392: Iraola WANTS United Job! Wharton OFFER?

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0:39With MistPlay, you play what you love and earn points for gift cards and more. Plus, you can enter the MistPlay sweepstakes for your chance to win tens of thousands of dollars in cash, bundles, and gift cards every week. So yeah, keep playing games. Just maybe get rewarded for it? Download MistPlay today and enter for your chance to win. Welcome to the United Stands. I'm Mark Goldbridge and this is your latest Manchester United news and transfer news as Iriola wants the Manchester United job. Should we give it to him? Adam Wharton, it's now or never. We bid or he goes to Liverpool by the looks of it.

1:15Also, a very interesting piece in the mail around a leak from the dressing room from somebody that doesn't think Michael Carrick should be getting the job from within the dressing room. What does that mean? Also, some interesting bits around the midfield as well. But look, it's a Saturday morning. It's Man United against Liverpool tomorrow. We did the preview last night, if you haven't seen that. How are we all feeling? I think that, I just think, well, we'll start off talking about Areola, of course, but in general, it's not really a story for the, maybe it's more for the eight o 'clock show.

1:48It's not news. I just think that we're snoring. I think we're going really slow. I do. I think the Ineos and Glazer way has always been slow. And that's evidenced by the work that Liverpool have done on Adam Wharton in the last three weeks. It was three weeks ago we started talking about Liverpool and Adam Wharton. And reports this morning are that they're very, very close to getting a deal done. United have, in the last three weeks, come out with Wharton is too similar to Maynou. Yet for the last six months, he's been in the top three candidates. so for six months you didn't think he was similar to Mainu and now he's going to Liverpool is too similar to Mainu I just think that as per usual we snooze and we lose we we take our we take too much time on deals and we're not adventurous enough this is why we ignore the January transfer window and this is why we don't get deals done early so you know should an offer be going in for Adam Wharton we'll talk about that but we're going to start off with um this story coming in from Fabrizio Romano this morning.

2:50Iriola's dream is to continue in the Premier League and manage a top club. This is why we're seeing lots of reports about Chelsea and Iriola and United and Iriola. He'd love to manage a top club. On Chelsea, nothing decided. They haven't decided on their new manager yet. On Manchester United, the process continues. So look, I think it's very, very clear that Iriola would love the Manchester United job. And I think he would choose it over Chelsea, if I'm being completely honest, because we're bigger than Chelsea. We've got more potential than Chelsea. We've got a better balanced squad than Chelsea, even though it needs more work.

3:27Chelsea is a very young squad. At Man United, you do have the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Lissandro Martinez and, you know, Cunha and Bermot, both like 26 now. So I think that, I think he would choose Manchester United. The question is going to be whether Manchester United want to go down that route. Look, we've had this conversation in depth many, many, many times. The only new thing I would add to this is that with Irreola, you do get an ideology. You do get a definitive style of play. He's done fantastically well at Bournemouth. Bournemouth are a club that realistically with a capacity of under 12 ,000 and the budget that they work to should be in the relegation battle every season and he puts them comfortably mid-table, top half of the table they mix it up against the big teams they could be kingmakers in a couple of weeks they've got the biggest unbeaten run in Europe and that includes winning at the Emirates drawing against Manchester United they play Man City in a couple of weeks And that could be, you know, they could be kingmakers.

4:37So we mustn't disrespect what what Iriola has done. And I think if you're the owners of Manchester United and you look at what Bayern Munich have done with Vincent Kompany, I mean, at Burnley, you would just never have thought he could be that type of manager. You knew about his style of play, but you never would have thought. He goes to Bayern Munich and he turns them into one of the best teams in the world. I think if you want to have the conversation about Iriola and he's not my number one choice he's not my number one choice but if you want to have the conversation about Iriola I think the company and Burnley comparison is far better than the Amarim and sporting conversation because Amarim was managing in Portugal Tsen Haag was managing in the Netherlands company was managing in the Championship and then in the Premier League and Iriola has been managing in the Premier League without relegation, playing very good football, mixing it up against teams much bigger than him for a good couple of years now.

