166: Amorim's BRUNO Message! Onana CAN GO!

0:02Hello, everybody. Good morning and welcome to the United Stands. I'm Mark Goldbridge. This is your latest Manchester United news and transfer news. And we've got some big things to get into this morning. Some absolutely shocking statement coming out from Ruben Amrim around Bruno Fernandes. I mean, look, the big thing is he's got to drop him. We'll talk about that. Also, some ex-players again, media saying there's no more excuses for the manager. And yet the same excuse for the manager is the same excuse that Jose, Ten Hag, Oli, Ranić all had. We'll talk about that as well. We'll talk about the starts, the season, transfers, is Anon gone?

0:38What's going to happen with the midfield situation? And obviously your great comments as well. But unlike many analysis around Manchester United, where it's projection, projection, projection, I think we've got to self-reflect. I actually think the best place to start is self-reflection and not projection of we should do this, we should do that, because we are culpable. As a fan base, collectively, we are culpable for the state of this football club. I take responsibility myself, and I think we all have to as well. A football team is only as strong as its weakest link, and our weakest link at the moment is the midfield, and we are weak because of it.

1:18I think we have a good defence, I think we have a good attack, but we have a weak midfield, and that stops us getting results. Likewise, as a fan base, we have a weak element that dragged us all down and we have to take responsibility for it. What am I talking about? We don't learn lessons. We never learn lessons. You know, a couple of weeks ago, there was going to be a protest ahead of the Arsenal game from the 58. And it got cancelled because the 58 got ridiculed because we'd signed Seshko and we thought we were signing Beliba. and the fan base decided to ridicule that group for running a protest ahead of the Arsenal game saying now's not the time when we're making good signings.

2:01Here we are after two games we've got one point and people would love a bloody protest and I said it at the time year after year decade after decade we as a fan base fall into the same trap all the time. A couple of new signings we don't want to protest. A couple of bad results, we want to protest. And we all have to take responsibility for that. Because I bet we all now think, I wish we had had a protest before the Arsenal game, because the message stays the same. The club is not being run properly. But we might sign Sesco, we might sign Belaber, so we don't want to do protests. And it's this flip-flop change of opinion that allows us to be what we are, very consistently inconsistent.

2:46I've said it before, other clubs around the world would have removed the Glazers, but we as a fan base can't because we flip from one emotion to another too quickly. We've now got people saying Amrim needs to go. I've never heard such nonsense in all my life. We are now accumulating last season's results and comparing them to Gary Neville at Valencia. I'm sorry, I thought we'd written last season off as an absolute shit show and that this was a rebuild from the summer. So why are we looking at 28 games? We should be looking at two. And it's this constant manipulation and moving of the goalposts that puts this football club on the hamster cycle that is becoming so boring and repetitive.

3:32We can't protest if we sign a good player. If we lose a game, protest. If we lose a game, it's going to be on the owners until we actually lose the game. And then it's Amrim's fault. It's always the manager's fault. And we haven't got a midfield, we haven't got a goalkeeper, and our striker's not ready for the season. Because yet again, we have treated August like pre-season. And this predates Amarim, it predates Sir Jim. It's been going on for years. Year after year after year, we treat August like pre-season and we have bad results. I'd love to run a statistical analysis of our points accumulation in the first three games of the season over the last 10 years.

4:16There's a bit of journalism for you. Manchester Evening News, Athletic, Daily Mail. Go and get us the facts on how many points we've got on average in the first three games for the last decade. Because I would hazard a guess it's below six. So I think that ultimately there is a lot to get into, but I just want to say at the start, we've got to stop making the same mistakes. There are a lot of things for us to talk about this morning, but we have got to self-reflect. It's the same boring stuff. I can see people screaming and shouting about getting Amram out. And I'm just like, oh, I'm very disappointed with a lot of things yesterday and we're going to talk about it, but please understand that at no point am I and I think many of you saying we should sack the manager I still firmly believe that we might have four points from 15 after Chelsea and Man City beat Burnley lose to them but I also firmly believe that by game 30 we'll be in a better position because I don't think our season's really going to get going till game 10 and I think that's when we need to start winning every week I think there are signs that we can do it but there are also massive massive problems and the first place to start is going to have to be the midfield.

5:29I actually thought the comment from Amorim last night was absolutely shocking. And I'll read you the comment here. He said after the game, Bruno is not used to missing a penalty. He knows that every moment in this context can give a huge impact on the team. I felt that during the game, he was not happy, not so involved because he had so much responsibility and he felt he missed the penalty was huge for us so effectively after the game Ruben Amrim talking about Bruno Fernandes was that he was impacted by that penalty he wasn't happy and basically had a bad game and obviously the question has to be if you're watching what we're watching and you know he's having a bad game and you know he's impacted why did you keep him on the pitch and you have to take responsibility for that I was stunned last night.

6:23I almost went live again, but the fan forum was live and I thought I'll leave it till the morning show. I was absolutely stunned. And then he said about Maynou, Maynou's in direct competition with Bruno. And I was like, it's like Ian Beale being in competition for a role with Brad Pitt. Like you're never going to get the role. So what are we, you know, I'm sort of, I'm baffled, But then I saw a clip from Mauds this morning and I'm sort of clinging on to that because what Mauds basically said on his clip was Bruno will be dropped. Bruno will be dropped because last season we have got no number 10.

7:05You know, Ahmad was injured for half of the season. Rashford, Ganacho, Anthony, Sancho obviously didn't deliver. So we needed Bruno. You've now got Mbemo. You've now got Mount. You've now got Cunha. Xerxes fit. Ahmad's fit. In the number 10 position, we're not reliant on Bruno. So we're putting him in the midfield where it's clearly not working. So the next step is Bruno has to be dropped. And the big question is, will Amrim do it? And it's a very logical and sensible, and I wouldn't expect anything better from Mauds because I think he is very logical and sensible and speaks a lot of sense. It's true.

