who's right for that game and at some point or another, some players are
are going to turn their nose up at that way of that selection policy and I'm not saying that Amrim should have any time for that or he should indulge players whatsoever because these players are mid-table players as they're shown at the moment United are 13th in the Premier League but it's a pretty wretched time for them if they do lose at City on Sunday and it's a pretty bonkers derby given City's run and form but
City will still be favourites for that at the Etihad. And if United do lose that, that's the first time they've lost three successive Premier League matches since December 2015. And gallingly for Amrim, they will have all come under him. We're forgetting Harry Maguire a little bit, Samuel, because before he picked up that injury, I mean, he was having a really good time of things. I said multiple times, if you're in the trenches, really, you want Harry Maguire alongside you. And when the chips are down, he's the kind of player who will deliver.
and he has experience playing in the back three. He has good form. He's done well since coming on and making a few substitute appearances. Has he not got a big role to play in the next few weeks? And when we think about these set pieces as well, Maguire comes straight into my head because, I mean, we all heard Phil Jones talking about it and he says sometimes it's just desire and getting on the end of the ball. And when you're defending set pieces, Harry Maguire has that in abundance for me.
Well, he'll start at least one game this week, you'd think, injury permitting. And football is not complicated if you're conceding goals from a set-piece. And despite a set-piece coach coming out into the technical area and positioning players, despite practising them in the warm-up before kick-off,
you've got to look harder at the problem and I don't think you have to look that hard. Ultimately, United, without Maguire off the pitch, they have become worse at defending set pieces and corners and if you put someone quite tall on, then maybe you've got your... The percentage increase of you heading that ball away is just going to increase. You've got a better chance of defending it and...
And Maguire, obviously, as I said, I thought they became worse at defending from the corners at Arsenal after Maguire went off. And I felt sorry for Amrim there because clearly Maguire was always going to play an hour where he'd just come back from injury.
But when you're forced into that change where you're 1-0 down, having conceded from a corner, and then you concede from another corner, and you nearly concede from God knows how many other corners, having taken that player off the pitch, it is not a good look. And the amount of times Anne Rimmer said X player was tired, Y player was tired, Z player was tired. I mean, these are meant to be athletes, professional footballers. But it feels like we just keep on hearing how tired these players are, even though this is a club that has been accustomed to playing...
Three games in seven or eight days for 20, God knows how many years, 30 years even maybe. And I know the pace increases every year, but ultimately these players are nowhere near fit enough. And this keeps on happening. A new Manchester United manager comes in and he discovers that the players aren't fit enough.
which is a major issue. I mean, Amrim said on Friday that they've got to run like mad dogs. And immediately I thought, well, Mourinho said something about mad dogs pretty much six years ago. And I looked up the quote and he said, we don't have many mad dogs. And that was six years ago. And that's how the amount of times United have come full circle, I've lost count of. And this was another one.
More mad dogs needed. Hopefully some more mad dogs in the summer. Thanks for your time, Samuel. Thank you very much, Stephen. And thanks to the listeners as usual. We'll be back later in the week to reflect on the Europa League performance away in the Czech Republic. I hope Samuel's got his coat for that one. It's going to be a bit chilly and to look ahead to the Manchester derby. Take care.