275: Bruno TRANSFER Hint! Baleba WANTS United!

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1:55Learn about card options at AmericanExpress.com. Terms apply. Hello everybody, good morning, welcome to the United Stands, I'm Mark Goldbridge and this is your latest Manchester United news and transfer news. It's busy, busy, busy as Bruno drops yet another transfer exit hint. Baleba talks about his Manchester United transfer frustration. We're also linked to another young superstar who I think would be fantastic from the Bundesliga. We're also going to be talking about Amirim and Ineos being very frustrated about leaks around the team. What's going on with Semenyu? And I'm sure at some point we'll be talking about Ruben Amirim and Maynou, even though that is not on the agenda.

2:38Did not get no agenda. No, I did. And who knows? We may well end up talking about that. But last to get into on the show this morning. Don't forget to smash a like on the video and leave us your comments, whether you're watching live or not. get involved. Look, what I would say, a lot of people talking about Balaba. I want to talk about Bruno, of course, but let me just say this. First of all, this quote has come out this morning. I think it's via Sky Sports talking about Balaba. And he basically has given a direct quote saying that. Let me just get it for you here. That's bad preparation by me.

3:15I've been reading it all bloody morning and I don't actually have it saved to read to you. Oh no, don't read that from them. They're rubbish.

3:28Michael Oliver has been appointed for the referee against Aston Villa. Don't care about that. Tottenham and Man United in for them. We're going to talk about that in a minute. Balaba, here we go. I asked about whether the speculation about a move to Manchester United affected his form. He said, I do not think it affected my form, but I had a lot of pressure on me. When I started the season, I wanted to have the same performances as last season. Every day I tried to work hard and get back to my level. Did I put too much pressure on myself? Yes, I think so. But I think that's good. So you didn't have any pressure from Man United not signing you, but then you did.

4:06So did you get pressure from not getting the Man United move? No, I don't think so. Yes, I think I did. I'm taking the piss a little bit there. But Tyrus has just gifted five memberships. What an absolute legend. Look, I appreciate the honesty on Belaber there. We will come back to that story. I'm just dropping what he said because I want to talk about Bruno first. But what I will say about the Belaber thing, and I've said it many, many times before, a player who is only 21, who cannot deal with the pressure of not getting a move to Manchester United and then, you know, openly admits that that pressure has affected him.

4:45Is that prospect the player that you think our dead midfield needs? That's the point I think we need to be talking about. I feel like you know Belaber is a talented player and he may well end up being a solution for Manchester United but most importantly I feel like I've said this before some of you agree with me some of you don't there are red flags around this player and it's such a crucial position and people will say well Elliot Anderson is young and Adam Wharton is young last time I checked Elliot Anderson had a good season last year and this year same with Wharton Belaber has fell off a cliff because of a bit of pressure Man United is going to be 10 times the pressure of not getting a move to Man United at Brighton.

5:28And that's what worries me. That's what worries me about that. Anyway, we'll come back to it because there's a lot going on at Manchester United right here, right now. That's not about summer transfers. So United in uproar about leaks around the team formation changing. This has come out last night from numerous sources that United want to get to the bottom of where those leaks came from. well, first and foremost, you need to speak to the old athletic who you've got a great relationship with and Laurie Whitwell, because he put it out there. I mean, it's not fucking hard, is it? You don't need Sherlock Holmes to figure it out.

6:01Laurie Whitwell put it out there, so he knows where he got it from. And you have a relationship with the athletic where, you know, you exchange information. So it's not that bloody hard to find out, is it? I mean, you know, sometimes I think the club embarrass themselves. I really do. Like, we're not happy that the formation got leaked out and we're going to get to the bottom of it. You literally exchange information with the athletic for interviews and stuff. They put it out there. You literally say to them, we're not going to do it anymore unless you tell us who the leak was. You won't do that.

6:30So I don't, you know, boo fucking who? You know, somebody has leaked it, but it was very obvious who it got leaked too. And you're telling me, if you say to that journalist, you're not in the next 10 press conferences, he's not going to, his arse isn't going to fall out his legs and he's not going to tell you. Of course he's going to bloody tell you unless you've got a close relationship with the Athletic, which I think you have. So, you know, I think that, honestly, I've seen people, some people reacting to that story. And I think it's a little bit over the top. You know, United are outraged about a leak.

6:55You know where the leak is. Laurie Whitwell had the leak. Man United worked with the Athletic. There may well be money changing hands. You know, I don't know. But they can find that out very easily. So why is it coming out that United are in an uproar about it? They could shut that down tomorrow if they wanted to. So I'm not worried about that. What I am more interested in is Bruno Fernandes. So more, more. There is more. And I would say this. A year ago, Marcus Rashford said he wanted a new challenge and he got absolutely rinsed for it. Listen to what Bruno Fernandes is now saying. I want to stay at Manchester United as long as I feel desired.

7:33I would like to experience the Spanish League and fight for big titles in Italy. I have many connections to Italy. My daughter was born there. I've already thought about returning to Portugal. The first option would be sporting, to be happy like it was with sporting. But I don't want to rush to ruin the image that was left there. I mean, hold on a minute Hold on a minute Hold on a minute Right, okay So Marcus Rashford last season This time last year said I would probably need a new challenge Bruno Fernandes is basically saying I quite like the Saudi league I quite like the Spanish league I like the Portuguese league I like the Italian league And we're all just going to sit there and go Oh well, it's our fault because we didn't make him feel desired.

