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30 Jul 2026 23:38:34
Style of play?
Understandably, a lot of the posts have been focused on the recruitment of players. Hopefully there will be a few more astute signings but my purely personal view is that we won't get good value on players Madrid or PSG don't want.
I'm more interested in the style of play that we develop this year and it will be interesting to see if Carrick can stamp his identity on that.
The second half of last season was fairly pragmatic and really just showed how chaotic Amorim was.
It would be great to see the side develop a really strong identity again and that will be how I judge Carrick more than anything else.
1.) 31 Jul 2026 06:48:57
RedD
Chaotic? No. Amorim had a fixed idea and had a style of play he wanted to implement. It wasn't going well, but it needed time and the right players. Carrick implemented more of a counter-attack game.
We don't really know yet what style Carrick wants. We only know Middlesbrough.
I am equally of the opinion that Madrid players are not necessarily the answer; they are being let go, if they are, for a reason.
2.) 31 Jul 2026 10:16:27
NRD, I agree that you rarely get good value signing players from other top sides. Not only is there normally a good reason for why they are prepared to sell them, they are also normally on high wages already, meaning you are forced to paying large fees and wages for a player that for some reason a top side is prepared to let leave.
There are also occasional exceptions to the rule. Sometimes a player just wants a new challenge, or a top club is facing financial challenges and needs to sell a player, or they have a new manager who wants to take the team in a different direction that does not suit a specific player. However, these are rare and you will want to be 100% sure that this is the reason for the sale as it will be an expensive purchase, which comes with higher risks.
For example, I rate Tchouameni as a top player, but personally I think he is someone to probably avoid this summer. He'd be very expensive (70m+, and wages of around 350-400k per week), and you have to wonder why Real Madrid would be happy to let him go to fund the signing of a 30 year old who needs an operation and has a recent history of injury issues. The final issue is that I'm not sure Tchouameni fits the current football meta. When looking around for alternative players with a similar style of play/skill set it becomes obvious that there are very few options. Personally I think that is because the current football landscape doesn't really have a place for that old school defensive midfielder.
Midfielders now typically fall into one of two categories, technically gifted passers, and physically dominant pressers. Both are expected to do a large amount of defensive work, but they are also both expected to contribute to ball progression either through passing or carrying.
For me Tchouameni is more like the Makelele, he'll stay deep, shield your back four, win the ball when it comes near him, and make mostly safe, short passes to more technically secure teammates. He's not a presser who'll jump out to win the ball, and he's not an expansive passer who will switch play with 50 yard passes, or thread dangerous through balls through the middle. He's also not a player who'll typically get on the ball and carry it 30-40 yards up the pitch, or dribble through lines of pressure.
Really he specialises in winning the ball in front of the back four, and being able to drop deep between the CB's to allow them to get on the ball and pass forward. Undoubtedly he's the best in the world at doing that. Unfortunately in the modern game that isn't a skill set that has proven to be particularly successful given how other teams are playing. At Real Madrid for example they don't get pressed high all that often, and they tend to have the majority of the ball. Meaning for most of the game their is little need for a player like Tchouameni to be on the pitch and he doesn't really offer enough on the ball to justify him being there. That is why they want to replace him with Rodri, a player who is good defensively (not as good as Tchouameni though) but also great on the ball.
Like you I am also really interested to see how our style of play develops under Carrick. He seems like a good blend of idealism and pragmatism. He's clearly intelligent and can coach a ball dominant style of play similar to how he played as a player, and we saw that at Middlesbrough. Yet he isn't rigid with it, he's prepared to be flexible, and to adjust the team style to suit the players he has available. Which is what we need as we rebuild this squad.
Someone who has a preferred way of playing, a vision to aim for, but is prepared to adapt to get the best out of what he has until he has the right tools to play the way he wants.
It'll be interesting to see how we play this season, there are some interesting things we are seeing in pre-season, which is where Carrick can actually start to implement some of his principles of play.
We seem to be setting up more in a mid-block, rather than a low block or a high press. That gives good balance as it creates some space in behind but without bringing the wolf to your door like a low block. We seem to be looking to play in packs, with quick passes, one or two touch, drawing teams over to one side of the pitch, then quickly switching play into the space on the other side.
It's effective, and when it clicks you can get some lovely quick interplays and score some well worked goals. While it also allows good defensive coverage, which is creating more stability in defence and less pressure on individuals to save us. It's a very team focused approach, rather than playing to individuals. I think that is something that the media are missing out on as Bruno has thrived as it does get the best out of him, but it's not set up to play for him. If you take him out then it will still work the same, just maybe a slight drop in efficiency due to Bruno being replaced with a player not as good as him (although long term I can see Amad being his replacement and being excellent in there).
01 Jul 2026 08:13:43
I've been a long-term lurker here and I've enjoyed reading the posts over many years. It's always great to see so much insight and debate about what is good for United and what might happen.
