Michael Carrick's appointment as interim manager in January 2024 transformed Manchester United's season, securing Champions League qualification with 10 points clear of Chelsea and demonstrating that effective leadership combined with squad development can achieve competitive success. His ability to extract performances from players and maintain squad morale has positioned United for potential top-four finishes, while his tactical approach emphasizes building a versatile squad capable of competing across multiple competitions.
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How Michael Carrick Has SAVED Manchester United! | LIVE ANALYSIS |Added:
[music] >> Good morning everybody. Welcome back to the AJ Analysis Channel and welcome back to another live stream where today I have a big smile on my face because it just feels as though Champions League football is going to be returning to Old Trafford. Of course it's not guaranteed yet. It's not secured. There is a lot of football still to be played, but with that win against Chelsea over the weekend, you just look at it and you think we're probably going to be okay now. 10 points clear of Chelsea with five games to go. So there's only 15 more points up for grabs and we're 10 points clear. Our fixtures aren't amazing. There's a couple of tricky ones in there, but you would just think out of those games we can probably get five points and you would also assume that Chelsea will drop points again this season. So it just feels basically as though Michael Carrick has done the perfect job. You know, we brought him in in January when the club was in a very unstable position. You know, it wasn't it wasn't crisis time in January I don't think, but we were all a little bit worried because we felt that we might be throwing another season away. But Michael Carrick has ensured that just that has not been the case. I think he's been brilliant since he's come in.
Beat Chelsea at weekend a big win and like I said, it should mean Champions League football next season which means next season we shouldn't be playing 40 matches. We should be closer to 50 to 60 games next season. So now, you know, I don't want to say job done, but it does feel like we can potentially just start to have a quiet conversation about the future. There's a poll going in the chat right now. Should Michael Carrick get the full-time job in the summer? 92% of you are currently saying yes and I think that number week by week might just slowly increase.
You know, he's he's done his job, hasn't he? He's done his job. And there are good options potentially available this summer. Potentially some good managers out there.
But you can't beat what you know. And United know that Michael Carrick can get a tune out of these players, that he can get performances out of these players, he can get results out of these players and he can get progress out of them. He can improve them individually. So it's really going to be an interesting conversation as we get to summer. Today basically what I want to do is have a chat. Have a chat about Michael Carrick, the work that he's done since January, where we are in the league right now, where we can go.
Can we push for the top two? You would think it's a little bit unlikely, but is it possible? And can we secure third?
What do you make of the teams around us?
What do you make of the squad? You know, there are positions where we know that we are going to need to do some work potentially this summer.
Midfield being one of them. Can't get enough of these two at the moment now. I think Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro have just been brilliant. So yeah, the plan today is for you guys to lead a lot of the conversation. Ask as many questions as you like about Carrick, about the future, about the project. Basically, let's just have a catch-up session because six months ago, 12 months ago, 18 months ago, we were doing catch-up sessions which were practically therapy streams where you where we would all sit and rant and sort of cry about how terrible we are. And we've come quite far in a very short amount of time. So yeah, let's enjoy a nice positive stream kicked off with David in the chat before anything had even been said in the chat.
David was there gifting memberships. So David, thank you very much for that as always my friend. Guys, I want to see some love hearts in the chat to show our appreciation because David is a legend and he starts pretty much every single stream with a gifted membership. I mean, it's just great to see. So thank you very much David.
Love the way you went in on Amorim towards the end of the Kobbie video.
Callum I walked in uh Callum yesterday was watching the video at the time and he's like, "Why have you just absolutely destroyed Amorim at the end of the video?" And I was like, "I don't know.
It just sort of came to me."
Yeah. Had to do it for Kobbie, I think.
I would say that United should look for top managers, not really put all eggs in one basket, but I do love the job that Carrick has done so far and would honestly love it if he got the job.
I mean, it helps, right? I think we all liked Carrick as a player. I don't think there were many people in the fan base that ever disliked Carrick. A very likable character and obviously a great footballer. And I think in all of his press conferences, his interviews, he seems to speak well. He sort of speaks up with that bit of fight when he needs to, but is also very calm composed presence for this team as well. And yeah, the results speak for themselves.
We've beat Chelsea, we've beat Man City, we've beat Arsenal, we've beat Spurs.
Quite everyone does that. Some really big results in there.
Carrick is better than the top managers.
Enrique needs hundreds of millions at Barcelona and PSG.
I think the the way I see it in terms of the the long-term job for Carrick and whether he'll get it in the summer, I think what is really going to be in his favor is the fact that it's a World Cup year. You know, you might want a Thomas Tuchel, but United's pre-season campaign kicks off before the World Cup even finishes.
So Tuchel's going to be busy. You might want Nagelsmann, but again the same situation. He's busy in international football. Luis Enrique from PSG looks like the top current club manager that you could go and get, but I don't know I don't know how possible it is. You know, if you're manager of PSG, you can spend however much you want every single year. You've got your squad, you've got your players that you're really getting a tune out of.
You know, you might win back-to-back Champions League trophies.
What This is a silly time to leave PSG, isn't it? Surely you do one more year to see if you can go three seasons in a row of winning it.
So I'd be surprised if Luis Enrique can leave. And I think with with Carrick, I think this the candidates that he certainly stands out ahead of is pretty much all of the Premier League ones.
You know, you talk of like a Glasner for example.
That would be a gamble.
That would be a risk, wouldn't it? To go to go for a Glasner, someone from a lesser club. At that point I think you stick with Carrick because we've already got him and we know him. Eddie Howe for example is a manager that a lot of people like. But are you better off for now sticking with Carrick because you know that he works? I think basically what it's come down to now is it's either Carrick or it's an elite end manager.
A top top end manager. You know, it's not going to be a Ruben Amorim or an Erik ten Hag where you gamble from a lesser league a little bit. Even if they're good managers. You know, it's not going to be that sort of gamble this summer. It'll be Carrick or it will be Enrique. It'll be Nagelsmann. That's sort of the three options I see it being now. Which for us is great. Right? Like how nice is that as a situation? Our manager is either going to be a fellow who has come in and saved our season and hopefully got us top three, certainly now looking like top five, or it's going to be one of the elite managers in world football. You know, that's exactly what we need. But as much as anything, of course on top of that, we need to make sure that the players in the squad are are right as well. And I think that's the exciting thing about this summer. It almost feels like we can build a squad now, invest in the right places and we can end up with a squad which can almost work under any manager. You know, managers will always um have something to say in it, won't they? They will determine how good the team can be. Just look at us this season.
But I do think if you get a squad of a certain level, you're almost going to be good no matter what. You're always going to be competitive. We've seen that this season. We became much more competitive even under Amorim simply for having a better squad. You know, go and do something similar this summer and I think we can take that next step.
Certainly when you're linked with a player like Tchouaméni for example, which would not be a bad Casemiro replacement. I will say that much. I would like to hear your guys' thoughts on that though.
He's in pole position, Carrick, but who is he going to go against and do the owners feel he can lead the club where they want it to go?
I think Chad mentioned it's uh Where is it? I saw it earlier.
Or have I made it up?
Kid, uh at the very least I'd like to keep Carrick for the stability and to become an established Champions League club. Then a season or two on, we can see if he can mount a title challenge or if we should look to upgrade. Yeah.
Realistically, the aim for next season, you know, I'd love title talk and things like that and maybe, you know, luck goes your way a little bit, you might be able to do that. You might be able to have that sort of journey.
But realistically, the target next campaign is to steady ourselves. Right?
So we're not third then 15th then sixth then 12th.