5:36And if United want an identity, and I would hope that people in the boardroom do want more bums on seats and more shirt sales and more interest in Man United, because one thing that we seem to have completely dismissed over the last decade is Man United don't play good football. We don't. I've said it so many times. I can't remember the last time we played three games in a row well. I can't really remember that many games where we've played 90 minutes well. And I'm talking about the last 13 years. So to have a manager that plays an attractive style of football that works week in, week out, I don't know what we do with ourselves.

6:15I think we've become accustomed to not having that. so if United wants an identity and a definitive style of play then Iriola has got to be the one that you go for out of Carrick and Iriola I mean there's other people we could go for but out of those two you'd have to go with that I think he's a very interesting manager my only concern about him is player power player power has killed managers I mean we had Ralph Rangick at the football club Ralph Rangick who basically invented a style of play that people like Klopp Nagelsmann company have used Rangnick basically invented it we brought him to Man United and our squad went who's this never heard of him and didn't play for him that's your biggest problem with Iriola is this squad willing to work for a style of play that will make us more attractive to watch or do they just want to play counter-attacking football and if they want to just play counter-attacking football then we may as well keep Carrick and Holland because I don't want to see that but my biggest concern well the biggest concern to the board, obviously.

7:15But my biggest concern is I just don't think this squad actually wants to play good football. I don't think they can be arsed. I think they just want to sit deep and counter. And that would be my concern about Areola. But God, I mean, if he goes to Chelsea and turns Chelsea into a good team and we stick with what we've got and we're shit next season, you know, I think the shit hits the fan because he's very, you know, he's available. He's out of contract as well. So look, not my choice, not my choice, but Definitely my choice over what we've got at the moment. I think there's better managers out there that would take the job.

7:48And I think that his style of play, I mean, look, they're in the top five in the Premier League for crosses into the box. Straight away, that's a tick in the box for me. I mean, Man United putting crosses into the box for Sesco. Yes, please. I think you can get very data-driven in football, but sometimes there's just some very core principles. How do I want Man United to play? I want us to play a high line. I want us to play passing football progressive football I want us to put crosses into the box Bournemouth do all of those things and have done for two years wingers who put crosses in the box fullbacks who overlap a high line defensively and moving the ball forward I mean what's not to like about that from a fan point of view what's not a lot to like about it so look I would if they give him the job I'd take it over what we've got but it's not going to be my decision is it And as I've said before, I would go for somebody else.

8:43Interestingly, though, just before we talk about Wharton, I don't know whether anybody saw this this morning. This was really interesting because it sort of got hidden. There was an interesting piece by Ian Ladyman in the Daily Mail, who is the football editor for the Mail Sport and co-host of the Whistleblowers podcast. So he did an article last night about United and whether they should stick with Carrick and what's the dressing room like, this, that and the other. There was one interesting bit in there. And look, it's a new show. We'll read it. Give us your thoughts. An agent of one important United player on Michael Carrick.

9:15Now, I've got no idea who that is. It's an important Man United player and it's the agent of them said this. I think there is a simple question that needs to be asked. How much of this improvement is Carrick genius and how much of it has simply been cleaning up another bloke's mess? Does this improvement reflect on Carrick's talents or Amrim's basic failings? Maybe it's both. I see it like this. Do the players like Michael? Yes. Has he made them feel good? Yes. Are they grateful? Yes. Do they think they're in the presence of the next great United manager? Maybe not. And that's coming in from an agent of an important Man United player.

9:52And I think, you know what, whoever that agent is and whoever he represents as a player, and you could probably figure it out because ultimately it's unlikely that an editor of the Daily Mail is having a conversation like that with a foreign agent. so I doubt I don't know who's I don't know who has a foreign agent but I would I would suspect that is a British based agent just by the way it's been worded I might be wrong on that but I would say that doesn't mean it's a British player by the way British agent could be a foreign player but I do think that that's probably a fair assessment of where we are is the improvement from January because of Carrick and Holland's genius or is it because we went to a back four and played the system that the players like because they couldn't get their head around a back three?

