235: Amorim's Transfer Plea! Bruno Frustration!

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0:48Plus, check out our weekly flyer on Menards.com for all the great deals happening now. Save big money at Menards. Hello, everybody. Good morning and welcome to the United Stands. I'm Mark Goldbridge. I'm Mark Goldbridge and this is your latest Manchester United news this Sunday morning. Lots to get into. We've got frustration from Amirim. Are we starting to see why he didn't want a young striker in Cesco? We'll talk about that. Also, Bruno Fernandes, ongoing frustration in the midfield. Is it time we cut Bruno some slack? He doesn't want to play in the midfield. So maybe we should be giving him a bit of a boost.

1:29I don't know. We'll talk about that as well. Also, we've got the latest on Adam Wharton. Why De Ligt is not in the leadership team from Amrim's mouth. Also, why are we tired? Why are we tired? De Ligt saying after the game yesterday, we're tired as well. And a few other bits to get into as well. Also, if we've got time at the end, which I'll make time for, I'm going to read the top comments from last night's show, moaning about how me and maybe some of you don't see it as progress. We will talk about that because it's like banging your head against the brick wall. But I think I've got the definitive answer and I'm sure we'll find time for that.

2:03But a bit of good news at the start of the show. Benjamin Sesko. So this is coming in from Sam C. Basically, the initial thoughts on Sesko's injury is that it's not that bad. There's even rumours that he may try and still go on international duty for Slovenia. And if it's not that bad, I would say go because he needs game time and needs confidence. but even if he doesn't do that, the feeling is that it will be a minor injury of maybe two, three weeks, which is great news, absolutely great news because we know we've got the AFCON, we know we've got not really any other strikers and whether he's going to start or not, which is up to a debate, we don't want injuries.

2:44So look, the initial prognosis is good, he's got to have a scan but how you can tell, I would say, I would always, I was always urged caution, but the general consensus is that it doesn't look like it's going to be too bad and it won't be too long, which is great news. So look, let's get straight into the show because I want to talk about that. Many of you last night were actually talking about this anyway and yesterday during the game, I think with Sesco, that there is clearly a conversation to be had here. And it's so funny in football, isn't it? Because we all have our opinions. Sometimes they're strong, sometimes we disagree.

3:20But I think fundamentally at the heart, at the core, we all want Man United to win. We want Man United back where they should be. And I think sometimes we lose sight of that. And I think that when you look at the decision, you know, Wilcox did that interview last week and everyone was saying wonderful Wilcox and fantastic Favell or something else beginning with a V. One game can change it because, you know, you look at the Sesco signing now. And it's like, was it forward thinking? Was it a great idea? You know, Amorim clearly wanted a more experienced striker. I know that's strong rumour, but there was opposition to Sesko.

3:58Wilcox, Favell were pro it, and therefore you assume that it wasn't Sir Jim or Barada, it was actually Amorim. And you look at the strikers Amorim wanted, Oli Watkins, Jokeres. He probably wanted, in fact, let's be honest, he did want a more experienced striker. This morning, it looks like Amrim's right. A few weeks ago, it looked like Favell's right. And it's not like Amrim's anti-Sesco, but he's not starting him every game like Arteta would start Jokeres. You know, he puts him on the bench for games because he's a prospect. He's a work in progress. And what we've seen from Amrim, especially yesterday, is that Leni Jorow is a prospect, but you're on the bench for Maguire.

4:36Maynou is a prospect, but you don't play ahead of Bruno. And Sesco's a prospect and you're on the bench. Amrim at the moment is very much prioritising experience in Bruno and Casemiro. I mean, he'd rather put Bruno out of position in the midfield for his experience than play a midfielder. So Sesco flies in the face of what Amrim's trying to do at the moment. And United are in this position where I would rather go for a younger striker that's got world-class capability than a player that's 29. I would rather do that. But I think Amrim probably looks at this big thing. And I think this is the big thing here.

5:10When we looked at the game yesterday, there was two chances for Sesko. One, where Mount played him in. He's on his left foot. He didn't take it. He took a touch and the opportunity went. And then the more famous one, through one-on-one, Vandervan gets back. Now, Alan Shearer said it on Match of the Day last night. And I'm not bigging up Alan Shearer, but he has scored more goals than anyone else in Premier League history. and he said exactly what you and I said. If you are a striker at any level of football, you've got to be aware that Van der Ben is going to get back at you and you've got to take it straight away.

