United vs Chelsea: Hope at last!

The podcast discusses an in-depth interview with Ericsson Haggard about Manchester United's recent performances. The hosts have mixed opinions about the team's progress and tactical decisions. They question the selection of Scott McTominay and the lack of signings in January. They also speculate on potential lineup changes and the timing of a potential takeover. Overall, they express frustration and lack of confidence in the team's current direction. What's a crack? Welcome to the Ericsson Plays Podcast. We're back tonight to review Manchester University's Chelsea game. How are you? I'm fine. Yes, hello everyone. Yes and no. All the news that came out today. Ericsson Haggard really in-depth interviewed with MUTV. In the interview he said that he sees snippets of progress in the performances we've put in and he also sees improvements at Carrington. Repeated the same logic, it's a process, we're in the process, it's going to take time to get it right. Now that you see the team sheet tonight, does it look like he's going to get it right? Well I think we have to look at the performance. I missed the majority of the highlights of the game against Newcastle and from what I've seen the biggest disappointments in that game were Marcus Rashford, Martial, the whole thing between them two. 90% of the, 99% maybe more of the fan base were calling for them two to beat Giroud. And I think we've got some of what we wanted. We got the front three, we want it. The only thing as you like to call it, Mr Pragmatic, Mr Safe has gone with Scott McTominay once again and I'm starting to get a bit annoyed at myself with it. Scott is a safe start though. That's the only reason I can see for his selection plus the fact that we have key midfielders out. It's tactical, it's tactical. You see if Kobe Meunier and Sophie Namrabad are the same player, they're a decoding pivot and you see Scott McTominay as a progressing midfielder who plays the second ten and he believes that Bruno can drop deep in the midfield and that if Bruno drops deeper in the midfield and Scott holds his position, the midfield won't be as open. I would agree. Well I think that it would work if Bruno Fernandes could be more disciplined in that role. The way you have said about dropping deep, he doesn't drop deep as much for my liking. Because he's a ten. But if that's the way that Eric Ten Hag wants to play and play as two tens, Bruno Fernandes, I forget the game it was but when Bruno Fernandes was dropping deep, picking up the ball, he was a much better player, he was a much better player team wise. Dictating play. Exactly. When he actually stuck to his position. Dictating from the midfield. And we didn't find him at left back. When he drops into those deep positions, I can see what you're saying right, when he drops into those deep positions, the player filling up that space is Scott McTominay. Do you think Bruno Fernandes is going to be confident tonight to play the ball to Scott McTominay and hope that Scott McTominay can hold it up so the player is going to ride up a bit? But there's another point, Scott McTominay is not as disciplined as well. So you have two players. Why pick him then? Because it's safe. Cobain is on the bench. Cobain is on the bench tonight. Why pick Scott? It's safe. He is picking Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes because they're two players he's familiar with. Cobain is breaking into the scene now. Breaking onto the scene. So he and you have to manage young players very carefully. You can't be throwing them in for 90 minutes every game. This is a huge game tonight. They're all huge games but this is a huge game tonight. Yeah. This man has played 90 minutes at the Parc des Princes and he's played 90 minutes when he played against us since he was born. He's 17. He's a year older than Kobe Mane. But we're saying that Kobe Mane can't play twice in a week for 90 minutes. His decision making, I know you're trying to defend him, is baffling. So it's a mistake in my eyes. Hopefully I'm proven wrong. So why not let you hold him in the fielders in Kobe Mane and Sophie Ambrose? Because he's a stubborn Dutch. Yeah. Oh my god. I'm just. I find it hard to be positive. Yeah. It fries your head at times. It fries your head. Words that he wouldn't have said in his interview today. Now that's the biggest thing I took away from the interview. You know we are progressing. I am seeing things at Carrington. I am seeing things on the pitch. I'm not seeing it too. Well I disagree slightly and I'm going to go back to what you said Jacky with the green shoots of progress in the last couple of games. Yeah. You know and I did and I know I'm always trying to stick up for my team and be positive. Yes I'll call out the negatives when I see them and I'll agree with yourself it's a time injury. But just looking at the Galatasaray game and the Everton game apart from the brief spells that they had I thought I could see intricate bits of play. The way he wants United to play for 90 minutes and the players are not doing it. But it's the inconsistency. Yes that's the key. I think that's the key word. It's really inconsistent but there is something. We may be reaching but there is a positivity there. There is progress. And do you think maybe I'm shooting aim and eye here but do you think that when he reverted back to not the way he wanted to play last season the fact that he said right I've got two finals under my belt. I've got a cup. Finishing in top three. Now I've bought myself a bit of grace. A bit of credit. A bit of credit in the bank. Because I won't be bankers. Not intended there folks. But they think he's bought himself a bit of time to stick with the way. Implement his style of play and stick with it. I agree with you but I don't like his style of play and I think it's wrong and that's my biggest issue. I think his tactical set up is poor and he doesn't suit the Premier League and I think he gets found out every time he plays a big team. So what you're saying is no matter the personnel that is the way he's going to play. Yes. I'll tell you what's going to happen right. Churchill Lindelof will be taken out of left centre back and Lysander Martinez will be put in there. Now I don't think that Aaron Van Stak is going to bounce tonight because of any sort of legal game. I think he's going to bounce tonight because of his tactical. Dalot is a much more attacking option to play tonight. He's an old trafford. He's against Chelsea. Dalot is a lot more attacking than Aaron Van Stak is. So he chose Dalot. That's an attacking pick. He's picking the more attacking right back to play tonight. So I would tell you. So the only person I see missing in his registered back line at the minute is Lysander Martinez because I don't think he likes Raphael Varane and you and I have had this conversation before. He trusted Raphael Varane last season and whatever has gone wrong there, whatever is coming into this season, whatever way Varane is playing he doesn't like it. He trusted Varane when we were playing counter-attacking football. Now he's playing his style of play and Harry Maguire has asserted himself by listening to instruction and working hard in his first team. So I see Martinez coming back into the centre back arms with Maguire. I don't like Maguire disrupting Martinez coming back because Maguire is doing what he's told. So we can only say that the player listening tonight that would probably make a difference in tonight's game is Mason Mount. But he will still play Mount the same way that he