8:20I don't know. You know, I think there is a conversation to be had here. And look, you know, he is our best player. I'm never going to, I always say that. Some people don't agree with me. He is our best player. But this interview is bang out of order. I'm sorry, if this was Paul Pogba, we'd have a very different reaction to this a few years ago. If this is Marcus Rashford a year ago, we'd have a very different reaction to this. So, you know, yesterday we're going, oh if it was Ganacho's brother hold on a minute Manu wasn't wearing the t-shirt if this interview was Paul Pogba or Marcus Rashford over the last few years there would be a very different reaction to it ultimately Bruno has thrown the ownership under the bus in the first part of the interview and is basically saying he quite fancy going and playing in other leagues or because he doesn't feel like the club desire him.

9:13Let's go back to the summer that Ten Hag nearly got sacked. Bruno hadn't had a very good season and was on 250 grand a week. His agent started talking about Bayern Munich, Saudi, Real Madrid. United gave him a 50 grand a week pay rise after a bad season. this is not the first time he has been linked with leaving the football club now is this a apply for another contract is it a ploy to say he's going to go i'm i'm still finding myself very confused by what this interview now now admittedly this interview didn't happen this week it happened about three weeks ago in the november international break but i'm struggling to see what the angle of the interview is other than this is the beginning of me leaving Man United.

10:05Unless Man United give me a new contract or, you know, build me a statue. I don't know what it is that he wants, but there was no need for this interview at all. He is our best player. He plays every week and he's on very good money and he doesn't play that well every week. You know, some weeks he scores worldies, some weeks he has bad games. So I don't really understand what his issue is because, you know, if you want to go and play in a better team because Man United are shit, I get that. You know what? I will defend him on that. If he looks at this team and goes, I've wasted five years of my career here.

10:42I could have been playing for Barcelona. I could have been playing for Bayern Munich. I could have been playing for Man City. I absolutely agree with him. I absolutely agree with him. You know, we can't say United are shit and then expect players to stay here. I completely agree with him. But I don't understand what the angle is here because, you know, the club clearly did want to keep you in the summer. Amrim clearly did want to keep you in the summer. Are you regretting that and now trying to force a move by making out it's the club, the Mo Salah angle? Are you after a new contract? It just feels a bit strange.

11:15And I don't think, I think he's very lucky that he's such a well-liked player in the club and in the fan base because as I said if this was a player that wasn't as well liked as Bruno this would be seen as inflammatory out of order and unnecessary because you've basically got a player sat there going they don't like me and I wouldn't mind going there there and there um so I agree with the rock walkis it's it's weird and it's unnecessary and you know I'm not bothered about calling that out. I'm not bothered about calling that out. I could go further. I could say that Amorim has basically said that it's Bruno or Manu who plays in that position.

11:59And because he bought Kunja and Mbremo, he shoehorns Bruno into the midfield. All of Bruno's good stuff comes from when he's in the 10 position. All of his bad stuff comes from when he's in Manu's position. So, you know, I could say, you know, fucking hell, here he is moaning, moaning about all not being treated well, while there's a kid on the bench who gets no minutes because he's playing in his position. I could say that. I don't think it's actually that relevant, but I don't get the moan, you know? If Manu did an interview, imagine the reaction. People would go mad. And he's got something to moan about.

12:30I don't think Bruno's got something to moan about. I don't. And there's all people going, good old Bruno, good old Bruno, stick it up and Bruno. And I'm like, all he's doing, that's just self-serving. There's no reason for him to do that at all at this time of the season. He plays every week. He's the captain. He's the best paid player. He gets appreciation. He's just one fucking player of the month, hasn't he, again? There's no need for that interview at all. It's totally and utterly unnecessary. So the only thing I can look at it and go is, is this just the beginning of the end like we saw with Rashford a year ago when he said, I need a new challenge?

13:08And, you know, explain to everybody, please, what what that's all about, because I don't think it's does Bruno want to leave? Probably. I understand it if he wants to leave, by the way. We've been saying this for years. It will get to a point where people don't want to be here. Bruno shows how weak the leaders are, says Jacob. Well, ultimately, yes, Jacob, that that is an angle that, you know, probably does need a minute. he's the captain of the club he's the leader of the club and if you're in that dressing room today and you're reading those quotes and he's walking in pointing fingers throwing his arms in the air I'm the bloody captain I'd be thinking hold on a minute you're the captain you're the leader we're meant to get behind you we're meant to listen to you and you're talking about the Saudi the Spanish league how the club doesn't appreciate you you know look as I said last night I'm not saying Amrim should drop him for the weekend, but I think if certain people did that interview, they would be dropped at the weekend.

14:04We can't afford to drop Bruno at the weekend, but I don't get the point of that interview. And I think the club looked really weak, just sitting back and taking it. Really weak. If I was in charge, I wouldn't be happy about that. And I'd be saying to Amrim, well, what are we going to do about this then? Because I'm not happy about what he's done there. But the club, Bruno's in a position of strength. Salah didn't. Salah's a Premier League legend. He's a Liverpool legend. And Liverpool still put him in his place. Man United can't put a player like Bruno in their place. They can't react to that and do anything.