5:43And if you're not going to take it straight away, you've got to get your body in front of Van der Ben so he can't make that tackle. Sesko did neither of those things and that shows that he is not ready. He is a work in progress. And that is a prospect by definition. So I think Amrim this morning, as we alluded to last night, he said we've got a lot of problems. There are a lot of bloody cheerleaders in the fan base and I don't know what they're cheering for because the manager's not even on the same page as you. He said we've got a lot of problems and we have. And I think that one of the things we may have missed last night in the conversation about progress and everything else is that I think Ruben Amarin probably looks back at that game and goes, okay, my goalkeeper's done it, come in and made me two big saves.

6:25My centre-back has got me a late equaliser. We've not played particularly well, well, but my striker should have scored one of those goals, in which case we at least draw the game, we possibly win the game. And I think he will look at that and he will say, possibly to Sir Jim Radcliffe, this is why I need another striker with different capabilities, i.e. probably experience. And this is why in the summer I wanted a striker with experience. Now, Jokeres in that situation, does he score those chances? I think he hits them both and probably scores one. We didn't get Jokeres. I think that when it comes to Manchester United and Cesco, this is...

7:08I feel bad for Cesco. I like Cesco. And I feel like a couple of weeks ago, he was doing quite well. He was actually doing quite well. And some people have said the media focus, the ex-player focus has clearly derailed him. And that's such a shame. And it is. And, you know, let's say, you know, If Gary Neville hadn't said what he'd said last week, maybe Sesco scores those chances. Is that Gary Neville's fault or is that Sesco's fault? Let's get real. We're Manchester United. You are going to get criticised. And I think this is what Amorim was talking about in the week. He said himself, you know, he's struggling.

7:44Sesco is struggling. You know, the criticism, he wants to be in control. This is what we're talking about. You can't blame people for criticising players if the players can't deal with the criticism. That's part of recruitment. If we have a striker that can deal with criticism, maybe he takes that chance. And that's the thing. When it comes to Cesco, this is a project. He is a prospect. He is not ready to be Man United striker. And we saw that yesterday. Now we can moan and call him a flop. And I think a lot of people have been very eager to do that from day one. It's a strange thing we have in this fan base.

8:18People seem to want to do it with Dorgue. They want to do it with Agate. You know, I even saw, amazingly, some people doing it about Le Mendes yesterday. There is this weird thing in our fan base where we like to sign players and then criticise them as quickly as possible. But it sort of feeds into Amrim in the sense that I think that on this one I am quite sympathetic because obviously the midfield is a massive issue, but he has one striker. And I'm not going to sit here and say we shouldn't have got rid of Rasmus. And, you know, we basically spent£65 million of our budget buying a striker we already had.

8:50That's a good point. I'm not going to get into it. but it's a little bit like Inanna and De Gea. It's not as bad. You already have a goalkeeper. You let them go for nothing to spend£50 million on a replacement that's not that much better. In the case of De Gea, obviously, Inanna was worse. But Amrim might look at it and go, I had a 22-year-old striker who was probably more settled than Sesco and we let him go for nothing on loan to spend£68 million on a striker that's basically a 22-year-old striker who has got to learn. In the long term, that could be brilliant. But in the short term, how does that help me when I'm under pressure every single bloody game?

9:30And I think that is a great point. And I've seen a lot of people making it. Like, I'm not saying we shouldn't have got rid of Rasmus, but what did we actually do? We replaced one inexperienced striker for another one who is now struggling. We could have just stuck with Rasmus for the season and spent that 65 million on a midfielder. And that, you know, in hindsight, I've never said that. So I'm not going to claim that as I told you so FC but I almost do understand it well I do I understand it but the point is we did what we did what we have to do now is solve this issue and I think Amrim is going to be there like he hinted last night saying in the January transfer window what can we do and I think that to me is another very very essential part of what we need to do in this in this January transfer window we need to be looking at the striker situation as well because Because if we don't, I think then, you know, we're going to have problems.

10:23Because regardless of how we performed yesterday, and I don't think we performed very, very well, there were two strikers' chances that a striker should take. And I think, you know, where we go in the January transfer window, maybe you do look at an Ivan Toni from Saudi. Maybe you do. I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago. Ben Jacobs mentioned it a couple of weeks ago. I mean, maybe you look at Ivan Toni and go, would he take those chances? Yes. I think it's becoming abundantly clear to me that the Champions League position is all this season's about. You know, that's why we're picking Casemiro every week.

11:00That's why we're still using Maguire. We're using these players that arguably can't be used next season to try and get us a goal for this season. And why would you not take Ivan Toni for five months? You know, why would you not? I think this season, and I think many of the people are having this debate about whether we're seeing progress or not. If we're seeing progress, we're seeing progress in results comparable to last year. I don't think we're seeing progress in relation to style of play or performance. So why would you not, in that mindset, think, well, let's get Ivan Toni in for five months?