Next season can we finish in the top four again? That's really the aim. Can we go further in the cups than what we did this campaign, which shouldn't be difficult? And then can we make a good account of ourselves in the Champions League? That is almost the aim for next season. And that's where Carrick might feel like the right guy. Then if the season after that you want to go big, you want to go for the title push, yeah, then maybe you bring in your Nagelsmanns, your Enriques.
But for now the the job is top four and Carrick has proven that he can do that.
Or we'll see. Maybe we shouldn't count our chickens before they lay their eggs.
But you'd think we're going to probably get top four, I think.
Certainly if we beat Liverpool uh next weekend, two weeks' time.
Do I prefer Tchouaméni or Camavinga?
Going to assume that you mean Tchouaméni. Uh who do I prefer? That's a great question.
That's a great Camavinga is probably typically more my sort of footballer.
The the type of player that I like is Camavinga. But Tchouaméni is also amazing. Don't listen to the entire sort of Real Madrid fans who have had everything that they've wanted in the past decade.
Don't listen to those guys sort of suggesting that he's not it. He's a very very good player. A very very good player. He's the player that I wanted, you know, when Paul Pogba left the club.
I can't think what year that was now.
Uh the video doesn't exist anymore, but there was a video on my channel why Tchouaméni should be the signing. We ended up with Casemiro. It's the same summer. Uh we were on Tchouaméni from sort of October before that. So yeah, I absolutely love him. I think he's a great player.
And I did a video last last week talking about we need good players this summer.
But not just good players.
We we need to kick on. We need to get those needle movers. And having a player like Tchouaméni who's won the Champions League, he's dealt with the pressure of playing for Real Madrid. He's been to the World Cup. He's been to the Euros and featured heavily in those teams. He's gone to a World Cup final.
He's experienced. He's 26 years old, but he's also got enough years ahead of him.
He he's mobile. He plays the position that we want. Yeah, I think it would be quite silly of us to turn our noses up at Tchouaméni. Do I think it's likely? I I don't know. I think there would have to be some sort of transfer chain, like a Rodri goes to Real Madrid, which there have been rumors of.
And then Anderson goes to City.
Tchouaméni comes to Manchester United.
That sort of chain effect I think would probably need to happen. But I do think Madrid will look to revitalize this summer. I think they will change things.
They've gone in 2 years in a row without a trophy now. So, they'll change something. And they won't mind pulling the plug on a couple of young midfielders. You know, it's not going to be Valverde they get rid of. It's not going to be Bellingham that they get rid of. Won't be Güler.
Camavinga and Tchouaméni probably will be the ones. So, I think it's doable.
I personally don't feel like Tchouaméni would be a good signing. I feel like he's a little bit too limited on the ball. I do like Camavinga as a versatile rotation piece with Kobbie and Louis Skelly in that way.
Yeah, I think Camavinga is certainly more versatile player. Can play more different roles, do more different things.
I think Tchouaméni is better on the ball than what he's given credit for though.
I don't see him as a Rodri-esque player.
He doesn't fully drive the tempo and the flow of a game.
But I think he's much better on the ball than what he's given credit for a lot of times. Good passer, really good passer.
His selection sometimes is perhaps the problem. But in terms of making a pass, he's very good at it.
I love Tchouaméni not only as a midfielder, but has also played as a center back and does most of the things you wanted in a right-sided center back in that recent video now.
That's what I like as well. Because we do have this slight um center back situation going on.
They're all good.
They're all good. Are any of them top?
Maguire probably is, but perhaps in a way that we want to move away from in the future.
They're injury prone, a couple of these fellas. Couple of them are very young. I do think Ethan Ennis brilliant at the weekend though. There will be a video coming on that soon.
Um I feel that we need a center back. The problem is we need so much this summer.
It's not a case of rebuilding the whole squad, but it's almost each zone of the the midfield needs a rebuild. Then the other zones of the pitch need players added without rebuilding them.
So, someone like Tchouaméni who could play center back as well could be very useful. No different to someone like Skelly or maybe Balewa or Mateus Fernandes who would give us a midfield option, but also a full back option.
We do need to find those players this summer. There'll have to be some.
Uh another one for you. Is there a standout Premier League left back more realistic than Louis Hall from Newcastle?
As in standout for United to sign or standout in terms of quality? In terms of quality, Nico O'Reilly is is right up there at the moment for quality left backs.
Uh in terms of options that maybe for Manchester United, Jeff is one that we've spoken about from West Ham, sort of with his deliveries into the box. And the other name that I'd put forward though is Truffert from Bournemouth.
He's a seriously seriously good player.
I watched him when he played for Rennes in 2022, I think it was.
I I basically when I was trying to find players back in the day, what I would do is go on FBref and let the the stats sort of catch my eye. And if someone's stats caught my eye, I'd then go watch a lot of them.
And Truffert for Rennes, I think it was 2022.
Yeah, it would have been. Similar time to Tchouaméni at Monaco cuz I was watching a lot of the French league. His numbers, Truffert on FBref, were astonishing. Like absolutely ridiculously good. He was rivaling sort of Cancelo in that for the numbers at the time. So, that made me watch him quite a lot and he was really really good. I always had concerns a little bit about him defensively.
Uh but on the ball he's really impressive for them.
I was worried a little bit when he came to Bournemouth that he might struggle with some of the defensive side of the game, but that hasn't proven to be too much of a problem. And he's kept his on-the-ball quality as well and got even better. So, Truffert would be an interesting one. Not a powerful athlete in the way that perhaps we might want, but good player. Good player.
Yeah, rest in peace FBref. Gone but not forgotten.
I'm telling you though, Scout Lab, I'm not sponsored by them or anything.
Uh Scout Lab is good though. I do like them as an alternative. They're the one that have impressed me the most.
The way that the Premier League is right now, I'd be looking for four Maguires across the back line to battle in both boxes.
I thought that was something interesting about City-Arsenal at the weekend when you see the two lineups.
You look at the Arsenal back four and you could argue that was four center backs.
It was it was Mosquera who is a center back, Gabriel and Saliba, and then Zinchenko who has played center back before. Then you look at the Manchester City back four.
And it was Christensen and Gvardiol, not the biggest center backs I've ever seen, but good athletically, good on the ball.
And then it was two central midfielders with Nunes and O'Reilly. I thought that was interesting, the way that they approached it a little bit differently to what Arsenal did. Couple years ago it was Gvardiol there who at the time was considered, you know, a center back. So, it's interesting that City have sort of deviated away from that a little bit.
But they're still big fellas, aren't they? They're both still comfortably 6 ft, but just extremely technical. How do you find that for United this summer?
6 ft and massive like or sorry, 6 ft and extremely technical at full back. I don't know how you find that. I don't know how you find that, but I would like it if we could.
City had Bernardo in the double pivot.
Yeah, I think City just had a far more attacking lineup, far more attacking personalities on the pitch, which to me really shows the difference in the two managers.
City sort of had you know, you got Rice and Rodri, they're not the same type of player, but I'm going to lump them together in a category, right?
Then you've got Bernardo and Ødegaard who I feel are quite similar.
The problem is how Arsenal then partner that partner that up. Arsenal then put Zubimendi with that, whereas Manchester City put a Ryan Cherki with that. And it's just very very different types of players.
Nico O'Reilly is 6 ft 4. Yeah, he's massive and he's so technical. But he's not a center back. He is a midfielder.
And I think that's the balance that City have got quite nice. They're still massive across the back four, but there's much more technical quality than what they had even just 24 months ago with with the likes of Kyle Walker who was more about the physicality.
Maybe we could learn from that. Amrabat is the midfield pivot solution.