7:43We don't need Bruno as a number. I would play Bruno as a 10, but we don't need him as a number 10. And he's certainly not a midfielder. So the next logical step, and I think we're speaking logically here. I think the match reaction yesterday was brilliant. I read a lot of the comments I watched it back I thought it was very very calm frustrated analysis but not over the top and I think this morning we will do the same this is not sensationalist I don't care for people who have their tissues out and a Bruno poster I'm not bothered about player FC and I'm not bothered about Bruno's shit let's get rid of him I think Bruno is a fantastic player I think he's a fantastic number 10 I think he's an accident in the midfield and the next logical step is to drop Bruno potentially sell Bruno obviously I don't think we've got time to do that but certainly drop Bruno he is an absolute problem in that midfield we don't need him as a number 10 and he should be dropped from that midfield and I think that if the penny hasn't dropped with Ruben Amorim then it's going to cost him his job in the longer term and that's not Amorim out I mean, we're talking maybe in the next 18 months, but he cannot continue down this road.

8:59It is absolutely not right to be stood there after a game saying Bruno played badly. You could see he was playing badly and you kept him on for 90 minutes in the midfield. Like he should have been taken off. And to sit there and say, Manu is the understudy to Bruno when you've just said Bruno played shit. that's just shocking to me. So we need to see Bruno taken out of that midfield and we have to get to a point. And I will say this with total and utter conviction and honesty. I like Bruno Fernandes. He's been a brilliant servant to the club and he's a very, very good number 10, but he is not a midfielder.

9:37And I have seen Jurgen Klopp sub Salah. I've seen Son be subbed for Spurs. I've seen club's best players be subbed. I've seen De Bruyne get taken off by Pep. Man City and Liverpool have been way more successful than us over the last decade, and they will sub their best player. Why is a football club finishing 15th scared of subbing their best player? And this needs to change. And it's not sensationalist, and it's not screamy, shouty, ranty time. It literally is. Logically, if you're stood there after a game saying Bruno played badly, but you kept him on for 90 minutes, and you're stood there after a game saying, Maynou, who's not had one minute, is the understudy to an underperforming player, then you need to sub that player and drop that player.

10:25And that's the next step. And I feel no remorse or no guilt because ultimately this is football. And when a player's not playing well, you get subbed. This is Manchester United. We cannot be a club that doesn't sub a player because they're more powerful than the club. It's ridiculous. And you're undermining your authority as a manager. So I'm hoping that Mauds has the take of the season that Bruno is going to end up getting dropped because I don't see a place for him in that midfield. It is hurting us. It cost us yesterday. It cost us against Arsenal. And he's got to make the change. But we do need to make signings in that area as well because I'm not going to sit here and say that Maynou, Casemiro and Agate are going to solve our problems either.

11:12But the next logical step has to be Bruno being dropped. It has to happen. And I like Amarim, by the way. I like Amarim. And I still think that we are, it's ridiculous to me to hear people start saying Amarim out. And I don't think we are in any way, shape or form a community that hides away from any topic. You know, we might give it short thrift and not talk about it for more than 20 seconds. But on the Amrim out movement, shame on you. Shame on you for having low IQ. What are you actually talking about after game two? Like, what is it you're actually trying to do? Have you dropped to a level of such incoherence that you actually genuinely believe we should sack a manager two games into a season when we've spent£200 million on him and we're clearly going through a rebuild in a system where we've bought players for a system that the next manager won't use?

12:14And what happens to the new manager when he comes in and wants to play a new system at the start of a season and has no money to spend? I mean, it's just petulance. I'm not sitting here saying Amarim's going to be a success, but sacking the manager now, I mean, are you real? Are you absolutely real? What benefit is that to this football club to do what we've done so many other times? I don't want to sack a manager in season. I don't want to sack a manager in season. I would rather finish mid-table with Amarim and then sack him in the summer. I do not want to sack a manager in season again. I cannot write another season off.

12:51And also, at some point, you've got to stick with an idea because we've never done that. And bringing in Gary Neville's Valencia record in 28 games, I don't give a shite about last season. It's dead. It was an absolute car crash. We messed up. Amrim messed up. But more importantly, the players and the club messed up. For me, we've played two games. That's all I'm interested in. And you know what? At the end of the day, we drew with Fulham. Fulham are a good side and we drew with Fulham away. I said when the results came out, when the fixtures came out, Arsenal at home is a tough game. Fulham away is a tough game.

13:33Burnley have got a win at home and then Man City away is a tough game and Chelsea's a tough game. We've got a hard start to the season. It doesn't matter what business we've done, what formation we play, who plays in the midfield, we have got a tough start to the season and we are going to have a roller coaster. Newcastle lost 12 games and finished fifth. Some context is important. One point from six is disappointing, but it's one loss and a draw to Fulham. And even if we did lose to Man City and Chelsea and beat Burnley, it's three losses against the top four. Like there's a long way to go. It's more important to me that decisions are made around the midfield in relation to dropping players, recruiting players and getting a goalkeeper in.

14:24And we need to get Seshko in that team. That's another thing that we'll probably get time to talk about. But as I said, sacking a manager at this stage is just nothing short of fantasy because there is nobody out there that can come in and do anything about it at this point. And also more important than anything is, I said this with Ten Hag, the patience is getting shorter and shorter when it needs to get longer and longer. With every manager, we're giving them less and less time. From Oli to Ten Hag, it went down. If you sack Amram in the next few months, it's gone down again. We have to accept that we needed five key signings this summer and five key sales this summer.

15:11We've had no sales and three signings, one of which isn't even ready. So it's absolutely imperative that we try to be constructive in our conversation and try not to disrupt this early because I don't want to see an Amram out movement. It will not help the cause at all. And that is why getting into the news as well, there's a few bits I want to get into. There's lots of good comments coming in, but I saw Rooney and I like Rooney. I like Rooney. I mean, obviously he's got question marks about his footballing analysis as a coach, but this is what he had to say. There's no excuses for the manager this season.