14:33And he knows it. He knows he's playing on Sunday. He knows he's playing the week after. He knows he's playing the week after. The club are... Basically, there's no point in buying Man United any manscapes for Christmas because they've got no balls. You know, they haven't got any. Club wanted to sell him and he's the only player asked in the club, says Oyshan. he deserves to speak out without him we'd be in the championship time we appreciated a player who had had a Ballon d 'Or if United didn't get him top goal as well thank you very much that's the other side of the conversation some people will agree with you on that one the club didn't want to sell him the club didn't want to sell him Bruno himself said at the end of October that the club didn't want to sell him so I don't know why he's now telling us something else so how you can believe Bruno when he's told us two different stories is very interesting But if the club did want to sell him, I've got a problem with it.

15:25I've got a problem with it at all. You do. That's fine. That's why I respect it. We're definitely going for Belaber, says Mrs Stone. Here's why. The owners and the management are going to come out and say last summer he was worth 100 million. Now we got him for 50. I agree. I think Belaber will be the player that we end up with. Patrick Lynch says, feels like the club are following through on Belaber because they have all the groundwork done. seems like they don't want to do that work for others says Patrick I'll tell you why they'll go for um I'll tell you why I'll tell you what um in relation to Belaber I've been saying for a few weeks we will sign Belaber because the club is so shit at recruitment and I absolutely agree with you Patrick they will go for Belaber because they've done the groundwork they're shit and nobody else will go for him whereas Elliot Anderson because he's better than Belaber better clubs will go for him and we know we can't win that race so basically it's a little man united are a little bit like walking into a bar right and there's attractive people at the bar single looking to mingle and man united see the attractive ones see people going up to them buying them drinks and go for the one that no one's buying a drink for that's what united do and then they make out it's miss world or miss the world depending who which way you're imagining it um that's what we're doing with Belaba may well be a very attractive proposition, but no one else is buying them a drink.

16:48And that's what we do. We go for the easy one and then we hype it up and then it doesn't succeed. And then it ends up being called a flop after three months because we hype the signing up and then it's Jadon Sancho all over again, potentially. We didn't get him one summer. We stick with him for the next summer. I mean, has anybody ever thought that? What if Belaba is just the next Sancho and Ineos are meant to be doing things differently? We went for Sancho one summer. We didn't get him because Dortmund mugged us off and we were shit. We went for Balaba. We didn't get him because Brighton mugged us off and we didn't have the money.

17:22The following summer, we went for Sancho and he flopped. The following summer, we go for Balaba and he flops. Is anybody at Man United not getting the memo on repetition of mistakes and the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results? Maybe, just maybe, the fact that Balaba's been shit for six months is because he'd be a shit signing for United and we should actually be going for players that are in form performing now. But I do agree with Patrick. I think that's exactly where we'll go. And I'm worried about it. And if we sign Balaba, I will back him and I will hope he does well.

17:58But I am definitely not going to say I'm not worried about it. And also, you're buying a player that is a prospect that will need time and patience. and half the fan base are going to go, I don't think we should be signing him. I think it's a big red flag. Oh, look at him. He is a big red flag. And then he gets the pressure and then he flops. You know, I think it's unfair to bring a player like him into the football club when half the fan base don't even want him. So they're not going to be patient. And also the other half want him to come in, prove everybody wrong and hit the ground running, which he probably won't do.

18:33So then they'll get frustrated. So in a very short period of time, you'll have a fan base going, oh, he's not he's not all that. He's not all that because by definition, he's going to need time. Prospect FC. Robert McCormack makes a great point this morning. Frame it in the Louvre because it's not he doesn't always. I'm joking. He says Rashford only said what he said when he'd been banished from the team. The point being Bruno saying this whilst in the team and the captain, which again makes it very strange. Mrs. Stone says, fix the leaks in the dressing room, fix them in the ceiling of Old Trafford, fix them all.

19:07Could it be that Barada and co are forcing Belaber on Amrim and if we get someone Amrim doesn't want, he's not going to start them over Bruno, says Mrs. Stone. It's always a possibility. Tyrus Rusty, thank you very much. You gifted five memberships. You're a legend. This is why I've never rated him as the captain, says Seth. I'm sure he knows he is crap in the midfield even though there are people supporting him. Now he's saying this because he's trying to shift the blame. And Alex makes a great point. Well, so did Seth, really. Alex makes a great point. He says, the timing of the interview is the dodgy thing.

19:39Yeah, 100%. I still don't get it. And look, what I will say is, Bruno Fernandes is our best player. He's still our best player. Like, I didn't think I'd be saying this at Christmas, but Bruno Fernandes is still our best player. In the summer, he was our best player in a shit team and he hadn't had a great season, but he was still our best player. at Christmas, he's still our best player. The only players that you could say are anywhere near Bruno is De Ligt because he's having a good season, but he's been injured for a month. Embermo, but he's fell off for the last month. Kunja on potential. Ahmad's been reasonable, but he is still our best player.

20:18So, you know, it is a strange one. It is a strange one. and the timing of it is really weird. I hated that the stadium design looks like a circus tent. The longer we stay under this ownership, the more appropriate it is. One joke after another. Thanks very much. Sorry, I just got to check something in.

20:46Just need to send a message.

