337: Carrick's TRANSFER Request!

0:00Hello everybody, good morning, welcome to the United Stands. I'm Mark Goldbridge and this is your latest Manchester United news as Michael Carrick plans for the long term and essentially puts in a transfer request for a player he would like to sign. Also, is it stumbling on Kobi Meynou? Very interesting updates around him and transfers. Also, a very interesting piece in the Telegraph, again, trying to, I would say, glow up Wilcox in a way that just makes no sense. Basically saying that it didn't matter who the manager was last summer. Wilcox would have sold Ganacho, Rashford, Sancho. I mean, it's a nonsense, but we'll talk about that as well.

0:36Also, who do you think are our three most important players at the moment? I want to talk about that as well. And a few other bits as well. It's match day two as well. It is match day two because we played at the weekend and we're playing midweek. I can't wait till next season when we're in the Champions League and we're playing two games a week. I'm so fed up of this. Did you see that? I mean, I lost it last night. I absolutely lost it last night. I could not believe it when somebody told me we're not playing for three weeks after Bournemouth. So there's an international break. All right. Everybody's got an international break.

1:09But when we come back from the international break, it's another bloody FA Cup weekend. We don't play for three bloody weeks. This season can get in the bin. I've had enough of it. Three weeks. And we haven't even booked a bloody friendly in Saudi or something like that. We're stupid. We're a stupid football club. I mean, Carrick's probably going to give him a bloody another week off in Dubai. It's so stupid. It gets on my tits. And I didn't even know about it until last night. Also, apparently our summer tour, we're going to do it in Europe. I mean, have we just stopped making money then? Or are we just rinsing fans?

1:38I mean, go to Saudi. Go to bloody US. You'll make more bloody money, you idiots. They're meant to be good at bloody making money. Anyway, let's fly into it. Let's look at the first topic, which is going to be Michael Carrick's transfer request. Look, he said he's here for the long term. I disagree with that. I disagree with what he said, by the way. But we'll delve into that in a minute or two. Basically said that no matter whether he's here for the short term or the long term, he's always planning for the long term and the future. I disagree with him on that. I disagree with him on that. But before we get into that, I want to start off by seeing what he said about the left winger market.

2:14So this is what he said.

2:19Asked about the left wing position for Manchester United. I think there's a better quote than this. I just can't see it. Here it is. Here it is. Here it is. He said on a left winger, it's definitely a point to consider. Definitely. It's an area that we need to be looking at. He mentioned balance and the importance of having a left winger. He said, yeah, on signing a left winger in the summer, he said, yeah, in certain ways, I think you're always looking at the balance of the team and the squad to give you the utmost flexibility. So it's definitely something to look at for sure. He did go on to say that Kunya can play there in that position and Ahmad too.

2:57But adding a left winger is a possibility. Yes. So look, he's clearly involved in those summer transfer talks, which I said a couple of weeks ago he does need to be involved in. Because even if you don't want Carrick, and I don't at the moment, as I've said, we need to speak to transfer targets now. We do. And if we talk into them now and we're not talking to Carrick about it, then that means it's just Wilcox. And that can't happen. So look, whether Michael Carrick is going to stay here long term or not, I do think he needs to be consulted. And I think that that left wing position is clearly, clearly going to be a priority.

3:35Now, look, some people think we need a left back or a right back as a priority. I think in relation to the left winger, it's going to be Diamande. That'll be the player that we're looking at at the moment at Leipzig. We have held talks. We have been linked to him quite strongly. As soon as we didn't get Semenyo, that was the player that we were linked to. And I think that's where we're going to go. And I think that's the player we're probably going to go for. So it sounds like Carrick has said, yeah, go and get him then, because that's the left winger we're going for. It was only a couple of days ago that we were ruled out of the Everton player.

4:10And I'll mispronounce it as always do. N 'Gia, is it? We're not going for him. And Anthony Gordon is going to be way too expensive, although we will get to get to have a look at him tonight. So I think Diamande is the player that we're going to go for. And Michael Carrick there speaking very publicly about United's need for that player. And I do agree with that. I think that I don't think Kunja off the wing really works. I think there is a long term question to be had about Kunja, but at the moment he's doing OK. But I don't think that is his best position. I think it's a classic example of you need to start him.

4:50So you put him in a position where you can start him, but it's not necessarily his best position. And I think the balance of the team down the left hand side does look a little bit poor at times. it's really difficult and it's quite notable actually that when you look at the last few games statistic bridge every decent cross we've put in for sesco i think has come in from the right-hand side when you look at the casimiro goal that was offside against west ham right-hand side when you look at the goal from palace at the weekend sesco right-hand side we've got people like bruno and mainu who can work situations to put a cross in from that side but they can't do it on the other side because they're not strong on their left foot.

5:29So we do need a little bit more balance. And I think that's what Michael Carrick will be looking at for the summer and saying, look, whether I'm here or not, you do need some more balance down that left-hand side. I think when Dorgue's there, it helps because he's naturally left-footed. And that's quite unusual to use a left-footed player on the left wing. And I do like that. But I think we're going to have to play, you know, I want a left back and I think we're going to go for a left winger there. So look, Carrick talking about that. I suppose the interesting thing is, and I suppose it comes down to the second part about what you said, is that I don't agree with this, right?