10:47It's a little bit like what happened with Ten Hag. It's a little bit like what happened with Rangik. You know, you go back to the 4-3-3 and suddenly the results improve because it's simple football. They can't play Rangik football. They can't play Ten Hag football. They can't play Amrim football. We don't have the players for it. So you go back to simple Simon Says football and the results improve because it's not been great football has it it's been deep line counter-attack rely on Bruno and Casemiro that's what we've done for the last three months and we've seen it you know Everton wasn't a good performance but we won Villa wasn't a good performance but we won um Chelsea wasn't a good performance but we won so Spurs wasn't a great performance but they got a man sent off Crystal Palace wasn't a great performance but they had a man sent off so we haven't had that many good results good performances but we've had a lot of good results so i do sort of agree with whoever this is saying that look is it a reflection on karik's genius or is it a reflection on amram's failings to go back to a back four i think it's a bit harsh on amram i don't think amram needed to go to a back four i think the players let him down but i think there is something in that it's karik's just gone very simple hasn't he he's gone let's play a back four and let the players do what they want uh are the players grateful for that of course they are uh has he made them feel good yes are they grateful for that yes do they think he's the manager to take united forward maybe not um and i think that's a fair i do think that's a fair assessment i i really do think that's a fair assessment of the situation i think any footballer in that dressing room would be very grateful for champions league football and very happy with michael carrick but whether they look at him and go this is the dream team and remember it's not just carrick it's johnny evans it's jonathan woodgate it's steve holland who with all due respect are not a dream coaching team by a very very very long way so um look you shouldn't listen to players anyway but maybe some of them have figured it out as well um yeah rogue says look at middlesbrough flying without carrick i mean i think i think middlesbrough i don't really care about middlesbrough you know everybody can change it was his first job um it's interesting what um before we move on to this wharton story it's interesting actually i can't remember who it was uh here it is um rob dawson espn said one key consideration for man united around the possibility of carrick being given the job permanently is the future of steve holland and whether he's also open to extending his stay i mean there's a bear shit in the woods i mean as if steve holland's going to turn down the job to stay the chance to stay at man united um but you know what there is there is a picture of carrick and steve holland right charisma does matter because charisma is trust and belief you know if you walk into a cast you know if you want to go and buy yourself a car today and the salesman just doesn't look right you know the way they've dressed you know they haven't said it you know whatever and then there's a salesman that looks you know professional the one who doesn't look professional might be the better salesman but you'll trust the one who looks better i think i think i think that is you know i think perception is important in in you know football management i think it is i do i really do i really do so when i look at omar barada and jason wilcox i wouldn't trust them with a packet of crisps let alone rebuilding man united i just i just think every time the camera pans to them i just think oh my god and maybe they'll prove us wrong but i look at them and i go oh my god those two they just look so they look out of it they look you know if you walk into an office you can probably within a couple of minutes if they say there's somebody here on work experience you're probably going to narrow it down to two or three people very very quickly i mean you're in trouble if you do it and you point out the ceo of course but i think that's what what it's like man united if you put all the staff in a room and said point out the work experience you might pick out our director of football or our ceo because they just don't look and and perception is everything i think it is i think when you look at leaders that you know if you look at someone like florentino perez or you look at someone like you know um what was the name even even dan ashworth to a certain extent had a bit of an aura around him you look at wilcox and berardi you go but I think that's also a little bit of a problem on the touchline because I look at Steve Holland and Carrick and I think when the going gets tough I think you'll get eaten alive you're doing absolutely brilliantly at the moment because the results are there but when the going gets tough and it always does whether whether you're even Pep Guardiola has bad runs of results but um yeah I don't I just there's that you know I think we'll beat Liverpool tomorrow but the interesting thing is generously I think the fan base is split on this and I just can't I can't see a situation where I go this is the right thing to do I will back it when it happens because I think you have to do that and I would I would I would I would I would implore everybody to do that but you make your own mind but I am not backing this decision until it's made I'm I do I think it's a massive mistake and I think I will be on the right side of history I think this will go wrong very very wrong um i hope i'm wrong but i think it will go very wrong and the minute they give him the job i'll go okay this is this is what we've got for the next three years let's see what happens but i definitely think it's the wrong thing to do i really do i think it's the wrong thing for carrick as well i think he could go and take a job like bournemouth or fulham or crystal palace and build his career out and maybe come back to man united in five years but i think if he takes this job.