played McConnell. It will still be the second marauding pen and I don't like it. I don't think it works. I think it isolates the whole of midfielder and for him to turn around and say that he's seen progress and he's seen good passages of play. When the performances led us to go out effectively to the Champions League or put the Champions League in other people's hands and to lose against Newcastle in the manner that they lost, it doesn't fill me full of confidence. To go back to his interview, it doesn't fill me full of confidence. But it's all as well as his interview. The big one this morning, I thought the bombshell was no signings in January. I kind of thought that. I think we all covered that and yourselves covered it during the week there. It's going to be Sancho and the Donny van de Beek and the exit door whether we get money from them or not. The big wages is a lot of things. But if we get rid of some of the wages of some money in the bank, will they give us the £15 million? That will go towards the summer budget. And I know they're talking about that striker from Stickyard at £15 million. They won't even be £15 million. No. No, they're not going to allocate us any money. Sal, doesn't he? If he wants to, I think he does. I mean, he just said, look, if the club can find a way to improve, then they'll go for it. But I think that's him saying, look, I don't have a budget. I still stand by my prediction that Jim Ratcliffe won't take over until January. I think they're trying to push that investment into quarter four of the financial figures because it means the Graders lift a higher dividend. And if that happens, I don't think we can count it towards this year's figures, which means no matter how much money he bumps in, we can't use it for transfers. I think Eric can have just nailed that on in his press conference today. So I thought we would get a Jim bounce if they took over in December. But our greedy bastards are holding out until January. Of course they are. Rats. But yes, the teams, look, I have an equation written down here. It's Mamie versus Anglois equals Scott versus Mouth. And I think that's the way he rigidly sees it at the minute. Scott will always play at the minute because he doesn't have Mason and Mouth there. I actually naively thought he might play Memory with one of the holding boots. Yeah, I'm not too attacking for him. Those are your team's collection. But he leaves Scott off the pitch. I mean, when we look at Scott, right, and we don't see him attacking out left, well, we don't want to see him attacking out left. You look back at Newcastle, you look at the heat mops, the mops that you put up on Instagram, Scott McHarmony played as an advanced 10 and then Kobe Maynard in midfield on his own. Now Scott didn't choose to do that one. That was the tactics of our time. Yeah, I agree with you. Yeah. So if he does that. If I was a manager and somebody was that ill-disciplined on the pitch, he'd be hooked at half time and he wasn't. If he does that tonight, I'm worried. Chelsea's midfield, Chelsea have been Chelsea this year. Chelsea's midfield is pretty exceptional when you think about quality in there. It's yet to click for Chelsea. On paper, they have a brilliant midfield. And who's playing the 10 tonight? Is it Cole Palmer? Palmer's up on one of them. Sterling's playing. And? Moodrick. Moodrick up against Dalot. And Jackson. Ride him up. I would ride him up, no end. I think he's fragile. Yeah, he definitely is. Jackson? Oh yeah. But who's going to ride him up? Super sweet Victor Lindelof? No, get Bruno Fernandes. Get Bruno Fernandes. Oh Jackson? Yeah. Jackson's a set of four. I know, but it doesn't matter. Just get Bruno. Bruno ends up back there anyway. Yeah, Bruno's all over the place. Hope you're on. He's as positive as Rory gets. He gets, yeah. Galatasaray, Newcastle, it was the same crap in every single performance. We can score goals. We have brilliant technicians in our team that can carve opportunities and can score goals. We can survive on pure talent in games. But in all those games, we were bashed against the wall for periods of it because our midfield just walked through ours. Well, we need Rasmus to get his Open and Premier League goal tonight then, don't we? Very early on. Good night for Dalot. Yeah. And I think Amarabad showed in the last game that we were probably the best he's played in the last time he got a start. Yeah. If we get a big performance from Amarabad and we see the player in the World Cup and Florentina, I think we might be OK. I really don't think we need a big performance from tonight, Anthony. Yeah. Do you know, I don't even like talking about the attacking players because they're being let down by the players around them. So I think Amarabad has struggled here because we talked about this the other night. Every player that's played the pivot in Manchester United this year has struggled. Because they're isolated. Because the tactics are darn. It's a tactical nightmare. It's a man not understanding this is the Premier League. You won't just get pressed by the big teams. This is not the year of the ace kit. He gets pressed by Luton, Brantford, Sheffield United. Angel Fernandes and Weiss Casino will not respect Manchester United's midfield tonight. They will press, or the occasional foot trappers. They will press, harass and bully that midfield. 100%. And those guys need to stick together as a tight unit. Paul Scholes nailed it the other day. Be close to each other. Be an outlet for each other. Give each other the confidence. Yes, Amarabad's under pressure. I'm here. I'm just, I'm here. I'll take the ball. Amarabad moves for him. Scott moves for him. I agree. But I'm not expecting, I'm expecting Amarabad to come deep and take the ball up the centre back and turn around and Scott to have already gone. And Bruno would have already gone. Taking up attacking positions. Our wingers to drop deep and our strikers to stay up there. And the only reason I'm saying that, I'm not being doom and gloom, that's the tactics I've seen all year. That is the Ericsson Highmaster point. And I think tonight against Chelsea, he had to adapt and be flexible. And I look at the midfield and I think, oh he didn't, did he? You either blame Kobe Mane on not being able to play the football you wanted against Newcastle, or you think that Newcastle is just a one-off and it won't happen against Chelsea. I can see Mane coming on though. Yeah. Later on in the game. He's not for Amarabad. Well hopefully he'll not. Hopefully if he sees that this isn't working, that he's not as pragmatic as you'd think he is and changes the game. Is Ferran injured? Is he injured? I heard it, I'll say it. Is he on the bench? I seen that on Twitter again today. We're coming up to kick-off time, so score prediction. I'm going to go 1-0 United. 3-1 United. 