My grandad had a catchphrase: “Is everyone alright?” He asked it all the time.

What he wanted wasn’t really information. He wanted reassurance about his family: his daughter, the grandkids, the great grandkids. He wanted to know nobody was arguing, nobody was fighting, nobody was in trouble, nobody was ill or injured. Everyone was all right. Everyone was exactly where they were supposed to be, doing what they were supposed to be doing.

Good. He could get back to the Mirror crossword.

I increasingly think this is all I want from Manchester United. Is everyone all right? Are they where they’re supposed to be, doing what they’re supposed to be doing? For much of the second half of last season, the answer was: actually, yes. That might have been the best thing about Michael Carrick’s arrival, beyond finishing third and beating Liverpool, City, Arsenal and Chelsea. Everything calmed down. There weren’t ridiculous stories coming out of United every day. There wasn’t a controversy every five minutes. The online chelping subsided. You didn’t wake up each morning wondering what fresh idiocy was about to befall us.

You could get on with your day.

I liked that. I liked it so much that I spent much of the summer worrying about when it would end. Because United seem to have developed a rhythm. We have a decent season, convince ourselves the corner has finally been turned, rest briefly upon our laurels – then discover the laurels are actually attached to a trapdoor and plunge straight back into another crisis.

And I worry we’re beginning to hear the hinges creaking. Wednesday night’s 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat against Brighton wasn’t a crisis by itself but it felt worryingly like the sort of game that precedes one. Two-nil up inside ten minutes – Shea Lacey scoring a wonderful first senior goal. Mason Mount adding another – and Old Trafford was buoyant. For about 20 minutes, just as against City on Sunday, United looked quite good.

Then we seemed to sack it off again. Brighton dominated from around the quarter-hour mark, scored just before half-time, equalised midway through the second half and then went ahead four minutes later. Two-nil up to three-two down. Snakes and fucking ladders football.

United hadn’t lost at Old Trafford after being two goals ahead for 50 years, hadn’t lost after leading at the interval since 1984. I only became aware of that Orwellian statistic recently and I’m not particularly interested in it. These records are designed to fall eventually. It was the same with that great unbeaten European home record we once possessed: unless civilisation ends first, somebody – Big Brother – eventually beats you.

What bothers me much more is the eye test: United didn’t look good enough, strong enough or quick enough against Brighton, and that bit feels horribly familiar.

Is everyone alright?

The last few days have had that unmistakable post-Fergie United smell about them. There’s the JJ Gabriel business. The noise around the City game. The protests – justified, and largely brought about by the club’s own behaviour – generating more headlines. And now this. Humans apparently share about 98 per cent of their DNA with pigs. We share around 60 per cent with bananas and a surprising amount with slugs. Which brings me naturally to the Glazers and Big Bird scruffy stork-a-like Sir Jim Ratcliffe. What percentage of the anxiety experienced by Manchester United supporters can be traced back to the people running the club? I reckon it’s comfortably higher than the pig number.

This endless boom-and-bust cycle isn’t simply something that happens to United. It is a symptom of the way United have been run. Every time it seems the football side might finally have acquired some stability, something happens to drag the circus back into town. And, Christ, it gets tiring.

As one of my mates put it after Brighton: “It’s the same every fucking summer. We start poorly and then it’s just shit.” He reckoned he’d like to see us start brilliantly and then become shit, just for variety.

Less football. Result!

There is, of course, one positive: we’ve got fewer fixtures now. Result. Had United beaten Brighton, we’d have likely had Manchester City in the next round, at the United Stadium – what the Etihad means, fact fans – and I’m not entirely convinced another Manchester derby is what my nervous system needs at the moment. Or Carrick’s.

Unfortunately, the Carabao Cup mattered. Carrick probably needs to demonstrate tangible progress this season, and a cup run would have provided it. United fell at the first hurdle in both domestic knockout competitions last season, before Carrick’s spell as caretaker. More was expected this time.

Now one route has disappeared immediately. We’re already playing catch-up in the Premier League. Standards-wise, we look some distance from the serious Champions League contenders. So realistically, that leaves the FA Cup. That’s where we’re at. In September.

Shea Lacey and the Moody Teenager

One of the great shames of Wednesday is that we should be talking about Shea Lacey. Nineteen years old. First senior start. Eight minutes gone. Bang. Instead, much of the week’s United conversation has concerned another teenager, JJ Gabriel, for rather moodier reasons. Lacey deserved his night. Unfortunately, what followed rather spoiled it.

Our supposed midfield rebuild didn’t stop Brighton playing through us with worrying ease. Youri Tielemans, captain for the night, looked at times as though he’d borrowed Casemiro’s pace to go with the similarly cherubic cheeks. A friend desperately wants Tielemans to succeed. So do I. Unfortunately, as he observed afterwards, Tielemans isn’t Casemiro. No blockbuster headers in the locker, stored up for just when we need them.

Yoro and Heaven looked all over the shop.

I have high hopes for Sesko, but on Wednesday he appeared at times to have forgotten both how to trap a football and how human balance works. My dad offered the inevitable comparison: Wout Weghorst.

And then there’s Diogo Dalot. That same friend informed me he has now “done a 180” on Dalot. He used to consider him a perfectly decent, industrious player. Now he sees a full-back who can’t cross particularly well, gets into promising shooting positions without scoring (unless you count blazing one into the second tier as a goal) and, against Brighton, responded to everyone else attempting to play through the press by lumping the ball downfield. Possession lost. Brighton attack. United stretched. Goal. One mistake compounding another.