I really think that we need to take a longer-term strategy for squad building and transfers. You look at the likes of Brighton and Bournemouth and they consistently find really good quality players at a fraction of the price that they sell them on for. You see what happened with the likes of Fernandes at West Ham, where they paid 32 million and sold him for 85.
Now obviously we've got more money in the bank now but the difference for us is that if we find those talented players and accept that they're going to need a season to settle in and prove themselves, then we are the ones that win in the long run because we're not under any pressure to have to then sell them on. It just takes a slightly longer view and to accept that there's going to be some who don't make the grade and break through.
1.) 01 Jul 2026 09:20:56
Clubs like West Ham and Brighton can afford to throw players in at the deep end, because there's very little pressure and no weight of expectation. If a young player has a bad game, nobody bats an eyelid. It's forgotten by the following week, and the player can continue to develop.
Unfortunately, that just isn't true of Manchester United. A lot of those same players, who are becoming £50m+ players at clubs like Brighton and West Ham, would crumble under the pressure of being a Manchester United player.
Many do, when they eventually move to a big club. Just look at Baleba last season. He only got linked with a move to Manchester United, and his form and performances fell off a cliff.
I'm not saying that it's impossible for us to unearth some hidden gem and polish them up into a diamond every once in a while, but it's a lot harder for us than it is for smaller clubs.
2.) 01 Jul 2026 11:54:20
I totally understand the view that if you buy a top performer at a top price, then you should expect them to come in and have an instant impact.
I think the big risk is that you do that, even then, you have players who will crumple under the pressure, in which case you end up with a huge amount of money wasted.
If you take Baleba as an example, I'd rather United had bought him for 30 million two years ago from Lille and managed his development for a couple of years, than spent the 80 million or whatever Brighton were asking for him last year.
Look what happened with Liverpool last year, buying players for 100+ million!!
3.) 01 Jul 2026 14:25:25
Good to see new poster, RD.
Simple truth is that second-tier EPL teams can take players in the premise they are developmental and might not make it. Lille will sell to those clubs at a price that factors in a risk that they could not.
When Manchester United come calling, the assumption is that the player is a superstar. It is already assumed that their potential will be met, and the selling club sells them on that assumption. Also, Manchester United have extremely high revenue, and the selling club wants their piece of that.
Second-tier EPL teams don't have the same levels of revenue.
New management is trying to shift the market expectation that we will simply cave and pay. But Manchester United have a totally different set of circumstances to smaller clubs. Everything is played out in the press, with added pressure from pundits and fans. There is much less press pressure for teams like Brighton and Bournemouth to quietly go about their business.
29 Oct 2025 09:23:58
Finally managed to watch the highlights of the Brighton match and it bore no resemblance to the MBM commentary I was following on match day! MBM made it out like we were under a huge amount of pressure but I think Brighton were lucky not to be on the receiving end of a 4-0 result.
Lammens has been a real upgrade and looks like a proper keeper finally but he'd fancy his chances keeping the first goal out 8/ 10 times.
The second goal was just piss poor defending from Zirkzee.
Mbeuemo is some player though. That last goal was top class!
1.) 29 Oct 2025 18:13:09
Lammans (pronounced Lommens) is no lemon. A lot of dip on Danny's free kick, but, yes, maybe he would expect himself to do better.
Brighton played some nice football but made very few if any really good chances whereas United went close on at least 3 occasions. Sesko should have done better with his chance. Bruno was unlucky when he burst through. Could have gone anywhere.
It was a tense ending. The subs did not do well. We were cruising until Dorgu gave the ball away and then nearly got himself sent off. Zirkzee, who IMO is not good enough to succeed in the EPL, is also out of practice, probably demoralized, and failed miserably to do his job at the near post. He's another of the terrible purchases who will probably look good in another league, but in any event is nowhere near as good as McTominay. We all agree - and I'm sure the club does too - that the next stage is to rebuild the midfield. Cas might get another season, Bruno's also getting on, Ugarte has done nothing to convince anyone that he's good enough to dominate at DM in the EPL.
I liked the fact that at the time when Dorgu did make his almost disastrously costly error, we were still attacking rather than playing the game out. On the balance of play it should have been a far easier win but somehow United we always tend to make things more exciting/ stressful than the game should dictate.
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01 Jul 2026 11:54:20
I totally understand the view that if you buy a top performer at a top price, then you should expect them to come in and have an instant impact.
I think the big risk is that you do that, even then, you have players who will crumple under the pressure, in which case you end up with a huge amount of money wasted.
If you take Baleba as an example, I'd rather United had bought him for 30 million two years ago from Lille and managed his development for a couple of years, than spent the 80 million or whatever Brighton were asking for him last year.
Look what happened with Liverpool last year, buying players for 100+ million!!
03 Jun 2026 18:14:13
Lewandowski - Free
Why the hell not. He'll get goals and show Sesko how to do it. He only needs to play for 20 minutes a game.
19 Mar 2026 08:54:39
Points average so far is 1.8 per game. So, if that continues, we end up with 68 points.
Chelsea or Liverpool need nearly perfect run-ins to beat that.
65 points will be enough to secure a CL spot.