2-2, that's me as positive as I can be. Who's the hero tonight? Super positive. Rosson's Highland. Yeah, I'll go with Ciarán. First goal, only now. Came out late in the evening, first lead, I'm stuck up for the club. Started throwing punches, now back it up. Back it up on the pitch. Who's your zero? Dalot. Amarabad, because he'll be left on his own. Boss, we'll be back at halftime to pick it up, guys. Hopefully it's a bit of positivity. Positive vibes. Bye everyone. Bye. Halftime, we wanted faith, strength and a bit of effort from Manchester United, we got them to speed it up. We wanted tactical organisation and canvas and the wait continues. I mean they did so many right things in that first half. The attacking line. Yeah, first 20 minutes they were at it. They're much higher up, they're putting Chelsea under pressure and we're seeing the frailties of the Chelsea team. They look as shaky as we do. But they're walking through our midfield again. That goal from Cole Palmer is just no easy. No surprise. I think it was an exceptional goal. I think he has to pass it through the midfield. I think the defenders were thinking, oh what happened, what happened. He's going away from the goal and just a pretty good inch of space and he fair-played it, Cole Palmer. I think it was a good finish. Yeah, it was a brilliant finish. It really was. Manchester United, that was the performance, almost the performance, I think we were all getting on. Up until the game stretched so even and you can see the frailties again in the midfield. You know, Chelsea are passing through. But the effort tonight, Anthony was brilliant. Brilliant, yep. Hojind is really putting the shift. It's just not, we're not being creative enough to afford him chances. You can see him saying to Anthony and Garnaccio, will you please put it to my feet. Stop kicking the ball into the box. Thiago still is a monster. Still 38 years of age. Yeah, he's a credit. You're playing into his hands. You don't put the ball into the box in the air, you try and work it into Hojind's feet. No. Bernard's playing well. I hate to say it, I'm going to say it. Go on, Dalot. Dalot played well. He was a better winger had he been in that position behind Dalot that would have scored. He's like a head of chicken sometimes. He runs to the ball like, if you remember, you're on the right back, don't run to the ball if the left winger is coming behind you. It's all a chase, it's one big pass and you're out. Yeah, I think that's a bit of that defensive tactics awareness, you know, that frustrates me about Diogo Dalot. Like countless times last season, any season, I caught players coming to the back post and scoring against us when he's going to be, you know, checking behind you mate. I think he's still a much better offensive player. Oh yeah, 110. I think Dalot's going to shoot me, but I think he's going to do it. No, I'd agree. He made an awful gasp in the first half and it was... One pass. Yeah, it looked like a man who doesn't start, who hasn't had a run of games with it. And I think the pass, if you look back on it, is everything we don't like about this current team. He looked forward, he said we can't let him bring over Dean Mark, they were too high up the pitch, he had no one else around him, he had to find his centre back and he almost f***ed it up. But after that, it's like that can do a bit. It seemed like a lot of go over to him, it seemed like a lot of go over to him. And it's almost like a long mistake and he's like, right, I'm not going to do that anymore. No more square passes. If I have to play forward and it fails further up the pitch, at least I'm not letting him in. Yeah, definitely. O'Neill had a good game as well. He did. You know what, some people will turn around and point out his reflexes shouldn't have let him save that goal. It was like slow motion. Watch it back, it's like, do you remember I said you were the only one walking to finish the game? Yeah. When you put the ball at that angle, no matter what pace it's going at, directly into the corner just below the post, nobody... It was like a pool shot. It was like a pool shot. And O'Neill was hampered by a few defenders. He couldn't see it. Yeah. I criss-crossed one of those ones, just crept in there, and like I said, crept to Cole Palmer. More of the same. Yeah. I hope they don't... Not from Cole Palmer. No, no, not him. There were too many chances that weren't put away, that should have been put away. It sort of was a bit ominous when Fernandes missed the penalty, you're going... Oh, here we go again. What a nonchalant penalty. I mean, when you have just come off the back of the Newcastle game, what's the fucking message? Smash it, smash it. What do you call our goalkeeper, Sanchez? Yeah. Yeah, but he stood up until the last minute, and that's what you have to do against Bruno Fernandes. Yeah. Because Bruno Fernandes will watch which way you go, and he'll put it in the other corner. That's what he does. He doesn't rifle it in, but he was, he just stood to the last minute and said, right, have at it. Yeah. Yeah, far and out him. But I don't think it was the greatest, the best penalty. I agree, yeah. See that wee hop and jump, don't like it. I think it was a game that carried out for Manchester United, if he had to boss Chelsea, because Chelsea were losing the ball so many times signing off that pitch. But again, we can't, I don't know what it is with this team, but our in-game management and control over games just isn't there. And Chelsea are not playing well to me. Well, I agree with you, Rory, and if we let teams too easily get, to get back into the game. Yeah. When we'll have balls for the game in the first, what, 15, 20 minutes. Yeah. And, but it's still there to be won. And I like the attack minded football that's on display tonight. I think it's a lot better than what I've seen before. And quicker. Yeah, it is much quicker. And they're so, so much further at the pitch. Yeah. You've seen this United team in about 10 games. 100%. And we're watching them jumping as a whole in midfielder. Insane Chelsea final third, daring them to try and play through you. Do you not think they're more dogged tonight? You look at Anthony, you look at their natural, you look at their defensive. Yeah, I agree. Attributes tonight. They're sticking in. They're much more dogged. There's a fighting spirit about them. They're fighting for tackles. Yes. I think they're getting in the fight with Chelsea. And there's more of a cohesion. There's more of a, a team shape about them tonight. I think there isn't defence, but I think they're defending as a unit tonight because the wingers are allowing them to defend as a unit. The wingers are coming back, they're keeping it tight. Jose Mourinho was brilliant in talking about this. If you're going to defend in any sort of block, the key to it is to be compact. And Manchester ended up a lot more compact in the stages of the game where we're not completely in possession of Chelsea. But when we gave the ball away to Chelsea, we took a wee bit over the pitch. And that's where they're at. We came from a split pass, the ball's fizzed into Mudrick. I think Enzo plays it straight through to Mudrick. Now Tomley is so far away from Armour Bot that the two wingers are never going to recover. The ball comes in the goal of Armour and ends up at the back of the net. And there was warning signs of that happening with Chelsea's two or like big chances. Yeah, I was just going to point, I was going to, yeah. I was going to take Tomley off and touch Covey Maynard. Yeah, you said it right before the game. And I said three, four, five times, where Tomley jogging lethargically back, going flying, trying to fly up the pitch all the time, leaving Armour Bot on his own midfield and Chelsea passing through. That's the tacket. That's what he wants. He wants Tomley to play and float him. Mum, if it hadn't, if it was a one off game and it wasn't happening repeatedly, game in, game in, then game in, game out, then I would concede your point. It mustn't be tactical. What's happened? He's still dead. But why can Bruno... He's turned around and said it's not the tactics. It's madness. Why can Bruno bust his hole to get back from centre attack midfield and defend the box when Tomley's going in still motion? It