326: Stiller TALKS Begin? Baleba SPEAKS Out!

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1:00Hi everybody, welcome to the United Stands. I'm Mark Goldbridge. This is your latest Manchester United news and have Manchester United found the chosen one in the midfield. Manchester United are in talks with five midfield options of where they hope to sign two. Which two from the five would you pick? And is Angelo Stila the chosen one? Fantastic performance last night against Celtic. Manchester United are in for him. We'll be going through his stats and how he fits in with Manchester United because I think he's a very interesting profile of player. Should United be putting him right to the top?

1:32We'll discuss that. Also, Carlos Baleba, the Brighton target, has spoken out about interest from Manchester United. Apparently, he doesn't take any notice of it. Apparently, he's just focusing on his game at Brighton. I've got a couple of holes in that, but we'll talk about that as well. Also, Michael Carrick has done a big interview overnight. That's come out this morning. We'll talk about his desire to get the full-time job, how he wants to build the team around Maynou, how he doesn't shout at his players. We'll go into that as well. And also Opportunity Knox. The Premier League is back this weekend.

2:03And also, can I just say, Puma sent me this. Their new orbital ball, which will be used from the beginning of March in the Premier League. Take a look at that. I bloody love it because if you know, you know. If you know, you know. They're like heat maps. If you're like me and you're like heat maps, I'm just loving it. I'm going to take it in the garden. this afternoon and smashed the crap out of it. Top bins. But they're like little heat maps on it. So that's the new Premier League ball that will be used from March. And the Premier League's back this weekend. As Andy Murdoch says, all hinges on Champions League qualification.

2:41I've just done Premier League predictions with Robbie. That's on that football. His arse is going like a bunny's nose. He's shitting himself. Twitch, twitch, twitch about the title. The relegation battle is incredible. Spurs, West Ham and Forest. And of course, we're in a battle for the Champions League. So the football might not be brilliant in the Premier League this year, but the drama is brilliant and I can't wait for this weekend. It's a shame we're on Monday, but in a way, that means we can see what everybody else does and enjoy it. But look, let's start off about Manchester United. Let's start off about Angelo Stiller.

3:11I do want to talk about what Balaba said. And in many ways, we probably should lead on Balaba's comments, but I don't want to sign Balaba. I want Man United to sign somebody else. And Angelo Stiller at the moment is rising in the charts. I think it's very obvious that Man United, and very safe to say that we're in talks with these five players. When I say talks, I'll explain that in a moment. But it looks like at the moment, and Ben Jacobs confirmed it yesterday, Tonali, Anderson, Wharton, Baleba, Stilla. They look like the five that Man United want. Whether it will be two from them five or one from them five and somebody else like Tyler Adams, I don't know.

3:49I mean, ideally, you get two out of those five. We are, and it's safe to say, in talks with those five players. Now, you can be in talks with somebody without even speaking to the club. Tentative talks, understanding what they want, understanding their wage demands. So lots and lots of five players there. Take two from five for a bit of social media activity. I would go, I'd still go what I said in December. I'd still go Stille and Anderson. But five options there, Wharton, Baleba, Stille, Tonali and Anderson. And United will be in talks with all of them because if Arsenal want Tonali, they'll be talking to him.

4:30If Man City want Anderson, they'll be talking to him. If Bayern want Stille, they'll be talking to him. And if Liverpool want Wharton, they'll be talking to him. So United will have had tentative talks with all these players. Stilla's on the rise. Favell wants Stilla. Favell has the best reputation in the ball dream at the moment for transfers because he's got the best hit rate. Sesco, he put his balls on the line and the club are very happy with Sesco. Wilcox put his balls on the line for De Lappe and they've basically been chopped off. I mean, it was a bad, bad, bad. And considering considering Sesko wasn't even the player that United wanted and Favell basically said we should go for him, Dalat was the number one priority.

5:15So Stille at the moment is Favell's guy and United, his stock is good at the moment, Favell. So there's a good chance that we can push for this player. I think the interesting thing with Stille is that a lot of people don't really understand what he is. You can't play Stilla and Maynou, in my opinion. I've looked at some of the stuff here, and I think when you look at the defensive side of things with Stilla, successful defensive actions per 90, 6.3, Maynou 5.6, Belaber and Anderson are nearly at 9. So defensively, Stilla and Maynou, I don't think there's enough defensive support to play those two together.

5:57So that's going to be a consideration. However, Stiller isn't not defensive. Like 6.3 defensive actions per 90 is actually about the same as Tonali and better than Zubomendi. So it's not terrible. I just think if you're going to play Stiller, you do want somebody like an Anderson or a Balaba next to him who is a little bit more intense in their tackles. but he's not unintense in his tackles. And in fairness, when it comes to aerial jewels, he's second only to Elliot Anderson. He's 2.4 aerial jewels per 90, whereas Anderson is 2.9 and he wins about 41 % of them. So he's not terrible when it comes to that as well.

6:41But it's the passing game. You might have seen the game against Celtic last night in the Europa League. Stuttgart absolutely rinsed Celtic in Glasgow. go. They beat them 4-1 and they absolutely battered them. Stilla didn't get... I don't think Stilla got an assist or a goal, but his ability deeper, because he played in a midfield two, behind a three and then a striker. So he does play in that midfield two. He has got Bruno tendencies, but he does play deeper. It's the passing. The passing is incredible. If you compare Zubamendi, Tonali, Anderson, Baleba and Maynou and look at their passes per 90, he's 67 passes per 90.