15:58He's got to get results and he's got to get the results quickly because once you start getting to October, November, I think if the results don't change drastically, that's when the pressure comes. And to a certain extent, I sort of agreed with it. But then he said, it's only two games into the season, but the worrying sign is we're seeing things we've seen last season and that's a concern. I completely disagree. And I still want to see two or three more players. So there's no more excuses, but he still wants to see two or three more players coming in. There's no more excuses and we're seeing what we saw last season.

16:31And it's this constant need. There's too many podcasts, there's too many ex-players, and there's too many people who have to give a soundbite because this podcast's got to do well or that podcast's got to do well. it's not helpful. No more excuses. We heard it from Ashley Young a couple of weeks ago. No more excuses is a bad phrase to use around Ruben Amrim because the same excuse, and it is an excuse, is still valid that Oli had, that Mourinho had, that Ten Hag had. We're starting a season not ready. You cannot, we talk about it every summer transfer window. You've got to get the players in early.

17:17You've got to be ready for the start of the season because guess what? The first three games of the season give you the same points opportunity as the last three games of the season. It's still nine points and we've lost five already because we're not ready for this season. Szczesko is not ready to start and Bermow is not match fit. We don't have a midfielder and we don't have a goalkeeper. We're not ready for this season. So there are excuses because for whatever reason, the club again have failed to back a manager to a point where we're ready to start the season. We're not ready to start the season.

17:53And even if we were ready, Arsenal would be a very tough game. And even if we were ready, Fulham would be a tough game. So I would question the word usage of no more excuses when quite clearly there are excuses. And what does no more excuses do? It puts it out there into the ether that it's Amarim's fault. and I again, like many of you, get very tired of the manager being responsible. It's always, oh, no more excuses for the manager. You've got to look at the manager and it's like, again, this flip-flop nature around this football club of, we all know what the real problem is at Manchester United.

18:32We're trying to knock Old Trafford down because we've let it go to rust Rust and Ruin. We're nearly a billion pounds in debt. We've got horrific owners who've basically took the club from being one of the most powerful sporting clubs in the world to a club that's layered with debt. There are huge question marks. And I don't like no more excuses after two games. We've lost to Arsenal and we've drawn to Fulham. Contextually, we lost to Arsenal playing well because a goalkeeper can't deal with a cross. And contextually, we drew with Fulham because our best player had one of the worst games he's had in months and missed a bloody penalty.

19:15And couldn't you hit the post? Like this context, I'm absolutely devastated that we didn't get a result yesterday. But the result was a win. We drew. We drew. We'll beat Grimsby on Wednesday. We'll beat Burnley on Saturday. And people will be going, talking about top four again. because that's what I was talking about at the start. It's this up, down, up, down, up, down. And what I'm trying to do is just track a path of steady gradual progression, because that's what I expect this season to be. But we're still hindered by this constant fluctuation. Oh, you can't have a protest because we bought Seshko, we might buy Belieber.

19:58No, we do need a protest because we've drawn against Fulham. And we need to be patient. We need to be consistent. We need to stay the course. We're our own worst enemy at times. There's plenty to discuss. There's plenty of issues. Personally, this game yesterday reminds me a lot of Brighton. But we lost to Brighton. I was backing Ten Hag at the start of the season. and he made a shitload of mistakes against Brighton and we lost. And I went mad. We've drawn against Fulham. There's a lot of mistakes from Amirim there. But the big thing for me is that he's made some really big calls. Like Inan has done it at Man United, by the way.

20:45Breaking news, Inan has done. He's been fit for two games and he is not playing. He would rather put Biinder in goal than Inanna. And that gets lost in all the noise because the manager is still making sacrificial decisions to his career to make us better in the long term. Inanna might be better than Biinder, but he doesn't want Inanna in his team. So Inanna is not in the team. and that's a risk because Biinder cost us the game against Arsenal and he could have cost us a goal from corners yesterday. But Amorim is squaring up to it and saying, look, if I put Inanna in goal, these owners are probably going to say, well, you don't need a goalkeeper.

21:32So he puts Biinder in, he sends a message to Inanna, he sends a message to the board, I haven't got a goalkeeper, I need my own goalkeeper. These are big calls that he's making, but they're going to have a flip side. Basically, probably would have got a draw out of Arsenal if we'd had a goalkeeper. So beyond some of the decisions he's making, he's making big calls. I think the next big call is what he does with Bruno. And some people mention it about Deleuze. Managers do have favourites. I think he's done some really good stuff. You know, banning the bomb squad from any pre-season was brilliant.

22:09Dropping Anana completely and sending a message that you're not just going to sit on your arse and be my goalkeeper is brilliant. You know, not putting Rasmus in the team because he needs to force him out is, you know, I wouldn't say brilliant, because I don't necessarily agree with that. But from a manager's point of view, you can't knock it. It's strong. He needs to show that strength now, you know, with Bruno in the midfield. You can't do it. I think ultimately with Bruno Fernandes, we've sort of missed the boat by not selling him in June. because if you're not going to play him as a number 10, he sort of does become a bit redundant, I think.

22:49Evan says, Delo, Dorgoo, need a bollocking. No crosses into Shesko, says Evan. Imagine having such petulance as your captain and a key member of Amrim's leadership group. A captain is there to inspire and motivate players, says Sam. I think on the captaincy, it's a very, very quick assessment from me. The problem with the captaincy is Bruno's the best captain we've got, but he's not a good captain. I've seen John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Obviously, people like Roy Keane, Nemanja Vidic. There are good captains and Bruno is not a good captain, but he is the best captain we've got. Harry Maguire couldn't do it and doesn't start.

23:24De Litt, for whatever reason, isn't even in the leadership group. Casemiro is past it. We don't actually have a captain. Personally I think in the longer term We're starting to build characters You know People like De Ligt People like Yoro People like Cunha People like Mbermo You know I think these sort of players Are going to be useful to us But Bruno's the best we've got But I don't think he's the best captain I don't think he's a good captain Paul says Rotate the number 10s Move Bruno to a 10 Beef up the midfield For God's sake But if you put Bruno into number 10, why did you buy Mainu and Kunia?