was defending our box. If Ericsson Hague has a problem with Scott McTominay, why is he still on the pitch? If Ericsson Hague is tactically telling Scott McTominay, you stay up there lad, Bruno will be the one that runs back for you. You stay up and you play as a false 10. I'm going to follow the 10 that arrives late in the box. And look, Scott scored. Arrives late in the box. Gets him into position. There's your answer. There's your answer. Exactly. But what he concedes is the overall flow and control of the game. But to my point to you, Mum, Scott McTominay is doing exactly what his manager tells him to do. If you can't wrap your head around it, you're in the exact same camp as I am. But it happens game on game on game on game. It can't not be tactical or McTominay will be hooked off pitch. Rashford's off tonight because he doesn't make an effort. You can't point to McTominay and say that that's the real McTominay. It took him long enough to hook Rashford though, didn't it? Yeah. He stuck with him. He tried to defend him. He didn't drop him. And I think it's because of the public outcry from ex-players and the mainstream media. Everyone's seen it. That he had to drop him. He is not going to play Maynard in with Amaribat. As much as I want it, it's not going to happen. It doesn't tactically suit because Maynard and Amaribat are holding pivotal midfielders. Scott McTominay is an advancing 10. Mason Knight is an advancing 10. The tactics in Manchester now at the minute are one holding pivotal midfielder, one advancing 10 and one out-and-out 10 in Bernard Fernandes, who's never coming off pitch. Can Maynard or Amaribat play the advancing 10? I don't believe so. They're holding midfielders. So you think that that's his tactics? It's there. To me, it's not logical. And to me, that Scott McTominay, you have... You're isolating your CBM in every game against Scott McTominay. 110. Playing with an advancing 10, the advancing playmaker is 4-2-3-1. You have two in the middle of the minute. When you have the ball, your advancing 10 comes out of the two in the middle, the push-up with the 10, and all of a sudden you have two 10s. One on the right, one on the left. Two options for the pivotal midfielder today. Then when you're out of position, the midfielder comes back in. It's 4-2-3-1. But football has advanced now. Nobody plays 4-4-2 because nobody has two midfielders, two wingers and two fours. You're going to play 4-2-3-1. You are going to have an advancing player and you're going to have a holding midfielder. Man City are brilliant at this. Man City play Rodri and Roger Hulls. Then they play with one 10 and Kevin O'Brien, or Gundland, or Kovacic. It's still 4-2-3-1. Kovacic isn't a holding midfielder, it's a robber's job. That's the modern game. Free-throwing, hook-up. And you watch it in the second half. I know what you're saying, but do you not think, in that system, that Scott McTominay is playing way too higher up than he should be? I think so. I think he's too slow getting back into his defensive position. Sorry, that's the point I was trying to get to. You know what I'm saying, right? But Scott McTominay is neglecting his defensive duties. You're saying that Scott McTominay's out of position. Scott McTominay's taking... Maybe we're not saying Scott McTominay's coming deep. I agree with you. I wholeheartedly agree. Scott McTominay's not happening. No, we're not saying it's not happening, but that's what it should be. I agree. But do you not think, because of his contributions in front of goal, and the lack of... And keeping him on the pitch. And keeping him on the pitch. And no Mason Mount that he wants to play in there, that he bought... No Christian Erickson. No Christian Erickson. Spent the money for that position. That's why McTominay is sticking in that. He's keep playing him. But he's not disciplined enough to play that ball. No. That's my point. No, he's touching... He's not coming back when he should be coming back. He's not playing deeper and helping Amrabat out when they're on the offensive. He's staying up the pitch. Yeah. He's not disciplined enough for that ball. I've seen him try. I've seen him... I've watched him two or three times trying to get back where he should be. But Chelsea's already... Feeling that's a big joke. Yeah, yeah. The Rashford joke. You may try this Castamere Mount and it's the same thing. It tactically doesn't work. It's not a personnel. We would love it to be personnel. I'd love for him to come back in and the Warriors... I think it might as well. I think that... I think once he gets up to speed... They'll have to work at it and have to forge it out and... More games and more time on the pitch and it'll eventually click. I don't know what a game's like. But a couple of games... No, a couple of consistent same players, same positions. Couple of games together. Yeah, I think it'll work. Like, I can see the... I can see the blueprint. Yeah. If you want to call it that. I've seen the blueprint five, six games ago. Do you know, we're agreeing, aren't you Roy? We're not... I don't think he can style it up all alone. No, I think we're all... You're misinterpreting myself and Jack, believe it. And we're thinking... I thought you were going all... Tactical, it's not blah, blah, blah, not working. But I think it's because... What we've said about McTominay there. We've pointed out, noticed it three or four times this game. He's going, he's doing his job, going for it. Whatever Tinhag is putting him and the team for. To skip the goal, get in the box, score the goals. He's doing that there. But when the ball's turned over, he's not... He's missing. He's missing. He's not getting back into the position where he should be. As you said, in the 4-2-3-1, he should be back with his midfielder. And he's not getting there. But I don't think Mason Mount is going to give you the grandiose improvement you have in Headerth. I'm not saying that. You really don't. Well, it remains to be seen. It does. Because the lad has yet to come back and play 90 minutes. When I have seen Mason Mount play this season, I have seen him play as ineffectively as Scott McTominay has. Why is Mason Mount's injury? Calf or something? He's a strain. I showed you his injury record before. Is that the same injury or is it not? No, it's not. He's not... He's a strain. He'll come back. I didn't say he's injury-prone. He's just been out. He was bought with a knock. That's what we're saying. He was bought with an injury. He's poor when he played. Amrubad was bought with a knock. Now Amrubad's fit. Amrubad is starting to have a good game here. Mason Mount needs to come back in and be the exact same. Yes. Hit the ground running. He definitely does. But if you're asking my opinion on whether Mount is going to make vast improvements in that system, I honestly know... I would disagree. You may say Mason Mount is a far more... But we were calling out for a technically-adapted player. I think there's a visibility to that system that Tintag wants to play. Why die in the first place? Do you know what I'm saying? He answered this today, didn't he? He said that when a player like that is coming up to... A 24-year-old player like that is coming up to the end of his career, then you have to take the opportunity to sign him. And it was almost an answer as if to say, look, Mount wasn't bossed in here now. Mount's part of the plans for the future. When I transform this team, that's when you'll see the best from Mount. Didn't Anthony say in his interview with the United States, didn't he say, made reference