16:37He could be the next Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. You know, you can't get a job. Anyway, I want to talk about this backup striker thing. But Adam Wharton, Adam Wharton. So this has come in overnight from Matteo Moreto, who works with Fabrizio Romano, Marker, numerous outlets. Liverpool are in negotiations with Adam Wharton. He has been linked to Man United, but Liverpool want him and there's been contacts between the parties. He wants to stay in the Premier League because he has been linked with, I think, Real Madrid in the past. So why are Man United cold on Adam Wharton? Now, look, you know what? It's quite interesting this morning because Adam Wharton and Iriola are the same for me.

17:21And I'll explain why. They're the same for me because Adam Wharton's not the midfielder I want and Iriola is not the manager I want. But I'd take Iriola over Carrick and I would take Wharton over Belaber. And there is a chance we end up with Carrick and Belaber. So I'd take Iriola and Wharton over those two every day of the week. So that's sort of where I am. They're not who I'd go for, but I'd definitely take them over Carrick and Belaber. The thing that sort of confuses me and the great thing about having this community is that, you know, the record of morning shows are there. And you know, as well as I do, that if I say the question, what three players have Man United been linked to since September the 1st to today, the most in our midfield consistently by The Athletic, the Manchester Evening News, Fabrizio Romano, Ben Jacobs, everybody, everybody.

18:19You write the three players in the live chat that we've been linked to in the midfield the most since September the first not since april so tonali has only really been since april from september the first to today the three midfielders that we've been linked to the top three man united's priorities it'll be one of these three players for nine months it's been these three players right so gavin's got it straight away anderson sorry not gavin um the kfc anderson balaba and wharton exactly exactly right And there's loads of people putting it in now, like the RHE Seb, Dybala, GZ, Jims. Everybody's doing it, right?

18:57Because you're right. From September the 1st to today, the three midfielders that have been Man United's priority from numerous outlets, so the club must have said something, has been Anderson, Wharton and Balaba. So why is Wharton out? Why is Wharton out? You tell me. I have an answer, but why is Wharton out? Wharton we're not even in the summer transfer window and Wharton's been discarded so we've gone to Anderson and Balaba now from the three most talked about players why is Wharton gone? because two weeks ago we had a brief by the sounds of it to people like James Duker Simon Stone Ben Jacobs a few others saying that Wharton's too similar to Maynou so it's interesting because around the same time Liverpool started advancing on Wharton I don't think United have got rid of a player that they've been tracking for nine months because they've just realised he's similar to Manu.

19:57I mean, Data Dean, I've been telling them this for ages. He would be telling them for ages, but it's not true. I don't think it's true at all. I think what's happened is Liverpool have decided that Adam Wharton is what they want this summer and they want to pay 70 million. And Man United have gone, we don't want to pay 70 million, so we'll just have to step aside, which is fine. It's absolutely fine. But if you miss out on Anderson to Man City and step aside, and you're not willing to buy Tonali because it's too expensive, and you're not getting Wharton because Liverpool have made a move, and we're not getting Bruno Gomere because he's too old, what are we left with?

20:35We better hope that Chiamini doesn't sign a new contract, which is the rumour, because otherwise all roads lead to Belaber again. And that, to me, is the concerning thing, because I would take Wharton over Belaber every day of the bloody week. So I'm a little bit concerned as to why we're just stepping back from deals that we've been pumping out for nine months. And this is why, as a United fan, and you'll always get the truth on here, this is why, as a United fan, when it's September, October, November, December, January, February, and people are getting excited, well, we're going to sign Anderton or Wharton in the summer.