11:35We're not that focused on performance anyway, so get somebody in who can score goals. We talk about some players not getting chances, but the moment subs are made, we crumble. Also, Deleuze is becoming a glaring liability in the defences. Pranav, thank you very much for that. Say big on your next project at Menard's. Check out our huge selection of Richmond water heaters. Whether it's electric or gas, tank or tankless, Menard's has what you need in stock. Ensure that you have hot water for when you need it most with a new Richmond water heater from Menard's. Plus, check out our weekly flyer on Menards.com for all the great deals happening now.

12:16Save big money at Menards. I also want to talk about, well, there's a few things I want to talk about this morning. Explain this one to me. So, DeLitt. Look, I think this, to me, was a bit of a cop-out answer from Amrim, actually. He was asked about, Laurie Whitwell put it out this morning. He was asked about why De Ligt is not part of the leadership team. And Amrim said, there are players who lead in the way they play. Then there are players who have a different involvement in everything that happens in Carrington. In the end, everyone has to be a leader. Still doesn't actually answer the question, does it?

12:55Luke Shaw, Casemiro, Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, De Lowe, Tom Heaton. There may be one other and one or two of them might not be on. Anyway, let's pretend that's the leadership team. De Ligt this season has been our best player with Mbemo. He's scoring goals like that. He's organising the defence. He's centre defence. He's right centre back. He's doing absolutely everything for us. I think there is a case right now to be seriously looking at giving him the captain's armband. Now, I know you can't give him the captain's armband while Bruno's here, but he is surely our next captain. So I think he needs to be part of that leadership team.

13:35And I think that was the question being put to Amrim. And Amrim can say, well, you know, no, no. I think the question was quite clear. Why is he not part of your leadership team? Because if he's not our next captain, we've got a very big problem. He is absolutely everything we need in a captain. That's what a captain's performance was yesterday. He was the man of the match and he got us the equaliser at the end. And I think that that was the question to Amrim. And the question is, why is he not part of your leadership team? Because if he's going to be the next captain, he needs to be part of the leadership team now.

14:07And Amarim can talk about, well, you know, there's different types of leaders. That's not really the question. The question is, he's your best player and he's playing by example. I wouldn't give him the captain's armband while Bruno's still here, but he needs to be vice captain. Like there is preparation for this role. It's Manchester United captain and it's an important role. And I think next season, August, he needs to be walking out with that armband. so now he needs to be on the leadership team he needs to be the vice captain it's very very very clear to me and it was interesting what De Ligt said after the game because I don't know whether this will put him down the pecking order for being the next captain or not but this is what he said he said we deserved better but we were perhaps a bit tired in the second half we responded well I'm proud of the team who didn't give up anything to snatch a point with 10 men so look I mean look that's the sort of leadership you want from somebody I mean, I don't necessarily agree with him that we deserved better.

15:01I don't think we deserved better. I think at halftime, we're 1-0 up and in the second half, we played badly again. So I don't think we deserved better. But I think he deserved better. I think that's something I would, you know, he's not going to stand there and say I deserve better, but I think he deserved better. But I think what's really got people's knickers in a twist is why are we tired in the second half against a team that played 90 minutes more than his midweek and has more significant injuries than us. Why are we tired in the second half? And we spoke about lethargy. And PJ says, tired from what?

15:38We spoke about lethargy. And there are strange leadership decisions as well. I mean, why is Deleu on the leadership team? And Deleu isn't. It's almost like it's a typo that nobody's figured out. Why is Deleu on the leadership team? He's an appallingly bad player at the moment. He's got zero experience in winning. I don't know. Amrim's stubborn, so I don't want to start a campaign that Delit should be our captain or anything like that. But it's so logical that this guy needs to be our captain for the next few years based on the squad we have. And it's very rare that you buy a captain in. So I look at that team and I look at the future.

16:18I think he has to be the captain. But look, Delit saying that we're tired in the second half is probably not going to please Amorim. But we can all see it. So De Ligt should not be castigated for saying it. We can all see it. I mean, I literally tweeted in the second half there was lethargy in the second half, which is tiredness. And I think when you look at the second half, as much as we can sit here and say, why are we tired? I think we were tired. You know, you look at Casemiro and Bruno, their legs are gone in that second half. They're absolutely gone. Now, why have we got players starting for Man United who can't play 90 minutes?

16:55That's one question. Two, why are we tired when we're only playing one game a week? What are we doing in training that is not... I mean, look, I remember Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool nearly winning the league. Chris Danbull, slippy G season, right? They weren't in Europe. I think they had Suarez and Sturridge and whatever. and almost every week in the first 20 minutes, they'd kill people. But for 90 minutes, they were ridiculous. And I remember everybody going, this is because they're not in Europe. They're working on the training ground and they're ambushing team with energy and fitness. So why?