7:196-7. 67 passes per 90. Belaber is 35. So Belaber is nearly half passes per 90 of what Stiller is. Manu's 50. Stiller is 67. And Anderson's 64, which is very high. Stiller's 67. Tonali's 50. Stiller's 67. Submendi is 56. Stiller is 67. So you stick Stiller into your midfield pivot or your midfield three. you've got a deep-lying player who wants the ball, who wants the ball and has the ball, and possession is something United have got to improve on. So I think that that, to me, is a big thing. But also it's the forward passes per 90. 23 forward passes per 90. Maynou 11. Belaiba 10. Anderson 20. Tonali 15.

8:11Zubemendi 16. He's a passing monster. And Man United would be foolish not to be looking at Stilla. There is, as always, the whole he doesn't play in the Premier League, he's from the Bundesliga, but you can't just turn your nose down because somebody hasn't played in the Premier League. The reality is Man United needs somebody to go in that midfield who is able to make a tackle and Stiller is. He's six foot, so he's not small. He can put a tackle in, but he's immense on the ball. and if Bruno's going to leave in the summer or he's going to leave at some point, you need a conductor in that team and I don't think Manu's going to be that.

8:47I don't think Manu's going to be the conductor. I don't think he's ever going to be that but I think Stilla is going to be that whether it's at Real Madrid or whether it's at Arsenal or whether it's at Man United, that's the level of player we're talking about here and I think the club have got to trust Vival. I really, really do and it's interesting what Carrick said about Manu because he was like, I really like this player and it feels like Carrick sees Man United having to build a midfield around Mainou. I don't agree with that. I don't agree we need to build a midfield around Mainou. I think Mainou's an important player, but he's still very young and we still really don't know what Mainou is.

9:21What I like about Mainou at the moment is that he brings a little bit of composure to a midfield that doesn't have any. Casemiro and Bruno are very quick to move the ball, whereas Mainou has a little bit of composure to him. We need to get our possession stats up and I think people like Mainou and Stilla are really important to that. But this guy's a star in the making. He's ready to go into the team. I've been a big fan of him for a long time. And I have the feeling about Stilla that I had about Bruno, that I had about Cunha. I think these are players that are going to take us to the next level.

9:51And the big question for me is not whether we can sign him. The question has to be, will the club listen to Vavelle? Because he's in the five, he's in the top five. He now needs to be the top priority because I think there's something. if Anderson's wanted by City, we're probably going to lose. If Wharton's wanted by Chelsea or Liverpool, we're probably going to lose. But Labour is an absolute open goal because nobody else wants him. That leaves Tonali and Stilla. And I like Tonali. However, Tonali is going to cost you a lot of money. Stilla is going to cost you about 50 million. So I think that this is the deal.

10:28This is the one. And it's just about the barriers I see are whether Carrick says we don't need him because we've got Manu, which I think is a mistake because I think both players can be really important. The way I look at Stilla is my ideal midfield would be Stilla, Bruno and Anderson or something like that. That doesn't mean Manu's dropped. That just means that you've got rotational options. Certain games you might play Manu and Stilla if you're at home against one of the lower league teams and you want loads of possession and you want to probe, probe, probe. In European games, you might start Mainu and rest Stilla.

11:05You need two players. And I think people need to get into that mindset. Yes, I think Stilla plays in Mainu's role. But I think that Stilla can also play in a different position. He can play with Mainu. He could play more advanced. There's a lot of games. There's a lot of rotation. We need two players in every position. I'll be stunned this summer if teams don't adopt the Arsenal model. And I don't mean bottling the league. I mean, two players in every position. It's so important. And I think in Stilla, Stilla to me feels like more of a Man United signing. It feels like, you know, it feels like Embermo.

11:39It feels like Cunha. It feels like Le Mans. It feels like Bruno. Stilla feels like he's a Man United player. It feels like a Man United signing coming in from Stuttgart to Manchester United. There's an aura about him. There's an excitement about him. There's his hours about him. Whereas I think with certain other players like Wharton, it's like, well, it's a bit like De Lap. Oh, will I go to Chelsea? Will I go to Newcastle? Will I go to Man United? It's almost like, pick me, pick me. Whereas I think with Stiller, it's almost like, well, he feels like he's a Man United player that would come to Manchester United.

12:11Like Mbermo, there was interest, but he only wanted Man United. So look, let's see. But the reality is Favell is really pushing this. I think he ticks every single box. He's a leader as well, which is very important from the mentality point of view. There probably isn't a better available midfielder in world football when it comes to possession and passing. He can tackle. We need more possession in that team. I think he's perfect. And I think Favell needs to be listened to. My concern is United seem to be a bit obsessed with Premier League proven. And that works to a certain extent. But Belaber plays in the Premier League.

12:50Stille plays in the Bundesliga. There's only one choice out of those two. Patrick Lynch says, with Stille, you're making a conscious effort to move from transitional to possession-based play. The midfield is so important. It's been neglected for 10 years. It's why we're inconsistent and we need to get this right. Well, exactly. Exactly, Patrick. If I look at Zubimendi, Tonali, Anderson, Stille, Balaba, Maynou, if you want possession next season, Stille, 67 passes per 90, obliterating every one of them, double the passes Balaba, and we're looking to buy Balaba. So you're going to buy the guy with half the passes of the guy that's Stille, and we know we need more possession.