to a chessboard, and said that he's missing chess pieces? Missing pieces. He did actually. He plays a football match like a chessboard, that there's pivotal... Like, I don't know much about chess. The bishop, the queen, the king, you know? It's important pieces. That they're missing. Yeah, and... It's a lot of pawns, sir, that you kick off the board. Sacrifice. Not... Because we've missed a good game, and I'm trying to stay positive on what you're saying, right? Fuck off and play chess, then. Go play chess. Because you're never going to have all your pieces together, mate. You're never going to have all of your pieces there. What we're saying now, it's right... It's not an analogy. That he needs to get rid of everybody at Manchester United, buy in another eight or nine players. We're not saying that. If that wasn't said, what he said, what he was making reference to, is that some of the pieces, the pivotal pieces, the chess pieces, are out-injured at the minute. Yes. We haven't been hearing arguments like this all night. And we could... Because I don't get that. I don't accept that. You're never going to have every player fully set and kicking in the modern game. It's very rare that you go a whole season without having an injury. Every big team gets it. So to think that this lad needs all 11 players fit and firing to get anywhere near a Premier League is unrealistic and will never work. He needs to find a system that suits the whole, not just the lad he trusts. And if he can't do that, he can't get everybody integrated into the system, he will never win the Premier League. I think what we're saying is he needs the vital players to stay fit. Yes. Not a new 11, are we? All good actors have understudy. Do you know what I mean? They're not as good as the actor. The only two players you can point to now, the historic Manchester United 11, is Martinez and Mount. It's going to be interesting to see when the injury excuse goes out, whether Manchester United's football kicks in. Because I'm excited to see the second half. I think he outplayed really, really well tonight. But I'm still not ignoring the fact that himself just walked through. And that's down to the midfield. Yes, it is. Who he's missing one player from. A player who has been largely for when he's played this season. And if Nathan Mount is going to come back in and cause a difference, he needs to do that. Because we're big fans of Mason Mount. And we've seen him, when he didn't come back after his knock, I think he got two or three games and he looked brilliant. He looked fresh. And he's slotted in. He's slotted in. He's technically gifted. He's a mile straight ahead of football ability than Scott McTominay. He can do everything that you described at the start before the match there. And I think, yes, I think a run of games, like we've noticed tonight with Amarabat, like the last game with Amarabat, he's starting to look... The part. The part. That he wasn't in the World Cup and wasn't a guarantee. I've seen the track... And you have to realise that final in that Conference League, right? He overshadowed Declan Rice. He did. I just don't want Mason Mount to come back in and get lost in that advanced ten position to the 10 and a half legs, the way that Scott McTominay is playing. If Mason Mount comes back and wants Mount to be in and be the interlinking player between Bruno Fernandes and... And Frankie de Jong. I hope it's that. Yeah, I think Mount has the legs and he's showing it as well. He has everything. And the talent. The talent. He just, in the performances we've seen, there's been one performance people point to where Mount was adequate. And in the other games, he got lost in the same way that most people do. And I can only point to the tactics not working. As a reason for that, you talk about Castanero, Mount and Fernandes, extremely technical against the football. But in these, I would concede that they had a massive part in it. You're not 100% of their interest. Yes. But I do feel he has to find a system that suits the collective. I'm trying not to be negative. Oh, I get your point, yes. But he's going to have to make changes and rotate at certain points. So he needs to find a system that suits. And maybe it will be that we'll see the players that we're seeing now playing those smaller teams and they'll get bigger and bigger games. But this is a chance to play the bigger, bigger game. Fall positively into the second half. Please, God, give us a run. Let's go to the second half. Let's go. And that's full-time whistle. United beat Chelsea 2-1. Happy day. Two points to the bags. There's going to be some really different opinions here on that performance. I can tell you what I was really optimistic about. Chance creation was a lot better for me. Oh, much better. Yeah. But I think what I say at the end of the game, Chelsea were sober. It's easy to say that when United actually win a game. You know, this is the so-called entertainer. Oh, yeah. I did. And that's what I was encouraging. Are you serious? Did you not see any style of play in that tonight? I seen glimpses of the front line. I thought it was much quicker. I thought Gris was much quicker. OK, the first half was much better than the second half. The second half, we started a lot slower. But we came into it at the end. We did. I think we definitely almost got Chelsea when Chelsea had the strike at the game. I think Scotland Comedy is doing exactly what it is. Do you know what? I have to give kudos to Scotland Comedy. He does something I haven't noticed in a long time. He presses from the front when the team is pressing together. When the team is pressing together, he's a pure- That's when the press works. Yeah. When the team is together. One person cannot work. No. That whole front line has to press. Don't know who really impressed me tonight with his forward thinking passes and his actually forward play. Haydn-Gouart. See when the team needs a goalie, Haydn-Gouart comes much further up the pitch. Much higher up the pitch. And actually comes into midfield to try and boss him around the ball. And he does do it. He can do it. He should do it a lot more. Yeah, he surely should. But he only does it when the team is chasing a goalie. Because I think it limits- He needs space as well. Yeah. You know, he needs space to run into it. But then that goes back to the Vraam point. If McGuire can do it, and Vraam's- A pound a crook. If he stays fit, both of them can do it together. That's a big win for her tonight. Massive in terms of points. Yeah. It's breathing space for him. Is it? Yes. It is. I think we can all agree, well, Bournemouth on Saturday. I know Bournemouth are doing well at the minute. And we'll have to beat Bournemouth on Saturday. Yeah, we'll have to. I expect it to beat Bournemouth. Yeah. You know. If it wasn't an away game, I would say yes. I just can't trust United when it comes to away games. If we play like that. If we play against Bournemouth the way we played against Chelsea tonight, yes, we win. Because we had so many chances tonight. Fernandes missed the penalty. Donato could have scored. Anthony could have scored. Anthony could have scored a couple. And his, oh my god, his work rate tonight was just phenomenal. Fair play to him. Phenomenal. Fair play to him. There was, I, well, I'm optimistic anyway, you know. But I was actually more optimistic watching that match tonight. Because I could see, what impressed me tonight was the transitions were quicker. In the first half, I thought they were quicker. I struggled for the second half. Are you saying it's a game two half? I think so. I think we're struggling with the second half. In the first half, the game was, it was more open. You know, they were pressing. They were on the front foot. There was enthusiasm, effort and fight. And I think that was indicative of the team that had been heavily criticised after the Newcastle game. So those lads went out and they fought tooth and nail for every ball. And they went at Chelsea. And it looked brilliant. I think they were really good at Chelsea. In the second half, it reverted to a hard ball. And I can only point to the manager. But then we yoyled. It went back again. We played the end. We played the last 15 minutes. 