There was at least some pleasing nominative symmetry in having Darlow and Dalot on the pitch simultaneously. Both were terrible. All we needed was Diallo to complete the set. Although, to be fair, we could actually have done with him.

Three-goal head start?

The bit that worries me most is the pattern. Against City on Sunday, United began well. Against Brighton, United began well but added the goals: two inside ten minutes. And then… What? Brighton had 18 shots to United’s nine. After Mount scored in the tenth minute, United didn’t manage another shot on target until the 76th. That isn’t a freak result, that’s a team losing control of a football match.

Which brings us to Fulham. What are they going to offer us on Sunday? A three-goal head start? Nine men? Perhaps Álvaro Arbeloa – and, yes, what an enormously comforting time to be facing a team managed by a former Liverpool player – could allow us to start at 4-0, remove Bernd Leno and ask one of his centre-halves to play the first half dressed as Big Bird, in a nod to scruffy Jim.

Even so, I’m still not entirely confident we’d secure all three points.

The boos

United were roundly booed off at full-time. I’ve never liked booing your own team. For most of my life it felt profoundly un-United and verboten. But then we entered what might politely be called the Banter Years, and I’ve heard it with increasing frequency at Old Trafford. That matters. Not because supporters are always right. We’re demonstrably not. Spend five minutes on social media after United lose and you’ll find people demanding the manager be sacked, half the team sold and probably Fred brought back.

It matters because the boos are another symptom: frustration, exhaustion, the sense of having been here before. Again and again and again. Rinse and repeat. Brighton have become particularly adept at inducing it.The previous time they visited Old Trafford in a domestic cup competition was in January, with Darren Fletcher in temporary charge shortly before Carrick arrived. United lost that one too.

Shea Lacey was sent off that day, this time he scored. Different Shea Lacey story, same United ending.

Media blackout

And this is where my grandad comes back in with a skip in his slippers. Fulham on Sunday suddenly feels much bigger than a September league game ought to because lose that and then comes the international break. Something like 20 days with no Manchester United match to change the conversation. We all know what happens next:

UNITED IN CRISIS.

The badge with a crack running down the middle of it like they always do in the Mirror.

Every day, the same questions: Is Carrick under pressure? Have the players stopped responding?

Ten things wrong with Manchester United, Five candidates who could replace Carrick.

I genuinely think I might impose a football media and social-media blackout upon myself. For my mental health. Because this is the strange thing about supporting United now: I don’t particularly look forward to matches.

I did last season. Maybe that’s because there were fewer of them. Maybe because we were winning. Maybe I’m simply a fair-weather supporter. But I like fair weather. I like the sun. I don’t like wind and rain. I don’t like feeling miserable about a football club. I don’t like waking up wondering what ridiculous thing has happened now.

And I don’t want Carrick sacked. Quite the opposite. The most valuable thing he brought back to Manchester United last season wasn’t a formation or a tactical innovation. It was calm. Stability. For a few months, United stopped feeling like an institution permanently waiting for the next explosion.

Wednesday night was bad. The start to this season has been worrying. A cup has already gone. There are legitimate questions about the team, the recruitment, the performances and Carrick himself. But the answer cannot always be another revolution: United have had enough of those.

What I want is for the people above Carrick to give him the conditions in which the stability he created can survive a bad run. I want United to stop lurching from optimism to catastrophe and back again. I want to stop worrying about what’s coming next. I want my grandad’s question to have the most boring answer imaginable.

Is everyone all right?

Yeah. Everyone’s all right.

Now get on with the crossword.

By Andrew Kirby Sports Storytelling & Communications | Andrew Kirby

The post Manchester United 2-3 Brighton: Is everyone all right? first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

There are many reasons to enjoy the Manchester derby, but one of the more childish is the knowledge that Manchester city play their home games at a stadium whose name (Etihad), translated from Arabic, means something along the lines of ‘union’ or ‘unity’. United, in other words. Manchester City play at the United Stadium. It’s the sort of thing you suspect somebody might have checked before they put the fucking sign up.

Anyway, across town at the actual United, there wasn’t a great deal of unity to go around yesterday. A couple of hours before kick-off, around 2,000 supporters were marching down Sir Matt Busby Way in protest at the people running the club. Inside the ground, the TRA had withdrawn its customary pre-match flag display. Instead, hanging above the players’ tunnel was a single banner: THE WAY YOU TREAT US IS A DISGRACE.

On the pitch, meanwhile, United were about to spend more than an hour playing against ten men and somehow become less coherent the longer the numerical advantage lasted. And sitting above it all were representatives of the ownership which has brought us to this strange place: Avram Glazer in the directors’ box and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose arrival at the ground I witnessed first-hand.

If nothing else, it gave you plenty of time to ponder what the word ‘United’ is actually supposed to mean.

Decidedly Un-United

The protest march, organised by the 1958, set off at 3pm from the Bishop Blaize and made its way down Sir Matt Busby Way towards the ground. There must have been around 2,000 people there, probably more. There were flares. Smoke bombs. Sweat. It was, for once, not raining at Old Trafford. There were chants about the Glazers, chants about City and chants about cheating.