21:11You might say, next season, I'm being spun here like a fucking washing machine because we're not going to sign Wharton, are we? but we've been linked to him for nine months. And we're probably not going to sign Anderson, but we've been linked to him for nine months. And this is what the club does. You know, this is how it plays on your affections because they put stuff out there that they've got no intention of actually doing. I like Adam Wharton. I think the Palace game at Old Trafford this year, I thought he played really well in the first half. I think he came off in the second half because they played Thursday night.

21:41I like Adam Wharton. I think he is a good player. And in the quest to rebuild our midfield, he wouldn't be a bad one of the two or three. The fact that Liverpool are going for him shows you that he's a good player. I'll find it very frustrating next season if Elliot Anderson is running around in a light blue shirt playing really well, Adam Wharton's running around in a red Liverpool shirt and doing really well, and we have Balaba who's overpriced and shit because a lot of people will be saying, I told you so. So look, I'm not saying Wharton's the answer. I'm just a little bit confused as to why he's been one of our top candidates for nine months and now we're backing off before the window even opens and yet we're doing nothing else about anything else um look we're gonna need we're gonna need some big moves aren't we we're gonna need some big moves because what will happen is the nerves will kick in with this fan base like it always does when we see other players going to other clubs and we start going well what are we doing i mean i still hope tenali but honestly we've briefed about the gambling twice it's not a great look for a player is it you know why have you mentioned the gambling i don't think you know it'll go anywhere near him because of the price but you know for me if it's not anderson it's not bruno gamerez it's not tonali and it's not wharton it has to be chumini otherwise you're gonna get um you're gonna get trouble aren't you uh rim says you really hate belabor i don't hate belabor at all um you know i'm i'm quite mature and you're obviously you're obviously not and you don't listen, I backed Fellaini when we signed him.

23:17I backed Matic when we signed him. I backed Lukaku when we signed him and I didn't want any of them. I didn't think they were good enough. So what it's called, mate, is again, and I get tired of having to put people in their place about this. This is called 2026 and people not being able to deal with somebody constructing a critique of something that they like. I don't rate Belaber. I think he's an absolute waste of money. I wouldn't go anywhere near him I think he's got more red flags Than a beach with a hurricane on it Meaning you can't go in the sea Red flags So I wouldn't go anywhere near him If you want to Absolutely fine I wouldn't go anywhere near him I think it's a flop waiting to happen And if he's not a flop I will say fair play But I will still say Based on that season You can't knock it Nobody can tell me That he's going to be a good signing For Man United It's a complete and utter gamble There's nothing this season that he's done that makes him a Man United player in my mind.

24:14And KSA thinks he's a top player. Great. Great. Do you want to tell us why he's a top player? I watch football, mate. I watch football. You just play FIFA, I think. Go to Casemiro. Play a trait chart on FOTMOB, says Long Range. No, thanks. Thoughts on bringing Alex Scott to United. Really like the player and he has great potential, says Daniel Johansson. I don't need to go and look on FopMob about some player wheel that I've never looked at in my life. The interesting thing about Casemiro is six contributions to goal, six goal contributions, five goals and one assist since Carrick came in. Nine from Ahmad, Cunha and Mbwemo combined.

24:57You know, that's a story. That's a story. Daniel Johnson says, what's your thoughts on bringing Alex Scott to United? I really like the player and he has great potential. show i like alex scott at um bournemouth i think he'd be a very very good signing a very intelligent signing and i'll leave it at that uh alan maher says we should probably bid for wharton but he'll probably be the star signing and where is the experience is alan i think i think i think you've nailed it i think that's why man united are pulling out they don't want to pay 70 million pounds for wharton because they can't afford to buy wharton and whoever else they want to buy um we won't buy two£70 million midfielders.