6:07And I'll tell you why. Michael Carrick on his future. I love being here and doing what I'm doing. I don't make decisions to get quick short-term results. My responsibility, no matter how long my tenure lasts, is to make the decisions that are best for the club in the long term. Now, a load of people go, oh, yeah, I love that, love that, love that. I love the results. But I think we are playing ridiculously short term. And I think it's been proven in the last three games. I think we are. I don't think he is doing things for the long term at all. I don't know. I don't know what the style of play is.

6:40I know a lot of these players next season won't be good enough. I think by the very nature of the job of being an interim, you have to be short term. And I don't criticise Carrick. I love Michael Carrick. But the definition of being an interim coach is to be short term. And you are being short term. You've reduced training. You've gone back to a style of play that's quite simplistic that these players like. Deep line counter-attack. Under Oli, we did the same and it was very effective. Predominantly, you're picking experienced players. Obviously, Manu's come into the team, but that's because we need an extra midfielder.

7:14But you are picking experienced players. I mean, you even had Mbermo up front and Sesko on the bench. Luke Shaw's at left back, Deleuze at right back. It's Maguire and Martinez. So I think that there's nothing wrong with admitting that you've gone short term because that's what you're... The only thing that's long term about Carrick is getting Champions League football. And if that's what he means by that, I completely agree, you know, that the long term thing is to make sure we get Champions League football to give the club a financial footing to move forward. But I don't think he needs to be saying everything I do is about the long term because I don't think it is.

7:45You know, you've reduced training. You're giving people more time off. You're picking experienced players. You're playing a back four, which I'm happy with, but you're also playing counterattacking football. We've simplified a lot. I think we've simplified a lot, and I think that's why we're being successful. These players are simple. I nearly said simpletons. They're not simpletons, but they're clearly quite low IQ in the sense that they couldn't play Ten Hag's football. They couldn't play Amrim's football. I think they like simple instructions and to be pampered. And they have been. And I think Michael Carrick's got that experience from Solskjaer when he was the assistant coach.

8:22Then he knew what worked. Like, keep it simple, arm around the shoulder, reduce the training, play 4-3-3, counter, you know. And all those things are working really, really well. But we know it won't work next season. So I disagree. I don't think he is doing things for the long term because I'm ridiculously happy with where we are at the moment. And hopefully we can capitalise on Liverpool last night by beating Newcastle tonight, which I think we can. But I think there's a lot of United fans that are going, this is great, this is brilliant. But there's very little from what's happening at the moment that you can take into next season.

8:57Sesko, obviously, there's some players that are developing. Le Mans, Cunha and Mbemo have been fantastic. But I don't see a lot of long-term-ism at all. So when he says things like, you know, I'm always looking at the long term. I don't see anything long term. And I know I'll get criticised for that because that's the world we live in and I'm absolutely comfortable with it. But I have explained it. And I, you know, I don't agree with the comment that I don't make decisions to get short term results when I think you have. I think most of what you've done is make decisions to get short term results.

9:28And that's good because that's your job. You've got a short term contract as an interim. Interim coaches don't come in and go, Harry, you're dropped. Luke Shaw, you're dropped. Diego Leon, you're at left back. And Yoro, you're the centre back. And, you know, Bruno, you might be leaving in the summer, so you're out. We're going to play Shea Lacey more. That's long term. Be stupid to do that. In the short term, he's gone Harry Maguire, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes down the spine. He's put Luke Shaw at left back. He's gone with experience and people he trusts. We've gone to that sit deep encounter at start of football that works so well against Arsenal and Manchester City.

10:03And in the last three games, we have struggled. I think the intensity has dropped. So I think that it's almost... Some people would say, well, why are you even saying this? Well, if you listen, you'll get to that point. The reason I'm saying this, the reason I'm adamant he's not doing anything that's really long-term is because if he was, that's what would flip me towards giving him the job. I literally have said over the last couple of weeks, one of the big reasons I wouldn't give Carrick the job is that in the quest for PRV, performance, results and vision, we're definitely getting results. In the first two games, I saw performance, but I think that's dropped.

10:37And the vision, I'm not sure what it is. So if Carrick wants the job, then he needs to talk the talk, walk the walk of doing things in the long term, because I want to see performance and vision before I even jump on that bandwagon, if I'm being honest. But we are getting results, I would say that. Many people don't realise how idiotic it was from the club to let the players go to Dubai on holiday mid-season. Imagine if the current situation happened a week earlier, the players would be stuck. I never really thought of it like that. Look, last night, just before we move on to other topical stuff, that result last night for us was absolutely fantastic.

11:15I watched it. I was doing it on That's Football, which is why we did the earlier show here. And there was this feeling that maybe Wolves could get something. I think Wolves probably since Christmas and since Edwards came in have started to get better and better. I mean, look, they got a draw out of us at Old Trafford, which was probably because we didn't have Mbamo and Ahmad, if we're being completely honest, but they were better than they were at the start of the month. And they've drawn against Arsenal at home. They've beaten Villa and now they've beaten Liverpool. So the context of that is so good for us because if you look at it now, we're almost in free hit territory.