The march continued beneath the Munich Tunnel before finishing outside the players’ entrance by the Stretford End. That was where I peeled off to walk round to my entrance. And where the timing became almost perfect. Just as I got round there, a souped-up black BMW was being chauffeur-driven directly through an area in which cars are supposedly forbidden on matchdays. And I mean directly up to the door. One rule for the rich, eh?

Out unfolded Sir Jim Ratcliffe, looking like a slightly sheepish, scruffy stork. You genuinely couldn’t have timed the protest much better had somebody arranged for Ratcliffe to arrive at precisely that moment. I’d spent much of the previous hour taking photographs of the march, but demonstrated my true journalist’s instincts by completely failing to have my phone ready when one of the owners of Manchester United suddenly climbed out of a car about ten yards away from me.

I did manage to shout something at him, though: ‘You scruffy get.’ Woodward and Bernstein would have been proud.

The symbolism was difficult to miss. Supporters were outside protesting at how their club was being run while one owner was chauffeur-driven virtually to the turnstile and another, Avram Glazer, was sitting in the directors’ box.

The timing was particularly good because United Women had just lost 5-0. Ratcliffe’s attitude towards the women’s team has been a disgrace. They sold their best player over the summer and the team has suffered indignity after indignity. The Glazers hardly have a glorious record on this front either, having disbanded the women’s team early in their ‘stewardship’ of the club.

Different owners. Same Manchester United ability to make you wonder whether anybody in charge actually understands what they’re in charge of. Inside, the unrest continued. The TRA refused to take part in its now-customary pre-match flag-waving display in the Stretford End, effectively withdrawing its support. Instead there was that solitary banner above the players’ tunnel:

THE WAY YOU TREAT US IS A DISGRACE.

That referred specifically to the latest clusterfuck in the relationship between United and their own supporters: hundreds of loyal fans caught up in the club’s anti-touting crackdown and effectively being asked to demonstrate their innocence or risk losing their season tickets.

But you didn’t need to know the minutiae of that particular row to understand the sentiment on the banner. Plenty of United supporters have felt disgracefully treated by the people running their football club for a very long time.

A Tale of Two Ownerships

And this, really, is the Manchester derby we’ve been watching for the past couple of decades. There’s no point pretending United haven’t spent money. We have. Fucking loads of it, frequently very badly. That isn’t the argument.

The argument is about what the two ownership models have done to the clubs they steward. The Glazers bought Manchester United in 2005 through a leveraged takeover which loaded around £660million of debt onto a football club which hadn’t needed it before they arrived. More than two decades later, United are still paying interest on debt associated with that takeover.

One of the richest, best-supported and most commercially successful football clubs on the planet has spent 21 years helping to pay for the privilege of having the Glazers own it.

Across Manchester, city’s ownership has operated in almost precisely the opposite way. Since Sheikhing Stevens Mansour arrived, vast sums have gone into the football club and its surroundings: players, academy, training facilities, stadium development and the wider Etihad ‘Campus’. City say more than £700million of private-sector investment has gone into East Manchester through city Football Group and its partners since the move to the stadium. Hey, they even ALLEGEDLY help other clubs pay the exorbitant transfer fees of players exiting the club. Not my words, just something I heard during the march yesterday. I’m just saying what I heard, with all the required caveats (nothing to see here, move along).

Annnnyyyyywayyyyy, where does that leave us? One ownership model arrived at its football club and gave it a leg-up. The other arrived and hamstrung its own.

That doesn’t explain every bad United signing, every managerial disaster or why we apparently lose the ability to cross a football when the opposition goes down to ten men. United have generated and squandered enough of their own money to populate several excellent teams. But ownership creates the conditions in which football decisions are made. City spent the modern era building an infrastructure designed to help the football club succeed. United spent much of it servicing an ownership structure designed to help the owners own Manchester United.

And that is why the protests outside Old Trafford shouldn’t be treated as something separate from the football taking place inside it. They’re part of the same story.

And then there was a Football Match

All of which rather threatened to overshadow the fact that there was a derby to play. And, for once, there were reasonable grounds for optimism. Whatever else you might say about the start to this season, Old Trafford has become something approaching a fortress under Michael Carrick. United had won nine of their previous ten Premier League games there, scoring 26 goals and averaging 2.7 points per game — the best home record in the division over that period.

There was, admittedly, one rather ugly stain on that record: Leeds. And now there are two. Losing at home to city is bad enough. Losing at home to Leeds is bad enough. Somehow, amid all those excellent results, United have contrived to surrender the bragging rights in the two games in which we really wanted them.

And this one was particularly galling because city spent most of the match with ten men. Foden’s red card should have changed everything. Instead, increasingly, it seemed to twist our collective melons, man. Rather than stretching city, keeping the ball and making ten men fahkin run ahbaat, United lost their composure. The crossing became woeful. We started shooting from everywhere. Most of those efforts finished high, wide and not particularly handsome, although Kobbie Fucking Mainoo bucked the trend with a tremendous effort against the inside of the post.

Too often somebody attempted the complicated ball when the simple one would have forced city to move again. It had uncomfortable echoes of Everton at home and Newcastle away last season: ten men retreating into a low block and United apparently becoming less certain what to do because we had an extra player.

There was still a chance to rescue it. In amongst all the chaos Bruno produced one moment of beautiful calm, sliding Mbeumo through during the laughably short period of injury time. He should have scored, but didn’t.