24:06And that's the confusion, isn't it? I said it yesterday. If you need to keep Bruno on the pitch, why don't you put him where Delo is? I was thinking about it last night. I didn't tweet that. What I said is, if you want to keep Bruno on the pitch, take Embermo off, play Kunia and Bruno and put Mainu where Bruno is. But to keep him in the midfield was just catastrophic to me. You could even put Bruno on the right wing. why can't Bruno play right wing back he runs up and down anyway put him on the right put him at right wing back and tell him to put crosses in I mean it's wild but I actually I was thinking about it as I went to sleep last night I was like why don't we put Bruno right wing back you know if Ahmad's not going to cross with his right foot and Deleu isn't very good why don't we put Bruno right wing back he runs up and down anyway I mean if you can play in the midfield you can play right wing back.

24:59Like, I'm not saying it's a solution. I'm just saying if you want to keep him on the pitch for the last half an hour against Fulham, put him there. If Maneu doesn't start against Burnley in the midfield next to Casemiro or Garte, then that's when I'm going to get worried. Well, he won't do Bjorn. We'll beat Burnley with Bruno in the midfield. It's an easy hit. Double D's in the house. He says he has to start making tough decisions and to hell with what people think. He either changes the system or drops Bruno. It's a results business that I want to be loved by everyone. business not not i want to be loved by everyone business is double d look the interesting thing was if you listen to a woe be and you listen to marco silber after the game it was um it was a pile-on of the tactics because they basically said you know with man united if you swamp the midfield they're going to struggle um we've spoken about this many times most teams play with a midfield three four three three ten hog used to do it ollie used to do it liverpool do it arsenal do it.

25:57Most teams play with a three. And if you look at, you know, prime Man City, when you've got Rodri, let's say Silva and De Bruyne, the work or Gundogan and De Bruyne or whatever, that midfield three has a holder and two box-to-box players. And yes, De Bruyne is very creative and Odegaard's very creative, but the work they put in to supplement that midfield three is immense. same with Suboslay at Liverpool or whoever plays there we're playing a midfield too and one of them's a number 10 I mean for about 20 minutes yesterday we were playing four number 10s in our midfield Mount, Bruno, Cunha and Embermo and I sort of had to take a deep breath in the watch along because I was like we're in the midst of a game here and we might win but this is crazy you know this is like playing Carrick and Fletcher at centre-back at Fulham all those years ago.

26:50Like they can try and do a job, but they are woefully out of their depth. And, you know, if you're going to, logically, it just doesn't add up. Most decent teams play with a midfield three. We're playing with a midfield two, and one of them is an attacker. So we're basically playing with a midfield one and another guy who doesn't know what he's doing against the midfield three. And everybody knows to swamp our midfield. Honestly, if you're going to play with a midfield two, you need one of your centre-backs to step in, which they don't do enough. And you also need two midfielders that are literal beasts.

27:31Like I'm talking in the modern game, I probably would want McAllister and Gravenberg. I would probably want Enzo and Casido. I would probably want Bruno G and Tonali. You know, you want two really good midfielders. We haven't got one. Agate is not Premier League proven. Casemiro's finished. Bruno's an attacker. Manu never plays. So we're trying to play a midfield two. And if you're going to play a midfield two, you've got to have two really good midfielders because they're going to be doing the work of three people. and we haven't even got one. So systematically, it's not the problem. People say Amorim's got to change his system.

28:18I go back to it again. What were the club thinking appointing Amorim without doing the research on whether we had the money to fund his system and what his system would mean in the Premier League? Because I don't blame Amorim for what's going on in the midfield because he hasn't bought a midfielder. He's not recruited one midfielder. And it's very obvious he needs two. Now, he's tried to get Balaba, but he actually needs two. You need Wharton and Balaba. He's not got one. He needs two midfielders. And to say he needs to change his system, why should he change his system? Why did we recruit a guy that needs two really good midfielders and we haven't given him one really good midfielder?

29:03So I think it's a huge problem. And let's not forget, seven o 'clock tonight, it's the final countdown. Seven days to go. Let's see your views after the next match about Amirim, says Ritik. I don't know what that's meant to mean, Ritik, but I don't actually know what that's meant to mean. I'll leave it there. Mark, like you said, as soon as the games are back, everyone will forget any awesome focus on Amirim, even though he had three signings and no one sold, says Visco. I remember you saying that you can't replace Bruno with just one player and that you need two players minimum. Well, I think we have with Kunja and Mbumo.

29:35So it wouldn't surprise me if he goes this week, Sir Stefano. Look, as per yesterday, that Saudi stuff, the bid and Man United saying it's up to him is not true. But what is true is that Saudi will buy Bruno. So they haven't put a bid in and Man United haven't said it's up to you. But if we wanted to reignite it, it could happen.

30:06But We should have done it in June Because you're giving yourself days To resolve a problem that you could have had resolved I just think it's too late To do anything about that now I hope the community will not take this the wrong way Says God Swift We've been slowly brainwashed into thinking Top 10 would be a win 0.9 points per game Isn't Man United worthy Says God Swift I don't think anybody thinks top 10 is a win Actually I think people are overreacting about this start to the season. So I actually think standards are very high in this football club, probably too high in this fan base. I like Amrim, but I like Man United more.

30:39Amrim is the only manager I know that refuses to adjust tactics mid-game. Amrim in for now, says Dave. Of course, as fans, we can't be happy with the result, but the aftermath of yesterday's game is insane. The system is poor, the manager is failing and the fans seem lost in what they're shouting for, says John. Why are you still a believer? Please share, says Hamza.

31:09I've just seen a really sad message that I'm going to read out I'm just composing myself for a moment

31:17The Belaber tweet was last night I said I'm still a Belaber There's still time to go and do that deal He got subbed off yesterday There is still time to go and do that deal And I'm not saying we're going to do it But he was the player Amorim wanted We held talks with him He's clearly not happy at Brighton Like I'm still Maybe naive But I still think that Manchester United need to be moving heaven and earth To do stuff, you know James, this is the message here So James Boy said Hi again, just updating the pregnancy you announced for us we found out we are twins. But also while me and my father watched the United gang yesterday, he passed away before the final whistle.