17:32There is no excuse again. What is Amerim and the fitness department doing that our team is tired in the second half? And I'd understand it if in the first half, we were absolutely trying to swamp teams with a high press and we were tired. But you look at the first half against Forest and Spurs, there's nothing in that first 45 minutes that's, you know, energetic and intense. We weren't like high press, you know, run, run, run. And then we're tired in the second half. And I'm like, I think I know why we're tired in the second half. And I know why De Ligt's talking about being tired in the second half.

18:04I don't understand why we are tired with one game a week. It's ridiculously embarrassing. but in defence of De Ligt, Maguire, Jorow, Luke Shaw, they're tired because they're overworked. They're tired because concentration and physicality, it's constant. They're getting no respite. The midfield is not keeping hold of the ball, so we can't attack. So it's wave after wave of concentration and defence. That's why De Ligt's tired. That's why the defence is tired, because in the second half for the last two weeks, they're getting absolutely overrun. There's no stroll up to the halfway line and, you know, watch United attack for a couple of minutes and get a breather.

18:48There's no, let's just have a breather and keep the ball for a couple of minutes. It's just, you know, basketball constant like that. That's why they're getting tired. The style of play is not allowing players to get a breather. So it's incredible that we are tired, but you can see you can see why in a way. A very honest statement from Dillett that might not stand him in good stead. Coming to the midfield, by the way, I think as well, you know, there's been a lot of, and I'm certainly one of those people that's just had enough of Bruno Fernandes playing in the midfield, but, you know, we've done enough shows on that.

19:25I think it's really important to signpost two things. One, Ben Jacobs said at the start of October, I think it was the last international break, that Bruno Fernandes has a good relationship with Ruben Amrin, but he doesn't like playing in the midfield. And two, regardless of rumours coming out that he doesn't like playing in the midfield, and there are plenty, we've all got eyes. He is frustrated in that midfield. And whilst his performances aren't very good, Bruno Fernandes has been a fantastic player for Manchester United. He's always been one of my favourite players. I'll always be honest, I don't do player FC.

20:02Bruno is one of my favourite players, but in the midfield, I don't like it. I want him to play as a number 10. But let's not forget, Bruno Fernandes isn't running around saying, hi, I'm the next Rodri. It's very clear he doesn't want to play there. Like he has got no discipline for the role. He doesn't want to tackle. He's not very good at it. He's not very good at picking up the runners. He's not very good in the air. Like there's so many roles in a midfielder that he can't do because that's not what he is. And I think we can see the frustration. And I think it's important obviously you know frustrations emotions are running high on a game day but I think after after um asleep and and thinking about it I think it's really important to have some balance and remember that as much as some of us are very frustrated by Amorim picking Bruno in the midfield and Bruno underperforming there Bruno's not happy in that role like it's it it's visibly clear and why would he not be happy in that role because a player that is a very very good player is being asked to do a role he can't really do and it's damaging his reputation and performance quite regularly.

21:11There has been a couple of good performances but there's also been quite a few bad performances from Bruno which is reflected in his player ratings etc. I also think he'll be frustrated because he's not actually, all right he got an assist yesterday and he's still picking up assists but he probably looks at it and goes, if I was playing where Konya or Mboumou are, I'd be getting more assists. I'd be getting more goals. Obviously, he's missed a couple of penalties this year, but the goals and the assists are drying up for Bruno because of where he's playing on the pitch. And we have seen players transition from being attacking midfielders to midfielders, but it feels like he is not going to be one of those players at the highest level.

21:53And also, it feels like he could still offer a lot more higher up the pitch. there is a massive opportunity here to change that. There is. We can put Bruno into a front three with Embermo and Cunha as we discussed last night. But I do think, look, I'm not here to say Bruno's suddenly a good midfielder or anything like that. He isn't, in my opinion, and it's a big problem. But I think it's also important to remember that he is very frustrated. You can see it. And I know he throws his arms around like an octopus, but like, and he always does that. But imagine your frustration when you are a player that is an attacking player.

22:28that expects goals and assists, and then you're being asked to do a role that you can't really do, and then you're getting criticised for it, you're going to get frustrated. And I think we are seeing that frustration 100%. If Amram's right and there's different types of leaders, what type of leader is Bruno? The headless chicken variety who can't control his emotions. Yeah, and I suppose that feeds into it. Now, Maddison said, even as a 10, he's too slow. Well, let's expose that, you know. If he's not a number 10 anymore, then he shouldn't be at the club anymore. But I think as a midfielder, there is just there is only probably one person in football who thinks this is a good idea it's very clear that Bruno doesn't like it but will respect the manager in the club and do a job which he said in his interviews himself I'll play anywhere and he does you can't ever deny Bruno's availability and engine but he's not up to the role I don't think most fans don't want to see him there but you know it's one I think it's important to state that he is frustrated with it as well, because he will be.