20 to 15 minutes. The way they played in the first half. It did yo-yo. But I know where you're coming from, Rory. There are periods in matches, and every match since this season, that we have let teams come back at us. Straight after half-time. Yeah, and it's controlling that game, Ciarán. And you have to control the game for 90 minutes. 100%. Not in periods, it's matches. Our best moments come within the chaos. I'm looking at the Everton game. When Everton stretched the game, or even came on us, and we had to live through that fire. And we had to come out the other end of it. We got the penalty. And the penalty completely changed the game. We came out 3-0. That's our one definitive performance this season. I guess the poor Everton came here in the relegation zone. We won 3-0. Right? Then I see the Galatasaray game. The Galatasaray game is totally different. Because Barre sort of fallen under the caution of the chaos. I have no idea how they played. Well, in the attacking transitions, they were able to get off teams. But I still can't see the massive progression from Ericsson, Haggs, Man United to Ollies. I still think they live off individual brilliance. I'm not seeing enough as a team. Well, I did tonight. I have to say. Of course, tonight shouldn't be Chelsea. It is. I don't think it was particularly good Chelsea. But I have to say, Scott McCormack bossed them off the pitch in the second half. He harassed them off the pitch in the second half. It was good to see. So if you know we're about to end up a bad game, then people want to hear them. I think it was a very good game. I think they were narrative against them. I'm not sure why. I think we're finally seeing tonight the armoury bat we've been looking for. Yeah, I think he was very good at sort of, again, harassing them. Yeah, I think it's easy to say. Like, it's easy to say, in my opinion, that Chelsea were bad. I think, coming into this game, Chelsea were on a bit of a hot. They were scoring goals. They went toe to toe with Man City. Yeah. 4-4. I think the one game there against 4-1, the one they were banning goals in. I think, coming into this game, we were all dreading playing Chelsea here, even if we are at home. But to make Chelsea, don't just go bad overnight. But we took the game to them. Took it to them. We played well. I know we're at home, but we took it to them. Yeah, and we should be doing that at home. And Horry's right. We had something to prove after that Newcastle game, because it was diabolical. It really was. It was. And you can't just pick out one player. The whole team, collectively, was shocking. But I was entertained tonight. I was. And I forget the last time I was entertained by a Man United team. No, I can't recall it. But that's what I want, watching football. That's why I watch other teams play football. And I was entertained. We created a lot of chances, and our passages of play were much quicker in the transition. Yeah. I agree with both of you. I still don't think it's good enough for your top four. And that's my overall feeling on it. I'm not going to be dim and gloom. I'm not going to be pessimistic. That's not pessimistic. That's realism. I can see tonight, again, why Newcastle beat us. I think when you come up against the better teams, the more organised teams, and the teams who will pass, press, and move as a unit, you end up in a struggle. I think Chelsea aren't one of those teams at the minute, but there were still moments where Chelsea cut the midfield apart, because Chelsea also have individuals. I agree. I got that feeling. It's still a problem. Yeah, that needs to improve. I'm really happy for Scott. Even though I dig him out all the time, it's not because of the person. He's a warrior, and he loves United, and he plays for the badge every single time. And you need people like that in the roundhouse squad. 100, yeah. He is detrimental to the overall football of that team, though. And it can't be ignored. I agree with you. We're not ignoring you. We're not disagreeing. And he's been used at the minute as a decedent. He's been used at the minute as a decedent. That's just a solid score. There's five hits. Is that his fifth goal of the season? Yeah. And why not yours? You're a striker. You balled for 70 million and not scored a goal in the Premier League. Aw, Kieran. But they're not feeding him? I would love Rasmus Heidemann to have his contract cancelled and to get to go back to Atalanta for his career shift. To come to Manchester United, it's a career cancer for a striker. We struggled with this post Ferguson. They are not interested in passing the ball. Garnaccio is greedy. Anthony is greedy. They are on there to score goals. Fernandes is greedy. They're on there to score goals. They couldn't give a fuck who Rasmus Heidemann is. They couldn't. And see when he called for a pitch tonight. I looked at him and I thought, oh no. Go to your agent. Get out of our cancerous club and go and make something of yourself somewhere else. Like, how many strikers are we going to go through before we turn around and say, do you know what? The team's probably the problem here. You know what I mean? The cat who struggled with us, but he can do it elsewhere. We crated last season. Go and give us a goal scorer. We've got a goal scorer in the team. We don't give them the ball. Sorry, Lecalc is a bad example, I think. Bit of an injury old boy, wasn't he? I don't know. I think he bummed out for like a season during COVID. You look at our strikers this past few seasons. Giovanni, near the end of his career. Cristiano, near the end of his career. One good season. Well, he's stretching it out in Saudi. We'll not say. I thought they'd still think they were scoring. What's the evidence here for me if you're wrong? I think it'll be El Com. How come you can't make sense of that? It'll be El Com. I watched Newcastle once, shall I tell you? I haven't seen Manchester United fax my chance of that by a score yet. Not once. There's not one. There was the one. Remember weekend when the ball came in and he tried to take it with his... Was that Aaron? He tried to take it with his knee. Aye, he nearly scored. He nearly scored with his knee. That's one opportunity, I'd say, in four teams. Do you know? I think McConnelly took one off him, didn't he, too? McConnelly definitely did take one off him. For a bit, I'm proud to go, I don't care. But I mean, that was a half chance of that. Well, no, it was more of a chance for Scott McConnelly. I'm talking about this team playing for that striker. If your striker is underconfident and is starved of chances, then you do everything you can to get the striker the ball. He is the second thought in Bruno Fernandes, Anthony and Garnaccio's heads every time they fax him a half chance themselves. 