I do always think that City go a long way to proving that you don't have to be uh track athletes in midfield. You can be a lot more than that.
I live with an Arsenal fan. Sorry to hear that. Uh who said he was really happy with how attacking Arteta went when the lineup came out. He's broken their brains. I mean, for Arteta that was probably all-out attack. But yeah, it's it's the it's the names on the pitch, isn't it?
We we did this a lot with Ruben Amorim.
When when he was at the club and it wasn't always about formation structure and things like that. It's just have you got the attacking profiles on the pitch and are they allowed to play in slightly attacking positions?
And for Arsenal the other day I just felt that they didn't have many of them, whereas City had quite a lot. And yeah, Ødegaard, yeah, he's frustrating to watch. I said I think he's more of the Bernardo Silva ilk of player, but Arsenal want him to be Bruno Fernandes.
And they're very very different very very different. Your De Bruynes, your Bruno's are your game breakers. Your Bernardo's, your Ødegaard's sort of run the tempo a little bit more. Problem is Arsenal have got too many of those guys in midfield. They need the game breakers in there and don't have them.
Ooh, this is a good question from the Halftime Show. Wolves have gone down, and do you like any of their players for United? I do like João Gomes. I think he'll be cheaper than he already was.
Good squad option, wouldn't you say?
First of all, we will be doing a video on this at some point. I'll probably wait a couple more weeks to see sort of who the next geezer is to sort of be confirmed relegated to see what the next side is.
For example, if Spurs were to go down, we probably will do a video on relegated options for United. Now, some people will go, "Don't go anywhere near that." But you can get good players from relegated clubs. Liverpool did it with the likes of Andrew Robertson and those guys. You know, you can sign that type of player.
We will do a video at some point. From Wolves, is there anyone I would want?
João Gomes would probably be the one who stands out. I do like André in midfield.
I think he's good as well. João Gomes is is the one that stands out, but only as a third choice. He he wouldn't be in my top two. If it was Tchouaméni and Gomes, I'd feel that we've underdone it this summer. If it was João Moutinho and Gomes, I'd go, "It's good, but we haven't got enough." Gomes would be sort of a third-rank midfielder for me.
Especially if say your second rank was Mateus. Say you went big and then you went Mateus Fernandes-João Gomes, I wouldn't mind that so much.
Yeah, Burnley if with them going down most likely, are they a team that I'd want anyone from?
Not that I can think of off the top of my head.
I think Carrick is the best option right now realistically. I would like for Man United to interview more managers, but I think we are getting Carrick. Yeah, if I had to commit to a guess right now, I would guess that it will be Carrick next summer.
For left wing this summer, I don't think we're getting Yan Dhanda Diarra Monday cuz he prefers Liverpool. Think PSG have been linked as well.
Uh but but but I think we're getting N'Diaye or Bez Zungu Touré, which I would think I I would be perfectly fine.
Yeah, I think Barcola's name has sort of been mentioned as well. I don't know if that's at all realistic or not.
Let me just quickly reply to a message I got a little bit distracted.
Let me just quickly sort this.
Unprofessional, I do apologize.
Gomez still a plus and elite midfielder as well.
Yes, you I want to force it a little bit more than that.
I want to force it a little bit more than that.
Good live. Uh good to hear everyone's opinions. Yeah, that's really what I want to do with today's stream. You guys firing questions, I'll try and give my thoughts. But, I want to hear answers from you guys in the chat as well. So, let's say Steve asks a question, I'll answer it, but I'd like to you guys sort of giving your thoughts as well.
Morning, Steve. Good to see you, mate.
Hope you're well.
Uh Steve, that is false.
Why don't we get rid of Mount and get Rashford back in? Speaking of Mount, speaking of the boy money Mace, look at him up there in sixth place for top scorers at Manchester United this season.
What is going on there?
What is going on there?
Three goals is in sixth. It's not amazing, is it?
It's not amazing, but what I do like though is the top five are 99888.
Is there a world here where we can get >> [snorts] >> three players in double figures? I would think so. Can and Bumo score in the next five? Yeah, of course he can. Can Cessegnon score in the next five? I would demand it.
I'd love it if we could get three into double figures.
And then the rest get to nine or something. That'd be quite nice. That'd be quite nice.
We've got Steve with the nine-month membership. Thank you very much. Carrick has earned the opportunity.
I think he has. I think I agree with that. He was asked to get top four and he's done that. But, I think it's the way he's gone about doing it as well. There's been some good football in there. We've been beat some good sides.
The squad seem to like him, which is always very, very important.
Arguably more important than the tactics. It never felt like the crowds, you know, the fans sort of connected with Amorim and it never felt like the squad did either.
Which I think is big. I think it's really big.
I I think it does give Carrick a real opportunity.
Cessegnon has gone slightly off the boil lately. I think what we're seeing with Cessegnon at the moment is he looks much better when he's got 25 minutes from the bench as opposed to a start. He's in that weird annoying place which footballers often end up in where they come they play that say a month on the bench and every time they come on, they play for 30 minutes and they look fantastic. They score goals. If it's a winger, they dribble and create chances. Midfielders, whatever.
So, you give him a start and then you see now when they're playing from the start against fresh legs for 70 minutes, they don't look as effective.
So, Cessegnon at the moment feels like he's in that category where he's almost a nice bench option than he is a striker option for us, which is which is fine. He's still incredibly young. I think that's why a lot of people uh quite like the idea of an experienced striker sort of as backup in the summer, but could also come in for a game.
I mean, in another world what you do is you play Cunha up front and you bring Cessegnon from the bench. But, the problem is Cunha is our only left-sided player. So, I think next season it'll be different. I think Cessegnon's minutes will be really interesting next campaign to see sort of I think if there's dry spells for him, he will have spells where he sits on the bench a bit more like he was just a couple of months ago because it there might be Cunha up front. There might be whatever left winger we sign. Could he play up front? We've got N Bumo as well.
I think we will see Cessegnon being rotated quite a lot next season, but that's that's fine. He's he's at that age where that's absolutely acceptable.
The issue with Cessegnon the last few games was that we did not control either game and there was almost no service to him.
Yeah, I think that's fair. There's not been an awful lot of deliveries into the box. It's why I'd still like to see more from N Bumo uh sort of trying to provide that. And the lack of control?
Yeah, I think he himself has had a lack of control, hasn't he? I don't think his first touch has been great in the last couple. His hold up hasn't been amazing.
Uh but, for the Cunha goal the other day, you do see the impact of having a proper physical striker. He sort of pins that Chelsea defender, was it Caicedo I think, and Cunha arrives into the space.
So, I don't think he's been horrific in recent weeks, Cessegnon.
But, yeah, I think he could do a little bit more. I think they all can. I think they all can. That's That's almost the great thing and I think it's the real difference now with the the forwards that we've got.
Last last season, if you look at the the forwards that we had in second half of the season especially, it felt like if they really caught light and were absolutely brilliant, they might get to a 10-goal Premier League season.
Whereas now, we've got forwards where it's like when they're a little bit quiet, they're struggling for consistency, they might get to 10.
And I think that's where we've raised the floor. You know, Cunha being on a bad day is much better than uh Garnacho on a bad day.
Cunha on a bad day is probably Garnacho on a good day in terms of what they can provide for us. So, I think that's where we've massively upgraded. Uh but, I do think there are upgrades to be made again.
Again, I I Do I look at that front and think Champions League? No.
I think Premier League I think Premier League top four, but I don't think Champions League yet. Which again is fine. We're not trying to win the Champions League next season. But, that's where you might look at a Barcola, for example, someone who has been there and done it in the Champions League.