23:32Talking of midfielders, some people are saying, are you going to talk about Adam Wharton? I saw Adam Wharton's interview. Effectively, it was a bit of a nothing thing. I don't think Adam Wharton at the moment is a Man United priority, although we do play Crystal Palace the game after Everton. So maybe that probably will be his audition. And if he does well, I'm sure it will ramp up around Wharton. So get ready for that. What he basically said was that he's seen the rumours and in essence, he was like, look, it's just noise. It's good to be linked to teams like Manchester United, but they might be linked to 20 players.

24:06I'm not going to go over the top about it. I'm not going to think, over-scrutinise it. If and when a club speaks to my agent and Crystal Palace, then there's a conversation to be had and we'll have that conversation. But at the moment, I'm focused on Crystal Palace and doing the best I can for them. And I'm not going to be distracted by it. And, you know, I think Adam Wharton has to be on the list. He is on the list. He's probably not had as much exposure as Anderson because we played them last week or Belaber because we tried to get him in the summer. But Wharton will be on the list. And, you know, I'm interested in that Crystal Palace game because I want to see how he plays.

24:43With Elliot Anderson, I know what he is. With Belaber, I know what he is. But with Wharton, he's sort of like jack of all trades, in relation to he's not as good as some things as Balaba is or Anderson is. But we need to keep these players in mind. And who knows, he might end up being a Man United player in the summer. But of course, in the middle of November or whatever we are, start November, he's not going to come out and say, come and get me, is he? It won't happen, but I'd love to see Bruno, Cunha and Embermo as a front three, says James, with Bruno in a free role behind Cunha and Embermo as split strikers.

25:17You could then drop Maynou in midfield for control. This is exactly what I want to see. Exactly what I want to see. Thanks for your super chat, James. Hope you're doing well this morning. Big Z says, big drop in performance, second half. We need squad depth to maintain the performance. Looked as though Sesco feigned injury out of embarrassment. Look, I've seen a few, a lot of accounts and I saw a few more this morning, basically putting up clips of Rooney when he was injured and playing for the team, et cetera. I think it's dangerous fantasy and we are Manchester United and we must try and support our players.

25:50And people will go, well, you don't support Deleuwe. Deleuwe's been here for years. Like, Deleuwe's been here for a long, long time. And I have backed Deleuwe for a long time. But it gets to a point where you go, he's 26, 27. He's not a prospect anymore. Is he ever going to be good enough? Probably not. If he proves his wrong, brilliant. In relation to Sesco, he's barely been here three months. And I think we're walking a dangerous path here where so-called Man United fans are putting it out there that Sesco feigned injury. Now, at the start of the week, Gary Neville said, I think the jury's out on Sesco.

26:25And certain United fans wanted to have a pop at Gary Neville for saying, I think the jury's out on Sesco. What are we going to do about United fans who are accusing our young£65 million striker who's only been here three months of faking injury? I mean, that's a step into something I wouldn't do even in the heat of a moment of a watch-along. and I've said some stupid things. I think that's a very dangerous path to go down and you're better off keeping it to yourself because if you're building momentum around that, what's the fucking point in carrying on? You know, what's the point in trying to build anything?

27:00I think constructive criticism around why we keep getting tired in the second half against crap teams is worthy. Why is Bruno playing out of position in the midfield? But our striker is faking injury and bottling it and walking off the pitch. Come on. And think about what you're saying. Why would you say that? And if you get three or four retweets and that means three or four people agree with you, what are we doing? What are we actually doing? You know, people moan because some of us are not happy with the result yesterday and feel like it's not real progress. But what's that? What are we doing promoting that?

27:37That Sesco faked injury? Fucking hell. Come on. What's your evidence behind that then? And why are you putting that out there? And why do you pretend you're a United fan if you actually want to say that about new signings? It's disgusting. You can't do that. You've got no evidence of that. And if he did do that, he's done. He's finished. So what you're basically doing is you're putting a rumour out there to finish a player. You can't say he's faking injury. It's stupidity. And people say, people like myself, who weren't happy with yesterday, are toxic and negative. What's that? That's disgraceful, in my opinion.