11:53We have got some difficult games, Bournemouth away, Chelsea away. We've got to play Liverpool, Old Trafford. So we have got some difficult games. But by the time they come along, we're already in a really good position. I mean, I'm looking at the game tonight between Chelsea and Villa and I'm like, draw, maybe even a Villa win. and I know that might mean we go Villa adjoint with us but I feel like we know Villa are going to drop points anyway and we've got to play them at home and I don't know whether it's a bad take or a good take but there's a part of me that's like I'd like Villa to beat Chelsea, us to beat Newcastle and then we're both nine points ahead of Chelsea they don't come back from that with us they might do a nine point gap with Villa but they won't come back from it with us and I think Villa are going to drop points when the Europa League kicks in next week.

12:43So, and remember, we play Villa at home three days after they've played Thursday night football again. So we're probably going to beat Villa at home. There's a very high chance that we're going to beat Villa at home because we're at home after a week and a half rest and they're playing three days after Europa League. So part of me tonight's like, I don't want Chelsea to win because that sixth place is the trap door, isn't it? And whoever's in that sixth place or fifth place, I want them to keep losing. So Liverpool losing last night, three points behind us, game in hand, win tonight, six points on Liverpool, will at least be six points ahead of Chelsea.

13:21That's a great position to be in. So, yeah, last night was incredibly good for us. Incredibly good. Who do you think the left winger is? Diamande. Diamande, I said it to you. We had some info, was it three weeks ago, two weeks ago, that that's the player that United are actually working on at the moment. he's the player that United are working on more than any other player at the moment they can't work on Anderson they're not working on Stille the Labour's sort of there in the background but Diamande is the player that they're putting the most work in on at the moment and I would presume that's still the case simply because they wanted Semenyu and they didn't get him and they instantly pivoted to Diamande who they've got very good relationships with anyway but also they've got good relationships with Leipzig after the summer Favell's very respected there so it will be Diamande I'm not saying we're 100 % signing him but he will be the player that United are working on and that will be the player that's been presented to Carrick that Favell and Wilcox are happy with as well so it will be Diamande and I'm not it'll be a very exciting player and I'm not opposed to buying players under 22 I just think we buy too many of them but in the balance of the attack that we have Ahmad's experience now Mbamo's experienced Cunha's experienced Bruno's experienced Sesco's getting more experienced I think we can afford to bring in a younger winger I don't think that's the area where we need experience I think experience is needed in the fullbacks and in the midfield but Diamande would be will be the player that we're looking at and I would agree with that Compare Oli Gunnar Solskjaer Carrick does show more composure and feels like the team shows more respect quite surprising given the situation win tonight for United It says Seth.

15:08Thank you very much for your super chat, Seth. AMG says, I'm finally able to catch a live show. Tough one to call tonight. Draw not a bad shout. Win would be huge considering we have Villa next. And I think we will beat Villa. As I said, we're catching Villa at a really good time, but also we'll have had a week off and they'll have played on Thursday night. So I think Villa is a great time to catch them, which is why, as I say, part of me is like, I hope Villa wins against Chelsea tonight. I don't want Chelsea to win tonight. I think if Chelsea win tonight, it still keeps that door open because we've got to play Chelsea.

15:39If you assume we won't win at Stamford Bridge, which we might do, but if you assume we don't, then really, if you assume that Chelsea are going to beat us, they're only three points behind us at the moment. So if they win tonight and we win, it's three points, isn't it? But I'd like a bigger gap than that. With regards to the game tonight, I do think it will be a draw, but if someone's going to win it, it'll be us. Newcastle they're just not playing like I mean unless they turn up and play like they haven't played for weeks they're not playing like that at the moment at the moment Kiel Robinson says the long term is not rushing into the flavour of the month manager decide on how we want to play then getting the right person says Kiel thank you very much Irish Whiskey is still laughing at Liverpool's defeat last night Abank says many people don't realise how idiotic I've done that one haven't I nobody going to Saudi right now says Chris toffer.

16:32Yeah, well, exactly. Those friendlies aren't going to happen in Saudi, to be fair. Middle East geopolitics could make a difference to how the summer market and events pan out in all kinds of ways, says DWG. And absolutely agree. Should be speaking to players now, says Laura Baxter. Hope you're doing well. Okay, let me just move on to something else that's a little bit more about transfers. So this came out last night from...

17:02The, where did it come out? I think it was the Daily Mail. And I can't, I can't find it now. What? You know what? You know what? I bloody hate X at times. You know, when you hit a like on something, it should go into your likes. And it hasn't. I found it. It has. Sorry, X. There are still, this is from the Daily Mail. There are still lingering issues between Mainu's camp and United hierarchy after he agreed to a compromise on his new salary and then didn't hear back from United until Amarin was fired in January. Mainu earns significantly less than his teammates and it's unclear if his representatives would be willing to accept the same terms now he has underlined his importance to the team since Carrick came in.

17:50He's said to be far more settled than he was in the summer. There is now considerably more chance of him staying at Old Trafford than signing a new long-term contract. if the two sides can reach an agreement again. So look, I think the Manu situation is somewhat complicated now because I think that he was willing to sign reduced terms when Amrim was here because he wasn't part of the first team. However, he is now flavour of the month. He's starting every single game. He has a chance to be going to the World Cup, of course. But that strengthens his hand in contract negotiations. so the main new contract's really interesting I think it will get signed I don't think there's any concern about that I think he's always wanted to be at Manchester United and he's now starting for Manchester United I think the issue will be just how much money he asks for and how much he actually gets I mean look in the context of starting for Manchester United you shouldn't be on 50 grand a week so the point is where the Man United pitch it if he's pitching at 150 grand a week.