25:36We'll buy one expensive one and two cheap ones. I think that's what we'll do. Totally agree with your Iriola summary, says Asher. Thank you. And inadvertently, though, you make a compelling case for keeping Carrick, player power. Oh, no, it's not inadvertently. Absolutely not. It's deliberate. I am tired of United bringing in the right type of manager and the players not being good enough or willing enough to try it. Amrim, Rangnick, Ten Hag all had really good brands of football where we brought them from and our players couldn't be arsed. The occurring theme of the last 13 years is everything we try, these players end up getting back, playing counterattacking back four.

26:21Everything we try, we always end up back, playing a back four, counterattacking. And that's on the owners. that's player power but that's on the owners i mean how embarrassing is it that you pay billions for a football club and you cannot get it to play a brand of football that's befitting of the name manchester united it's embarrassing on sir jim radcliffe's part that you know he's been here two years he's sacked two managers and he's back playing oliball he's back playing counter-attacking football you know that's not the player's fault that's not the manager's fault that's the owner's fault this is your football club you've paid for it and you can't get this football club to play any brand of football at all because we always end up back here so no I said it deliberately I mean Carrick might be the right person to keep because it's the it's the brand of football these players want to play um I got a feeling Carrick won't take it says Kiel um and Iriola is perfect says Marlowe he represents the one thing United haven't tried a Premier League proven quality manager with a good style of play.

27:25Yeah, I mean, I think in relation to Iriola, the closest thing to what we've... I mean, look, Mourinho is what I would do, the experienced, proven manager. Carrick would be Oli. Ten Hag and Amrin were very similar, hipster managers who didn't have a load of experience. Van Gaal was sort of... I don't even know if there is a Van Gaal option in the market. Maybe Ancelotti, you know, really right at the end of their career in an international football job. Iriola would be probably, I mean we haven't really done it. Moyes was a little bit like that, Premier League proven but his brand of football was shit.

28:04I mean Moyes football at Everton is what Moyes football is now. I don't know why we did that. You know what? It was before the whole YouTube fan thing took off but it's lucky because you look at the appointment of David Moyes. And it's very lucky that it's not the world we live in now because it would have been scrutinised to fuck. Like, I couldn't get, I mean, United Stand wasn't going then, but I remember, like, I just couldn't get my head around Moyes. I couldn't get it. I didn't get it at all because, you know, at that time, I used to play Fantasy Premier League a lot and you'd take Everton players like Fellaini and Everton were just Everton were what Everton are now they're what West Ham was with Moyes like that was the brand it's always been the band

29:02so yeah I don't really I don't really know why we did Moyes but yeah Iriola's got a different brand of football completely Tom McBride says we're planning a 20th minute applause for the loss of Diogo Jota at the game tomorrow if you're going please help to show our class rest in peace uh diego says uh tom mcbride lovely message there thank you very much i have seen a little bit about that i mean i don't know whether it is officially happening or not but um um i know it happens at anfield doesn't it um i don't know i'm not a liverpool fan i don't know whether they do it at every away ground or not so um i'm not going to pass comment on you know whether it will or won't happen but um thank you very much for the super chat tom uh would you take levandowski on a free next year says henry no next question salah was shit at chelsea became a legend elsewhere i believe in belabor says keel okay um sancho was shit at man united and he's still shit uh denise says city and liverpool go for players that change games we go for bench warmers and expect to compete against them says denise um uh ray carl brown amore says carrick was number six it's not surprising casimiro is doing good and Marlo says Luzon was the first team Ineos bought they used the first four years to build a stadium partly paid for by the city of Luzon while the team in that period got relegated twice Ineos are a destroyer of football clubs thank you Marlo and Andy Cheetham says what do we do if they don't replace Casemiro in the summer because they won't pay over the odds go to the academy 42 months in the best community thank you very much Andy hope you're doing well have a great day i'm going to come back to that actually um because this caught my eye today and i thought i'm not going to let this slip um where was it um it was in the manchester evening news um here we go so manchester evening news i think we'll see more academy players get chances next season there is a chance they try and sign three new midfielders but i think the more likely course of action is to sign two and then use academy options as the sixth first team option next season oh my god for the love of god don't do this this is and and what what six options are we talking about here um i think they're talking about the midfield three of bruno menu and casemiro and trying to make out that we've got six options if we buy two players bruno menu a young player and mount i mean fucking hell that is yeah that is look right you do not you do not use man united's midfield as a three and then have six right you use it as a two and you have four so you take meino and casemiro and you have two covering it right so casemiro leaves agate leaves you need three you cannot have mainu new signing new signing and a youth player that cannot happen absolutely can't you can have mainu new signing new signing new signing young player five is a good number to have and one of them being a young player is fine but you can't have four and one of them is a youth player i mean what what planet are people on if they think next season is going to be the season to blood young talent what planet do we think we're on if we think we don't need four midfielders because one of them can be a youth player oh my god that is not the platform or environment for a young player at all to be a key four in the midfield absolutely not you cannot do that that that is wild now whoever this whoever these young midfielders are have they played a minute of football this season no so we're just going to start using them as first team players next year I mean look at the development of Maynou it takes time it takes time you can't just jump ahead and do that so no absolutely not we need to buy three midfielders and I don't know whether that's just an opinion piece in the Manchester Evening News or it's actually coming out of the club.