28:13I'm sorry I will express my opinion and I think that putting it out there that you think Sesco feigned injury to get off the pitch and leave us with 10 men the severity of that being true is that Sesco would need to be kicked out of the football club for good it's absolutely nonsense it's total nonsense and I think it's a very very dangerous thing to do Rios says your agenda towards Bruno is embarrassing with two points from second just back Amorim and his decision somehow every game we lose it's Bruno know. Real, thank you very much for being a member of the channel, but I think your statement is embarrassing because the use of the word agenda tends to highlight a low IQ and you've embarrassed yourself, therefore.

28:56There is no agenda. I've just spent five minutes talking about how Bruno himself is frustrated and unhappy in the midfield and we should have some sympathy for him. An agenda would not portray any time on being sympathetic towards a player who's not playing well. That wouldn't be an agenda. So keep struggling, pal. You're miles off. We're a little bit early today because Seb's got a cup game. So I have to get him there for a certain time. So I had to go a little bit early this morning. But thanks, everyone, for tuning in as always. There are a couple of other things I want to talk about. De Ligt, obviously, there as well.

29:34We've spoken about that. Napoli chasing midfielder Maynou. There is competition for his place. Other clubs looking at him as well. Chelsea, West Ham, Napoli. I mean, when we don't win games, it looks really silly, doesn't it? But ultimately, you know, hopefully we're going to start utilising Maynou now because the midfield is glaringly shit. It is. Yes, if you know anything about football, yesterday's game was a prime example of why our defence got tired, why our attackers were in a graveyard shift because the midfield and why we ended up luckily getting a draw was because the midfield was redundant.

30:26And I'm not saying that Casemiro and Bruno don't try, but they didn't play well. And, you know, Amrim cannot use that excuse anymore that I can't give Maynou game time because my midfield of Bruno and Casemiro is playing so well. It wasn't true when he said it, and it's definitely not true this morning. So, look, we've got two months until the January transfer window. Amrim needs to give Maynou a chance. We're going to learn something about Amrim I don't know. Is he stubborn? Because if he puts Mainou in the team and Mainou does well and the midfield starts doing well, we're all going to go, we should have done this sooner.

31:00And Amram needs to own that. Is he going to give that opportunity? I hope so. Right, I just want to read some of your comments here because we are a community and I'm not going to comment on any of them until I've read them. So, before the season, Goldbridge says we'll be lucky to finish in the top six. We're two points from second after the hardest start to the Premier League of all teams. it's toxicity to be negative. That was from Hackify. You're absolutely moving the goalposts here, says Adam. The aim at the beginning of the season was European football, so anywhere from first to eighth. Now that we've had a decent little run, it's not good enough to be outside of fifth.

31:34Of course, anything except setting us up to win the league is unacceptable for Man United, but it's the reality of where we are. I'm annoyed with the goals we gave away against Forrest and Spurs, but there is clear improvement. Weren't we told that Newcastle lost 12 games and that we could aim for? We've had five games with no losses, says Billy Welsh. you're going over the top marks as Miguel. This club has been destroyed for a decade, says Ice Ice Baby. And Archive says, I've been a subscriber for a while, but if you can't look at the games and see progress from last season, then you're blind.

32:07Okay, so look, there's a few comments for you. I'm sure some of you are going to go, yeah, well done. Brilliant, brilliant comments, right? So I've got to shout out our moderators. I was sent this this morning. This seems to be a big, big problem for some people that they're just not able to grasp, okay? So they're just locked on progress. They can't... If we're unhappy about yesterday, we've basically got to smile because it's progress compared to last season. If I bake a cake and burn it and it's inedible, fine. When I next bake the cake and it's slightly better, but it's still inedible. It's a slightly better cake, but it's still inedible.

32:54Should I smile and go the perfect cake? It's a very, very simple analogy, but that's where some of us are coming from. We all know we're in a better position than last season, but it doesn't mean we have to be happy with what we're seeing in front of us. We didn't play well against Forest and we didn't play well against Spurs. And people are still waking up this morning going, stop moaning, it's progress. Who are you? I was brought up under Sir Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane and people like that. And they would not be happy with what happened yesterday. Regardless of fucking last season. I'm so tired of people going, you're moaning, last season we were 15th and look at where we are now.

33:34Progress is visibly looking at something and going, that was a good draw against Spurs. We played really, really well. We're doing really well as a team. We're creating loads of chances. Spurs got lucky. Yeah, let's go into the next game. What actually happened is we didn't play really, really well. We didn't create loads of chances and we were really lucky to get a point. So we're talking about the general movement of the team. And yeah, we're unbeaten in five games, but we were shit against Forrest and we were shit against Spurs. And that's what some people are talking about. But you know what?