110. No striker can survive in that setup. No striker would survive in that thing. And it's so important to watch the lad put an effort in, throw his hands in there. I think at one point he actually got fed up with Garnaccio and just turned around and said it to him. Why are you not bossing him? He has to. Well, that has to be addressed. You know, it definitely has to be addressed. And I agree with you where Garnaccio's concerned. Garnaccio is a young player. They're all greedy. They're all glory hunting. They're all wanting to score a goal. But the discipline has to be put. Coached into them. You have a striker on the pitch. Use him. Yeah. But that crossing tonight was just way worse. But Garnaccio's was good for my comedy. That's one cross in a game. I'd love to know the statistics behind how many times United tried to cross the ball tonight. One cross came off such dire. How many times did Garnaccio try to put the ball in and hit the throwing line? How many times did Anthony and Garnaccio try to put the ball in and it fizzed back to everybody? What are these lads doing in training that they can't find a six foot two striker in the box? Like, wise the fuck up lads. Bruno Fernandes, the world class superstar. His corners at the minute are frustrating the life out of me. They never beat the first man. Well then they should take him off corners. Lucas Shaw looked a lot better when he left. Definitely. Yeah. Bruno Fernandes seems to throw himself out there. He's an angry captain. I'm like this. No. I'm much more than Lucas Shaw at the corners. 100% agree. Lucas Shaw can get... He can get it, elevate it and into the box. Fernandes is his first man. You know, be the second man on the corners. If you're going to do a play. Yeah. If you're going to do some kind of off the training ground work or play, don't be the one taking the corner. Yeah. Be the second man, you know. But I also think, again, we've seen Garnaccio... Sorry, Ross, I'm sorry. One score and the champion leaves. And if you can, we've got in behind teams. And when we've got in behind teams and we're able to distract them and we probably don't want to get this, but the best way we have to find them is Mark Rashford. Rashford gets in behind, he manages to cross the ball and we can score goals. Or like we've seen, he can turn and blast with pace at people when that team has been in half a pitch. But much like the game tonight, we play so slow that it's very hard for a striker like that to be able to get in behind anyone. Because if you're going to take a good solid minute to get up the bench, one team isn't going to sit back. Chelsea just shuffled in every game. Did we get in behind them last night? I don't think we did tonight. I don't think we did. I think there were a couple of things. Definitely, yeah. One or two passes in the way out on the sides and got called in. No, that's playing your winger in. I mean, when you strike to the man, when Chelsea come up, we're able to cut through them. Game of Chelsea, they're dusting first half. What I mean is that we drag the Chelsea defence off the pitch towards us. I don't recall doing something. Oh, there was a couple of minutes, what do you call it, that passed Garnaccio. Oh, yeah, he went inside, but he was shooting. It was that and he took it down. Yeah, up the pitch. Do you know what I mean, mate? Where are the three walls into the striker to run it behind? Where's the service? Where's the midfielders coming through and sending the ball in where Rasmus Haugen can run off the shoulder? I see a lad that would be absolutely excellent at that. I think it's the lad I've seen at Atalanta as well. That he can take the ball off the corner of a defender and shoot. Didn't see one pass, mate. I haven't seen one pass like that. Can I say, this season? Have we played Highland and scored a goal like that this season? The three passes come off the shoulder of the defender. No. In the Premier League? No. We don't do that with any of our strikers. No, we don't. Really, really poor. But it's a win tonight. It is a win. I think Manchester United showed an effort and a desire tonight that shows that they are with this manager. I think it's bullshit to say they're not behind him after seeing that. I'm fair player for laughing them out of the press conference. Well, I think it was Simon Jordan said, was it today or yesterday that reporters should report and not create? And that is what they're doing, is creating the news. Yeah. It's easy to do without Manchester United. No, yeah. No. Yeah, I say this all the time. If you want to quell a shit storm, you start to be successful. And Bergen High wants this to go away. He needs to break out of the top four. Now, I'm massively happy with the three points today. I'm not overly convinced of the three points today. But this has to continue. This has to be the start of it. Galatasaray is meant to be the start of it. They fucked it. Newcastle was meant to be the reaction. They fucked it. Now they're beating Chelsea. I don't think it was a particularly good Chelsea team tonight. But it's a win. You use that as motivation to go and beat Bournemouth now. Then you beat Munich. And then please don't get disgraced at Anfield. But if you lose at Anfield and you put up a fight, I don't give a shit. Yeah, it's putting up a fight. That's what you want to say. Yeah, they're a bit of streets ahead of us. They are. It's hard, isn't it? I agree with you. It's streets ahead of us. Streets ahead of us. They're a settled squad. Settled manager. Way of play. Yeah. Settled squad to rebuild this midfield. But I think they've got a more settled coach. I think they've got to... System, background. Yeah. He's taken in three midfielders and transformed it into a midfield that is going to compete for the Premier League this spring. Midfielders that suit him. Yeah. Only midfielders. That suit his play. He's really no worse. We know he's saying this. But he's very good at that. He's very, very good at saying it. But he needs to show something now, Eric, tonight. It needs to be consistent now. No, I agree. It can't be... You know, that's not a big win tonight. That's a very... Like, not a big win against a big team, is what I mean. It's a big win for us. But the big win is a Liverpool or a Scal... Fucking somebody. Scal's somebody we can turn around. A statement win. A statement... Yeah. If I thought we had a boss Chelsea in 1-3-4 tonight, that would've been a statement win. I don't know if that was it. No, no. Because I'll tell you why. Because Chelsea's mid-table the way we are at the minute. Yeah. So that can't be a statement win. I agree with you, right? If we get a big Scalp, that's a statement win. Yeah. And do you know what used to be right? Maybe there is the capitalists that are from Manchester United to start up and not complain tonight. Well, maybe I am being negative and optimistic and trying not to say things in the game. I really hope I'm wrong. But play like that against a Bayern Munich or a Liverpool, you'd be killed. Killed. Play a lot of support. So he needs to take what he had tonight and find a way to make it better. Just less open. It's so stressed at times. Like in every passage of the game, it seems like we're hanging on near the end. And it's like... Yeah. What's some stop that? Well, I thought in comparison to the first half, I don't know if you noticed it yourself, it's them cutting passes through the middle that you talked about. Stop that. You mean Amrobat's silly wee defensive thing? No. What silly wee defensive thing? What are you talking about? Where he said square ball across the pitch and lost the ball. No. Just once. I don't know. We pointed that out for Amrobat. But