And so city somehow escaped Old Trafford with three points from a game in which they played with ten men for more than an hour, scored a goal which should not have stood and spent much of the closing stages simply wasting time. Kind of like me when I used to take smoke breaks at work even after I gave up smoking.

Which brings us, unfortunately, to flaming Michael Oliver.

Observations

Oliver, Oliver, never before has a boy wanted more …

To the layperson, it might seem slightly odd for a supporter of the team whose opponents went down to ten men so early to spend much of his match report whinging about the referee. But this is Michael Oliver we’re talking about. Yet again, Oliver twisted it to make himself one of the main characters somehow. City appeared to get free-kicks every time somebody fell over. Oliver himself got in the way of the ball so often that it was a wonder he didn’t eventually attempt a sliding tackle.

And then there was Donnarumma: the Italian wasted time at every conceivable opportunity. Every goal-kick became a small administrative procedure. Every dead ball required a period of quiet reflection. He should have been booked far earlier than he was, and once it became obvious what he was doing, a referee with any fucking agency at all might have done something about it. Instead, Oliver largely let him get on with it, the obsequious little shit.

And then, after all that — the sending-off, substitutions, injuries, VAR interventions and Donnarumma apparently operating in a different time zone from the rest of us — we got five minutes of added time. Five. The VAR check for city’s ‘goal’ took about four minutes fifty seconds.

Donnarumma, incidentally, comes from Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples. I went there last summer and there was anti-Donnarumma graffiti on the walls. Imagine being such a knobhead that even your home town has started leaving reviews.

I hope they build a statue of Michael Oliver in his home town and that pigeons shit all over it.

The Red

From what I’ve seen and heard since, there seems to be fairly widespread agreement that Foden deserved to go. The only real argument appears to be whether Bruno should have gone as well. Obviously he shouldn’t have. Naturally, one of the dissenting voices was Roy Keane.

Keano is my second-favourite United player of all time. I adored him as a footballer. But, Christ, he’s becoming hard work as a pundit. Increasingly, it feels as though every United incident has to become another opportunity for Royston to grind whatever anti-United axe he’s brought into the studio that afternoon.

Give it a rest, Roy.

VAR, VAR, VAR

One of my correspondents — my Mum — was watching on Sky and messaged during the game to report that Gary Neville, on co-commentary, had admitted he didn’t understand the modern offside law. Good. That makes two of us. Actually, after watching Match of the Day, I’m not entirely convinced anybody understands it.

Haaland himself, apparently, was onside. Dorgu’s outstretched foot saw to that. The problem was Fernández, standing in an offside position and very obviously attempting to play the cross before Haaland scored behind him. Martínez reacted to Fernández because, oddly enough, defenders tend to react to opposition players attempting to head footballs in their own penalty area. VAR decided this didn’t constitute interference.

And then came the best bit: after the game, Pro Ref admitted they’d got it wrong. An ‘error of judgement’, apparently. VAR should have sent Oliver to the monitor. Cheers, lads.

What exactly is the exchange rate on refereeing apologies these days? Can we swap three of them for a Premier League point? Do we get to replay the game? Do city have two points removed? Does somebody pop round Carrington on Monday morning with a Sorry You Wuz Robbed card and a box of Milk Tray (because the lady loves them)? Nope: city get three points. United get fuck all.

Incredibly predictably Luke Shaw was Injured

By some miracle — possibly because United had virtually no other fixtures — Luke Shaw started every Premier League game last season and the first three of this one. This was clearly unsustainable. From approximately the moment United decided not to sign Lewis Hall, it seemed inevitable that Shaw would get injured. And so it came to pass: this wasn’t an (Oliver) plot twist.

Which meant Patrick Dorgu started at left-back for only the second time in his career. I like Dorgu. I really do. But I still don’t know what he is. Carrick seemed to decide last season that he was a left-winger. That made a certain amount of sense. Ballon d’Orgu has the clichéd ‘great engine’ and is much less dangerous to United when his occasional positional wanderings take place 70 yards from our own goal.

At left-back those wanderings become rather more alarming. He has a tendency to drift out of position and then, upon realising where he is, headless-chicken it back towards the ball at tremendous speed. He had a shaky afternoon here and played his part in the build-up to city’s ‘goal’.

So what do we profile him as now? Left-back? Wing-back? Winger? Emergency auxiliary chaos merchant? I like the lad. I just haven’t got a fucking clue what he is.

city were Shit Too

And here’s the really annoying bit: city weren’t even particularly good. As a mate of mine put it afterwards: ‘I don’t mind if we’re played off the park and lose or it’s an unlucky goal etc, but when we’re shit and they win by timewasting and an offside goal it boils my piss.’

Quite. There have been derbies in the recent past where city have Rolls-Royced their way through United. You know the ones: Guardiola standing there looking unbearably pleased with himself, chewing his own spit like a weirdo while city keep the ball for approximately three weeks and United chase shadows.

This wasn’t one of them. City misplaced passes. They put the ball out of play all the time. They went down to ten men. Then they scored their dodgy goal and spent the closing stages strangling the life out of the match through every available piece of shithousery.

And, painful though it is to admit it, fair fucking play to them. Because that is exactly what United should have done against Everton last week. Remember Cunha at Anfield? Keep the ball. Win a foul. Take it into the corner. Make somebody kick you. Waste thirty seconds. Repeat. Sometimes winning football matches isn’t about being brilliant. Sometimes it’s about recognising what the game requires and doing it: city did, United didn’t. Which might be the most irritating observation of the lot.