33:28But that is absolutely wild to me. We cannot do that. I don't mind using Gabriel or Lacey next season because you've got Ahmad, Mbwemo, Kunja, Bruno, Mount, Dorgou. We've got loads of options. So if you want to get, like Arsenal have done with Downman, 20 minutes here, half an hour there great, but you can't you can't, you can't, we couldn't go into next season with Ahmad and Mbwemo Sal Dorgou and Kunja and say well we've got Lacey and Gabriel, they can't they can't be starting games, they can't be that we can't be that reliant on them, that's not how you develop players we've got to buy three midfielders I think, you know what there's one thing I would say about this summer transfer window for Manchester United two things actually three things.

34:19All right, the manager, forget it. We've done the manager's stuff. There's two things about this summer transfer window. One, do we buy two or three midfielders? That will show the ambition of this football club. If they buy two, fuck off. Forget it. They ain't ambitious. We might get away with it, but they're not ambitious. If they are ambitious and they want to be competing for the Premier League top four and go well in the Champions League, they need to buy three midfielders. So that's number one. First key indicator is how many midfielders we buy because we have to buy three. If we buy two, they're taking the piss.

34:55Secondly, what we buy beyond the midfield will show the ambition. So there's two things really. If we buy three midfielders, we're obviously taking it seriously. If we buy two, we're not ambitious. It's all about the money again. And beyond the midfield, what do we buy? Like, do we buy a backup striker? Do we buy a left winger? Do we buy a left back? Do we buy a centre back? Do we buy a right back? Or do we just get two midfielders, three midfielders and a left back? That's how this summer will be judged. Because the midfield, they're saying, like, pat yourself on the back. You know, you're so out there.

35:29You're so edgy. You're so forward thinking. Oh, my God, we've got Mainu. You ain't doing your job as an owner or a director of football if you buy a couple of midfielders. I mean, it's like filling your petrol tank up because you're driving to Cornwall. Oh, pat on the back. Never would have thought of that. Oh, my God. Thank God we've got you in the family. Fucking hell. We'd never get by without you putting petrol in the car to drive us to Cornwall. Fucking hell. Give him a BAFTA, you know? Buying two midfielders for Man United is not evolutionary. It is not amazing. It is absolutely essential.

36:08like we've only got Mainu. So you have to buy two midfielders. Every time I hear Romano or someone go, man, United might buy two midfielders. I go, oh, I might have two legs on the end of my arse. You know, of course I have bloody, of course we're going to buy two midfielders. We need three. Of course we're going to bloody buy two. So for me, the question isn't whether we buy two midfielders. It's going to be whether we buy three and what we do beyond that. That's how I will judge this summer transfer window. The two midfielders are irrelevant beyond who they are. The ambition is whether we buy three and who we buy outside of that.