32:02My heart mourned knowing he won't meet the twins.

32:08That's so sad, James. I read it and then I misread it and then I read it. And ultimately, it's just tinged with sadness, no matter how much it is. When you were talking about your twins and passing away, my heart was sinking about another scenario. and then I've realized you're actually talking about your father which is you know absolutely tragic so I think uh our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family mate and um it's it's really sad news and uh you know I'm sorry you have to share that with us James and uh I can see a lot of people in the community are are are sharing those sentiments as well so um Obviously, thoughts with you, James.

32:54Slaze says, I'm not Amrim out in any way, but he chose to play with Bruno and Mount in a two-man midfield. Either he's trying to prove a point or we're in trouble. Look, culpability yesterday lies squarely with the manager. Absolutely. I do not believe in extremities of Amrim in and Amrim out. It's silly. Everything's so contextual and layered. But if culpability for the yesterday's game lies with Amorim, hello, we drew. We didn't lose. We drew. We drew against Fulham, who finished higher than us last season. We went to Fulham for their first home game of the season and we drew. We didn't lose.

33:38We drew. We didn't deserve to lose. We drew. We didn't deserve to win, but we could have won. We drew. Amrim made some bad mistakes, but in the wider context, where's the midfielder he wants? Where's the goalkeeper he wants? So yes, culpability for yesterday's result lies squarely with the manager, but we didn't lose. And also the bigger picture is, has he been backed for the start of this season? No, I still don't understand why Seshko isn't starting games as well. And I don't believe that it's down to the manager. He will take responsibility, but I don't believe it because I said this before the game, Man United's fitness department has gone health and safety mad.

34:25They basically tell managers, don't play them, don't play them, play them for only half an hour, only give them 60 minutes because they're terrified that if Seshko starts the game and gets injured, it will be on them for rushing him into the team. But then at Arsenal, you've got Jokeres playing full 90-minute games because Arteta knows he needs the points and he wants to get his striker settled in. Jokeres isn't fit. You can see it. He's not Matt Sharp. Jokeres is nowhere near Matt Sharp. But they're putting him in because they need the points, because they want to win the league and they want to get their manager, they want to get their striker up and running.

35:03Sesko has had more of a pre-season than Jokeres. People don't realise this because they go, oh no, no, no, no. Jokeres signed for Arsenal before Sesko signed for Man United. Yeah, you're right about that. But Sesko was back in pre-season training with Leipzig in early July. Jochores was sat on a Mallorcan beach for most of July Seshko has had a pre-season at Leipzig He's just not been at Man United that long So why is he not starting games for Manchester United? It's crazy We finished 15th last year And we're not starting our£70m striker In games like Fulham away Arsenal finished 2nd and they're starting their striker straight away because they want to win the league.

35:57Like, it's almost the wrong way round. You'd think Arteta would be like, we've got enough quality to beat Leeds without Jokeres. Let's get him up to speed. No, he throws him in. We go away to Fulham. Shit last year, we are. Let's wait for Seshko to be absolutely perfect. He should have been in the bloody team. Should have been in the team. I don't think the manager needs to go, but he needs to adapt. If your system isn't working in the game, switch it up. Two in the middle isn't working, says Sean. Sorry, but I want Bruno out of the club. With nine days left in the window, we could still sell him as soon as possible, says Sal.

36:30Victoria says, I believe, very, very generous super chat from Victoria, says that, Mark, are you honestly backing a manager that has more games played than points in the Prem? Can you just be objective about that? I'm intrigued. A bat five with United, whilst a generational talent like Manu sits on the bench, 4-3-3. Really easy to answer this, mate. Why should he play a 4-3-3? His system has always been a 3-4-3. Why should he change it? Why recruit a chef and then get him to clean the toilets? We know what he is. As for the points in the Premier League games, I don't care about last season. I don't know why people are talking.

37:14It's such mainstream media hyperbole bollocks that you're all swallowing, if I'm being completely blunt. Why are you talking about 28 games and how many points he's got from it? I don't take any notice of last season He was hung out to dry He was brought in too soon with a team that was toxic And it's about this season He's got one point from six That's all I'm interested in All I said last year was pre-season needed Transfer window needed That's when I'll start to judge this manager We've had a pre-season I think the transfer window's been shit If I'm being honest Five out of ten isn't good enough we didn't lose yesterday.

37:52I think people are overreacting and I wouldn't be surprised if we're back here again after the City game and the Chelsea game. If United don't buy a midfielder, we'll be in the market for three new midfielders as Casemiro and Bruno will likely leave. No goalkeeper in Martinez. Sean Maguire will also need replacing. So seven needed again, says Tusha. Things could get worse before they get better. Of course they could. Sheshko must play 90 on Wednesday and start against Burnley, says Gareth. Liam says, what an overreaction to a draw away from home. Get a grip. Bruno should have gone. Deleuze has always been overrated.

38:34Amorim will be out. I truly believe that. Sorry, Amorim will be our saver. I truly believe that. Fans need to get a grip. Liam, I completely agree. Comments of the morning. And more importantly, I just don't, you know, I watched that clip from Mauds. It's well worth checking it out on X. And it made me feel a lot better because I just don't think Amarim's a mug. Don't think Amarim's a mug. I don't think he's going to be blind. If I was Bruno Fernandes, I would be worried about that comment that he made after the game yesterday. But basically, you know, Bruno played badly and he was impacted. Let's see.

39:15Shane B says, hope you're well. Can you explain your belabor tweet? I have done that, Shane. apologies for not coming to you first but i have done that delo and done that done that from evan as well um okay let me just catch up on a few more and then we will go back into a little bit more news as well flying by this morning but great to be conversing with a level-headed fan base and community um genuinely not happy about a lot of things yesterday but also context is key we're culpable as well because we're always projecting opinion and we don't actually take a look at ourselves like there is an overreaction to yesterday absolutely like Liam said and also we do keep falling into the same traps of as I say two weeks ago people were demanding that the 58 stop the stop the protest because we might be buying belabor two weeks later people want the protests again.