I mean, cutting through in the field, getting balls in, getting shots on goal. Yeah. I think compared to the first half, I think we were a lot more secure in that. And we stopped... I think we were just lucky the start of the second half. Yeah. Yeah. We let them come into it. Exactly. They came into it a bit. And that's a habit for that team. Yeah. But what I mean is, I noticed a bit of more defensive stability and more awareness, I think, for that tactic the Chelsea were playing, the way they play. Amrobat in particular done very well in the second half of that. And Maguire, and defensive awareness and reading of the game. And stopping... For all the crying I do about Bradfield-Brownfield, I don't think our defense is an issue. I think we defended really well. I do. I think we're quite solid defensively. Our goalkeeper had a few moments against Galatasaray. But in the whole run of the passway, I've been really happy with the defending. But when you're midfield and attack, you can't keep the ball. When you can't control the game, you invite pressure onto yourself. And that's where the opposition, your chance is from. And that's what really frustrates me. If you go 1-0 up against Chelsea, fucking keep the ball. Keep the ball. Knock the ball around. Frustrate Chelsea. Make Chelsea chase the ball. And force Chelsea to come on to you. Yeah. The same should have happened against Galatasaray. They picked him apart, and it would have killed the game. The same... Well, Lee Castle was the one. It was a different story. But, Everton. Currently in the 3-0. But we talked this in the first half. You're playing Everton now. Keep the ball away from Everton. Keep control of the football. Dominate the game and see the first half out. Send Everton in completely disheartened going, Holy shit, how did we get out there? But that's the main part that seems lost at the minute. Yeah, I agree. So, that's what I'm saying. He needs to come back. And I don't think he's going to get back for a week or two. No, it'll be a few weeks, I think. Yeah. He'll be around for some time. I'm asking if Martinez... I don't know if it makes a difference, but I'm asking if Martinez will come back. I thought he had another operation. No. No. I've heard he's training on grass. And Martinez is training on grass by himself. It could be a totally different team come January. Martinez, do you know what? Martinez is the only one caring. I don't want him to rush back. I'd rather let Martinez settle himself and then he come back in January. After Christmas. We could do them. God knows we could do them. But... Do you know... Do you want to aggravate his injury anymore? No. Let him fully recover and get him 100% fighting. He's the one there that can make a massive difference to everything the Manchester Natives do. Now, I think we're solid defensively at the minute. But he transforms everything because of his personality and his enthusiasm for football and his fight. He would have rushed back the end of the night because he would have rolled up to that midfield. Because he's a leader on the pitch. Yeah. That's exactly what he is. I think he would have bullied Jackson. He was trying enough tonight. Yeah. He was keen. I'd have raised him tall. I see, yeah. Do you know what? Most of them are these days, aren't they? I have to say, he's got my calling. Yeah. I love the second half. He harassed Chelsea. He got at them. He pressed them. When the opportunity arose, he was able to run and really annoy Chelsea. And he made himself available. Yep, he did. I don't like him in that system because I think it leaves him a bit too open. But kind of regrets it too. He's having a bit of a hard season. Yeah, he is. Yeah. Is he the answer? Hell no. Is he playing well? Yeah. Yeah. I think he's earned his place in the squad. He's a squad player, Ciarán. And a very, very vital squad player. And in any football team, you need your squad. Yeah. As I said, the understudies put the main stars. You need the United boys through and through that are going to fight for the badge. And he is. No matter what. And he is. Scott is brilliant. He persuades the absolute life out of me. But there's no way I would trust more if I was pushing in the last 20 minutes for a goal and Scott would probably go right in and get me off. There you go. He has a purpose in that team. He does have a purpose. And I think we have to suffer him in this starting 11 for the time being. As long as he's scoring goals, I don't judge. Yeah. If he gets goals, if he gets his points on the board, until we get the chess pieces back into place. The king and the queen. Then we can properly judge. Well, look, I think I've bogged myself around to the Milian and Ambroise combination. We're never going to see it. It's not going to happen. No, it doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. If you're asking me about who scores Scott from every as the advanced 10, Scott. Has to be. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. If you're talking about Chelsea and Newcastle and Munich and Liverpool. Has to be Scott. Has to be. So I see my words a wee bit. It is a necessity that we're seeing Scott. I think he sees Milian and Ambroise as the same player in his system. Much like he sees Maguire and Ferran as the same player in his system. He can't say both. He has to play one or the other. And that's what he sees. So we're not going to see Milian and Ambroise, I don't think. So yeah, Scott scores for me. That's it. He does. He's the best of um... I don't want to say five but... The best of a limited bunch. A limited bunch of players. I'm going to stick with that. For niceties and we've just had a good win against Chelsea. Yeah, we've been all brave. But he would be, when he just made a win at the weekend and all of a sudden, the Mystique attack were his best City team ever. And we're our worst season crisis. Yeah. It's starting to come together. Now, that's... We're going on a title charge. You should never pick one. Anyway, one last thing, I'm afraid. I'm joking. Who was in the league this year? Arsenal. I think this is a really interesting conversation. One that we'll do on a previous call. But just gut reaction now. After the results from Steve, United have just beat Chelsea last night. Arsenal went in last night, the last minute. City beat Bay Villa. Who was in the league? At the minute, I'm saying Arsenal. I'm Arsenal. I am. I was Arsenal last year to the foley, though. To the... Oh, yeah. Do you know, I had an awful feeling. Oh, no. Don't say it. No. I had an awful feeling. You can't say it. You can't say it at this table. I know, I shouldn't. I should be fined for that one. I had a few moments I'll never be able to show my face again. Which is good. I was very damning of... I don't care. I haven't got any friends, so I don't care. I was very damning of their midfield rebuild, which I got completely wrong. I didn't know if they were good enough to realise it was Arsenal instead. And then... They were sort of left field, weren't they? Oh, shh. Oh, hey. Hello. I love you. That's fucking great. Nice to meet you. But yeah, swinging you back to the Bournemouth game at the weekend with reaction, team selection news. And you know what? I don't think one of us can switch. Probably Dominic. He's going to be a team forward. Well, not for a while. That was a brilliant kiss. Poor Dalot. Forgot him. He gets a reprise. I'm not committing to not slagging Dalot. I'm not. No. No. Fuck that. No. Never. Never. Never. Right, folks. Enjoy the rest of your night. Thanks for listening. Bye, folks.