United?

So where does that leave us? Four points from four games is shit. Losing at home to city is especially shit. Failing to beat ten men is shit, regardless of how badly Michael Oliver refereed the game or how badly VAR fucked up city’s goal.

Carrick and his players have to own that. But the football doesn’t exist in isolation. Sunday began with thousands of supporters marching towards Old Trafford because of the way they believe OUR football club is being run. It continued with Jim Ratcliffe being driven past them virtually to the front door and Avram Glazer taking his seat in the directors’ box. Inside the ground, supporters withdrew their flags and replaced them with a message telling the club its treatment of them was a disgrace.

Then the team came out and lost a derby to ten men. Perhaps that is why the stupid Etihad joke stuck with me. Because United is supposed to mean more than the name on the badge. It ought to mean a football club pulling in broadly the same direction: owners, institution, team, supporters. Manchester United haven’t felt like that for a very long time.

Across town, they can keep the United Stadium, I’d just quite like the United football club back.

By Andrew Kirby Sports Storytelling & Communications | Andrew Kirby

The post Manchester United 0-1 Manchester City: A Very Disunited Derby first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

Manchester United take on local rivals Manchester City on Sunday evening, with Michael Carrick’s team hoping to get another win against the blues.

Kobbie Mainoo, who turned down City’s academy for United’s as a youngster, has reflected on how much the derby means to him.

It means a lot to me. I mean, coming up in the Academy, you play City twice a season and it’s always the biggest game. You know that being a fan, but where the coaches would big it up, it’s always been a big rivalry for us, and so yeah, I’m really excited.

Mainoo’s greatest moment in a red shirt to date was his Man of the Match performance against City in the 2024 FA Cup final, where he scored the winning goal. Speaking to United Review, Kobbie’s has discussed that day and the mementos he has kept.

It was a great day. I mean, scoring in the derby any time is unbelievable, but in an FA Cup final, it’s just that much sweeter. And to go on and to win, yeah, it’s a day I’ll never forget. The moment you dream of, like at Wembley, against your rivals, to win a trophy. It’s unbelievable. I’ve still got the bucket hat, still got some of the scarves from the game. Yeah, I’ll keep them forever!

Carrick’s first game in charge as United manager last season was a home victory over City, with United playing them off the park. Mainoo has reflected on the importance of that day and how it feels to play for Carrick.

It definitely got the ball rolling for us, and was a big booster in building momentum, going to Arsenal after that and winning again. So, [it was] definitely a big part of the season. I’ve loved it [working under Carrick]. So much help, especially him being such an experienced midfielder and winning so much with this club. Anything that he tells you or any instruction that he gives you is gold, really. So it’s been good to learn under him and play for him. Any time you beat City it’s positive and it’s big for the season, like it helps boost the team, so we’re not going to take that lightly, and we know it’s a big one. Hopefully we come out winners.

The post Mainoo: I’ve still got my bucket hat after beating City first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

Q: How many times have you read or heard about the Sabah manager appearing on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in the past 48 hours?

A: Once
B: Five times
C: Fifteen times
D: So many times you now know more about him than you do about your own family

Q: This week, you’ve heard so much of Shabba Ranks’ ‘Mr Loverman’ (Shabba!) that you:

A: Need Mark Lamarr to sort it out like he did on The Word in 1992 (contemporary cultural reference there).
B: Need to dig out Now 25.
C: Stop listening to TalkSport.
D: Remember when at school you used to sing ‘Mr Headmaster’ (Jabba!) whenever Mr James ambled past.

Make no mistake, the Champions League has really, really wanted – needed – United back. The Reds are always the biggest story in town. We’ve heard more about our opponents (Shabba!) in the build-up to this one than we did any of Napoli, Atletico Madrid etc who faced our rivals this week.

Manchester United were back in Europe’s elite competition after a two-year hiatus, this time, and for the first time, in the bloated new Swiss-style format (the European Super League lite). And make no mistake, United on nights like this prove we’re the biggest team in England. With five minutes to go until kick-off the ground was barely half full – inevitable delays getting in – but by kick-off it was at near capacity. A reminder of the pull of United, given the opposition. Plenty of kids in too, and people who might not usually go.

Coffee and TV

Reds who had waited two years for a return to the Champions League celebrated hearing that dog-whistle shrill anthem and watching kids waft the ball-parachute thing in the centre circle by, after about ten minutes of play, getting bored and trying to pile as many empty coffee cups as possible onto one supporter’s head. A coffee-cup snake, to much amusement, in a display which would have been more suited to the other Old Trafford.

Definitely evidence of the lack of real substance on the pitch. From the moment referee, uh (checks notes), Chris Tarrant blew the whistle not much of anything happened for a spell. During the opening 25 minutes I was never troubled. Nice to watch an occasional United game where your stomach isn’t churning. Time to think: I wondered why the farts at football don’t smell as foul anymore. Am I just getting old and my hooter doesn’t work anymore? Wake up and smell the cawfee.

And then, suddenly, there were goals. The deadlock was broken after their winger played a ball back inside in the manner of – and from almost the exact same spot as – Amad against Liverpool. United pounced and streaked forward. Suddenly all the ponderousness was forgotten. Dorgu, who’d been awful up until then, did well and Matheus Cunha recorded United’s first Champions League goal for nearly three years.