34:04I've had my bit. This is what AI said summarising the video last night. In this video, Mark Goldbridge expresses his frustration with Man United's lack of significant progress despite recent unbeaten run. He argues that relying on last minute equalisers against weaker teams like Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur is not true progress and that the team is repeating past mistakes by switching off in the second half after leading games at half time. Key points of critique include Bruno's role. Goldbridge firmly believes Bruno Fernandes is not suited for a midfield role and is woeful in that position, advocating for him to play as a number 10.

34:45He also criticises Bruno's lack of commitment in challenges. Two, player fatigue. He questions why players appear tired in the second half of games despite playing once a week, suggesting a potential fitness or application issue. Three, midfield weakness. A central theme is the midfield's inadequacy, which he blames for the team conceding nearly two goals per game, despite having a good defence and goalkeeper. He notes that the midfield has lost the battle in five out of its six away games. Six, managerial tactics. While supporting manager Ruben Amrim and appreciating his honesty, Goldbridge criticises his frequent team tinkering and positional changes, arguing it disrupts team rhythm and fluidity.

35:25Well, you know what? AI might be about to take over the world because AI seems to get it. AI seems to get it very, very well, doesn't it? So to everybody who doesn't understand why some people were frustrated with yesterday and Forrest's dropping of points, there's your answer to progress. Yes, we're better than last season. And if that makes you happy, great. Have a great day. But for some of us, we know positionally we're better than last season, but there are issues that are concerning and there are themes that are repeating quite regularly this season. Under 50 % possession, losing the midfield battle, not playing well in the second half, luckily scraping draws against teams that aren't that good.

36:16And the mic drop of all mic drops is Ruben Amrim, after the game, yesterday, basically said the same thing. We're improving, but we've got loads of problems. There we go. I apologise for the people who get it, and I promise we won't go back into that conversation again. We'll move forward. but the volume of people that just don't understand what's being said and hiding behind we were 15th last year and now we're 9th or 8th. If we'd lost yesterday, if De Ligt didn't score that late equaliser yesterday, we wouldn't even be in the top half of the table. So look, and not top half of the table ain't that far off 15th.

37:05So look, we are improving. I agree with Amarin, but there's a raft of problems. a big raft of problems that could sink that raft.

37:18And the flip side of the coin is if we'd beaten Forest and beaten Spurs or even beaten one of them, we'd be in the top four. So we have frustration because we're actually so close to something that we can grab and we probably should be grabbing. And to say, well, it's better than last season, I think we should be fucking second tonight to this morning. I think we should be second this morning. I genuinely think we should be in the top four this morning, not eighth. And you want me to go, well, it's better than 15th. I mean, it's just, it's a loser mentality, to be honest with you. It's not what I was brought up on.

37:57It's not what the great legends that I admire brought us up on. Oh, let's be happy with eighth. Ten Hag got fucking sacked. People wanted to sack Ten Hag for finishing eighth and winning an FA Cup. And now it's progress. Eighth place is progress now, people. Oh, yeah. Don't moan about anything. Last minute equalisers at Spurs to put us into eighth. Well, that's progress now. But Ten Hag finishing eighth and winning an FA Cup would get rid of him. Standards. Standards are what we're talking about here. There is progress. We've got a great opportunity this season. But there are huge problems as well that we need to rectify and we need to analyse and we need to figure out.

38:38Why are we tired? Why are we not performing in the second half? Why is the midfield overrun? Why is the defence getting overrun? Why are we not creating enough chances? And Amrim knows all these things. They're very, very clear. I think Amrim's plan was to add an experienced striker like Watkins and then a younger one to learn from him. But with only Sesko in the squad, we'll have to be patient. I mean, Sal, it's a comment we were talking about at the start of the show, but I think, you know, it could change in two weeks. Sesko might come back against Everton and score and Palace and score and suddenly it's a great signing again.

39:08But I think this morning you sort of look at Amrim's preference of an experienced striker and why he's picking Casemiro and Maguire and I think if he had an experienced striker yesterday, I think they do take one of those chances. That doesn't mean Sesko is not a good player but from listening to Amrim this week, it's very clear that Sesko is struggling with the responsibility of being a Man United player, which he would do. Leipzig to Man United. It's exactly the same as Atalanta to Man United with Rasmus. We've replaced one striker with another who may or may not be better, but again, has that inexperience and has to learn on the job as the main striker for Man United.

39:46In the absence of Sesko, Lemens, Martinez, De Ligt, Yoro, Dorgou, Ahmad, Maynou, Casemiro, Bruno, Embermo, Kunja, Stryker. I would do that, Abdel. I don't think Martinez will be back yet, though. We need a world-class replacement for Casemiro, says St Blanco. Marlowe says, what progression are we actually talking about? We do not play Amrim ball. We are back being a transition team, which, to be fair, Solskjaer mastered much better than Amrim, says Marlowe. 5 a.m. in New York, just got sprayed by a skunk, not kidding. Oh, my God, says Gabe. Long night out. Anyway, ignore these bozos. This club is on the way up and you're top class.