Got that extra technical quality that these forwards are lacking.
I think it's going to be a real balancing act this year.
If Diallo was as good at finishing as he is getting into goal-scoring opportunities, he would be our top scorer. Uh yeah, he'd win the Golden Boot I think most most seasons.
N Bumo and Amad have been awful for the past eight games, which is worrying.
Yeah, I mean, it's pretty much 2026 they haven't been very good.
I would say. Pretty much 2026 I would say they've struggled since returning from African Cup of Nations.
Neither of them have really done enough.
N Bumo started well under Carrick in those counter-attacking games against City and Arsenal. He certainly had an effect with the way that he could run off the ball.
I I will say to sort of defend N Bumo a little bit, we still haven't seen an awful lot of him in his best position down the right wing, have we? I know we saw it against Chelsea.
Uh but, he didn't play against Leeds, certainly not from the start.
We Yeah, we we need to give him time. If we were to sign a new player right now, give him two weeks on the right wing and go, "No, he ain't got it." That would seem very harsh. And that's almost what we're doing with N Bumo. He's He's been up front most of the season or certainly inside here.
We need to get him back here. I think he needs a goal as well, doesn't he? He needs one to go in off the kneecap or off his chin or something. He just needs a lucky goal.
Give him a little bit of confidence and hopefully that can help him kick on for next season.
Uh I'm right in saying they didn't qualify for the World Cup, right? So, N Bumo should get the summer off.
I think that will probably really benefit him. Having a full preseason at United, uh but also just having that rest in the summer, I think will be very, very good for him.
I'm going to say it. Heaven is ahead of Yoro at the time of recording. The lad is a baller.
Yeah, I I I agree. I'm going to do a Heaven video probably tomorrow now. Today will probably be a Chermiti one and then So, today Chermiti, tomorrow Heaven.
Then I got some tactical stuff that I want to do towards the end of the week.
Yeah.
It's good. I think Heaven's playing really well. Really well. But, I I wonder what what is it in training that all season long has sort of kept him out of the team? Cuz Amorim didn't play him for ages. Eventually, he did.
He got those I think it was eight starts in a row. But, for ages he didn't play.
Was there something in training Is there something in training that he isn't quite doing?
Or is it simply we're not playing much games, you go to experienced ones, Maguire, De Ligt, or Maguire, Lisandro?
But, why hasn't Heaven played ahead of Yoro, for example? What's the difference in training going on there? Yoro's more experienced at senior level.
Not sure.
Is both Cunha and or N Bumo taking part in the World Cup? So, I think Excuse me, I do apologize. I believe Cunha is going to the World Cup. I would assume he'll be in the Brazil squad.
But, I'm pretty sure N Bumo will be at home because they didn't qualify.
Amad's at the World Cup.
Cessegnon at the World Cup. Did they Sweden qualify?
Don't know.
Not sure. Casemiro will be at the World Cup, I know. Won't actually be a problem uh for us anymore.
Kobbie I'd expect to be at the World Cup. Bruno will be. Shaw probably not.
Lomans probably will be. Heaven won't.
Maguire touch and go. Diallo will be.
Dorgu, did Denmark qualify? Surely Denmark qualified. Surely they did. If so, Dorgu would go.
Lisandro will be a really interesting one.
Really interesting one simply because of his fitness.
Think he makes the Argentina squad if he has a fully fit season, but I don't know if he'll go.
Yoro probably not. De Ligt probably not.
As Barry will. Ugarte will.
Mount won't. Amad will.
Zirkzee touch and go.
It's interesting. There will be several players that get to have the summer stay in Manchester.
Denmark didn't qualify.
What?
That is mental.
That's insane to me. You think of their record in recent tournaments, that's crazy.
We've got five games left. How many points?
Let's look at the fixtures. Brentford at home. Can someone tell me why this is being played Monday night? When I check uh the schedule in on Sunday, I can't see a Premier League game. What's going on there? Do they just hate us?
There's an FA Cup game, I think it's Leeds-Chelsea, but why can't we play?
Then United-Liverpool at Old Trafford. I think the next two being at Old Trafford is nice for us. I think that is is big, especially that Liverpool game.
Sunderland away. You would imagine by the 9th of May, there may not be an awful lot to play for.
There's a chance.
I mean, I don't think Sunderland will have anything to go for by then.
Where's Sunderland? 11th. They're not going down, they're not really going up, are they?
They might have fancied themselves for a spot, actually. Didn't realize quite how close they were.
Uh Forest will be fighting for their lives at the time, you'd imagine. Brighton will be on the beach.
I'd have thought. How many points can we get there?
I mean, I I actually don't think it's unrealistic to say 15.
I don't think 15 points is daft. I don't think it's over the top to suggest that we could get that.
In terms of what I would set as a target, beat Forest and Sunderland, absolutely.
Brentford are yeah, they're tricky in terms of their league position, but Brentford are a team that I would always aim to beat.
Liverpool's naturally always a tricky one.
We we've got to be aiming for 10 points, haven't we? We've got to be aiming for 10.
Three wins, a draw, and a loss.
I think 12 is very doable as well, though, if I'm being honest.
Brighton would be a banana skin.
Yeah, I mean, obviously we've got to think about the league table by that point.
By last day of the season, we will already have it done. We'll already have it done. thrown in. There's a chance for Forest at Old Trafford.
You could see a couple of youngsters in if results go our way over the next few weeks. If we win a couple, there's a chance we're good. You might see a couple of Carrington lads thrown in, which I'd be all for. It'd be nice to have that.
They know we don't win games on Monday night, that's why they kept our fixture there. Yeah, makes sense.
Brighton are always on the beach. I was going to make the joke. Shut up, Steve.
These recent match times killing me.
4:00 a.m. kickoff. I don't know how you do it. I do not know how you do it.
I I saw what I did the other night. I think I started watching the United-Chelsea game at 12:00, and I think I finished editing at about 5:30 in the morning.
Had my alarm set for 7:00 to get up and upload.
Long night, that one.
Got to push Villa and finish third.
Yeah, obviously we want to do that, but I do think that there might be that temptation to you know, can we start Shea Lacey here, or can we bring in one of the Fletchers or Twaites or someone like that?
We should be getting at least 10 out of 15. Yeah, there's three very winnable games in there. See what else happens as well. I do agree.
I'd like to see Lacey start the last two games. Me too. Me too.
Yoro has a lot of potential, but he's not aggressive and physical enough.
Perfect example, we conceded against Crystal Palace.
Yeah, I'm I'm a little bit gutted that we didn't get to see Yoro the other night, obviously because of the injury.
It would have been really interesting to see Yoro and Heaven together. I would have liked to have seen how that would have played out, cuz I think their profiles can complement each other quite nicely. So, a little bit gutted.
Or Fletcher midfield at Old Trafford versus Forest. Why not? Why not?
Problem with the Forest game is you don't love playing the kids against a relegation team that's scrapping. Would rather them against someone with nothing to play for. Yeah, I just think realistically, if we are to do it, we may not, but if we are to get into a position where we can, it's probably more likely to be done at Old Trafford than it is away from home. And that's the Old Trafford. It's not going to be Liverpool we do it against, is it?
15 out of 15, City and Arsenal lose all of their games, and we win the league. I mean, I'm down for that.
I'm down for that. Who do you lot want to win the league out of City and Arsenal? I'm really torn.
Like, I hate that City just keep winning it pretty much year on year.
But also, Arsenal just collapsing is hilarious, and it will never not be.
I think we could run this exact season 10 times in a row, and if Arsenal bottle it every time, I will laugh every single time. So, what do you fancy?