And then, just before half-time, came the quickfire one-two. Bruno Fernandes made it two before Sesko added a third. Slick, intricate stuff at times, and the sort of ruthless burst which United haven’t always managed against supposedly inferior opposition. Three-nil at half-time: game over. No fifty-fifty needed.

The second half was casual in parts, but it was obvious we were playing out time. Martínez added the fourth and United were able to stroll through much of the rest of it with Sunday in mind. The substitutions gave a clue as to who’ll probably be starting in the derby. But is it in his contract that Bruno shalt never be hooked? Come on, give the lad a break. I’ll phone a friend for him.

Dog and Duck

Talking of phoning a friend, many – Cundy et al on TalkSport – have banged on that we were only playing the Dog and Duck, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, as the cliché goes. And whilst a couple of Sabah’s players ranked as ‘competition winners’, most were competent – as they would have to be to get through four qualifying rounds.

The Azerbaijanis, who appeared to bring Carlos Queiroz on as a substitute at one point, were poor. Their champions brought circa 115 fans, as many as there are charges against those boys in lazer blue. They sat in the section which is usually just an add-on to the usual away section. They appeared to have only one song. Come on, you can learn more than that in nine years.

A club younger than my kids and with about as much footballing pedigree. Still did better than Celtic.

OBSERVATIONS

Corners

Is the lack of a proper set-play coach starting to tell? United had seven corners, six of them in the first half, but never really threatened from them. Yes, Maguire wasn’t playing and Uncle Casemiro’s left the building, but we scored a lot of set-piece goals last year and this year it looks like we haven’t got corners right yet.

Last night most were poorly executed but, even when the delivery was half decent, there didn’t seem to be much threat. Martínez’s fourth eventually came in the aftermath of a corner, but that shouldn’t disguise the fact that the corners themselves weren’t much cop. Something to work on.

DODGY DEFENDING

The defence continues to give up chances. Sabah could – and should – have equalised in the 35th minute. It was a massive chance: Kaheem Parris sent the ball towards the back post, where Joy-Lance Mickels had escaped Mazraoui (very easily), but his header went wide.

Mazraoui in particular seems susceptible at the moment, but most of our defenders have made mistakes which have resulted in goals this season, or simply been beaten too easily – Shaw against Ipswich being another example.

Need to tighten up. THAT being said: a rare clean sheet: we’ll take it.

BETTER THAN IT COULD HAVE, AND HAS BEEN

But it’s not all doom and gloom. United, in the end, got through this test with the minimum of fuss and that’s not always been the case in matches like this. Grimsby anyone? Even under Fergie we liked to make things hard for ourselves. Here, after the quickfire double just before half-time, the Reds were able to stroll through the second period, saving legs for Sunday.

And it was better than the last time we were in the Champions League, a campaign which brings shudders to the spine, mainly thanks to Mr Gloveman, Andre Onana.

Erik ten Hag’s United finished bottom of their group in 2023-24 with four points, bookending the whole miserable business with defeats to Bayern Munich. But it was the stuff in between – particularly the Galatasaray and Copenhagen games – that really did the damage. That was the United which could take a lead and immediately look terrified by the responsibility of having it; defensive gifts rarely arrived singly, preferring instead to travel around in packs.

So, yes, Sabah weren’t very good. But neither were some of the teams we somehow contrived to make look good the last time we were here.

KOBBIE FUCKING MAINOO

United were ponderous at times during the opening 25 minutes, but Mainoo and Tielemans – enjoying his most positive display in red, perhaps because of the pace of the game – gradually took control.

Mainoo in particular was great. He always seemed on the verge of losing it but never did. There was more adventure in his passing too. More willingness to move the ball forward rather than simply retain it. It was the kind of performance that makes you wonder, again, why there has ever been quite so much uncertainty about what to do with him. Kobbie Fucking Mainoo.

In less positive midfield news, I was lurking about in the rain pre-game near the players’ entrance. I had an idea, possibly borne from prejudice, that I might get a picture of the Sabah team bus to accompany this article. In my mind’s eye I imagined they’d be turning up in some tin-pot thing which would make a refreshing change from the usual coaches that rock up – Liverpool’s vomit-inducing space-age THIS MEANS MORE-machine and the like. But it was simply a common-or-garden coach with UK plates which they’d probably hired from the airport.

Instead I saw our new big-money signing – signed for approximately half the price of the big-money midfield signings of our opponents on Sunday – arrive in a tracksuit and very shiny shoes. And a very noticeable limp. I don’t reckon he’s the slated two weeks off full fitness. Then again, it took me two weeks to get back to running after falling off a treadmill and busting my knee last month, so maybe recovery rates are better for actual athletes.

GOALS, GOALS, GOALS

Nine goals for in two home games. Nearly went nap all over again. Can we only play home games from now on? After City I might change my tune.

For now, though, United are back in the Champions League. Four goals. A clean sheet. No late collapse. No stomach-churning final ten minutes. Nobody chucking a comfortable lead into the nearest bin. No lifelines required. Final answer.

Sports Storytelling & Communications | Andrew Kirby

The post Manchester United 4-0 Sabah: Is That Your Final Answer? first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

Manchester United take on Sabah in the Champions League this evening where Bryan Mbeumo will be making his first appearance in the competition.

Speaking to the press before the game he reflected on what a big moment it is for him and how the promise of Champions League football was one of the reasons why he joined the club.