18:51Is he wrong? Is he right? Will Man United give it him? We'll have to wait and see. Gene says, I hope he's not being greedy. I mean, I don't really care. I don't really care. I think the point is you've got to get him on a contract. And we've wasted a lot of time on this Manu contract. Personally, I think it should have been done a year ago. And we probably could have got it done a little bit cheaper a year ago. I don't really care if Manu's asking for 150 grand a week because contextually he can say things like Bruno's on 300 grand a week, Casemiro's on 300 grand a week, Agate's on 150 grand a week, Ericsson was on 150 grand a week, I'm starting in the midfield for Man United, I want 150 grand a week.

19:29So I think he can ask for that. Some of you would say he's not worth it, but I think he can ask for that justifiably. Whether he can get that or not, I don't know. What he'd sign below that, I don't know. I think maybe you do something like 125k and you revisit it in 18 months or something like that. But I think that as much as some people say he's not worth this, he's not worth that. The reality is he's clearly a starter in a midfield three for Manchester United at the moment. We know that Casemiro is leaving as well, which strengthens his hand even more. And we don't know who we're signing in the summer.

20:04So with Maynou, he's in a really strong position now. because he's literally probably the only midfielder that we've got guaranteed for next season and we don't know what we're getting. So I think United have got to, you know, they've got to put something fair on the table. That's what I would say. I don't think it's greedy. I think it's got to be something fair. Mojo says, with all the talk about signings picking up, how much do you think we'll raise through player sales? Because qualifying for the Champions League alone will not provide for the funds required in the summer, says Mojo. Financials are always really difficult, Mojo, because you just don't know how it's going to play out in the sense of we just don't know.

20:41We just don't know whether United have got a big lump of money to spend. We know we can spend above£200 million. The financial rules say that we can. Whether we will or not, we'll have to wait and see. I certainly think that from what I'm hearing and also from recent history, it's really going to kick off in March. And I know it's March now, but I don't mean now. I mean the March international break. It always does. And I think it really will, because I know for a fact from a couple of players, nothing to do with Man United. Obviously, I've got players who follow me on Instagram and I speak to every now and again.

21:27a couple of them are like in a situation where they might be moving in the summer and look it's all it's all confidential but I'm really interested in transfers always have been since I was a kid doing the bloody newspaper rounds and going on the school bus like a Romano going this that and the other or looking at teletext and I do ask a lot of questions I used to ask Ben Foster about it a lot as well contracts um when people start talking to you um you know do players have these minimum game starting sort of things like that well i know a couple of players that might be on the move in the summer again neither neither are united and neither are united targets and one of them said to me look already my agent is in talk with four clubs and that was two weeks ago so we are talking to diamonde i don't know i don't know that for a fact but we are talking to diamonde we will be talking to players now and in the March international break I think it will start to come out more and more because it was last year when we had the exclusive that De Lapp it was like literally the first week of April De Lapp March international break I think is when the transfer window starts and I think even more so this year because of the World Cup there's a lot of clubs that know they're going to have to wait till after the World Cup but there's also a lot of players that won't wait until after the World Cup and there'll be a lot of clubs that don't want to wait till after the World Cup.

22:56Just because you're players in the World Cup doesn't mean you necessarily want to wait till after the World Cup to sell them because there's not a lot of time and you might miss the boat. In the sense of someone like, I don't even know if he's going to the World Cup but somebody like Anthony Gordon, if he's going to leave Newcastle then you don't really need to wait until after the World Cup because he might not even start for England and he might not have a real amazing World Cup. And if Newcastle sell him late like they did with Izak, they leave themselves with very little time to do anything.

23:30So an Anthony Gordon deal makes sense to do it before the World Cup and there will be big deals done before the World Cup and for that to happen, people need to be in talks now. So I think with United, I don't expect us just to wait until after the World Cup. I think we'll be doing something before that. Yeah. Glenn says, understand your point of view, but we ended up writing off at the end of last season to build a future. I think any new managers on are hiding to nothing in the summer, says Glenn. Yeah, but look, you know, I think this is, this to me is why, and there's a really interesting piece in the Telegraph about sales from last summer that I want to bring in.

24:11But this to me is why when I mentioned my dream yesterday, my dream scenario is that we bring in Nagelsmann because Favell will know what Nagelsmann is all about and Favell will be able to get those players in before Nagelsmann even arrives. I think if you go for Carrick or Deserby, Favell doesn't have that relationship with them. And also you're relying on Wilcox and it becomes a little bit more puppetry. It's almost like Michael or Robert, Roberto, you've got the job and this is what I've bought for you because this is what I think is right. Whereas I think if you go Nogelsman, he comes in and Favell goes, look what I've got you because I know this will work for you.

24:56That's why I'd like that situation. and the reason I say that is because we have got to buy blind we can't wait for the manager until even July in my opinion and then start buying players there's got to be you know an acceptance that we need to be buying players before the World Cup and I think if you buy Elliot Anderson and you buy Diamande and you buy Stiller and you buy Lewis Hall I don't think there's a manager in football that's going to walk in and go, I can't believe you've done that, you bloody idiots. I'm leaving. I think if you buy players like that, it doesn't matter who your manager is, whether it's Enrique, Nagelsmann or even Carrick.