40:10Like you either want the prejudices or you don't. You can't be up and down just based on transfers. Like, do you want the Glazers in or do you want the Glazers out? Like it's as simple as that. Amrum is in a win-win situation. Even with a new midfielder, he'll play Bruno. If the Bruno thinks works, he's a genius. If it doesn't, he gets a big check. I do not see him dropping Bruno's as free immortal. But the only thing I would say, free immortal, is that Amrum is not in a win-win position because if he's done his research, he will realise that you can be sacked by Christmas when you start a season with optimism.

40:47Ten Hag and Jose and Oli, three, all started seasons with optimism, all gone before Santa emptied his sack. So, you know, he's not in a win-win situation. We've all played the game and we all know how this works. So he can't afford to start losing lots of games again. He has to get the results done. And look, I watched the highlights of the game yesterday and we could have had that game wrapped up. I think if Kunja scores that chance that hits the post, we'd have probably gone on to win that game. I think if Bruno had scored the penalty, we'd have gone on to win that game. The problem was when we did score, we weren't playing well and we weren't able to hold on to the momentum.

41:32him uh man united making our new boys look average lacks aggression poor passing accuracy can't cross the ball what's wrong with amram says chin i feel so deflated mark all excitement from the arsenal performance gone the arsenal performance is the exception to the rule and that's frightening says mayad um victoria says i sat right behind the united bench for the game and watched ruben amram play mountain bruno as a midfield too we need awobi looks like yaya tore the prem needs a midfield three that's why he has seven wins in 30 games in the prem amrim says sesco needs to learn the system and what system is the striker's job not to score goals i want him to see succeed but he's making it difficult says josh um our fans are just like the media with managers says pz i think some people unfortunately um and look i'd level this at rooney a little bit as well no more excuses is just not a helpful statement it's a tagline for a podcast they want people to listen to.

42:25No More Excuses is a terrible, terrible, terrible statement. It's sensationalist, it's inaccurate, and it doesn't help. Unfortunately, we do live in a world where Man United are swamped with people that want to talk about them. And look, we want to talk about them. We're a community, but we have, you know,

42:51I back managers. Some of you do, some of you don't. I back managers. I could easily go, let's sack Amarim. And we probably get the same amount of people watching, but it would be a toxic, aggressive, and quite rightly divisive community. And I don't want that. I want proper conversation. so but there are people out there that they revel in screaming and shouting you know stupidity so i haven't gone looking for it i know it will be there but there will be people like demanding amirim loses his job or you know he's on his last chance or he's on thin ice and all this that and the other trying to sort of direct you to their way of thinking so they can be the cheerleaders for change, but we've done it so many times.

43:44Like we've done it so many times. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again. Like I know it was a very long time ago, but Sir Alex Ferguson did have a couple of crap seasons at United. And then look what happened. And I'm not, we're not, we're not in the late eighties. Football's very, very different now, But it's about time United did actually try and weather a storm and see what happens in the long term. And when we are factually trying to reset a football club in a footballing sense, like it's not even been a year since we changed from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3. Like this is a huge change.

44:28I would say, is the change too much? Is it possible? But it is going to take time if it's going to happen. I feel that with regards to transfer news, Le Mens is obviously going to come in. There has to be a midfield signing this week. If we don't have a midfield signing this week, unfortunately, there is no tomorrow in the sense that you can look up front and Sheshko will get better. you can look at Ahmad and Mbamo and they will get better. But in the midfield, it will not get better. The midfield is not going to get better, is it? The midfield is what the midfield is. And I read a great point yesterday, actually, that if we'd scored those...

45:14Imagine Cunha's shot that hits the post goes in and we go and win 2-0. The great point about that is that if we'd won 2-0 yesterday, because we'd taken our chances early on and we got the points. People would be talking about Champions League football. We're still the same team. We're still the same team. But if we'd won yesterday, people would be going, oh, brilliant football. We're going to get Champions League football. Nothing's different. Nothing's changed. We're still the same team that drew, even if we'd won 2-0, but results by propaganda, results by time. So if we'd won yesterday, we'd be going towards the Champions League.

45:55Because we drew, we're going towards the exit door for Amrim. That's modern football. It's just so, you have to have an opinion on every result and it's got to be good or bad. It can't just be, that's really disappointing, but it's a point at Fulham. Let's beat Burnley Let's hopefully get something done in the transfer window And then come back against Man City and Chelsea And try and get some points there Do you think Kobe will leave? The mood has changed, definitely, Anas You know what? I said it yesterday I'm more than happy to talk about this With regards to Kobe, why is he signing a new contract?

46:35I want him to sign a new contract Why has he Someone needs to tell Stephen We didn't lose He says the mood's changed Because we lost I think that With regards to Kobe

46:55Like Why I said it on the watch along yesterday Over a year ago He was starting He did start in the final for England In the Euros didn't he he was certainly starting games for England in the Euros in the midfield a year ago he now can't get a minute for Manchester United who was shit so I think with relations to Cobby I would be asking the question why am I signing a new contract because if you think I'm sitting here as an understudy for Bruno all season as much as I love it here I'm better off going and playing for bloody Swindon you know there's no point no point Our fans are just like the media His love for Dillo and Agate will cost him his jobs As playmaker Scott says it's not the Chelsea or City game I worry about, it's the Burnley Look Scott, I have to be very careful When I talk about Burnley And those who remember my FIFA career mode Will know why I can't sit here and say It's an easy game against Burnley Because there is something about Burnley And me that just doesn't End well for me So I'm not going to sit here and say Burnley Burnley Burnley is going to be a win but you have to win that game because if you don't they're the sort of games that you know become very problematic uh Ahmad was arguably best player last year and now he's being played at wing back and Bermot is a bit of a bull in a china shop why not priorities as Brian um you know what I think that uh you raise a good point but I'm not actually that concerned about Mbermo because what surprised me about yesterday and I I think you can attribute this again directly to the midfield, was that in the first 10 minutes, we got the ball into Kunja multiple times and we looked good for it.