By the time we play, we might potentially drop to fifth place. I'm really looking forward to that Liverpool one.
Win that, and we feel like we're in a nice a nice place, don't we?
Honestly, I'm okay with the refs and the FA screwing us over. It will make it look Sorry, it'll make it all the more sweet when we do it anyway.
The decisions from the refs at the weekend just make last weekend's red card look even worse.
Look even even worse.
I don't think the Licha red card is ever a red card, but then you watch the decisions this weekend, and it really does not make an awful lot of sense at all.
I hate City, but this will be a generational bottle. It would just be funny, wouldn't it?
It It's just nice to point at them and laugh. You did City If City win it, I sort of get the feeling it's just like, "Eh, they won it they see. They won it again, much to my shock."
I don't care. Whereas Arsenal, it feels like you'll hear about it a bit more.
Arsenal winning the league would be a moral failure and a signal that the world is ending. I think we've had enough of those signals recently.
Anyone but Arsenal. I like that mindset.
I like that mindset.
Put your hands up if you're going to miss Casemiro.
He's had a weird career at United, hasn't he?
Comes in that first season, is absolutely amazing, proved that he was still one of the best ball-winning midfielders in the world.
Then the next season, crashed and burned and caught fire and >> [snorts] >> done.
Washed. What was it? Leave the football before football leaves you? Something like something like that.
Hasn't aged particularly well. Wanted him out of the club at the time, I think most of us probably did.
Then under Amorim, couldn't get in the team for ages. For ages and ages and ages, he didn't really get a sniff.
Uh and now he's just brilliant. He's had a really good season. Even under Amorim, I think Casemiro played well. And under Carrick, he's just been fantastic. The goals that this fellow pops up with, the contributions. Let's go back to it, right? Casemiro is in our top goal scorers, he's third.
Eight goals is not easy to replace.
It is not easy to replace this summer.
I almost think it's impossible.
I almost think it's impossible to replace Casemiro.
I don't I don't think you can do it. I don't think you can go and sign one player which brings what Casemiro does.
Thoughts? I I think that's why this summer, first of all, we need multiple midfielders, but I don't I almost don't look at it as who's the Casemiro replacement. I almost just think we need a new midfield approach.
Like, trying to get what Casemiro does is very tough.
I think it's like we should go a completely different direction.
Also, partly because we've gone into tactical previews however many times over the past few seasons and said, you know, that is a problem in terms of legs. So, actually trying to do direct replacement doesn't make an awful lot of sense, anyway.
Weirdly, as much as I love Casemiro, and I'm gutted that we're losing him, and sort of the the moments that we're going to lose from him, I if we get it right, I think we will upgrade. I think we will be better next season in here.
Even our starting Not just the squad depth, but I think the starting 11 will be better without Casemiro, as amazing as he has been.
Which is weird, is confusing, but I think next year we will be more balanced without Casemiro and Mainoo together in there, even though I think in recent times, they've absolutely got the best out of each other.
It's really weird one. It's a funny old sport.
Do you think Carrick deserves the job?
To be fair, we lucked out over some of the past few games. He has not demonstrated that he can break down a low block side.
The low block comment is is an important one. I think it's one that we always bring up, not just as United fans, but I think around the world of football.
These days, everyone talks about low block. 10 years ago, no one knew or had heard the term. These days, everyone does talk about can the manager break down a low block? Can that player play against a low block?
I think what we have to remember is there's a reason it's difficult.
There's not many managers that are amazing against a low block. There's not, because the point of a low block is to be horrible to play against. It's not meant to be this big open game that leaves loads of spaces to exploit. Low blocks are difficult. There's not many good managers in the world that sort of naturally are amazing at breaking down low blocks.
I do actually A lot of the time against blocks, not always, but a lot of the time, it does come down more to the players.
I think low blocks are often beaten by a moment of quality, or set pieces, which is why Arsenal have leaned towards that so much this season.
You know, we'd we'd sit here and say that Arsenal aren't amazing at breaking down low blocks, but they are top of the Premier League, and they're in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
They're doing it right for it. So, it's a weird one.
The manager is less important than getting top signings for next season.
Yeah, I I agree, as long as we don't get the manager horrendously wrong. As long as the manager after this summer is half decent, the signings are more important. I do agree.
Want to break it down now, man? Our striker is 6'5, go deep and compete with him in the air?
Totally.
I think breaking down a low block with patterns of play is more rare than people make out. Mostly Pep did it and not many else. The more accessible solution is pure individual quality. I mean, exactly that.
Exactly that.
Bruno.
There's a reason you sign a Bruno, why Bruno is so important. It's the problem for Arsenal, right? They don't have a Bruno to to break down those blocks. It is so much about about quality. That's why you pay so much for these big forwards. Because they give you moments.
Cunha scores goals from range. It's It's why Mbeumo is frustrating me a little bit because he hasn't really Cesko's been great in games where particularly late on when chasing a goal, teams are low, get Cesko on the pitch. Nice box presence. Cunha has shown that ability to score from range against a couple of blocks this season.
Mbeumo, not so much.
It's why Casemiro has been very useful for us as well. For the sake of game state, scoring a goal from a set piece, it opens the game up.
Yeah, individual brilliance. That's why you sign great individuals. That's why we need more this summer.
I thought Cunha would be a great option for playing low blocks, but he hasn't really been, has he?
He's not been amazing. I think he's been better than, for example, Mbeumo, but no, I don't think he's been amazing, but I'm not surprised. We did our videos last summer and we did a lot of these looking at how the new signings were going to complement each other, how they'd play well together, but what they wouldn't bring. And something that I think we made fairly clear was that Cunha and Mbeumo were not going to see United become amazing against deep teams. That their biggest impact would be in more open games.
And but also that they could always bring moments.
They could always bring moments.
You know, Cunha at Wolves was about big spaces, carries over distances. He did it against us so well on many occasions.
He was never going to get that in games where the opposition sit deep. That's why you need different profiles at the club. That's why the attack isn't complete right now. It's not a balanced front line. Because we don't have those ones who are so good in smaller spaces.
The one we've got is Amad and he's he's out of form.
But I think Cunha and Mbeumo always thrived more in counter-attacking situations, which is why I would like that sort of injection of more of a technician. More tight space footwork, that sort of player.
AJ, why is it that there are so many gaps in our midfield anytime we lose some sort of duel or battle?
I mean, part of the reason is because football is so man-to-man.
Right? And if it is literally man-to-man, if you lose your battle, for example, here, that physically has to be a gap if if the rest of the pitch is man-to-man like this and you lose your battle, it is going to be a gap because there isn't that next player that can come tackle you. You know, if Heaven steps out, he leaves a gap. That's one of the reasons.
Um every team suffers from that, to be honest, which is actually why the bigger problem is just actually the mobility in here. Say if Arsenal, for example, they can lose their duel, uh but Declan Rice does a great job of making up PSG, you know, João Neves does a fantastic job of sweeping behind. So, I think that's a lot of the reason.
Just simply extra legs in midfield, it's not everything.
You know, I I think we really need to put a big focus on technical quality this summer.
But just having a little more legs in midfield would do us the world of good.
That's why Tchouaméni is is such an interesting signing.
His mobility to compare to Casemiro will immediately improve us defensively, you would you would think.
Even if you may not think he's as good a player, the fact that he's just a bit more mobile will will really help.
Do we need to sign a left back {slash} left winger? In an ideal world, I think we sign both. I think in a realistic world, we probably get one.
So, therefore, the profile's important.