25:39I think if you buy players like that, people are going to go, that's fine. But I think if you buy players like Balaba and Belaber and Jal Gomez and Carrick or Nagelsmann get the job. They're sort of like, you know, I might have gone for somebody else. So there we go. Drip Football says Nagelsmann has done nothing. He's another Amrim. Thanks for your opinion, mate. Completely disagree with it. And it's all about opinion. Morning, Mark. Thank you very much from AMG. I've done that one. Anyway, I wanted to just talk about this, but I've got a couple of super chats. Easy Life says, Morning, Mark. Could Anderson be the new Calvin Phillips?

26:17If he goes to City where he could be a squad player, unlike us, where he'd be a starter. He's better than Calvin Phillips. He's better than Calvin Phillips. Cameron says, is Mark being paid by Nogelsman? No, it's just a preference, mate. And, you know, you're entitled to your preference. But what I would say is that you can't really knock me for wanting Nogelsman based on his CV compared to Michael Carrick, whose CV is Middlesbrough and, you know, six weeks at Man United. I think at least I'm going for somebody that's got an identical style of play and a CV with good and bad bits in it. And also a relationship with our director of football.

26:56Well, the guy who should be our director of football. I've seen this as well, Giovanni. I'm glad you said this. Turn Xerxes into a midfielder. No, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking Joel Linton. I mean, I'll digress for like 30 seconds. Who in their right mind thinks Zerks is a midfielder from watching him? Like, he's not quick. He doesn't tackle. He's not physical enough. He is not a midfielder. Turn Zerks into a midfielder. We may as well turn Harry Maguire into a winger. At least he's got a few skills. I know Zerks has got skills, but what I'm saying is Zerks hasn't got any midfield skills.

27:37Absolutely none. No. Why have we got so many accountants in the chat? Just pay Maynou and get on with it. No one here would just take what they get offered at a job, says Lee Cape Town. I know exactly. Again, I think the people saying that Maynou's only worth 100k a week are the same people who not won out to the wage bill coming down. I just don't get it. I don't really care if we give Maynou 150k a week. I don't really care if we give Bruno 400k a week because ultimately you get what you pay for. It's funny, again, doing my baller league team, we came into it so late and you have two franchise players, four designated players and then six ballers and they're all on different pay scales now i had to do things to get certain things i because i came into it so late to get some players i probably had to go a little bit higher than i wanted to on some players but ultimately they're good players so i have to do it otherwise i don't get them it's the same in football you can't just look at elliot anderson and go well we're not giving you more than 200 grand a week well i'll sign for City for 250 then.

28:41You don't get that player. You lose. Does Carrick not remind you of a younger version of Southgate, says EO. Don't say that. That one put me right off him. With all the talk about... I've done that one from Mojo as well. Right. They just need to stop messing around and go for it. Sign high priority positions and get on with it. It's not that hard really. Don't get why all these business people try these dumb ideas, says the Recon guy. And Jason says, As you've mentioned, you would take Pochettino over Carrick. Why? He's been mediocre at best since leaving Spurs. And for the US, he's been quite poor.

29:13Again, better CV, decent style of play. I'm not convinced by Carrick. But look, Carrick can convince me by playing tonight and playing well. What I want to see is those Man City and Arsenal performances that got us all really excited. I don't think we've been very exciting the last few games. So tonight is an opportunity. I want to just see us playing some good football. I don't want to see his grinding out football, you know. Pedro Porro at right back would be perfect suspense. I think he would. I think he would. I think that's a very good shout. Zerksi's good enough to share minutes as a false nine, says class of 99.

29:50And Slazy says, Zerksi is a futsal player. Great touch and skills. The pitch is just too big for him. And Rajaf says, Anderson, Stiller and Scott would be my three midfielders. Well, I wouldn't mind that. uh now Gelsman also used a three back with Germany Leipzig and Hoffenheim not saying to go back to it but could could be good to have a tactical flexible manager uh says the huncho um yeah but look I think that tactical flexibility is good for any manager and Carrick at times did play with the three at the back for Middlesbrough so look you know tactical flexibility is very good but I reiterate what Recon guy is saying and what I'm saying as well I really do think that we can't wait for the manager to make signings we can't do that we have to go out and make signings without the manager because if we don't we're going to miss out so but that's absolutely fine as long as you're signing players of the quality of Eliti Anderson and Xerxi and maybe a stiller like I'd be worried if we were buying shit I can't understand why we're going for another left winger we have Dorgou and Kunya for the left and Ahmad and Mbema on the right, says Raymond.

30:57I don't think that's good enough on the left-hand side, really. And I don't think that those four are good enough for Premier League, Champions League next year. I think we need another winger. I think we need a proper winger. Diesel says, people are sleeping on Tyler Adams. He's decent. Thank you very much for that. Right, there was something I wanted to bring in because I thought this was really, really strange. a really really strange piece that came out from the Telegraph today we've also got an update on Martinez and Mason Mount from Michael Carrick I'll do that first then I'll talk about this Telegraph thing so Carrick on Martinez and Mason Mount this came out in a second part of his interview not in the press conference yesterday so it came in overnight any positive updates on Martinez not particularly really no he won't be with us for the game against Newcastle he's not quite ready for that we've got one or two we're trying to get work to get them back Mason Mount as well he's getting a bit closer so unfortunately it's part of the game there's always going to be people out there's always going to be people missing but we'll keep working hard as we can to get them back all I would say is like Mason Mount has effectively been out for over a month again now and we never get told what the injury is with Mason Mount either do we it's funny because there was some story about Mason Mount being sold and then I read something this morning that Man United won't be letting Mason Mount go this summer because they've got Champions League football next year and they need a big squad roughly transmitted nobody's fucking stupid enough to buy him so we're going to pretend that he's a decent squad player I mean have you ever heard such shite in all your life.