48:47We then stopped doing it. And it's just, it's almost like we've got too many cooks spoiling the broth. because I said it in the match reaction, to be fair, so I won't dwell on it too much, but get the ball into Cunha's feet. When Wolves last season were playing games, get the ball into Cunha's feet. He's our best player. Get the ball into Cunha's feet. Every time, get the ball into Cunha's feet. And the more time you do it, the more chance he's going to do something. With United, it was like, we'll get the ball into Cunha's feet every now and again. Just get the ball into Cunha's feet. Like he is, for the last five years, it's been about getting the ball to Bruno.

49:33You can't have Bruno and Kunya. One of them's got to get the ball into feet. Bruno doesn't want to play a five-yard pass into Kunya's feet. Bruno wants to hit a 50-yard pass. Get the ball into Kunya's feet has to be the thing. Because then if you get the ball into Kunya's feet, he can then feed Embermo. Embermo wants it into feet as well. So I saw it yesterday it was very frustrating we just stopped feeding couldn't you um if sesco starts bruno doesn't take the penalty says steven well he will do captain in he i'm very disappointed at agate 42 million pounds and while some decent performances here and there he's nothing but a periphery player says andrew i watched that brighton game yesterday says nick absolutely no absolutely no reason i can see why belaber was subbed at halftime one of their better performers it was odd says nick do you know Yoro has not started a premiership winning game for United since he has joined

50:33oh he's not started a premiership winning game I thought he said he hasn't started a premiership game well I mean it doesn't surprise me we have been shit could we buy Belaba if we sell Bruno's as Jacob uh nobody can convince me that Masraoui won't do a better job in CDM arguably a better A player, a passer than Agate, but not Casemiro. Crazy, a manager hasn't been given a fee. I forgot about Masraoui, actually. Why is Amarim not changing to 4-3-3? Because that's not his position, Luke. Shaw's not good enough either. Agate, Mena and Bruno all then get in the squad as Mount can be a super sub. We're not...

51:07Look, I can't believe we're going back to 4-3-3 again. Like, we were shit with 4-3-3. We sacked a manager with 4-3-3. I mean, I don't know why people think 4-3-3... I mean, this is exactly what we're talking about, isn't it? It's this flip-flop nature of some people in our fan base that drag us down. Why would a manager that doesn't play 4-3-3 play a 4-3-3? And why would 4-3-3 solve our problems when the last manager got sacked for it? I do despair at that type of conversation because I think it drags us down to the gutter and we waste time. 4-3-3. What if Amrim is exposing our problems before the transfer window ends?

51:44I never agree with that sort of stuff. This is exactly the same team from last season, plus three players. We had people believing top four was a possibility, says Trey. If I give Amirim 10 Beliebers, he'd still play Bruno, says Parker. And why is it every time we get a manager, everyone says they're amazing. Then 12 months later, they're awful, says Harry Sinclair. I did the math and our average points after three games since Sir Alex last 12 is 5.25 average after three games. So that's great, Bragg. Thank you. And that's quick maths. So I asked this question at the start of the show We're never ready for the start of the season What's our average points over the last 12 years?

52:225.25 according to Braj That's shit 5.25 points average from our first three games Over the last 12 years is crap Really crap Because we're never ready Ray Potcol, hope you're doing well He says, again, we're losing the real issues the lack of finishing and no service to the forward, who is back in the graveyard shift. Great point. I do want to talk about that. I think certain players did not perform and the managers got sacked. Majority of them are still here, says Somnath. Yeah, we'll look, you know, polishing turds again. Only Michael says over the last 10 years, our points from the first three games on average is 4.8.

53:04And over the last five years, it's 3.2. It's getting worse. So over the last 12 years, this is clippable, right? Over the last 12 years, our average points from our first three games is 5.2 out of 9. Over the last 10 years, our average is 4.8 out of 9. And over the last five years, our average is 3.2 out of 9. So it's getting worse. That's horrific. That is absolute horror.

53:38Someone get Neve Campbell on the phone because I could scream. That is horror time. 3.2 points on average from the last five years based on the first three games. Because we treat August like a preseason. We're never ready. We're never ready. I'm not reading about Alex Crook. Talk shit. Not interested. Sorry. If you want to believe that, that's up to you. I genuinely got no interest in him. I was crying out for Kunia to take the pen, says Selton. Thank you very much for that. Yeah, he's never not going to take it, is he? Alan Noonan says Bruno's frustration after the penalty miss through the team at that point.

54:26The ultimate question is, do we trust these players? I haven't trust these players since Everton with Oli when we got smacked up and we'd just given him a new contract.

54:47So, no, I don't. Just going back to what Ray Carl said as well about the striker, I think it's a great point and we may not get as much time as I would like to have spoken about it. but um i if you don't serve as a striker what are they supposed to do you've got square pegs in round holes 4-3-3 fits the players like amram it's worthwhile discussion 4-3-3 until we have the correct midfield no luke it's not a good conversation i mean well let me fair let me fair there's a lot of people talking about it my personal opinion which i'm entitled to is the 4-3-3 conversation is one for people with low IQ.

55:29I'm sorry if that offends people, but we sacked a manager with 4-3-3. A year ago, 4-3-3 cost Ten Hag his job and he bought players for a 4-3-3 and we were absolutely shit. So you want a manager that doesn't play a 4-3-3, doesn't like a 4-3-3 to go and play a system he doesn't like that sacked the previous manager. It doesn't fix anything for me it's just um it's a desperate plea for help um i was crying out for kune to take the penalties to selton and the ultimate question done that one from aditya people who think mainu is generational if amram stays this year he will be sold next year i guarantee i don't rate him or agate either says tusher i think that i think the call for mainu is just to see what he's to give him a chance i think you know you might be right maybe bruno is uh maybe maybe mainu is overrated maybe he's not overrated.

