I have questions…
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“I’m not Harry Potter” - journalist appropriately corrected by Ten Hagrid…
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What questions could you possible have? He’s made it perfectly clear that he is not Harry Potter. Ending the rumours once and for all.
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Why would someone so definitively deny being Harry Potter unless he actually was Harry Potter? This seems sus
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It’s a misdirection. No one even considered he might be Harry Potter until he denied it. Now everyone assumes he was lying and probably IS Harry Potter which gives him far more respect (and possibly a preferred table at that restaurant that he hasn’t been able to get a reservation at since he came to Manchester.
And the brilliance is that once it is confirmed he is in fact NOT Harry Potter, he will simply say I told you so.
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This is his third season and he has spent €700M euros. Those who went before him spent hundreds of millions too, and they hand out wages - supposedly the surest sign of success - that we cannot afford.
They already look well short of a title challenge this season, and finishing top four seems a tall order based on early evidence.
Ten Hag will surely get the chop. We can only hope that Brexit Jim turns to England man Southgate.
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Their best CB if he is still there is Jonny Evans.
The back line looked as bad as it did under Ole.
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Have some respect, he’s the second best manager behind Guardiola over the past two years, it’s a fact. Maybe I should write it in capitals!
Joking aside, The Athletic produced this graph yesterday:
https://x.com/TheAthleticFC/status/1830154493394034947
If they hadn’t been selling their academy products for decent fees this summer, surely they would have got themselves in hot water with PSR two or three years down the road? I’m sure that their net spend has been among the top three clubs every summer for the past three or four seasons, maybe even longer. I’m very much interested to see that graph.
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So Southampton look good to get their first points since returning to the Prem on 14th September
Nope. United will win that match.
Ange’s Spurs will do them though
I agree with you that Big Ange will do Utd, but Saints will nick a draw.
… and MO makes it 3-0 :0)
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As a public figure and part owner, Ratcliffe surely had to be aware of his body language. He can be disappointed, but that sort of display undermines the manager, who, after passing the recent INEOS internal review, has been backed with yet more millions.
Ratcliffe has made a mistake. He knows it. Ten Hag is not elite. He is a top six sort of manager who might pop up with a minor cup, but for the financial backing, he needs to be challenging for the title and showing a clear idea about how he wants to play.
Those things are just not there, and Sir Jim needs a new man at the helm, and he knows it.
Hopefully they persist a while with Ten Hag and then bring Southgate in around Christmas.
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When Casemiro joined ManU, it was inevitable this time was going to come. He was right at the age when a decline is imminent, and while he added something for a year, it was obvious that decline had begun even at the start of last year.
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In one of the other threads I mentioned I stumbled across a video of Carra imploring him to retire, saying that a player of that stature shouldnt be subjecting himself to the humiliation that comes from playing on when he no longer has anything to give at this level. I assumed it was a response to yesterday’s game, but it turns out was about the Palace game last April. They still not only went through their summer thinking Mainoo could fix the issues he caused, but doubled down on it by selling McTominay
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Casemiro was on a serious decline even with his last seasons at RM. Every Real Madrid fan that i know said the same.
They couldn’t believe their luck that they got so much money for him. If ordinary fans could see his decline, It shows a serious problem at United’s scouting.
I think they must have seen that, it was widely known. The gamble was that he had a a year or two of very high level play left, which ManU could use to shore up their midfield. But they did not treat him that way, instead defining him as a significant solution.
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Casemiro at the end of his career with real madrid was too slow. Too slow in a slower, less demanding league. The gamble was taken but whoever took the final decision on him should lose their job. That’s a sack worthy decision.
I think the gamble was fine…but not a four year contract at that wage. Or, if it was still worth it, start bringing on the next generation immediately. They didn’t, they just pretended they had bought him when he was 26.
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Part of the issue was when you also have Kroos and Modric in your midfield you need more legs in your protector. If Real had chosen to freshen up the more attacking roles in their midfield before the defensive ones (e.g. instead of bringing in Camvinga they got rid of Kroos and replaced him with Ødegaard) then maybe he could have still been viable, even valuable, in that sort of team. The issue was they all aged out together and he was the one they found adequate replacements for first.
But that 2 years ago. He has played nearly 100 more games since then and you could see through spells last year that he was even more diminished.
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