32:36We're not going to sell him because we need him for the squad for the Champions League. Bullshit. You're not going to sell him because nobody's stupid enough to give you money and give him 250 grand a week. You got absolutely mugged off by Chelsea. You've been absolutely rinsed. And now you're pretending that he's a decent squad player. The guy is broken. Absolutely broken. It's very sad because I think he's a nice lad and I think he's a decent player when he's fit, but he never should have got through the medical and we never should have signed him. He had this issue at Chelsea. In the last few months, he had this issue at Chelsea and Man United, like the bloody idiots they are, went two-footed into the challenge again and now they've got a red card.

33:17It's just ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. £250 ,000 a week and£60 million for a player that had one year left on his contract and had an underlying injury issue. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. and he's not going to be going anywhere, is he? Somebody messaged me the other day and said, you do realise that this season he's had six separate injuries. And I went, six? We've barely had six months in the bloody season. August, September, October, November, December, January, February. We're only just starting March. So he's averaging an injury a month. And that's not forgetting the last two months.

33:55I mean, you can't transfer. If you try and upload Mason Mount's injury record on transfer market, it crashes the system. They can't deal with it. There's too many pages. I'm actually going to do it now. That was a joke, but I don't think that I looked at it. I looked at Mason Mount's injury record on transfer market. it's not even accurate. They don't actually put all his injuries in. Because they've got in there at the moment, they've only got him being injured three times this season. And he's definitely been injured double that. So they don't even put all his injuries in. In fact, if you look at his injury record on transfer market, I reckon that's only half true.

34:41There's definitely, according to that, he's only had seven injuries for Man United in three years. I think he's had nearly seven this season. So it's not even accurate. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. As for Martinez, look, I think with Martinez, it was always going to be two or three weeks. He's missed the last two games, hasn't he? and there was talk of him being back for Palace, but he's not. He'll be back for Villa. I think he'll be back for the Villa game. And we've got to be careful with Martinez anyway because he is coming back from a very serious injury and you're always going to get secondary injuries, muscular.

35:27So I just think with Martinez, we've got to be a little bit careful. Sherry Holmes says, Mason Mount wearing the number seven is criminal.

35:41Yeah, you've sort of put me in a bad mood now. I forgot about that. I mean, what idiot gave him the number seven shirt as well? The most... We've had some right prats wear the number seven shirt since Ronaldo left. But that has got to be the equivalent of wiping your arse on it. I mean, I don't get why he got the number seven shirt. You know, this is always my big issue with Manchester United Football Club, right? There's some really intelligent people in the fan base. who get what the club's all about. Loads of you. But in the club itself, they're morons. Like, they're factually morons. They've got...

36:19And their biggest issue is they don't... I don't think they're Man United. Well, they're not Man United people. Jason Wilcox is not a Man United person. Barada's not a Man United person. Even for Val, they're not Man United people. They don't get it. And one of the things about Liverpool and Man United is it's a thing. It's a thing. like there's things about Man United and Liverpool that are, you know, it's a thing. You've got to support the club to know what the thing is. You don't just hand the number seven shirt to a Chelsea player for a start. And yeah, he never should have got... That number seven shirt has been so abused over the last 10 years.

37:00It's incredible. It's incredible how we've diminished the number seven. I mean, this is what I mean. At Real Madrid, they wouldn't do it. That number seven shirt at Manchester United is iconic. George Best, David Beckham, Ronaldo, Brian Robson, Eric Cantona. It is iconic. And for a club that's about brand, not football, that number seven shirt, imagine how much more money they could have made out of that number seven shirt as well. I mean, Bruno should be wearing it. Bruno should be number seven for Man United. He should have been number seven years ago. And you can be number seven where he plays.

37:40Cantona wasn't a winger. Brian Robson wasn't a winger. You can be number seven. Bruno should have worn the number seven. And the club have fucked up big time because it's such an iconic shirt and number. And we've absolutely fucked it up. I mean, if I was in the board for marketing, I'd say, what are we doing about the number seven shirt? It's one of the most famous shirts in world football. And we've basically retired it. why do we keep giving it to stupid players like Di Maria and Alexi Sanchez and Mason Mount? And when I say stupid players, it's not personal to them. I'm just saying like even Memphis, like we just hand it to the wrong people all the time.

38:21And they're always releasing new training tops, this, that and the other. But the number seven shirt could actually be something from a brand point of view, but more importantly, from a fan point of view that makes us, you know, it's that tie between the club and the fans. Bruno should be wearing the number seven. Imagine if Bruno turned up every game with the number seven on it. It should have happened. Pranab says, you wanted to talk about Le Mans yesterday. I can't remember what it was. I can't remember what it was. I'll tell you what I can say about Le Mans, though. I was thinking about this.