56:22I think he's a good player. But when a player is playing shit, he should be given a chance. Douglas, thank you very much for joining the members club. Edward V has gifted five memberships. What a legend. Victoria is generously back in the house and says, the same concerning issues that we saw last season are raring their head already. With a whole new attack, we should have standards. When does his result basis become? God, there's the morning sneeze again. I think it's an allergy to Man United's bad results. Sorry, Victoria. Says, we should have standards. When does his result basis become untenable?

56:56Any other big club would not stand for this performance from a manager. Look, I've explained it once, I'll explain it twice, so save your money. I don't count last season. This is a new season with a pre-season and a transfer window. I don't count last season. It was shit, mate. It was horrible. If you take me back to last season, you're going to depress me. I'm going to think about Lyon I'm going to think about the Europa League final It was appalling Forget 15th and how many games we lost Amorim's performance in that Europa League final Was horrific But you've got to draw a line under it It's a new season with a pre-season Last season there's no point I'm not carrying on points accumulations from last season It's a new season It's a pre-season We've had it The transfer window has not gone the way I wanted it to But there's still a bit of time It's one point from six it should be two from six it's one from six it's not the best start it's not the worst start it's not amory mouth time if you have to predict the remaining transfer window bruno's staying or going and a midfielder coming in what do you think will happen edward i think predicting the last few days of this transfer window is incredibly difficult we have to get the goalkeeper in and i believe we will do that and that will improve us although we will need to be patient with him with regards to the midfielder, we have to do something that we should have done two months ago.

58:18We have to do something big. Now, would Saudi buy Bruno? Yes. Will Bruno go to Saudi? I don't think so. Do Man United want Bruno to go to Saudi? No. I don't think that happens. So somehow you've got to find money to buy a midfielder now. The question I would ask myself and you is if the money was there, To sell Bruno and buy a Wharton or a Belaba, would you do it right here, right now, 10 seconds to decide? Yes. Because the midfield doesn't work. And if I can take Bruno permanently out that midfield and bring Belaba in, I'll do it. because Bruno's not going to play where I want him to anyway, because I've got Kunja, Embermo, Mount, Xerxi, Ahmad.

59:10So I would do it. What amazes me is that we basically replaced Bruno anyway and then decided to put him out of position. That's why at the start of June, I said, take the money. Love Bruno, but he's a number 10. And if you're buying two number 10s, you're basically replacing him anyway because he's not a midfielder. So for me, we replaced Bruno but then kept him. That's the story of the summer. We replaced him with Cunha and Mbermo and then we kept him. I don't know. But I don't think we can do anything about it now but we do have to get a midfielder in. And then having Bruno at the club is going to be a problem unless we put him back as a number 10.

59:58Why wingers only send crosses when Maguire comes in, but not Cesco, says Jose. Ahmad, Bruno, Mount, Kunja all playing out of position. That will never work, says Marlowe. Or Kunja's not, well, I suppose when, yeah, you're right. I back Amrim and fully support him, but didn't understand why he was looking away during Bruno's penalty and during certain corner kicks, almost like he was nervous. Didn't like seeing that, says Sahil. Look, spade a spade, Amrim might fail and get sacked. I don't sit here as somebody that backs hammer him and says, trust me, it's going to work. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that would be stupidity.

1:00:35That might not happen. But what I do say is we're at the start of something where he's not had the full backing of the club. We've spent 200 million pounds. We're still two players short of what he needed. And we finished 15th last year. If people thought we were going to start winning every week with an incomplete summer transfer window, when we finished 15th last year, then maybe expectations were set too high. I said we will be somewhere between 5th and 10th. That is quite wide parameters. And as I said, Newcastle finished 5th with 12 losses. 12 losses. You lot are going to be losing your shit when we hit 8.

1:01:22But the team that finished 5th lost 12th. You've got to do a bit of research to provide yourself with the patience that's going to be important. 12 losses can still get you fifth place. 15 losses could still get you eighth. We ain't sacking a manager if he finishes eighth. So context is key. It's hard because our expectations are right up there. We want to win leagues and that should never change. I ain't got a problem with people with standards high. Man United should be winning league titles. But where we are in reality, it would be foolish not to expect that there's going to be bumps in the road.

1:02:06And we didn't lose yesterday. My big takeaway, because I've got to go, my big takeaway is that actually the result I can deal with. Fulham are decent. It's, you know, these things happen. We didn't lose. My big problem is just some of the selections. Like, Seshko should have started. And if you start Seshko, Mount could have played where Bruno was and we'd have been better off. If we'd have dropped Bruno and played Mount and Casemiro with Kunja, Mbemo and Seshko, we probably would have won that game based on hindsight. It's got to sort the midfield out. We'll be better with a new goalkeeper and a midfielder.

1:02:46Those two things have got to happen. And I tell you what, as we start a new week, I want to see those stories. That's what I want to see. I want to see those stories. Do you think Manu will leave? Mate, if Manu doesn't sign that new contract, then we've only got ourselves to blame. Because if you're trying to get someone to sign a new contract and then you're not giving them any minutes, then we can only be trying to get him to leave, which is just absolute stupidity. I think Manu will sign the contract. In fact, I've been told for a long time that that contract's ready to sign, but you know, it would be mad really.

1:03:25I backhammer him. Thank you very much, Sahil. When did United's board last hold their nerve with an underperforming manager and a team in 15th place? 1990. And it turned out all right, says Sam. I understand the argument that he should stick to his system, but it also irritates me that the managers are so rigid with philosophies as people were adapt. It's not like he's changing his moral code, says Nick P. Amram is in a wind. I've done that one. Thank you very much. Okay. Look, we're back at two o 'clock. It'll be me at two. It's another live one. So bank holiday in the UK, but I will be back live with you at two and eight.

1:03:56So lots going on today. No, not eight, seven, because it's Liverpool, Newcastle, isn't it? On that's football. So seven o 'clock tonight, UK time. Do you think we're going to get Belaber? Look at my tweet. Speak to you all in a bit. Thanks for watching.