If it's a left back, it needs to be someone that can overlap, so Cunha can play his role. If it's a left winger, it needs to be someone that can play touchline, so there's less responsibility on the fullbacks. If you could get both, you probably want two that can go both ways, but I don't know how doable that is.
What do you think about the Tchouaméni links? You go sign him if he's available. You you go sign him.
Uh for me, that's a pretty straightforward one.
He's just good.
He's just a a top player and I and I would say one of the few proper sixes in in the world of that level at the moment. I don't think there's that many. Everyone wants one. Everyone wants a six.
Certainly 18 months ago, everyone was looking for a six and there's not that many about. There's a lot of eights that you go he could play as a deeper one. You know, could Elliot Anderson could we bring him in as a deeper one? Could Could Ward him play there?
But I think Tchouaméni is the one that needs that position. He is here. He's more here even than what Casemiro is cuz Casemiro does like that little wander forward.
Bakole, Cesko and Amad against a low block, no problem.
Yeah, that's the sort of thing I'm talking about. You need different types of players for different types of games, don't you? That's part of squad balance.
It's not just about an 11, it's about between 26 players, can we cover different game states?
That we are going to do a whole sort of mini series on that. It's something that Steve suggested uh a few weeks ago. Sadly, it was just when I got ill, so I wasn't able to do the content at the time. But we are going to look at sort of how you build a squad to do multiple things, not just to be West Ham in the Premier League, but also how to be your Brightons in the Premier League, your Fulhams, but also your Citys and your Arsenals and then your your PSGs in the Champions League. Then your Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League.
A squad that can do multiple things.
I think that's what we need.
Tchouaméni can also play at center back, too.
Yep.
I think that's really useful for us.
I just liked the stream and it made you more handsome. Made me more handsome or you more handsome? Either way, press like. If it makes someone more handsome, it's a good thing for the world, right?
Such a good idea, AJ almost died. It put me on my deathbed. You can still hear it in my voice in certain videos at the moment. I'm not better yet. It's been like 3 weeks now. I don't really know what's going on.
I think I'm dying, but hey-ho for the cause.
Who would be your preferred pick for midfield reinforcement? I saw your videos and it sounds like you prefer Guimarães the most.
Yeah, if I could sign one midfielder this summer, I'd sign Bruno Guimarães.
Simp- simple as that. Uh my next choice would be Elliot Anderson because I think he's just wonderful.
You know, you don't go for both.
You go for one or the other. They're sort of like in that category of midfielder. It would be Guimarães, it would be Elliot Anderson. Matheus Fernandes is a slightly cheaper one, slightly less proven, but still very expensive.
Slightly cheaper, but still very expensive. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Cheaper than Anderson, but still very expensive.
Matheus Fernandes is one that I like a lot. I I probably am at the point where I don't even contemplate that anymore.
Matheus Fernandes would make my go sign him midfield list at this point. Just go get him. Doesn't matter the situation, how many midfielders we're signing, make sure he's one of them. Is where I am at.
I think he'll be next season, if he was at let's say West Ham stay up and Fernandes stays at West Ham, it'll be Elliot Anderson sort of talks, you know, 120 million to take him from West Ham the following summer. Go do it this year. We should have done it last year. Didn't do it last year, go do it this year.
Guimarães is quite old now, though. Do we want to repeat the Casemiro cycle?
For me, it's not a problem. His age, I want a 27, 28-year-old midfielder.
Is Is he turning 29 at the end of the year? I think Guimarães is something like that. I don't think he's too old. I think he's absolutely fine.
Experience is such an important part of the game. Such an important part of game. Guimarães brings that in abundance. And I just don't think 29 is the age where players tail off. For some it is, absolutely. Uh but for others it isn't. Guimarães was a bit more of a late bloomer anyway.
You know, he wasn't like Lemina playing 7,000 minutes a season at the age of 16.
He did break through a little bit later, a little bit more of a slow burner. So, I think he's fine. You look at Bruno Fernandes, he doesn't look like he's slowing down past the age of 29. So, I don't really see it as a problem, personally.
We need a Doku-type player badly because we lack creativity on the left side.
Yeah, it's it's the gravity also of a of a Doku. When he picks the ball up out wide, so many people have to get over to try and defend him. That's why Aarons get so much room to crash into the box to see.
That's why that's been so effective because of Doku. And yeah, we we do lack that. We do lack that.
He's 29 Yeah, I think I want to say he's like 29 in September, October, something like that.
But that doesn't put me off. If anything, that makes me want to sign him more. I think we need someone who is let's say 26 plus. I would like one of the midfielders to be that age. I I think that experience is needed.
Have you heard that Onana wants to return to United and fight for his place?
I want to hit a million subscribers tomorrow.
But a bit like Onana returning to United, it's not going to happen, I don't think.
Tonali is a no-no.
Are you saying you don't want him or you've seen that the club don't want him? The talks have cooled in the past few days. It does seem as though we might be looking towards other targets, which honestly, with Tonali, I'm not mad about either way. If we get him, I think he's a massive upgrade on what we've got at the club. If we don't get him, it's not the end of the world. I think there are other great options out there that might tick more or different boxes.
So, Tonali, as long as buying him doesn't cost too much, is win-win for me. We either get get ourselves a good player or we turn our attentions to another good player.
It's It's fine. Absolutely fine. He's not one of the must ones. He's one of the ones that'd be nice in midfield, but not one of the must signs.
Lemina Camara from Monaco is quality and would be cheap. Really good player.
Really good player.
Yeah, what do you think about Tchouaméni? I like him. I like him.
We need a deep-lying center forward, a low-cost one.
Right.
Let's quickly What's time? 10:02. Right, let's get some players on the screen here.
I think when we talk about depth, if we can, we like two for each position, don't we? So, we know Casemiro won't be here. So, let's get some random gear. Oh god, we don't want the Chelsea blue. That is just absolutely vile.
Uh do do do do do do do do do do do do do do Let's get some reds in here. So, depth for next season. Let's imagine Let's just get rid of these stuff. I don't want to see them anymore.
Nice.
Uh ba ba ba ba I'm really struggling here. I'm acting like I know what I'm doing, but I really don't.
Goalkeeper. I mean, who knows what's going to happen here by India.
Euro delete. I think these guys will probably all stay. Let's assume. That's not bad.
Uh get some midfielders in and overload it in it. So, that's three center midfielders uh signings right there.
This would sort suggest I'm assuming we're going to sell Ziyech.
Sort of get that impression.
That sort of suggests we need a backup striker and a backup left winger or starting left winger.
Something An idea I did float the other day in Discord is what if you were to do this and get two over here?
Thoughts on that?
Thoughts on that?
Or is this not going to happen? Three center mids, two left wings. The Basically, we almost need two forwards this summer.
One lesser one. One that can come and start. The The under The profile that we need, right? No arguments here.
Let me get another custom player in.
Is a first-choice left winger. First choice in quality level. It doesn't mean they're going to start every game because we've got Cunha. Absolutely fine. So, we need a different profile here of high quality. Touchline dribbler, bit of speed about them, bit of creativity about them. That's what we need here.
But could you go these two are your strikers, these two are your left backs, and could you get a younger you know, a 19-year-old winger?
So, could you go premium premium, premium, younger, younger, and therefore probably cheaper? Is that something you could do?
Cuz if not, realistically, what we have to do is we have to push Cunha left, and then we need to sign a backup striker.
So, it's the same amount of signings, realistically. It's the It's the same number of players we're trying to bring in there.
Or are we not going to sign two forwards?
And are we just going to hope that pure versatility can cover enough over the season?
Is that enough forward power with the youngsters as well?
Is that enough frontline power for for a full campaign in four competitions?
What do we reckon?