38:55Somebody said this to me the other day. They He said, who do you think are the three most important players for Manchester United at the moment? And everybody's going to have a different three. But for me, the three most important players for Man United at the moment are Le Mans, Bruno and...

39:13...Sesco. And people are going to lose it. They're going to go mad. What about Manu? What about Casemiro? What about Harry Maguire? What about Mbormo? What about Cunha? But they're right here, right now. those three players are the most important players for me because Cesc O scores the goals which wins the games or draws the games Bruno is just incredible in relation to his input and output and Le Mans stability at the back is making us not concede goals so those three I'm not saying they're our best three players but they're our three most important players at the moment one's scoring the goals one's stopping the goals and one's the captain and focal point of the team So I would say those three at the moment are our three most important players.

39:59Not saying they're our best players, but they're our three most important players right here, right now. At this stage of the season, it is just about results, as we've seen in the last three games. I don't think we've played particularly well in the last three games, but we've won two and drawn one. And a lot of that, when you look at Everton, Le Mans, when you look at the last three games, Sesco goals, when you look at Bruno. So I think those three, for me, are our most important players at the moment. I can't remember what I was going to say about Le Mans.

40:26I can't remember what I was going to say last night, which is why I should always just get on with it. I think it was probably something down the line of when we brought him in and he got into the team because Biinder and Inano were crap, it was almost like a free hit because we had nobody else. He came into the team and it was going to be an audition from autumn until the end of the season and then make a decision as whether he's going to be our first choice goalkeeper or our backup goalkeeper. And I remember that was the situation and everybody agreed. we don't want the enduring goal and Arna's gone quite rightly so Le Mans has got this period of time to be under audition and the pressure's not really there because everybody wanted to give him a go I think where we are now he's he's got he's got the job hasn't he I think back in the autumn it was like maybe he will be maybe we'll buy a better goalkeeper I think where we are now we do need to bring a goalkeeper in but it's definitely a backup he is the number one which reminds me of De Gea like reminds me of De Gea when he first came in young goalkeeper with the right attitude and I'm sure there will be some mistakes along the way but for me he's he's the guy to go with now I think he's past the audition that's I think that's what I was going to say Maliki says do you think Carrick can be like Arteta for Arsenal?

41:43No no I don't the seven should go back in the locker after Mount Leibs should only be given when a special player arrives. Someone like Ronnie, says Rajaf. Look, that's a bit blunt about Carrick, but I agree with Rajaf as well. The number seven shirt shouldn't just be given out to anybody. It should be kept back. And it should go to players that have proven themselves. Giving the number seven shirt to a new signing is dangerous because you're using it as a reason to sign for the club and we shouldn't do that. It feels to me like with some of the people we've given the number seven shirt to, it was almost like, if you come here, we'll give you that.

42:19We should never use the number seven shirt like that. It's too iconic. If we said to Memphis, sign for us because you can have the number seven shirt or Di Maria or Sanchez or Mount, that's piss pork. Shouldn't be used as an incentive. It should be used as a reward, a reward for actually being a Man United player. Why can't Carrick be Arteta? Well, he can, but I think people are just running away with it. I don't. I think it's way too soon. Way too soon. As I've said before. Anderson, Inanna, Scott, Chiodé, Diouf, Hall, Mane. I don't want that Chiodé. He can piss off with his long throws. No, I do not want Chiodé.

43:03Not unless he's going to get banned from long throw-ins. I don't want no long ball, long fucking throw-in merchant. No, absolutely not. I don't know. I don't want anybody who can throw the ball long. If Michael Carrick banned us from doing that forever, he can have the job. I don't want to see it. I hate it. I hate long throwings. Even Valencia was given the number seven and gave it back, says LC. I remember there was rumours that Sancho was promised the seven, but then Ronnie came back and was given it, says Glenn C. I thought Sancho did have the number seven.

43:39Justin says, cheers, Mark. Here's to half a century of being a subscribed member. Thank you very much, mate. You're a legend. Looking forward to the watch along with you and your team tonight. I can't wait to be playing tonight. Can't wait to see that. Kiel Robinson says, did you see Ganacho's apology to United fans? What? Sancho won number 25. Ganacho apology? No. Haven't seen that. I'm surprised I haven't seen that because there's plenty of people that...

44:14The Ganacho apology was AI, apparently. He won't be. I don't think he's the sort of person who would would apologize. Anyway, let me talk about this telegraph thing because I've been holding this back. So this to me. Is complete and utter. Wilcox PR. Listen to this. Listen to this. In the from James Ducker in the telegraph. Senior sources are Old Trafford. Well, straight away. Thank you, James Ducker. We don't even need to do any guesswork. Senior sources at Old Trafford, senior sources, Wilcox, senior sources at Old Trafford maintain that Marcus Rashford, Ganacho, Anthony and Sancho would have been shipped out in some form or another, regardless of the situation with Ruben Amory.

45:09Now, I'm sorry. Bullshit. Why is it two months on from sacking Amorim, Wilcox is still desperately trying to make himself look good to the fans? Mate, it's not just sacking Amorim. You wanted to get De Lapp. There's loads of mistakes you've made. You've not bought a midfielder in two transfer windows. Stop thinking if you shit on Amorim, people are going to like you. It's bigger than that. You've messed up on loads of things. It's not just that. And I think it's laughable to even try and put it out there that regardless of Amirim, you'd have sold Ganacho or Rashford or Anthony? Because you wouldn't.