20:54Right. Right. Sorry, I'm just catching up on yours. Ganacho cooking two goals. Great finish. This is Max. Oh, Max, are you the biggest Pratt of the night? Are you the biggest Pratt of the day? Max actually watched Chelsea play Cardiff in the Carabao Cup last night, everybody. Whilst we were all doing relevant things, you know, maybe doing actual things. Or I'm not talking about your missus or anything like that. I'm talking about putting your Christmas tree up or, you know, I was watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation with a mulled wine. Max was there with a box of tissues watching old Pat Butcher score a couple of goals against Cardiff in the Carabao Cup.

21:35Max, you've bantered yourself there. Well done. It's the week before Christmas. Everybody's out doing good stuff. And Max is knocking one out to Ganacho scoring a couple of goals against Cardiff. I mean, fucking hell. He's back. Oh, my God. What a mistake. I mean, you'll notice that that was not on the agenda to talk about we made a mistake letting Ganaccio go. Fuck it, mate. Let Chelsea keep him. I hope he scores another two goals at the weekend. I'm so glad that idiot's nothing to do with this football club anymore. Absolutely. Let me guess. Let me guess. He was kissing the badge or he sat...

22:14He was either kissing the badge or he did the self-serving celebration where he sits on the bench, where he sits on the advertising board and goes like this again. Mate, I'm not interested in that idiot. I wouldn't be interested in that idiot if we were getting relegated. I'm glad he's gone. He's exactly the sort of player that we do not want at this football club. Absolutely not. I'm with Robert McCormack. You can say what you like about Rashford, but at least there's something somewhere in him that actually cares about this club and the fans and he's done something for the club. Thank you very much for that, Max.

22:48Anyway, you've certainly lightened the mood a little bit. Appreciate that.

22:55Vignesh says, hold on a minute. Vignesh says there is a rumour going on in that Ruben Amrim were leaving at the end of the season. Is it true? I don't know about that, mate. I think that realistically, Ruben Amrim needs to be assessed at the end of the season. I don't want him to be gone before the end of the season. I completely agree that no matter how bad it gets, You may as well stick with him till the summer, simply because if you imagine if we lose to Villa, we lose to Newcastle and we lose to Leeds in the next five games, he's under huge pressure. If he loses three of the next five, he's in big, big trouble, isn't he?

23:31Let's be clear. If he loses two, he's probably in trouble. But I would look at it and go, well, look, we need midfielders anyway. We have a board. So buy midfielder in January. Don't do the whole we're not buying anybody because we want to see if we're going to sack him in the summer. You need midfielders anyway. You have a board, so you just overrule Anrim and bring the midfielder you think in, who that can work under a new manager. You get to the summer, and in the summer, you've got people like Pochettino, Nogelsmann, who will leave Germany and USA, Tuchel might leave England. You've suddenly got a really good market for managers in the summer.

24:06So it's really important, I think, that we get to the summer and reassess. And look, if we're not in Europe, we're not in Europe this year, are we? That's on Ineos. that's that's you know if they sack if they sack amram because he's not in europe they've made the right decision but ultimately they made the wrong decision giving him the job so yeah uh what do you think is going to happen with bruno just very very quickly quickly um jim says he is sat on the advertising board i told you i told you i told you um but look what do i think is going to happen with Bruno. My theory, when he didn't go to Saudi in the summer, and some of you will be new, welcome to the channel.

24:48A lot of you will have been here in the summer. What was the theory in the summer? The conspiracy theory. The theory was Man United and Bruno decided that one more year, but he can go next summer. United will cash in, take the money in the summer, and he will get the deal that he wants um i think he's gone in the summer um that's what i think will happen um oyshan's back again i hope i'm pronouncing your name right um stats not opinion without bruno and his mistakes goals we would currently 13th in the league yet yeah let's sell him i promise you'll realize when he's gone what he'd lost i'd pay him two million a week um i agree with you mate i think if you've done the stats work and you've took his goals and mistakes off every game this season, then, you know, you might be right that we would be 13th in the league.

25:39I'll hold that thought for a moment. Let's take the Fulham game where we were 1-0 up. Did he score the goal against Fulham? No, I don't think he did. He missed the penalty against Fulham, but he cost us the goal against Fulham. So that would have been three points instead of one. So is that what you've done? You've gone through the season, you've just took all his goals and assists off and you've took all his mistakes off. What you're missing there is, is that we never would have been in a position where we didn't have Bruno. What I mean by that is there would have been replacements. So what if the replacements had come in, we'd played differently and scored different goals.

26:12And, you know, so you can't say that statistically you're right. If you take Bruno out of this team or last season, we would have been relegated, but you wouldn't take him out of the team and not replace him anyway. And you don't know what the replacements would have done. So look, I do agree with you. He's our best player. I'm not saying he's not. If you're asking me, would I sell him tomorrow to Saudi for 90 million? I would. Yeah, I would. Unless you're going to play him as a number 10, I'd sell him tomorrow. Yes. Also, don't get Ricky started. Oysa, never go on a fan forum with Ricky and start talking like that.

26:45You know, not before Christmas. You're making very angry and it takes him about two weeks to calm down from a Bruno rant. OK, well, let's move on. We've got lots to talk about this morning. Thanks, everybody's tuning in, by the way. Fantastic show. Please do share the video. If you're watching live, you can do that and smash a like on the video. We've only got 400 likes again. Please smash a like on video. Right. I want to talk about what I want to talk about next. I want to just very quickly just talk about this because this is something that came in this morning, which caught my eye because Bundesliga is something we do on That's Football.