Yeah, obviously players from the under-21s as well. Absolutely.
I like it, but I think we'll get two center midfielders plus Collyer and Sweats for depth.
I mean, that just terrifies me. I'll be completely honest with you.
I think it'll be two center midfielders this summer.
And it I I hate the idea of it. I really do.
I just don't think it's the time for One of those youngsters can be fifth choice, sure. I don't think it's the time for one of them to be fourth choice at the moment. I just don't see it for me.
Right, let's say you go you know, this is your midfield.
So, you've got Kobbie You've got Kobbie already. Oh my god, my voice.
>> [laughter] >> So, you've got Kobbie already.
Then you go get two good of midfielders.
One of them gets injured, which happens, especially at this club. You've only got that for the full campaign now.
For Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup. And we want to be competitive on as many fronts as possible.
Yes, you've got your youngsters that could come in, but do you want them playing enough?
Not sure.
Maybe a forward from Spurs? Any that have lived up north already?
If you want to attack, Steve, guys, he's pushing for Richarlison, who by the way, I actually think is a good player. I actually think Cunha is a good player.
That's a Cunha. I read a different message. I think Richarlison is a good player, but good luck getting the fanbase onside with that one.
Watkins, Tchouaméni, Gomes, Summerville, and Porro if possible.
I like it. I don't know if it moves the needle enough for me apart from the Tchouaméni signing.
I think we just need a left wing mid and left back. How many midfielders are you talking about? Cuz it's got to be more than one, isn't it?
Just At the moment, this is our squad depth for next season.
I think.
I think, if I'm a guessing man, right?
Casemiro leaving, we know that. Ugarte is leaving. We're telling him he's leaving. And I think Ziyech will go in the summer just because he's not given opportunities. So, these are our options for next campaign as it stands.
I I just don't get how you don't add three in there.
How Who have Man City got in midfield?
Who are their midfield options? You got Should we just do double pivot players or all of them?
Let's do double pivot. Who Who's City got? They've got Rodri, Bernardo Silva plays in there a lot.
Reijnders.
Who am I missing?
Nico González.
Is it the four?
Is it four center mid mids that Is it four center mids that City got?
Let me quickly have a look. Let's have a look.
Am I missing someone there?
Feels like I am. Rodri, Reijnders.
Obviously, Foden and Tchouaméni, but I would class them in more as the sort of the 10 positions.
Am I missing anyone?
Oh, Kovačić. Yeah, Kovačić would be the other one. So, they've essentially got five in there.
We're going into the season with one.
So, only signing two doesn't feel enough for me.
Is Is basically the point I'm trying to make.
And And they've got Yeah, Nico O'Reilly can go play midfield as well. Uh Rico Lewis can go play midfield if they need him to.
You You see the comparison I'm making there? They've got five deep midfielders plus fullbacks that can play there. Then they've got their 10s. Whereas we've currently going to go into the season with one.
How are we selling footballers like Ziyech and keeping athletes like Mbeumo?
I just think Ziyech will be sold. I'm not saying I would necessarily, but the fact that he's not playing football, if I'm him, I'm push pushing for a move.
You know, he may not go to the World Cup this summer. In the future, he's going to want to go to international tournaments. So, I think he'll probably want to leave.
Go back to Italy or something like that.
But yeah, what I'm What I'm saying is City have five potential double pivot options. You know, if Carrick took that City squad, he'd have five players he could play here. We have one next season.
That's the problem.
That's the problem.
For me, you sign three.
You You sign three.
I just struggle to see it any other way.
You sign three, then you get a left winger.
Then it Then there's a serious conversation about what's more important. Is it a backup striker? Is it a starting left back? Or is it Excuse me. Or is it a center back?
I don't know.
I don't know, but for me, three is not an argument. Left wing is not an argument.
Let's assume we make five signings.
That's a pretty standard summer. Where does the fifth one go? I don't know.
That's why someone like Lewis Kelly, yes, is such a nice option cuz he can do left back or he can do midfield. It's why Balde is a nice option cuz he could do the same. It's why Mateus Fernandes is nice because he can play a lot of different roles. It's why I like versatility. It's what sort of makes me lean away from Wharton. As fantastic as I think he is, I don't see him as a player who can cover so many different positions. And I think he needs a more specific partner than what a lot of the other targets do.
So, that's why I sort of tend to steer away from him.
Three minimum. If we sign two, just a single injury dooms us.
Yeah, that's just the way I see it.
That's the way I see it.
Scott is a really good player, by the way. Yeah, Scott is very good footballer.
Was magnificent for England under-21s last summer. Seriously good.
Archie Gray is another one. Yeah, I wanted him just before he went to Spurs.
But I'd still take him.
Yeah, sort of the third-choice midfield option. Can play right back. Can play center back. Yeah, I'd like it.
Three is minimum for me as well if we are to push as high and as far as possible on all fronts. Yeah, I think it sort of gives us a squad that can go top four. Like, just imagine second half of the season this season, we'd had a bad Kobbie injury or we'd had a bad Casemiro injury. They're going to miss five weeks. We'd have been absolutely finished. Absolutely finished. And we risk going into next season, you know, in a similar situation. And And that can't happen.
My list of players to go is Ugarte, Onana, Malacia, Ziyech, Shaw, and Mount.
I will think you I think you'll struggle to get rid of Shaw and Mount with their wages uh Uh, combined with their injury record.
Both of them strike me as players who might run down their contract, especially Shaw. I think Shaw will be uh, someone who just stays and then we eventually contract ends, then he moves on. Mount, you might be able to get money for him.
But I don't think he'll go this summer.
I wouldn't have thought.
Maybe if you sign three midfielders and one of them is a Mateus Fernandez who can play higher, maybe at that point you let Mount go.
But I don't think he will at the moment.
You can't just fire a third central midfielder before a center back first.
I personally can.
I personally can.
I know we've got concerns over here, but like over here we've got a situation where it's like if we were to get an injury, we've got a problem. Here it's we've got one footballer.
We've got five to cover two positions here. Here we've got one.
Add two more. Okay, we've got three to cover two positions. Here we've got five. So here then takes next priority.
I am of the opinion that we want a center back. I've been saying it for a long time at a point where I was getting a lot of criticism for it. Everyone else seems to be agreeing a little bit more now because of a lot of the injuries.
I do think we need one, but a third midfielder would still take priority for me personally. Just because I think I think center back you can cope with.
There is a weird game where you can chuck Mazraoui in there or Shaw for a game. Whereas midfield, we literally physically do not have the players.
Yeah, and if one of those midfielders is Tchouaméni who can drop in and play center back for example, that gives you a a lot.
I do want a center back, but not as much as I want three midfielders and a left winger.
It's three midfielders, left wing, and then one of striker, left back, center back. That's the discussion for me personally.
Maybe that will change before the end of the season. It's very possible.
What's going to happen with De Ligt? I don't know. I I do not know. I don't know the injury situation. I am worried for him.
Bruno better stay. We're not giving him a choice.
Yeah, Heaven in midfield could be an option. I also think there might be a world where Aiden Heaven is knocking on the door to be the starting center back next season.
I think he will uh, try and make that case for himself.
I'd go center back over left wing really, in order of priority.
I see I have left wing like really high for me.
Like I I would say left wing slash left back before center back. Not both of them, but one of them. Just because I think this side is it makes me want to like stab myself in the eyes watching these lots sometimes.
How about Tchouaméni and Camavinga?
Yeah.
Yes.
Both of them? Can I have them? Yeah, sure, let's go for it.
Yeah, again, that's why versatility is so important. You've got Luton Heaven who could step in for a game or two to fill into midfield if you had to. Shaw can fill it center fill in at center back. Mazraoui can do the same.