13:29So we're going to buy a guy that doesn't want the ball. that's madness to me it's madness but look it's not going to be my decision it's not going to be your decision we're clearly in talks with these players it's about what we can do and how quickly we can do it personally i think that the financial side of it is very important as well stiller will be stiller will probably be cheaper than belaba it'll definitely be cheaper than tonali and anderson but it'll be cheaper than belaba as well so you know if we need to make that money stretch this summer, which we do. Perfect. Stiller is the man, says Marlowe.

14:04So many of our legends have never played in the Premier League. He is also humble and consistent and we need that. He's a mentality monster. He's an absolute mentality monster. The only, and there has to be a downside, the only downside to Stiller for me is who else wants him? Because I think he's good enough that Real Madrid will go. I think he's good enough that Bayern Munich will definitely go. I think he's good enough that Arsenal will go for him as well. So if we're going to go for him, we can't do with the midfield what we've been doing with the manager. We can't go, oh, it could be you.

14:34It could be you. It could be you. With this type of player, you've got to go, it's you. We want you. Let's get moving on it. Because if we wait, we'll miss out. I'd take Anderson and Stiller, Sir Slazy. They're definitely my pick. That gives us a real six and eight. Start with a six, eight and ten. Switch to Stiller and Manu with a six when we need control and with a 10 when we need to push. So Slazy, thank you very much. Saw your interview with ZDF. Very good interview, but Mark on German TV was not on my 2026 bingo list. Midfielders, I haven't seen this interview yet. I thought it was just going to be on YouTube.

15:09I didn't know it was going to be on German TV. Well, you know, Bundesliga bridge. I'm fully ingratiated in the Bundesliga, which is why I can talk about people like Diamande and Nuzza and Stille and, And what's his bloody name? I forgot his name now. Plays in the midfield for Augsburg. Sano, brilliant player. Probably not a Man United player, but a Japanese midfielder playing for Augsburg. Also Fujita at St. Pauli. I think they both do really well in the Premier League for teams like Everton. But I didn't know it was on the telly, Danny, but I will check it out. They did email me yesterday. His midfield choices would be number one, Tonali, number two, Anderson, number three, Stiller, number four, Warton, number five, Belaba.

15:47Ambition is one and two. Yeah, I mean, look, I'd be over the moon with Sonali and Anderson. I would be over the moon with Sonali and Anderson. But for me, I think still, it just excites me more. Ashish says, it's mind-blowing that we may not have to be able to sort the midfield for such a long time. We've not been able to do it. Managers have come and gone and the midfield is still below average. I mean, did you hear what Kunya said about Amrind, by the way? We'll talk about that in a moment. But I mean, I've got to say, I mean, I like Kunya anyway, but it just makes all these journalists in the club look really stupid.

16:23There's been this obsession for two months to try and downtrod and blame Amarim. And Cunha's basically come out and said, we're basically playing a lot of the defensive patterns that we learned under Amarim anyway, under Carrick. And I'm really grateful for him and I really enjoyed playing for him. Unequivocally signing Tonali and Stilla by the looks of it, says Anet. I mean, Tonali and Stilla, I wouldn't mind because I think Anderson will go to City. Tonali and Stilla would work really well, by the way. I mean, that's a combo. I've got to say, Amit, you sometimes talk shit, but I've got to applaud you.

16:55Tonali and Stilla would be, I'd be very, very happy because they both can play as a six, but Stilla can also play as an eight. I'd be very happy with them. The defensive coverage we'd have for the next few years in midfield and the ball players we'd have, I'd be very, very happy with them. considering the attacking talent we've got with people like Ahmad and Kunya and Mbremo and Bruno and people like Lacey coming through, we're going to bring a winger in as well. Tonali and Stilla would give such a platform for our team. I'd be over the moon with them. But that's what we've got to do. We've got to do like a Tonali and Anderson.

17:33For me, any two of those three. That three, Stilla, Anderson, Tonali, any two combination, happy days. And I think that's what you've got to do. Wharton and Belaber just don't do it for me. But any two of those three, I'd be over the news. Hi, Mark. A little off topic, but if we got Wilcox and Barada out, the Clue Club, who would you like to replace them to sort out the summer transfers, says Jake? summer adventures are better with Minky Couture from road trips to ball games beach nights to backyard movies Minky has you covered don't miss the everywhere blanket water resistant ultra soft and made for life on the go wherever summer takes you bring comfort along minkycouture.com the original best blanket ever

18:29I mean, look, Jake, I don't... That's what best in class is. I, as a fan of Manchester United, can offer up some names. Obviously, I thought Berta was a very good one and he went to Arsenal. Some people talk about Campos. There are others. But the reality is, it's not my job to know who the best director of football and the best CEO in the world is. But it's bloody Sir Jim Radcliffe's job to know it. And it ain't Barada and Wilcox. So if you get rid of them, you get the best in class. That's what you do. We haven't done that yet. Big says, Mark, breaking news. So Jim Radcliffe very interested in Prestiani.

19:02OK, we'll leave that. Surprisingly, United signed Stiller and Anderson, says Amit. And Tonali and Stiller would be ideal for me, says Dale. 90 % for Stiller or Belaber. Says Ray. I think we're going to sign Belaber. I think we are going to sign Belaber. I'm dead against it. We did a whole show on it last night. I do. Could we check Stiller's injuries? I know what his injuries are, Jacob. He had a very bad ankle injury this time last year. He's had a couple of knocks this season, but there's not been any reaction to that ankle injury and he's playing a lot of games. In fact, when you look at his minutes this season, he's played over 3 ,000 minutes, which is about...