27:18We've got our last game before the winter break on Friday night, Dortmund are playing. So tune in for that one. But this morning, again, Man United have been linked to Saeed El Mala of Cologne. Fantastic talent. Reminds me of... He's like... Reminds me a bit of a Rooney. A Shaqiri. You know, the profile of player, you know what I'm talking about. They're a bit small, but they're well-built. You know, great centre of gravity. He's having a brilliant season. So this is coming in from Bild this morning, which is a German outlet. Tottenham and Man United are the latest clubs to join the battle for Cologne's Almala.

27:58He has a price tag of 30 to 40 million euros. Last summer, Brighton tried to get him for 20 million euros and it was turned down. Look, I suppose the question is, do you go for another prospect? And that's the problem, isn't it?

28:19very interesting player stocky build that's what i was trying to say john united but i don't know that um i really believe that that is the way to go for united if i'm being honest because um as much as i like him um i don't know i don't i just don't know you know i just don't know that we should be going for prospects all the time. I think it's problematic to do that, especially when I've just been talking about Belaber as well. So look, it's an interesting link this morning, but not necessarily one that I think we should be looking at unless we're going to move in January. I think he's going to be a superstar, but what do we do with superstar?

29:09My big concern with him is if we signed him, very exciting player, and I've seen a lot of him this season from doing the Bundesliga on That's Football. And I like Cologne and he scores a lot of goals and he makes a lot of things happen. And you know what? We bought Rooney as a teenager and that was fantastic. But dropping him into that United side, I still have this major concern that we're not the place to platform prospects. I still have this massive concern that we're not the right place.

29:40And that worries me. now it's time for a little word from today's podcast sponsor and as a preview they have a great discount for you it's been a long season so far and after a year of grinding you've earned a little something special for yourself this upcoming festive season is all about taking a break recharging and actually enjoying the things you want and that's where air up comes in air up lets you drink plain water that tastes full of flavour through scents alone. No sugar, no additives, just simple hydration made better. And for someone who spends as much time talking football as I do, it's been a great addition to the routine.

30:18If you want to try it for yourself, hit the link in the show notes or visit airup.link slash the united stand. And of course you can use the code gold and you get an amazing 10 % off at checkout. So what are you waiting for? Smash the link in the show notes or visit airup.link slash the united stand and elevate your hydration game today i don't know what that i just i just read something there there's there's quite a lot of there's a there's an article in the mail this morning that a lot of people are referencing about the past abramovich uh ibrahimovic that you know ten hog etc etc i've not got a massive interest in it.

30:59I don't really have a huge interest in talking about what Zlatan thought of the swimming pool when he was here or recruitment under Ten Hag. I don't really have a massive interest in it because you know why? Our midfield has got a hole like a fucking donut in it. We've taken two points from nine at Old Trafford against Everton, West Ham and Bournemouth. I really don't give a shit about Ten Hag's recruitment or what Zlatan thought about the swimming pool. Our captain is basically doing interviews, slagging the club off and talking about transfers. You know, one of our best midfield prospects is backing his brother wearing a free Manu t-shirt at Man United.

31:38Some dickhead is leaking a change of formation to Laurie Whitwell. You know, I don't need to go and find trouble from the past. We've got enough problems in the present. So I've got no interest in what Zlatan says. I've got no interest in what Ten Hag did. We've got our own problems at Man United at the moment that need major focus. So, no, I'm not going to spend any time talking about that. I did want to talk about Semenyu because I saw what Fabrizio Romano had to say about that. You know, interestingly as well, I got told something yesterday and it might not come to fruition. But, you know, remember Aston Villa last year?

32:17They did a lot of business in the January transfer window. I mean, look at where Villa are in the league at the moment. They're better than us and we're playing them on Sunday. they got Rashford, they got Asensio, they got Mallon. They were very active in the January transfer window. That concerns me a little bit because obviously if we don't do anything in the January transfer window, what if a couple of other clubs do? You know, you look at that league table at the moment and I should be able to get it up for you because I've got one. So I wasn't planning on doing this, but let's do that. Maybe you across as well.

32:54So if you look at the league table at the moment, just very, very quickly in relation to the January transfer window, then I want to talk to you about Semenu. So we're on 26 points. You know, the scary thing is, by the way, if we had beaten Bournemouth, we would be on 28. So we'd be joint with Chelsea. If we'd beaten West Ham, we'd be on 30. We'd be fourth outright. And if we'd beaten Everton, we'd be joint third with Villa on 33. Now, we didn't. We didn't deserve to. that's important you know I think some people psychologically turn into a moron and think we should have 33 points we shouldn't no we shouldn't because the manager didn't pick the right team the players didn't turn up and the opposition deserved to beat us or get a draw so we shouldn't be on 33 points what I'm saying is if we had beaten Everton West Ham and Bournemouth at home we'd be level with Villa on 33 which you know shoulda woulda coulda but where we are is where we deserve to be.

33:53I don't think anyone can argue that Bournemouth didn't deserve a point or West Ham didn't deserve a point or Everton didn't deserve to beat us considering they played for an hour with 10 men. So we are where we deserve to be. It's frustrating, but we are. What worries me is that Liverpool are going to get better, aren't they? Chances are Liverpool are going to go past us at some point. So that puts us down to seventh. I think Palace will drop. So that puts us back to sixth. Villa could drop with Thursday night football. But what I heard yesterday is that Villa are looking for a striker because they've only got Oli Watkins really and Malin and they might be looking for a striker in January and the name Ivan Tony's been mentioned.