You need more players like that. Cunha can fill in up front. We know that Amrabat can as well. I like that.
I just don't I think we've got a lack of options over here. I think everywhere else we've just about got a player that might be able to step in apart from here where we've got one and center backs.
I just think we need a body there. I think we need a body.
Carrick has a very good relationship with Rashford. Maybe he's back in the first team. It's possible, but I don't think he will.
I I just think it's better for Carrick for Rashford to move on. Go somewhere else. This fan base will never appreciate him. And I don't think it always be that part of the fan base which will hate him for one I don't know why.
I don't know why cuz he did so well for us.
Uh, if I was Rashford, I'd just cut ties and and move on.
And then go find somewhere where I can play a lot with a little bit less pressure.
I would let Heaven continue to master the center back before asking him to be versatile. Yeah, I would.
Yeah, I would as well. I said you know, if it's Meunier this weekend and Yoro is fit, I don't know.
I don't know if he is.
But I would like still to see Heaven and Maguire this weekend.
Even if Yoro is fit, I'd quite like to see those two play with each other.
Play football together from the start this weekend.
Is this recruitment for Carrick or in general for the club? Uh, in general for the club. I think we need these positions regardless. Summerville, yeah, exciting. I like him a lot.
I I think Summerville for me would be a signing if we were to do this and sign two and have Summerville as the second one.
If the thought is only one forward, I would want someone higher quality than Summerville personally.
Versatility is slowly leaving the game and everyone seems to be a specialist.
I I just you can't be a player that can just play everywhere. Look at Bernardo Silva at City right now.
Look at him.
I said I think Fernandez, that's why he's one of the ones for me. Mateus Fernandez. West Ham. I think he's one of those midfielders who can be converted to a right back. He can play in the 10, we've seen it before. He can play in a double pivot, he can play in a midfield three. I love it. It's why I like Camavinga apart from his injuries. Uh, but the fact he can play left back or six or eight is great for us.
The reason you can't sign a third before a center back is due to health concerns.
I do understand that. Kobbie plus two midfielders uh, gives you three players in midfield.
There is only one senior center back who is healthy and he's old.
It It depends on De Ligt. If De Ligt gets to a situation where you've got to move him on, then at that point I would sign uh, a center back.
If we can get De Ligt fit, I would probably probably just about hang on for one more year, but I would hate to do it. But I would just I think I'd just hang on one more year.
Got Black Wolf with the $5 super chat.
Thank you very much. I would have Heaven and Harry's experience and knowledge for the kid. Yeah, I think it's potentially a really nice duo to be honest. I think they're both quite strong in the air.
Heaven's that bolder player on the ball.
Maguire's got that experience like you said. I think that's key. Yeah, I I really like that as as a duo. I'd like to see it this weekend. And thank you very much for the super chat. Guys, lots of love hearts in the chat say thank you.
Szoboszlai is versatile, too.
Yeah, James Garner is another one that would have been nice for that reason.
Signed a contract in January, so likely expensive. But yeah, Szoboszlai is great for that. Lewis Skelly is great for that. I think Balewa is someone who could play left back.
He's played center back before as well.
Uh, yeah, I I I think it's important.
Most technical players have the technical ability to play in other positions, but a player who can adapt different off-the-ball roles is rare.
That's fair.
That's fair. I like that.
Yeah, Garner I just think with the the contract extension in January is probably now unlikely.
Quite like Slotterback. Yeah, me too.
Although we've Heaven, I sort of don't want to block him.
I don't want to block him.
I almost think of it like this. This is why I want to see Dogu before the end of the season to see if he can bring us solutions at left back.
I need to see that. Cuz if he can, I'll see Shaw is still left back depth, but there is a world where that's also your center back depth. That's six options to get us through a season. I think it's enough for one more year.
Oh, but is it cuz I so badly want a center back? I don't know. I don't know.
It's difficult.
I think my ideal window is three center mids, left wing, center back.
I think that's what I would pick.
It's bloody expensive.
Um, but Champions League, right?
Should solve it. Casemiro's wage is gone. Rashford's wage is gone. Sancho's wage is gone. There's going to be a lot of people that are going to free us up free up some money for us.
>> [snorts] >> Yeah, I think that's where I'm at.
I think Dogu can do it. Yeah, we need to see it. I I want to see that he can pass in the first phase. That's what I need to see from him. So it's crucial for full backs to find passing and dribbling solutions in the first phase.
Dogu hasn't shown it from wing back, but maybe from deeper he can.
Give me 10 dollars and a stick and I will win you the treble.
Let's do it. Let's do it.
That's the perfect window, just missing another forward. Yeah, at that point it's just a shame, isn't it?
Like it would have been nice to get another forward, but sitting here demanding six is a little bit ambitious.
So three center mids, left wing, center back, I'm happy with that.
I'm happy with that.
It does leave left back needing improvement next summer and it will leave up front needing improvement next summer.
But you know, we'll deal with that when we get there.
AJ, why not come play in a double pivot?
I'm more of a left sort of left-sided central midfielder in a three to be honest. Suits me a little bit more.
Dogu at left wing had good games until injury. Yeah, he did play really well.
Really well.
Can you do one more year of Shaw is the question if you've got a proper left winger.
If you've got a proper sort of techy, touchline, dribbly, creative left winger, can you do one more year where Shaw plays a deeper role on the left?
And in some games Dogu comes in to overlap Cunha and he plays.
You can probably just about do it for one more year.
Just about. It's It's not nice, right?
But it's no different to this year. We had to put up with only three midfielders. We're not going to fix the squad completely this summer. It's about figuring out what we've got to prioritize.
AJ ran our Pro Clubs midfield. Best believe I did.
With my excellent copy man who look like He's playing right now, but we don't like him.
into the ground. That's just unnecessary, I'm going to chin you in a minute.
Anyway, I have just clocked the time and I've got a lot of work that I need to get done this afternoon for a video for today and also tomorrow. So, we better head off. I think we've pretty much covered everything that was sort of on the top of my head to talk about, and you guys have brought up a lot of really good conversations as well. So, it's been a really productive stream, actually.
Quite a laid-back one, just sitting and talking to the chat. You guys have probably seen the side of my face more than the front of my face today.
Uh but thank you very much for getting involved. Thank you to everyone that has tuned in, that has liked, that has subscribed, joined the Discord, sent super chats in, gifted memberships, renewed your memberships, and just have been involved in a whole lot of waffling in the chat. I have really really enjoyed it.
If you want to carry on, head over to the Discord server. It is linked in the description of this stream.
So, go over there, join in more conversation, continue the conversation because that's, you know, nearly 900 people just relentlessly talking about Man United. So, if you like that, get it done.
Uh but yeah, I am now finished for today because I want to go and sort a Tchouaméni video. I want to sort an Aden Heaven video cuz I think his performance was good at the weekend.
I want to do a video on Carrick's different defensive structure that we saw against Chelsea.
And I also want to do a video on a couple of different tactical things I noticed during the game the other day.
Let me just pin the Discord in the chat for you. Thank you very much, Chad.
Uh couple of different tactical things that I noticed the other day and what it means for the future of United, and then it's on to Brentford preview, Brentford stream, and all of that stuff. So, we've got quite a busy week coming up.
This is what happens when we do something slightly different on the pitch, play all right, and win, and some individuals do well. We actually get some content. So, I better head off. Thank you very much for watching the stream, and as always, I will see you Friday. Friday for the next one, which will be a Brentford preview at 11:00 a.m., the same time slot as this one. See you then.
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