19:44He's played about the same as Elliot Anderson. Zubimendi and Tonali are on nearly 3 ,700 minutes. Belaba's on 2 ,200 minutes and still is on 3000. Obviously still has been playing in the Europa League as well. So he's played a lot of minutes. I wouldn't be worried about him in that sense. Let's talk about what Belieber's had to say. Hope all is well, Mark. My friend DJ wants us to hire Postacoglu or Southgate. Please call him a prat. I think Andrew'd be very interesting in press conferences. You know, I do like them, but Southgate, I wouldn't. Yeah, yeah. Wouldn't be going there, if I'm being completely honest.

20:23Right. Thanks, everyone who's watching this morning. Please do smash a like on the video. Let's talk Balaba because we know he is a player that Manchester United want. Bloody, have you seen the Manchester Evening News these days? You go on an article. I was halfway through reading it. I've left it open and then it's closed down saying you've got no free articles remaining. Digital subscription. I mean, that just tells you the state of journalism that everybody is going behind a fucking paywall now. I don't mind going. I don't mind journalists to go behind a paywall that are interesting to read, but regurgitation of other people's news behind a paywall.

21:03No, no. And before anybody says it's what you do. No, YouTube is free. YouTube is free. Right. If you get rid of Wilcox and Barada, Ineos have Favelle and Jean-Claude Blanc. Both have better CVs in the game. Certainly better than the two in place. A good point, Patrick. We could do it for free. Could do it for free. Anyway, I found an article that isn't behind a paywall. And also the funny thing is, it's actually an interview. How are you putting it behind a paywall when it's somebody else's interview? Anyway, I found it now. Shout out to the Mirror. They're not behind a paywall yet. Brighton and midfielder Brighton midfielder Balaba has opened up about how transfer speculation linking in with Man United impacted his performance basically said this I feel more relaxed now the noise about me I don't understand I don't I didn't look on the websites I'm more focused on me myself and my teammates now this is quite interesting so So basically, Balaba is saying, I never really understood the noise outside.

22:03I didn't understand it. I didn't look at it. I'm focused on me, myself and my teammates. I mean, this is very interesting because, look, I know he's got to try and claw back some credibility from a disastrous season. But saying I didn't really look at the websites, mate, I know you deleted them, but there are proven posts, social media posts where you were interacting with people about a move to Manchester United yourself. So you might not have been looking at websites, but you were definitely looking at social media and you're interacting with it because when Brighton played Man United back in October, you had to delete a post about something provocative.

22:40So you were all over this deal. Stop trying to backtrack. You definitely were all over this deal. And look, maybe you can't admit it, but the world knows it. You weren't ignoring it. You can't sit there and say you don't understand it because you were playing along with it. You were playing along with it from the start. This was your dream move. You didn't get it. And clearly that's impacted you massively, but you can't sit there and say, I don't understand it. I was ignoring it. I'm just focused on Brighton. And as for that second bit, well, if that's you being focused and ignoring stuff, I'd love to see what you play like when you're shit and you're not focused because you've not been very good this year.

23:16So strange interview because it's almost like he's going, it doesn't impact me. I'm just focused on my performances. But it did impact you because you interacted with it. And if you're focusing on your performances, they're shit, mate. So you'd probably be better off saying I've had a really bad start to the season. My head wasn't in the right place. Obviously, I'm very happy at Brighton and I'm very dedicated at Brighton. But when a big club comes in for you like that and there's a lot of noise and people like David Ornstein are talking about it, obviously, I did get a little bit distracted. I'm still only young and it took me a little bit of a time to get over that.

23:49That's honesty. That's the truth, isn't it? But to say I didn't look at it when you were interacting with it and to say that you're focused on yourself and Brighton when you've been shit. Again, I mean, look, I feel sorry for the lad. I really, really do. If we sign him, as with anybody, when we bought Fellaini, when we bought Matic, I didn't want them, but I still support them. But the red flags are there. The red flags are there. And we're talking about Tonali, we're talking about Stiller, we're talking about Anderson and Wilcox is pushing Belaber. And I'm like, I'm sorry. If he was the only midfielder available this summer and we need a midfielder, obviously go and buy him, take the punt.

24:29It's a risk. Maybe it turns out okay. But there's so many better options in the shop. And that's my issue with this. I think he's a huge risk. And also I think he's a project and he's clearly not got a mature head on his shoulders yet. That's not what you need in a season where next year we're going to need to finish in the top five and do well in the Champions League. We're going to need composure and I don't think he's going to bring that. I think there's better options in the shop. They clearly see Belaber as a potential long-term replacement in defensive midfield, but his inconsistency makes him a risk compared to other targets, says Azam.

25:03If you're Arsenal and you buy Belaber because you've got a spare£65 million and you know you can bring him in and be patient, I completely get it. Because you've got Declan Rice, you've got Zubemendi, you've got players that are ready to play and you can use him here and there. 20 minutes, no pressure. Play in the Carabao Cup, no pressure. Bring him on for the second half in a Champions League game that you're winning, no pressure. Home game, 3-0 up against Leeds, half an hour. Stick it, no pressure. I get that. But Man United should not be buying a player for the future and chucking him into that environment.

25:37that's that's not we're not that club at the moment we seem to think we are that club but we're not that club i was listening to michael carrick talking about the youth and how the youth is really important and i'm like tell me something i don't know michael we've had a we've had a youth player on the bench since the 1930s before any of us were born i don't need to be told that the youth is important but i don't think the answer to man united's problems is picking youth players at the moment. We've got Maynou. In the last 25 years, how many youth players have ended up being first team players for Man United?