34:29If Ivan Tony's back on the menu boys and girls, a bit of a Lord of the Rings reference there, then is that not the sort of player Man United should look at? You know, if Ivan Tony is back on the menu in January for a World Cup loan. As much as I want Sesko to succeed, and I think he will, is he not the sort of player that you look at that United side and go, he could be the difference between beating West Ham and drawing. He could be the difference between losing to 10 men Everton and getting a win. What worries me about this January transfer window is if we do nothing and some teams do something, sixth might be the best we can hope for.

35:12And sixth is the minimum we need that sixth place is still going to be Europa League if the top five get Champions League so maybe even seventh will get Europa League I don't know how that works but sixth place is the minimum we can drop down to not saying it's acceptable but it's the minimum we can drop to if Liverpool get better and just one of Palace, Sunderland, Everton or Brighton over achieve, we could be down in seventh. But it doesn't really stop there because if we're on 26 points,

35:46what about Spurs? They're only four points behind us. What about Newcastle? They're only four points behind us. Newcastle and Spurs are the sort of clubs that could hit a run and close a four-point gap in the second half of the season as well. So we're not comfortably sixth. Things could get better, but they could also get worse. And the reason I mentioned that is not for any other reason than to say, we spend a lot of time in our fan base talking about where we could have been, but we're not there because we don't deserve to be there. And where we could have been, you could almost flip it and go where we could be.

36:25And if teams have a Villa type January transfer window and you can guarantee one or two will and we have a mixed second after the season then we could drop we could drop um so you know undefeated says Ivan Tony got arrested last week nice haircut I don't know about that uh and I haven't had a haircut so I think you're wrong on both um just also let me just put that back up before I talk to you about Semenu I just want to say that we have played 16 Premier League games. So in three games time, we'll have played half our games. So we're on 26 points. I would hope we could take nine from our next three games, and then we'd be on 35 times two is 70 points, which should be Champions League football.

37:26however let's say we take five draw two win one

37:35that puts us on 31 times two 62 62 is not not going to be enough i don't think for champions league football might not even be enough for europe league so we're approaching the half Halfway stage of the season is what I'm trying to say. And if you take the theory, we'll double it again and see what that's where we're going to be roughly in May.

38:01It's very hard to predict. It's very, very hard to predict, isn't it? Anyway, let me talk to you about Semenyu. What I'm trying to say is this season is just very hard to predict. I think Man United are very hard to predict. So this is what Fabrizio Romano had to say about Semenyu. Man United loves Semenyu Amrim loves him also he had a direct contact with him last summer but Man United had already invested big money in that position with Cunha and Mbamo so at the moment nothing is concrete and you know this is the story around Semenyu that's been the story around Semenyu for a long time now clearly he's admired but we bought Cunha and Mbamo so we couldn't go for him in the summer now he's obviously clearly still admired but

38:53well I put it for you I don't think we need to sit on the fence with this would you sign Semenya in January yes or no for me I like the player doesn't solve the problem I mean we scored four goals against Bournemouth I don't need any more goals I need a midfield so you know if we are if we have 60 something million to spend on Semenyu next month my question would be what I said last night two half decent midfielders puts us in the top four Semenyu doesn't doesn't necessarily put us in the top four we've got to buy midfielders we've got to buy midfielders so look there's a lot of people going yes because he's a quality player he is and of course if it's him or nothing you'd go with that but i'd be disgusted if we spent 60 million pounds on some menu and didn't buy a midfielder i'd be like what the hell are we doing it's but it's almost like a shit version of the galactico real madrid era where they were just buying people like beckham carlos sedan but they never built a team and i'm like this would be like collecting attacking midfielders and wingers we need to buy midfielders so i'm not on board with United entering the Semenyu race.

40:10He's a brilliant player and he'd definitely help us out, but you can't keep ignoring the midfield. You just can't. I actually think, and we're all geniuses in hindsight, I actually think it's a little bit footballing criminal, what we did in the summer. I think it's actually, when you think about it, somebody should be sacked in the recruitment department. Somebody should be sacked for what I'm about to say. Our midfield has been crap for the two years before last summer Eric Ten Hag's last season we finished eighth The midfield was rubbish And then the season that Ten Hag got sacked and Amrim came in The midfield was rubbish So for two seasons before last summer Our midfield was terrible We then proceed to spend£200m on two number tens and a striker And no midfielder I don't think this gets mentioned enough Somebody should be sacked For last summer's transfer window Because that to me is incredible And you know you've got Sir Jim Radcliffe Petrochemical millionaire Billionaire You've got the Glazers Billionaires And nobody in that football club Thought at any point during the summer Hold on a minute Our midfield has been terrible for two years And we're writing cheques for£200 million and none of them are for a midfielder.

41:38Somebody or some people have, and this is what I was saying last night as well, what's Ruben Amrim's role in that? What is Ruben Amrim's role in that? And look, our story says we did try to sign Belaber in the summer, but we didn't sign Belaber in the summer. We tried to sign Gallagher and we didn't sign Gallagher in the summer. So the point still remains, mate. We didn't sign a midfielder in the summer. Whether there was an intention to sign or not, we didn't. I'm sure some of you are mum and dads. If you get a phone call at six o 'clock tonight saying you haven't collected Bobby from school and you go, well, I did intend to do it.