36:46And that's where we'll be able to judge Jason Wilcox, Omar Barada, Sir Jim Radcliffe and the Glazers. You know, you can talk about your new kits. You can talk about winning the league next year. You can talk about building stadiums. You can talk about Man United being back. But I watched Arsenal last year Go and buy a bench As well as two starting players I watched Liverpool last year spend half a billion Alright, it didn't go well But they showed ambition I've seen Man City go and buy Semenyu and Gehi In a January transfer window United's ambition will be judged On what they do Beyond the two midfielders they buy And in what positions they buy personally I think an ambitious football club buys three midfielders a left back a left winger and a backup striker I think you buy you buy six minimum minimum yeah um let me catch up on some your comments so uh AS says when are you going to Cornwall I've heard you mention it so many times this week I'm not actually going to Cornwall I wouldn't mind going to Cornwall but I'm not actually going um but i would like to go um actually the weather's gone a bit crap now we get um um we get very arrogant in this country we get as i said last night we get two or three days of really good weather and then we think you know we think we we think we're mallorca or la and the reality is it's gonna piss it down tomorrow um so it could be wet in manchester um let me have a look what else we've got for you this morning don't want to look at that um Look, on the midfield as well, just going back to what I said about Wharton, when you think about it, I can see people in the chat saying they don't want Wharton.

38:32I can see a lot of people in the chat saying they don't want Belaber. I can see people in the chat saying£100 million is too much for Tonali. What you've got to remember is At the start of next season On September the 1st The window is shut And this is very vivid for me When the window shut on September the 1st This season I was like we haven't bought a bloody midfielder How have we not bought a midfielder And I've had that with wingers I've had that with mid I remember under Sir Alex It's not a new thing This has been going on under the Glazers for a very long time When that window shuts it's a reality bite the window is about to open I look back at previous transfer windows midfield specific right in recent years we've let Declan Rice go to Arsenal we had Caicedo at Man United and we said no albeit this was when he went to Brighton but we we did have that opportunity um Jaunevez we were linked to him we helped him go to PSG so we took Agate there's a Lots of players that Man United could, should have gone for in the midfield over the last five years.

39:45And they've let them, you know, go to all the clubs. This summer transfer window, you've got Elliot Anderson, Tonali, Bruno Gomeres, Chumini, Wharton, you know, Stila. There are really good options and we need to get two. It cannot be Giao Gomez and Tyler Adams. It cannot be Belaba and Scott They might not be bad signings But they are not Declan Rice, Caicedo, João Neves There are people like Chumini, Elliot Anderson, Tonali In this market They're in the market We cannot let that go We cannot let that go To save money Or because we're incompetent We've got Champions League football We've got the money We're Manchester United there is no excuse not to come out of this summer transfer window with at least one of Chiamini, Anderson or Tonali.

40:41There's no excuse at all. And if we come out of this transfer window without any of them, we may as well pack up. What are we doing? What are we doing? We can't keep missing out on big players. Jao Neves, Caicedo, Declan Rice. There's been so many, so many. And also, let's not forget, Rangnick told us about Enzo Fernandes. And we still didn't do that either. Great show this morning. Loved it. So what's the plan for today? Well, I'm doing Arsenal-Fulham on That's Football at Half Past Five, but I'm also going to do the three o 'clocks because it's West Ham against Brentford, but, and that's a big game in the relegation battle, but Newcastle against Brighton is very big for us because if Brighton don't win, we're in the Champions League and I want to be live for that.

41:27So three o 'clocks today, Newcastle against Brighton, West Ham-Brentford relegation, But if Brentford don't beat Newcastle, we'd be live celebrating Champions League football. So tune in for that at three o 'clock. Thank you so much, everybody, for tuning in. Please do subscribe. Bottom right hand corner. Please smash a like on the video on the way out. We have got an eight o 'clock show tonight, Saturday Night Live. Debate, conversation, eight o 'clock show driven by you. Have a great day and I'll speak to you on in a bit. Thank you very much for watching.