40:18Thank you, Gabe, very much for that. I think finally, just on style of play for Manchester United, and I didn't intend to go into this, and it's right at the end of the show, so it'll probably get lost. But stylistically, I've watched this for the last few weeks and I don't know whether anybody else has picked up on this. It's hard to see a style of play that's enjoyable because we're not possession. We don't really build patterns in the attack. We don't go down the wing. It's just like sort of take whatever opportunity we can and rely on those moments, which obviously Solskjaer used to do and it can work.

40:50But what I definitely did see against Spurs and Forrest is this wall of defence. he's basically I don't want to say it but I'm going to say it I think if we were being completely honest we are a counter-attacking team we are trying to be direct on the break and we are parking the bus like we are literally I was watching us against Spurs at nil-nil and certainly at 1-nil and it was like a back five and then all five other players were behind the ball as well because Sesco wasn't on the pitch. So we weren't even leaving a striker forward. It was everybody behind the ball. And that's a consistent theme with United.

41:34I mean, we did it at Liverpool as well. It's like this wall of defence. It's like safety in numbers. If we get everybody back, it's going to be hard to score against. And sometimes I think we are. You know, I think we, I look at that red wall and I go, fucking hell, it is hard to score against us. So we are playing very, very defensive. There is no high line. It's a very, very deep, congested back line. And then it begs the question, why are we conceding over 1.7 goals a game? Because, you know, we are playing very, very, very deep and very, very, you know, a lot of numbers. You know, we don't get broke upon ever, weirdly.

42:13I can't remember the last time we got broke upon. It is a very, very defensive setup.

42:23Which I have seen Amrim do. He did it against Man City last year in the Champions League. He can do it. He can play that way. Are you worried it's not Shaw that comes out for Martinez, says Brian. Well, it has to be Shaw because Martinez can't play centre-centre-back. It would have to be Shaw. Yeah. And Luke Shaw in the last few games has looked exhausted in the last half. Would have benefited from staying in the Carabao Cup to give periphery players game time. I agree, Big Z. I think the... Yeah, I agree. I think players lack sharpness. The attack was basically doing the bleep test yesterday because of the midfield.

42:57However, we must look at the next games and then question the teams. It's a big beat. There's a great opportunity in the next few games. I would expect us to beat Everton. Palace away could be a really big win as well. And then December looks good. But we've got... It's not that people are writing off United. I'm not writing United off at all. I just think that we've dropped silly points in the last couple of weeks where we could have put ourselves in a stronger position. What we can't do is continue like this to the end of the year because there's loads of points up for grabs. And look, no way, shape or form am I saying, I think we're going down to 15th again.

43:31I don't expect us to go below eighth. I think we're going to win a lot of games between now and Christmas, but we are Manchester United and we can't just sit there and go, we're better than last year. We'll probably win a few games before Christmas. It's every single week. Listen to Amrim. Every single week is a cup final. We must win every game. And we're very lucky to have that point from yesterday, I think. I think Amrim also has taken the phrase of game of two halves literally. The overkill subs in the second half of games is some sort of new tactics, isn't it, Pete? We need four games without Bruno, De Lippe, Cap, Tim, says Bodhi.

44:00Thank you very much for that. OK, I better head off to this football match. But thanks, everybody, this morning. I'm live on That's Football for the big game of the day, which is Man City-Liverpool at half past four. And we're back here, of course, this evening. I think it's an eight o 'clock show tonight. It might be seven o 'clock. Oh, no, it'll be eight o 'clock because of that game, yeah. Okay, thank you everybody for watching. And of course, draws are better than losses. Mate, can you go back to the AI bit? Because I can't deal with simpletons anymore. I'm bored of the conversation. You have enough evidence as to why people are frustrated with what happened yesterday.

44:35And if you want to be cheery, cheery, happy, happy with that, that's great. It's called opinion. Stop trying to convince other people to think like you. If you're happy with the progress we are making and the performances we are doing, and yesterday's game, well done. I'm not telling you to change your mind. Well done. But don't tell us a lot who aren't happy with it and have concerns about it that we're wrong because that's a dictatorship and this is a community. And maybe listen to what AI said. Thanks, everyone. Have a great day. Stay safe. I will be off the internet a lot of the day because it's Toxic Sunday, but I will be back with you later on.

45:11Speak to you in a bit. Thanks for watching.

45:17Oh