42:15It was in the diary. You know, I took him to school. So I obviously intended to pick him up. I just didn't. I ran out of time. You know, you still upset your child. You've still got social services involved and you still haven't collected him from school. and you can't say, well, we intended to sign one. We didn't. So somebody somewhere or some people in that football club, in my opinion, if I was to Jim Radcliffe, I would be saying, you're fired. You're fired. Because intent, I don't give a shit. This is not a criminal court. This is football. Intent, you've got no important, you know, if we're playing against Villa in the last minute and Sesko runs through one-on-one and hits the corner flag and we lose, are we going to put up with, well, I intended to put it in the top corner.

43:04I just fucked it up. You know, intent doesn't help. But to be fair, maybe that's a glimpse as to why we fail. We're very good at trying, but we're not very good at doing. And I don't know why we spent£200 million in the summer and didn't buy a midfielder. second to that that's why I wouldn't be spending 60 million pounds on Semenyu in the January transfer window because I think we'd be saying the same thing in May why did we spend on an attacker again so good player but we shouldn't be in for him unless we're going to buy a midfielder Knight says please let Terry know we appreciate him on the United stand Terry if you're going to do a super chat hiding behind a name at least give us more than$2 you cheapskate we'll have to pay Tony's release clause and bail says undefeated.

43:52You've really got it in for Tony, haven't you, this morning? That's your second one. We get your point. Don't, don't, Warton or Anderson. I'm not reading your name out. Warton or Anderson. I feel that Anderson for me is the one that I would go for. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that's the one. A bit of news coming in. When Ten Hag was, this is what I'm talking about. I don't really want to talk about this. When Ten Hag was told that it would not be a natural fit for United, the recruitment team labelled him a Dutch Harry Maguire. The manager put his foot down and the club paid 42 million for him. You see, that's quite good.

44:31Whoever sent that in, that's good. I'm shouting out Greg, our producer. That's good, right? Because this is what happens when somebody starts leaking from... I mean, why are Man United leaking stuff about things that happened years ago? Distraction, spin. You know, you've got people leaking the team news at the moment. You've got the captain sat there doing interviews. You've got free menu T-shirts. You've got a shit midfield. Oh, let's leak a story about Ten Hag and Zlatan, right? But the funny thing about this is they're probably leaking this going, oh, look, things are better now. Things are better now.

45:04So Ten Hag, our recruitment team, labelled De Ligt, the Dutch Harry Maguire. Who in the recruitment team did that? Not just sack them, can we ridicule them on a live show and laugh at them for an hour? Because that's the sort of thing I'd expect on Talk Sport. The Dutch Harry Maguire. Anybody with a brain who has watched football would say the only similarity between Harry Maguire and De Ligt is that they have heads, they are human beings and they play football. You couldn't get two different centre-backs. They're nothing like each other as centre-backs. So somebody in our recruitment team that we pay...

45:49I hope that person was one of the 50 % that got sacked because Ten Hag was right on that. £42 million for DeLitt is actually one of the best bits of business we've done in the last 10 years. I mean, he's still only 26. I think he's 26. Never look.

46:13yeah he's 26 just 26 so 42 million pounds for delit who i think's been our player of the year player of the season um and they're trying to ridicule that decision by calling him the dutch harry maguire um you know what there must be some right idiots in that football club breaking news um josh has just gifted five memberships you're an absolute legend josh thanks very much this morning um and uh lawrence berry says mount can only play in a 4-3-3 midfield however otherwise he's just dropping back informally like the low is doing into a back four um look i think in relation to that and the formation change there's a lot of excitement around it you know you know i see there's a lot of it there's a lot a lot of excitement in this community there's a lot of excitement in the wider um communities as well but i feel that i'm not excited about ruben amram going to a 433 and the reason i'm not excited about amram going to a 433 is because he's never played a 433 his whole career is greg hartley am one of our moderators has just got a membership there we go jammy but if amram goes to 433 he's not a 433 three coach it might work out but my big issue is and i've seen a lot of people saying this is if amram goes to a four three three how long will he do it for and why did we recruit him in the first place if he goes to it for a month and then goes back to the old one people will be going why are you going back to the old one and if he goes to it and stays with it people will be going well why did we recruit him then because he spent a year doing a three four three then he's abandoned his principles just to bow down to what we want.

48:02So I just think if Amrim goes to a 4-3-3, you may as well sack him. And that's really harsh, but you may as well, because you may as well get a manager in that actually knows what they're doing with it. You can't have a guy learning on the job how to play a 4-3-3. That's not what he was brought here for. So I'm tempted to say if Ruben Amrim starts playing a 4-3-3, it'll be the beginning of the end for him because he'll have to stick with it because if he goes back to 3-4-3 people will be like what you're doing and if he sticks with it it's sort of like well you've sure you've made yourself look weak because you've absolutely changed what you're all about to try and rescue your job and this wasn't what we brought you here for so look do I think 4-3-3 suits Man United's team better yeah because we haven't built a team that can play a 3-4-3.

48:51He's not been backed. But if he goes to it, I think it might be problematic for him, really. Do Ineos Glazers sell the club if no Europe again, says Moad? Mate, if you're telling me that Glazers and Ineos will sell the club if we don't get Europe, I hope we finish 15th. I know that sounds harsh, but I don't know why anybody wouldn't agree. I'll take another year out of Europe to get rid of these idiots. Of course I would. Glazers gone if we don't go into Europe. I'm living it now. I can do it again. I can definitely do it again. Definitely. I would happily not be in Europe next season if it meant the Glazers were gone.

