26/27 football thread

[Gooner]

4 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Why you still hating? Feel free to come join me next May/June as my guest as we celebrate it all, even that league cup trophy you count as "major" 😉

[air_raid]

9 hours ago, Gooner said:

even that league cup trophy you count as "major" 😉

[Ironic Indie Lad]

Yet another absolutely abysmal performance from Man United last night. 

Looked lively for approximately 9 minutes and a nice feel good moment for Lacey to get a goal. As soon as Mazrauoi went down, all momentum was with Brighton and it never really swung back the other way. At 2-1, I would have bet 100% of my next wage that this would end 2-3.

Sesko in particular looked absolutely shocking. Doesnt seem to have any confidence now. 

[Carbomb]

They just don't seem to be able to summon any kind of stability or structure at all. After the derby loss, one of the pundits (I think Micah Richards) said they were relying on random moments of genius to get themselves out of trouble, and I think that's mostly true. There's the odd match where they pull out some impressive result via an excellent gameplan, but that seems to be equally at random as well. It's just not sustainable.

I really hope Carrick can turn it around. Aside from all the manager merry-go-round fatigue, it'd be nice to have a former club guy do well, especially in an era where the average English manager doesn't inspire the imagination at the elite level.

[Ironic Indie Lad]

6 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

They just don't seem to be able to summon any kind of stability or structure at all. After the derby loss, one of the pundits (I think Micah Richards) said they were relying on random moments of genius to get themselves out of trouble, and I think that's mostly true. There's the odd match where they pull out some impressive result via an excellent gameplan, but that seems to be equally at random as well. It's just not sustainable.

Thats true and you can see that when they turned to Bruno off the bench.

You cannot just expect Bruno to conjure up a couple of moments of magic every week.

[Mr_Danger]

2 hours ago, Carbomb said:

 

I really hope Carrick can turn it around. Aside from all the manager merry-go-round fatigue, it'd be nice to have a former club guy do well, especially in an era where the average English manager doesn't inspire the imagination at the elite level.

#HoweByChristmas 

[Carbomb]

2 hours ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

Thats true and you can see that when they turned to Bruno off the bench.

You cannot just expect Bruno to conjure up a couple of moments of magic every week.

Exactly. And it seems like they were hoping for Cunha to do the same thing - and he does, but nowhere near as reliably as Bruno. And either way, none of it compensates for what's fundamentally missing from United at the moment.

The frustrating thing is these players can clearly do it, based on what's been seen of them so far - but it's almost as if the team effort is representative of what's going on with them individually. They don't gel like they should. We know Sesko can score proper striker goals, but, as you say, his confidence is gone. Mbeumo is always ready to get stuck in, but a lot of the time it's sound and fury - his final product is often a let-down. Cunha is hit-and-miss. Mount's usually superb - when he's fit, which is frustratingly rare these days; de Ligt is similar. Yoro's always game, but he makes a lot of stupid decisions - same with Dorgu. Bruno's often carrying the weight of the entire team; I wouldn't have blamed him for leaving a few seasons ago.

The even-more-frustrating thing is that the critical issue appears to be a mystery. They've changed managers and coaches - frequently. They've changed backroom/structural staff. They've changed approaches. They've changed players. They've changed systems. They've (partly) changed owners - and, damaging as the Glazers have been, they've been prepared to spend money on players. And yet the instability remains. 

It's like some kind of lingering malaise has just set in. The academy seems primarily to be to generate funds nowadays, rather than producing actual players for the team. The players seem to be relying to bravado, desperation, and a "puncher's chance" to get them through, instead of genuine confidence. And as big a problem the ownership has been, I'm not certain that even the Glazers leaving would make much of a difference now, to be honest.

6 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

#HoweByChristmas 

#HoweBowDat

Edited 20 hours ago by Carbomb
Gary McAllister

[Ironic Indie Lad]

When you look through current squad, there's a lot of players there who might be good but are clearly not good enough and should have been upgraded. For many of them there's good reasons for this - its clear the club don't want them (so other clubs expect a bargain), injuries, wage issues etc. It's left United with way too many players that would have been moved on in an ideal world.

Dalot has been there for so long now and is wildly inconsistent.

Shaw is great on his day but is getting up in age and has a terrible injury record.

Zirkzee and Ugarte have never shown anything to suggest they can excel in the premier league.

Mount has been there several seasons and has never played regularly as he cannot stay fit.

On paper I would say Rashford, Cunha, Sesko, Mbuemo and Amad is an attack with a lot of goals. Problem is that Sesko cant play a full 90, when he isnt playing then Cunha or Mbuemo play centrally which isn't their best position. It almost seems like they learned nothing from Hojlund. You cant just have one senior centre forward (especially one relatively unproven). In recent seasons, they should have tried to get a proven but cost effective option like Calvert Lewin, Mateta, Welbeck etc

 

 

 

[Mr_Danger]

Welbeck I’ll allow but players like Mateta and DCL are the exact reason why United are where they are. You can’t constantly sign mid table players and expect above mid table results. They need the good ones and then they can pad out the squad with the just decent ones.

[Ironic Indie Lad]

16 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Welbeck I’ll allow but players like Mateta and DCL are the exact reason why United are where they are. You can’t constantly sign mid table players and expect above mid table results. They need the good ones and then they can pad out the squad with the just decent ones.

I am not talking about as your starting centre forward. That's what Sesko was signed for.

The problem is that when he isn't fit (which he isn't), there's a massive drop off.

I don't expect them to go and spunk the current insane market value for a top class proven striker as; there either isn't any money there or there isn't a willingness to spend that money. My point is that I would rather have an experienced striker in the squad without breaking the bank. It takes the burden off of Sesko, it gives you someone to play in early rounds of cups and Europe and it avoids having to play others out of position. 

[Cousin Jim Bob]

I think Zirkzee is my favourite rubbish United forward atm. He would probably score 17 goals a season in the Dutch league, but is a billion miles off the Premier League.

It's very funny watching Carrick bring him on when they desperately need a goal, and he always just strolls about, doing absolutely nothing. 

[RedTwoster]

On 9/13/2026 at 2:16 PM, I Bent My Wookie said:

 Christ Celtic are wank. 

Hmm, maybe you’re right. Sunday is going to be extremely interesting.

[Devon Malcolm]

2 hours ago, Cousin Jim Bob said:

I think Zirkzee is my favourite rubbish United forward atm. He would probably score 17 goals a season in the Dutch league, but is a billion miles off the Premier League.

It's very funny watching Carrick bring him on when they desperately need a goal, and he always just strolls about, doing absolutely nothing. 

He's got a wonderful touch - until he's within shooting distance of the goal. Then he becomes one of the worst players in the league.

[DCW]

I'm enjoying Troy Parrott's adventure in La Liga.  Scores a tap in to beat Jose's Madrid, scores a lovely goal in the Champions League and nearly scored from the halfway line against Getafe tonight. He's thankfully been the opposite of our previous great white hope, Evan Ferguson, last season at Roma. 

[tiger_rick]

Evan Ferguson. The poor bastard.

Quite a few teams have risen in the last 25 years from the depths of the 92 to the PL, winning trophies, losing finals, challenging near the top of the PL. Like Hull City, Swansea, Bournemouth and Brighton. Brentford and Wigan weren't quite as bad but have also done it.

And no matter how much I get used to it, opening up FlashScore to see Real Sociedad 0-2 AFC Bournemouth in the Europa League still feels like a mad Championship Manager save.

Edited 21 minutes ago by tiger_rick