26:11You can do it on one hand. So we've got Maynou. He's a first team player. I don't need to get three or four youth players into the first team at the moment, unless they're good enough. If they're good enough, get them in. But this whole youth thing for me, and I'm a massive fan of our youth, I don't need youth players in the first team. I don't need to get the Fletcher brothers into the United team unless they're good enough. If they're on the bench, I need them to be able to be good enough. When Lacey came on, I thought, fucking hell, that's talent. That's what I want to be coming onto the pitch.

26:41I don't need to force youth in and I don't need to force Belaber in. I need to bring in more Cunyors and Embermos to provide the platform for us to be able to nurture these young players. But United seem to be obsessed with bringing youth players in or signing young players. And I do not believe we have the platform for it. When I look at the class of 92, you had Cantona, you had Hughes, you had McClare, you had Bruce, you had Pallister, you had Ince, you had Irwin, you had Schmeichel. International top class players to nurture players. At the moment, we don't have that platform. So Belaber, for me, is an absolute risk on many levels.

27:21By signing Stiller, United are forming a basketball team, says Amit, and Stiller plays as a deep line midfielder orchestrating player from in front of the defense his style has drawn comparisons to Kroos and even Michael Carrick's as Azam well this is the interesting thing to go back to Stilla I don't think he's got the defensive numbers of even Belaba or Casemiro or in fact let's compare Casemiro to Stilla because I can do that Anderson but his defensive numbers are as good as Tonali so he's not like we know Maynou defensively is not that good. We know Bruno's not that good defensively. Stiller isn't bad defensively.

28:01He's just not a defensive monster. You can definitely play him as a six and he'll put a tackle in and he'll conduct the play. Tonali's not a defensive monster. Like you look at Tonali defensively and compare him to Stiller, 6.82 successful defensive actions per 90 for Tonali, 6.35 for Stilla. So they're very, very close. Defensive jewels won 61.4 % for Tonali, 65 % for Stilla. Defensive jewels per 90, 5.3 for Tonali, 4.3 for Stilla. So there's not a massive amount of difference between the two players when you think about it. So let me just add Casimiro in here because I think Casimiro is somebody I always leave out because obviously he's going to leave.

28:45When you throw him in with these players, I mean, he's a defensive monster. Statistically, he is a defensive. Successful defensive actions per 90, 12.6. 12.6. Anderson's 8.7, Tonali's 6.8. So successful defensive actions per 90 is a 12.6. It's an incredible amount of defensive output. Ariel's jewels per 90, 4.5, which is massive compared to anderson who's second in in in three uh ariel's duel ariel jewels won all right 45 but you know um yeah he's an absolute defensive monster for us casimiro in relation to breaking up to play passes per 90 50 which is way ahead of belaba on 35 it's around the same as tonali on 50 so look i think i think tonali could go into that position there's no doubt about it i think he could do but But I would be all over that deal.

29:44I think it's just the right deal for Manchester United to do, certainly. Let me just have a look. They clearly see Balayba have done that one from Azim. I reckon we don't get a left winger. We will push Gabriel's JSD. I think JJ is a fantastic talent, but I don't think he's even 16 yet. So it's very, very unlikely that we're going to be playing. Look, I know it's happened with Jamal, but it's very unlikely that Gabriel is going to be ready to play at 16 next season. And I think it would be wrong to do that anyway, JSU. The whole point of nurturing players is that you don't play them every week, twice a week.

30:25So I think we will buy a winger. I think we have to buy a winger. Let me talk to you about Michael Carrick. There's a few comments coming in about him this morning. He's made some statements himself. let me just go on to them got something about the managers to talk about as well I want to talk about that I've done that oh this this was what Matt this was what Kunya had to say about Amrim just why it's in front of me he says I'll always be grateful to Ruben when things change it's easy to focus on only the problems but he was an incredible person many of the players here came here because of him.

31:04So he played a huge role in our current success. The pressure for results grew so much that we lost sight of how simple the situation really was. And we focused too much on the negatives. So huge glowing report there from Kunja about Amrim. He also goes on to say about people's tactical obsession under Ruben Amrim. Honestly, football numbers and shapes can be misleading. We attack in many different ways and usually defend in the structure everyone labels as Rubens. So I think that's nice from Kunya because I think a lot of... I've not heard Carrick say one good word about Amorim, which is a bit disappointing.

31:40I would have expected better from Carrick, to be honest with you. I don't hold anything against him, but Carrick's sort of gone down the... Maybe he's not allowed to. His boss is Wilcox, isn't he? So he's probably not allowed to say anything. In fairness, I should retract that. I'm not disappointed in Carrick saying nothing about Amorim. It just shows who his boss is. But I respect the players that obviously have played under both who aren't willing to just pile on and blame the previous manager. And it's interesting that Kunja said that a lot of the players came to Manchester United because of Ruben Amrim as well.