Obviously it’s a big step for me, coming from Ligue 2 in France to such a big club here and playing in the Champions League is a massive reward for me and I’m really looking forward to it.

In my head I saw a bit of the team and the players and I knew I could have good connections with the guys here and also I received some message from the players before I came and I was really convinced that we could achieve something good.

During the pre-season, Mbeumo played through the middle in Benjamin Sesko’s absence. Mbeumo has talked about which areas he likes to occupy on the pitch.

Obviously I’ve been used to playing a few positions in the attack. Back even in my first season as a professional, back in the days of Troyes, I was playing right, left, central. So obviously I’ve got some preferences, like I would say key positions on the field, but I can have them either when I play centrally or wide, so it doesn’t really matter. As long as I can play and perform for the team, I’m happy.

The post Mbeumo: Tonight is a big step for me first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

Manchester United return to the Champions League tonight after a year out of the competition with a home tie against Azerbaijani Sabah.

Speaking to the press ahead of the game, manager Michael Carrick reflected on how much the players were looking forward to it and how Champions League football should be the bare minimum expectation at a club like United.

We worked hard to be here. It’s great to be here, massively looking forward to the game and the campaign and trying to make it as long as we possibly can make it. So big challenges ahead and some really fantastic games, starting tomorrow. So yeah, massively looking forward to it.

It means an awful lot, you know. It’s challenging yourself against the elite and the very best and I’ve said it before I think it’s over a long, long, long period of time this football club’s been used to challenging with the best and being the best and it’s not something that you can take for granted of what it takes to be there and what it takes to stay there, you know? And we’ve missed out on it for a number of years and now we’re back, so I think it means a lot. It’s where we want to be every single year and it’s where we should expect to be without being ahead of ourselves. It’s what we have to push for, it’s the standards that we want to set and it’s up to us to be able to do that. I think we’ve made huge steps over the last few months or a year or so to make it in and finish the league really strong to be in this position and now it’s about what’s next and pushing into the next chapter, if you like, the next phase, the next evolution of the team and the squad. This is certainly where we want to be and it’s up to us now to make sure we stay here.

The post Carrick: We want to be in Champions League every year first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

The return of Manchester United to the Champions League is a welcome sight, and you get the impression that television broadcasters are also happy to have one of the world’s biggest teams back in Europe’s premier club competition.

That said, Reds are relatively split on what United will do in the competition when they get there, especially now that United have had an uneven transfer window and an up-and-down start to the season.

The return of the Reds to the competition will ensure plenty of betting volume, with some games offering the big-match feel for bettors, similar to when American football fans look for Sunday Night Football odds before a major NFL clash.

But what do the bookies think of United’s hopes in the Champions League? Here’s a breakdown:

United Are 8^th Favourites Overall

The Red Devils are placed 8^th favourites to win the trophy they last held aloft in 2008, placed behind PSG, Bayern, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal. United’s odds are somewhere in the region of 20/1, but that varies by bookmaker.

Top 8 Finish

This is probably the most important market for United fans. They are priced at 6/4 to finish in the top 8 and secure automatic qualification. All will not be lost if they don’t, of course, as the 9^th to 24^th placed teams will feature in the Playoffs. If you fancy United to top the 32-team league, the odds are 14/1.

Top Scorer Odds

As you may imagine, players like Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland top the betting markets here. You have to go further down to find Marcus Rashford (40/1) and Bruno Fernandes (50/1). If you believe Benjamin Sesko will become the prolific scorer all fans know he is capable of, he’s available at 100/1 with some bookies.

Opening Game Odds

United will open the campaign at home against FC Sabah, representing perhaps the easiest assignment of their fixtures. Unusually, it’s on a Thursday night (10^th Sept). The reason is that UEFA likes to stretch out the opening week to a wider TV audience. The usual Tuesday/Wednesday slate will be in play for the rest of the competition.

All the same, United will be hot favourites to take the win over the Azerbaijanis at Old Trafford under the lights. 1/7 is widely cited in the odds for a home win.

Analysis

United’s draw is a tough one. The nature of the League Phase means that is true for most teams, but there are certain pitfalls. Most notably for United, there is the tough four-game finish of Sporting Lisbon (A), RB Leipzig (H), Bayern Munich (H) and Villarreal (A). Michael Carrick will hope to have the team in a strong position for that run, especially going into the last two games against Bayern and the one in Spain against Villarreal.

Expectations

Most fans will believe that United are not quite ready to challenge for the Champions League yet, and bookmakers tend to agree. The squad is arguably stronger in attack and midfield, and Carrick will have enough rotational options to cope with the demands of the competition. But there are questions in defence, especially in the full-back positions. Success, therefore, would probably mean qualifying for the knockout rounds, perhaps winning a few games while there.

That said, Reds are relatively split on what United will do in the competition when they get there, especially now that United have had an uneven transfer window and an up-and-down start to the season.

The return of the Reds to the competition will ensure plenty of betting volume, with some games offering the big-match feel for bettors, similar to when American football fans look for Sunday Night Football odds before a major NFL clash.

But what do the bookies think of United’s hopes in the Champions League? Here’s a breakdown:

United Are 8th Favourites Overall The Red Devils are placed 8th favourites to win the trophy they last held aloft in 2008, placed behind PSG, Bayern, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal. United’s odds are somewhere in the region of 20/1, but that varies by bookmaker.