45:59You wouldn't. All three of them were first team players under Eric Ten Hag. And Amirim came in and dropped Rashford and Ganacho in the first two weeks he was there for a Manchester derby and never gave Anthony a chance. So we know Anthony, Ganacho and Rashford are out of Man United because of Amirim. and if he hadn't been the manager, they would still be playing. So stop trying to claim stuff that you didn't do. Garnaccio left because he fell out with bloody Amorim. Simple as that. Rashford left because he fell out with Amorim and wanted a new challenge and Anthony left because he couldn't get any game time.

46:42Stop trying to rewrite history to make yourself look like you're good at your job. You wanted us to sign Liam Dallap. That's all anybody ever talks about when it comes to Wilcox. But you know what? In a way, I'm glad I left it to the end because it's totally irrelevant. Why is it senior sources at Man United are still leaking to their journalists about stuff to try and undermine Amrim? I just find it weird. Amrim's not even the manager anymore. It's not the manager anymore. We should be looking forward, not backwards. If somehow we win the Premier League, what will happen? If somebody wants to talk about Man United winning the Premier League this season, that's absolutely fine.

47:29I'm not going to do it. Go all in for Anderson, lock that and move to the next, says Amit. And what if Carrick goes unbeaten until the end of the season and we finish top four, says Joker? Oh, God. Does anybody else get bored of me being asked about what circumstances it would take for me to say, give Michael Carrick the job? I mean, I'm bored of it. I'm so bored of it. At the moment, it's a flat no. A flat no. I don't think the football has been good enough the last few weeks. I think he has simplified things to a point where it's not going to be sustainable next season. I think we're playing counterattacking deep back four football with players that won't be able to do that next season on a sustainable level.

48:14I think we need to see performance and vision. I want to go back to seeing what I saw against Man City and Arsenal. Hopefully we can see that tonight. If you want a hypothetical situation where I'll give Michael Carrick the job, and I don't give him the job, by the way, I want to see really good football between now and the end of the season. you know, I want to see a vision that goes beyond people like Luke Shaw and DeLoe. And obviously, it depends on who is available for the job. I'm sorry, if Nogelsmann or Enrique become available for this job, Michael Carrick can win every single game between now and the summer and he doesn't get the job for me.

48:58If it's going to be De Zerbe or Southgate or Glasner and Carrick does well till the end of the season, I'll give it to Carrick. So you're talking hypotheticals, but there is a scenario. But what I will say is if Deserby, Southgate and Glasner are the best managers we can attract in the summer, then Wilcox should be sacked because, hold on a minute, this is one of the most viable jobs in world football and the best you can do is a sacked Marseille manager, a Crystal Palace manager and a Pratt. We should have high-end coaches wanting this job. That's what we should have. And then you make your decision on that.

49:39Thank you very much for that. Not for his throw-ins. I think Chioda is a good player, says Jay. Yeah, but it doesn't matter whether he's a good player because every time there's a throw-in, he'll be pushing people out the way with his towel and going, let's launch it. And I don't want to see that. I really, really don't. How about Simeone? I'm not a big fan of Simeone's style of football. I mean, it has improved a little bit, but I'm not a huge fan of it, to be honest with you. No, no, no, no.

50:15Thoughts on the game tonight, Mark? Look, I'm on top of the world. like I just I can't believe that after the Bournemouth game it's three weeks until we play again it's just crazy to me and that just sort of brings it home and look that at that time there'll be so much going on with transfers that it will still be interesting but it's it's just this season's been so hard the lack of games is just it's definitely had an impact on my I don't want to use the word mental health but mood I find it so criminal how few games man united have played this season and that reflects on amrim it also reflects massively on the board um but that's that's last season isn't it nothing that's happened this season impacts on europe it was last season and that Europa League final where the players couldn't be arsed.

51:14So having this game tonight just shows us what it's going to be like from September next year. It's going to be Christmas from August, knowing that we're going to play so many games next season because I think the lack of games is just a killer. So I'm really excited about the game tonight. We played on Sunday and we're playing tonight. I think it's the last midweek game we've got this season, actually. Which is embarrassing. I think this is the last midweek game Man United have got this season in early March. We've got no more midweek games as things stand. I don't think we have. There's no more midweek Premier League fixtures.

51:52So it's an embarrassing season. And it's not Carrick's fault. It's not Carrick's fault. It's more Amrim's fault. And it's definitely the board's fault. But yeah, apparently we have got Bournemouth on a Friday. but yeah I mean that's not midweek is it really yeah okay thank you everybody for tuning in yeah so match day tonight we will be live with you from I think I'm gonna I might start a little bit earlier tonight because we've got the Chelsea Villa game so I might start at half seven so I might ask them to start the fan forum a little bit earlier but I'm gonna start my show at half seven so that I can watch the first half of Villa Chelsea with you.

52:38But our kickoff is quarter past eight. Thanks, everybody, for watching. Fantastic show this morning. Really enjoyed it. And make sure you've smashed a like on the video, nearly a thousand likes. And if you haven't subscribed, please do. I'll see you all later. Midweek game, under the lights. Bring it on. Take care.