32:12So look, we've moved on. We're going to open up a new chapter and it may well be under Michael Carrick and let's hope it's successful, but I've never been on board with the club's attempts to try and pin everything on Amrim when ultimately they appointed Amrim. anyway let's talk about what Michael Carrick had to say on the youth it's something that's always been close to my heart and I'm passionate about it it's a pride thing to give a young player a debut there we go I mean personally I might sound a little bit blunt here but I don't care about giving young players debuts at Manchester United at the moment I don't we've got Maynou he's from youth we've got other young players that probably aren't ready yet um i don't think the answer to manchester united's problems are a youth player i think we need to buy better and if we think we're going to find the next class of 92 good luck with that because the only reason we found them was because we had seven or eight top quality players to nurture them and we don't have that at the moment so if we want to develop youth we better build a team that they can develop in first he also goes on to say about the Manchester United job whether he wants the Man United job he said for me it's the ultimate job I love what I do I'm lucky I'm privileged to be in this position I said when I arrived there's the sentimental side of having come through the club of loving the club of being a fan but I'm here to do a job to build a good team and to succeed I don't decide how long it will last but I love being here and as long as I'm here I'll give it everything I always plan long term for the good of the club That's how I think it should be I mean that's I know Gary Neville said he's not too sure Whether Michael Carrick will take the job Because he has his own morals About what he thinks is best for the club I think that's a statement of intent That he wants the job I think that's literally a declaration of I want the job there Which is not a surprise I mean what's he going to do if he doesn't get the job Go and manage Crystal Palace Of course If you give him that opportunity He says it himself I'm lucky.

34:15I'm privileged. Of course, he's going to want the job. I mean, I don't think he can be criticised for that at all. Not at all. But what I did find interesting is that he basically said about does he shout at his players? And he said there's a moment for all sorts of emotions and that what makes the beauty of the role. You have to choose the right moments and press the right buttons to get the right reactions. Basically said he hasn't shouted at any of these players yet. he said about Sir Alex Ferguson's hair dryer treatment I'm not sure I could replicate that I wouldn't even try I've seen him do it several times and it makes you shrink back in your seat but again you're talking about Sir Alex and he was a genius at getting the best out of players in different ways it worked his goal was to get the best out of his players look maybe that's part of why some people are like let's just wait and see we carry because if he's not shouted at any of these players yet, then he is going to have to shout at some point.

35:12And I think that's a side of this whole thing that we're just completely missing. He's unbeaten. The West Ham result was disappointing, but he didn't lose. He won the four games before that. He's had no reason to shout at these players yet. He hasn't seen the side of these players that we've seen for 10 years or that dressing room. So I think that this is why for me, we need to see a hell of a lot more of Michael Carrick before we start talking about giving him the job because he's going to have to shout. If he's not shouting at these players, something's wrong because they are going to make you go grey, mate.

35:45I mean, Carrick's still got brown hair. Give it a year and it'll be Silver Fox like Ravinelli. So yeah, he's going to have to shout at them at some point, but he hasn't had reason to do that yet. They have been getting good results, but that's going to be part of the process as well. Certainly going to be part of the process, being Manchester United manager. um he's all said about Maynou we forget how young he still is I was I was a big fan of him watching watching him play and knowing what he was capable of so it wasn't really a big decision for me to play him and to be fair it's not easy when you haven't played to find your rhythm and find your form I mean it wasn't a big decision for Carrick to pick Maynou anyway because we went from a midfield two to a midfield three so it was an open goal really wasn't it what would have been interesting if he played a midfield two would he have moved Bruno to the 10 and dropped um Kunia or Mbemo but in the 4-3-3 Manu has to start he says there are things he can do better at things he can improve on but we haven't really got started on any of that because we're just letting him go and find his flow and find his rhythm of playing football again I've been really conscious of not giving him an awful lot a couple of little pointers a bit of positional things and some little bits here and there but trust in what he is he's a fantastic footballer and he's got a huge talent.

36:59So encouraging words there for Manu. Was there anything else from Carrick's interview as well? But no, I mean, just on the Manu stuff, I mean, look, it's not like Michael Carrick's unearthed a bloody hidden gem, is it? We were talking about this in September, October, November, December. Manu needs to play games. And I agree. He's missed a lot of football. Just let him go out there and play. And the positive to what Manu has brought to the team is the possession, the composure. There is a lot to improve. His defensive numbers are terrible. He probably doesn't contribute to goals as much as you would like.

37:34But the composure on the ball and the possession, that to me is a really big improvement. Goldfridge says people need to get this right about Balaba. He's not a defensive midfielder. He was great last season when he roamed around, pressed high and used his athleticism. He can't dictate play from deep and lacks positional awareness. I think that your analysis of Belaber belongs on Monday Night Football. I think you're absolutely true and correct on that. I remember him coming on in the second half against Manchester City last season and he came on at halftime. They were losing and he was everywhere and they won 2-1.

38:11And he certainly wasn't playing sitting deep as a holding midfielder. He was absolutely everywhere. Eight, he played, basically. this season they've got a young lad next to him and it seems to be a little bit more of a disciplined position and he can't do it you're right he can't do it uh are you going to do live call-ins from fans as vive um no not got any plan to do that but thanks for asking um and also uh daniel thompson says hope you're well mark and united stand i don't trust the board uh to do the right things Pingu would do a better job Mike JW will like that one Daniel Thompson but Anderson Tonali and Stilla would be the proper midfield rebuild we need or at least two of them says Daniel thank you very much for that again I agree with those three any two from them three Stilla, Anderson and Tonali and Marlo United says in an interview Ferguson talked about selling a young Pogba his description of Pogba's mentality and lack of consistency reminds me a lot of Belaba yeah and Pogba was 10 times the player belabor as well so um yeah definitely um on that um there was something I wanted to talk about and I've completely forgotten uh what it is what was it oh yeah I know what it was hopefully I've got it here um yes i know exactly what it was i've spoken about this a few times uh and i'm sure some of you might um remember me saying this about the wage bill so where was it did i even pin it to bring into the show maybe maybe not um would be uh i definitely want to talk about that so we'll come back to that did i pin it oh yeah um this wasn't what i was going to talk about um just something from yesterday, Ben Jacobs, expect the price of Leipzig winner, winger Diamande to be closer to 50 to 60 million pounds in the summer.