49:33100%. Not a problem at all with that. So let me just quickly summarise the show for you this morning. So Bruno Fernandes has released more from his interview. This strange, unnecessary, self-serving interview saying that he wants to stay unless he's underappreciated, in which case he quite likes Spain, Saudi, Italy and even Portugal. You know, why he's doing it, I don't know. And as I said, if this was Rashford or Paul Pogba, they'd be uproar. But the captain of the team who's the best paid player who plays every week is allowed to just sit and slag the club off and it's absolutely fine. It's all very strange.

50:06But Labour's done an interview as well saying that he's not been impacted by the fall through of his move to Manchester United, but he has been impacted by it. so yeah look he basically admits that you know he's struggling with the pressure and that's not a bad thing as he learns to get better as a player and replicate what he did last season my problem is it's a big red flag he's only 21 he's going to face a lot more pressure at man united and if he doesn't improve in the second half of the season and we sign him i think he's going to come in with a lot of people going is he the right player and that's never a good start you want to be excited about signing so look as i said i think united are going to go for belabor because it's the easiest person to buy i don't think they're going to go with for him because he's the best person to buy there's not going to be a big queue of people going for belabor but there will be for anderson and wharton and i think united will stick to this and we could have another sancho on our hands where you know we tried to get him one summer we didn't we went back again and it didn't work out i'm a bit worried about it um and united are apparently not happy about the formation change being leaked and they're going to get to the bottom of it, even though we all know it was leaked by Laurie Whitwell in the Athletic.

51:17And, you know, I'd have a very good relationship with the Athletic, so they know exactly who's leaked it. But, you know, boring. Funny thing, we sold every winger to play a 4-3-3, says Seth. Well, I didn't want to go there, Seth, but you probably just dropped the most relevant comment in relation to the formation change that's what i mean about if amram goes to a 433 for a short period of time while the players are at the afcon he knew they were going to be at the afcon so why didn't you keep any wingers second of all if he goes back to a 343 when they come back people will go don't go back to that go to a 433 and if the plan was always to go to a 433 why did you sell wingers that's what i mean He's got more holes than a hedgehog's pillow.

51:59It doesn't make sense. You need wingers for a 4-3-3. We haven't got any wingers. And we definitely haven't got any wingers at the moment because Ahmad's not here and neither is Mbermo. So I don't know. I don't know what the plan is with United at the moment. MUFCKD says, here's the conundrum. If 4-3-3 works out and we get better results, how could Amrind be let off? Any better result will land us in top four. Secondly, when AFCON Group is back, would he revert back? or if not, what happens to Ahmad? So, I mean, it just seems like it's a bit like when Oli went to a back five at the end and you sort of like went, you've not done this for the last two years and now your job's in danger, you've gone to a back five.

52:47And I think it worked against Spurs. I think we beat Spurs, didn't we? Ronaldo scored a good goal and then he was sacked two weeks later against Watford. When a manager starts changing his formation and it's not what they do, it worries me that it's this sort of like desperation station. Dave the Brave. Look, maybe we can talk about this at 8 o 'clock because I've got to get off to do the show with Terry. But he says, are you concerned about Yoro? I love him, but he is dropping stinkers weekly. Right. I think Lenny Yoro is a generational talent, and that's what the club bought. I think Real Madrid wanting him and us stealing him was a brilliant bit of business.

53:29And I think he's a really talented player. But I do agree that this season, some of his performances are quite alarming. However, if you want to get statistical, the first few weeks of the season when we were doing player ratings, he and De Ligt were our two big players. Considering in the first three games of the season, you know, we played against Arsenal, we drew against Fulham, we beat Burnley. and I can't remember what game four was. It might have been, I think game four was Man City. So first three games of the season, he was playing really, really well. He plays against Man City. Bruno throws him under the bus on a public interview and he's not recovered.

54:05Bruno throws him under the bus when it wasn't his fault publicly and then Amirim drops him. I said at the time that was disgusting and I got shot down by a lot of people. I said, this is a player that is a young player who is actually playing well, who has publicly been ridiculed by the captain for something he didn't do. And then the manager drops him the next game. So if Jorro is performing badly at the moment, where does the blame lie? He started the season well. He got rinsed by the captain and dropped by the manager. And since then, he has been erratic. So again, I say the point. What is the point in buying young, talented players at this football club if we're just going to mess them up?

54:49And I think Yoro is a case in point at the moment. Now, maybe they're knocking him down to make him stronger, but it's a strange way of doing things. So there you go. Thanks everybody for watching. Great, great point, Dave. But look, look, I don't have any concerns about Yoro. I think he's too talented to not get better. But over the last 24 hours, I've seen a lot of people slating Aiden Heaven as well. And again, I would just say he's a teenager. They do make mistakes, you know. They do make mistakes. I just would say again, is this football club the right place for young players to develop? And yet we've got an owner who is obsessed with buying young players and a club that can't nurture them.

55:36This is strange. It's strange. Take care, everyone. Stay safe. I shall speak to you on the next one. I'm heading over for hot takes with Terry as well at 11. I'm just going to get myself a cup of tea. Thanks for watching.

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