Top 8 Finish

This is probably the most important market for United fans. They are priced at 6/4 to finish in the top 8 and secure automatic qualification. All will not be lost if they don’t, of course, as the 9th to 24th placed teams will feature in the Playoffs. If you fancy United to top the 32-team league, the odds are 14/1.

Top Scorer Odds

As you may imagine, players like Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland top the betting markets here. You have to go further down to find Marcus Rashford (40/1) and Bruno Fernandes (50/1). If you believe Benjamin Sesko will become the prolific scorer all fans know he is capable of, he’s available at 100/1 with some bookies.

Opening Game Odds

United will open the campaign at home against FC Sabah, representing perhaps the easiest assignment of their fixtures. Unusually, it’s on a Thursday night (10th Sept). The reason is that UEFA likes to stretch out the opening week to a wider TV audience. The usual Tuesday/Wednesday slate will be in play for the rest of the competition.

All the same, United will be hot favourites to take the win over the Azerbaijanis at Old Trafford under the lights. 1/7 is widely cited in the odds for a home win.

Analysis

United’s draw is a tough one. The nature of the League Phase means that is true for most teams, but there are certain pitfalls. Most notably for United, there is the tough four-game finish of Sporting Lisbon (A), RB Leipzig (H), Bayern Munich (H) and Villarreal (A). Michael Carrick will hope to have the team in a strong position for that run, especially going into the last two games against Bayern and the one in Spain against Villarreal.

Expectations

Most fans will believe that United are not quite ready to challenge for the Champions League yet, and bookmakers tend to agree. The squad is arguably stronger in attack and midfield, and Carrick will have enough rotational options to cope with the demands of the competition. But there are questions in defence, especially in the full-back positions. Success, therefore, would probably mean qualifying for the knockout rounds, perhaps winning a few games while there.

The post United Champions League: A Tough Assignment Ahead first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

Manchester United put in a good performance on Sunday afternoon to come back from 1-0 down to beat Ipswich 5-2.

In a game where Bruno Fernandes scored a hattrick and assisted another goal, Kobbie Mainoo gave him a run for his money where the Man of the Match award was concerned, with the young midfielder putting in an outstanding display.

Michael Carrick had previously revealed he had been in touch with Kobbie Mainoo over the summer to discuss the disappointment of being selected in England’s World Cup squad but not being given a single minute of playing time by Thomas Tuchel. Carrick had empathised, having been in a similar situation during his playing career, but reassured him that he would get plenty of minutes in the season ahead.

Speaking to MUTV after the Ipswich game, Carrick sung the praises of Mainoo.

I thought he was fantastic today, Kobbie. It was nice for him to be home again and playing here with that confidence. It was his first start. Some of the boys have been away and had different levels of football at the World Cup; they’ve played different minutes, so we’ve had to manage that over the last couple of weeks.

To put in that performance today shows what Kobbie can do. We’re fortunate enough to have a really good midfield unit, and we can call upon different players at different times. I was really happy with the way he played today.

You know, we kind of managed him a little bit, and we’ve got good midfielders, so it’s that trying to make the best of the combinations. But I thought Kobbie, I understand Bruno will get a lot of credit today, and he deserves that as well, but I thought Kobbie was immense in the middle of the pitch for us and underpinned the performance of the team.

The post Carrick’s summer chat having impact on outstanding Kobbie first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

Ahead of Manchester United’s first home game of the season against Ipswich on the weekend, captain and PFA Player of the Year, Bruno Fernandes, has singled out a young red for praise.

Speaking to the Men in Blazers Media Network, Fernandes spoke about how he has seen Shea Lacey develop over the years and has been impressed with how he’s returned after the summer break.

His technical ability was never in doubt. I often joke with him because I coached him when I was taking my coaching badges, and I remember he was in the U14 team then. So, Juan Mata and I basically coached him for a day. I told him he’s much better now than he was at 14. He is much more mature, doing very well. I think what they all need they want to be part of the team and play for the team is to treat every training session like a game.

I think Shea Lacey came with a completely different mentality this season in terms of movement off the ball. I think that’s great, and it’s what I talked to him about after returning from vacation, because I watched their three games. He plays in the same position as me, which requires a high level of running and emotional intelligence in covering space and assisting teammates in attack, and he has done very well.

The post “Lacey has a completely different mentality this season” first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.

Bruno Fernandes was named the PFA Player of the Year last night at an awards ceremony in Manchester. Having secured the all-time Premier League assist record last season, it was no surprise that the United captain was voted as the best player by his peers.

Having been presented with the award by Juan Mata, Fernandes took to the stage to deliver a speech reflecting on the season he’d just had.

It was a special season, individually for me. And obviously, I’m very proud that all the ones that have decided to help me. I haven’t thought about the (assists) record much until you guys started commenting so much. Obviously, then when you start getting closer, you start thinking about it and everything. But I think it got into more into my strikers and into myself. The more so, you get to score the goal and to give me that feeling that sometimes they even forgot about their own game. But I’m very happy because assisting means that someone is getting goals, and mostly if I’m assisting, Manchester United is getting goals.

But obviously, we don’t play tennis. We play for just ourselves. We play football. We play in a team. We play for a club. We play for our fans. And there’s nothing more special than that. It’s very good to have that responsibility because it’s something nice. It’s something you can enjoy. Obviously, you have to deal with it. It’s not always easy, but I think it’s better to have that pressure than none.

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