40:13So that sort of, you should have watched, I'm sure a lot of you did, but you should watch the interview with Ben Jacobs and Beth from yesterday, because there's loads of stuff in there that I didn't really talk about because obviously it's already on the channel. So go and watch it. But I thought that was something I missed from last night that was really interesting. Ben Jacobs saying that the price for Diamande could fall, expect it to fall to closer to 50 to 60 million pounds, which is a lot cheaper than the 80 to 100 that was being spoken about a week ago. So that's much more reasonable for a player of that.

40:45And that brings him in line with NDIA. So if the price is the same, I think it makes it a closer call. this was it this was it manchester evening news manchester united could strip out around 65 million a year in salaries this summer casemiro rashford sancho equates to roughly 45 million pounds and then you've got people like anana serxi rasmus malasia so i i flip this right So we could save£60 million a year in wages this summer, right? People go running to the toilet to grab the toilet roll, right? And get really excited. But why is this a point of excitement? So all those players' wages are going to go.

41:33We're a football club. We're not a fucking bank. That money, whether we're saving, we shouldn't be saving that money. It should be reinvested into wages. but people i know there's people in this chat going oh 60 million pounds you know what i'm thinking well that needs to go on better players then it's not it's not a saving is it and this is where this club's going wrong and this is where some of our fans are going wrong they see that and they get all excited oh we're saving 60 million pounds we shouldn't be saving the 60 million pounds that 60 million pounds instantly should go on wages for the next players but we've got stuck into this mentality where oh the wage bill's coming down oh get the tissues the wage bill's coming down oh we're going to save a little bit more we're not saving that money it needs to be reinvested so if you're saving 15 million pounds a week a year in wages for casimero that should be reinvested into stiller and anderson wages but it won't be the headline that the fans get excited about is the excitement from Sir Jim and Joel because they'll be going oh we've saved some money here we shouldn't be saving money on wages that's not an area of the club that we should be reducing not no Man City have got the biggest wage bill by a very long way they're about to probably win the league again they might win the Champions League would Pep Guardiola's Man City be fighting for the league with our wage bill?

43:04No, absolutely not. So I don't get excited about the reduction in the wage bill. I'll get excited about taking that money and spending it all on players. That's what we need to do. Absolutely. And talking about that, very interesting article this morning in The Telegraph. Now, it's got nothing to do with Manchester United, but it could do. So Matt Law in The Telegraph basically saying that longstanding commercial partners are deciding to end their association with Tottenham as the prospect of Premier League relegation looms large. This was something I mentioned about a week ago, Bergwahl, Vyskovic.

43:41These are players that Man United need to be tapping up now. Spurs, without Champions League football, without big sponsors and a stadium to pay for and a squad that's very big, there are opportunities there. And the problem is when you're in trouble, you don't get to sell what you like. You get to sell what you need to sell. So we should be all over this. We mentioned Newcastle. Like Newcastle could be in a similar position. They're not going to get relegated, but they're not going to be in Europe by the looks of it. We need to be all over Spurs. We need to be at the, you know, you need to get your elbows out here, United, and you need to be pushing to the front.

44:20Because as much as I say Tenali, Stille and Anderson, if you can get me Bergvall, happy fucking days. I'm telling you now, that player's special. So if you can get me Bergvall, the story changes. And we do need to look at this. We're all bloody veterans of this. I'm sure when you've played Football Manager or FIFA or FC 26, I'm sure when you're playing career mode, you're looking at who's going down and every now and again, it will go, oh, bloody hell, Tottenham are going down. Right, straight in. Let me get them. We need to do that. It could be the same with Forrest, Murillo, decent centre-back, might fancy a bit of luck, look at that, Elliot Anderson, of course.

45:01West Ham, maybe, maybe there's one or two there as well, but Spurs, you've got to be in there. And look, the great thing about Spurs is they're not going to want to sell to Chelsea or Arsenal. So straight away to any London club, they won't want to sell. So that helps us out. We don't have a bad reputation with Spurs. We've took Berbatov from there over the years. Carrick came in from Spurs. So I think we've got to look at that and go, what are the opportunities? Because I'm telling you now, I remember talking to Ben Foster about this. When you get relegated, your wage goes down by about a third.

45:40Sorry, I think it might be a third or a half. Or is it two? Look, basically, if you're on 200 grand a week, you're probably going down to 100 grand a week because the club can't survive. So there's a relegation clause there. But the flip side of that is if I'm, let's say, if I'm like Van der Ben and I'm on 150 grand a week at Spurs and we get relegated and there's a clause in my contract saying my wage goes down to 75 ,000, well, that's not fair. What's the flip side? You have a release clause of£30 million. So that's what happens. When someone gets relegated, the club has to protect themselves because they don't have the revenue anymore.

46:20So your wage comes down, but there's always a relegation clause fee as well. So you don't need to be looking at this. I think it's a... I think it's... Look, I'm doing a lot of watch-alongs on That's Football this weekend. Got the three o 'clock games, Chelsea, Burnley, obviously because of us and Villa Leeds because of us. Eight o 'clock, Man City, Newcastle because title. And then Sunday, Forest, Liverpool because of us. And then the North London Derby. So some big games this weekend I'm doing watch alongs for. I think Spurs could be in trouble if they lose their next game. I think they could be in trouble.

47:04And it would be the biggest relegation of my life. I've never seen a club that big go down. Obviously, I've seen Newcastle go down. I've seen Villa go down. But Spurs won the Europa League last year. They're in the bloody Champions League. They've got a massive new stadium. It would be massive. I don't know whether Spurs are going to go down, but even if they don't, even if they don't go down, they're not going to be in Europe next year. so there are opportunities there and united this is the this is the behavioral traits of a of a competent football club but if i was in charge of man united and i was jason wilcox i'd be going yeah i want let's get stiller let's talk to anderson let's talk to tonali they're the three they're the three we want let's be looking at newcastle let's be looking at spurs because i tell you if there's something that can be done there let's make sure we're at the front of the because there'll be other clubs looking at Spurs.

47:59And even if they don't get relegated, they're still going to be in a position where they probably need to do something. What about Romero, says Azam? Mate, I wouldn't go anywhere near him. Romero could be the combination of Van Dijk, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Vidic. And I still wouldn't go anywhere near him because I just can't. There's two things, right? I don't care whether you're prime Messi. if you've got the injury record of Phil Jones, I would rather have Eden Hazard. And Messi's one of the greatest players that's ever played. But if you can't play, you're no good to me. And you can be the best centre-back in the world, but if you've got Romero's temperament, I'd rather play Harry Maguire.

48:43Because at least with Harry Maguire, I know when there's a 50-50, he's not going to try and break the other person's leg. You just can't have that level of mentality. I mean, look, we benefited from it massively. But as Flock says, Romero is an absolute liability. In that game, I don't know whether we would have won it. I look at the Fulham game, we nearly didn't win. Fair play, Sesco winner. I look at the Spurs game, 0-0. I don't know. I think that game was... You could argue Spurs were slightly on top. You could argue we were slightly on top. but it was a very equal game and Spurs were playing very, very well.

49:21And Romero, for no other reason than he's a hothead, fucks Spurs up big time. So I would not have a player like that who can't control their emotions. I wouldn't go anywhere near him. No, don't care how good he is. Azam says, what about Lissandro and Romero? Romero, good defensive pair. Yeah, Romero wasn't a massive hothead, maybe, but no, I wouldn't go anywhere near him. I wouldn't go anywhere near him.

49:47Palas says, Ange said Romero is a leader in the dressing room, but I don't like his actions on the pitch. Look, Roy Keane used to get sent off, but Romero is not Roy Keane. He's a walking red card, and I don't think he's actually that good. And I don't think he can tackle either. I think most of his tackles are a foul. He's a very, very dirty player. Yeah, I won't go anywhere near him. I feel like we've got through something. I want to applaud everybody. Where's my ball? Me and you together this afternoon, we're going on a date in the back garden. I'm going to bury you in the back of the net. I love this.

50:28When it came through, I didn't realise, and I'm sure they've done it on purpose, the heat maps. I love it.

50:40What was I going to say? Yeah, I feel like we've got through something. We played West Ham a week ago last Tuesday and we still don't play till Monday. It's been a horrible break, this. So fair play to everybody who's been sticking with us and getting involved in it. It has gone relatively quickly, but I just feel like we've got through something. I feel like Premier League predictions on that's football today felt like I hadn't done that for ages as well. So it just feels like football's back, proper football's back. And we have got three games coming up in just over a week and a half as well.

51:11And also, it's not far till the March international break now. And if you've been watching the United stand for any period of time, you'd know what I think about the March international break. For me, that's when the transfer window starts. That's when the conversations start. So hopefully we're heading into an exciting period. I think the next few games is about getting as many wins as we can to solidify that Champions League spot. I think Arsenal, I think Villa leads is very important. I was with one of my Villa mates yesterday and he was saying, I really do think United are going to catch us.

51:42and I think if we can bring Villa into this it's just another club we're fighting with for top five so big weekends I mean look worst case scenario Villa beat Leeds Chelsea beat Burnley and Forrest lose to Liverpool and then pressures on us a bit but we could be in a position where a couple of those results go our way I mean Forrest new manager bounce at the city ground they could get something against Liverpool Leeds are doing well against Villa that could be something for us I mean, I think Chelsea will beat Burnley, but two out of three ain't bad, is it? Anyway, thank you, everybody, for watching.

52:15Make sure you've smashed a like on the video. We've got Carrick's press conference coming in at about half past one. Tonight at eight o 'clock is our Everton preview live. We put it back a night because I wanted to listen to Carrick's press conference before and I'm not doing the Bundesliga tonight. So eight o 'clock tonight is with me. Curling's not till tomorrow final. Bit of moose at five past six. It's not tonight, it's tomorrow. please smash a like. We've got 7 ,000 watching, but 700 likes. So please smash a like on the way out. I'll speak to you all in a bit. Have a great day. Check out Premier League predictions.

52:48Oh, oh, oh, oh. I've just remembered something I need to do before I go. It's very, very important. And I should have said it. Over the last few weeks, I've had things like driving with Goldbridge, cooking with Goldbridge. They've all come back. And this afternoon at three o 'clock, another thing's coming back. And it is a Man United career mode as well. So I've not touched it in a few months. I've not played the game in ages. But this afternoon at three o 'clock, I am back with a live Man United career mode episode. We're just bringing it back for 26 just to see how it goes. I haven't picked up the controller in about three months.

53:33So it could be quite interesting. I think I've got Stiller in that team. I can't remember who I've got. I think I might have Stiller in that team. Anyway, we'll find out at three o 'clock. Thanks everyone for watching. Take care.