Welcome to the new reality of Man Utd in 2025

It is the morning after the night before. Barely 24 hours on from events in Bilbao and I'm struggling to make sense of it all.
What has become of the club I've loved since I first set eyes on it at six years old? It was not supposed to be like this. We were not supposed to go this low. I didn't think it could get any worse last season when we finished eighth. This is not the club I fell in love with attending that first game with my uncle almost three decades ago. I've never felt more dispirited or disconnected. To be honest, I'm at the point where I don't really care any more. 

Of course, as a fan you have to take the thick with the thin and there are, ultimately, bigger things in life than a team losing a game of football.

Bleak days ahead for Man Utd

But this seems and feels like so much more. So much worse than that. A team can lose finals, of course, and Gdansk in 2021 hurt. But at least then there was a fillip - we were unlucky to lose to Villarreal in that final and had a decent domestic season. We had the cushion of European football the next season and were going in the right direction. It stung but we could see a way forward.

Four years on and this defeat to the Hotspurs of Tottenham - a club infamous for its allergy to silverware - hurts like nothing I've ever had before. It will sting for the next few weeks and into the summer. I will still be hurting when next season's European competitions kick off without United. Even if we had stunk the gaff out in the Champions League, the financial benefits alone would have been worthwhile.

Instead, we are left with nothing. No European football, no Viktor Gyokeres or Rayan Cherki. Inflated ticket prices and the prospect of all our rivals strengthening whilst we get weaker. This is bleak, ladies and gents. It's very bleak. I can't see how we improve for next season. I don't expect us to be anywhere near the top half of the Premier League again in 2025-26 either. Who would have thought we'd be here when Erik ten Hag was sacked. Since then, United have collected only 28 points, slipped to 16th in the league with ten wins and lost a make of break European final to Spurs.

These players will go down in infamy

The initial grief and shock has come and gone, and my sadness has turned to rage. I'm absolutely furious this has been allowed to happen. My anger towards the Glazers, bubbling beneath the surface for 20 years, has now reached boiling point. This is all their fault. They got the club into this mess through criminal negligence and financial mismanagement. I'm fuming at the players for binning the league off to focus on this competition then turning in the most apathetic, anodyne and arrythmic showing I've ever seen from any side in a major final. The final criminal act of negligence in a season of infamy. This squad will forever be remembered as the United side that resided over our worst season in living memory and lost to Tottenham in a final. 

A touch over 17,000 Reds spent thousands of pounds in getting to Bilbao - some without tickets or beds - taking the proverbial trains, planes and automobiles for one of the biggest matches in United's history. That performance was an insult, a disgrace, to every single one of those fans who made the journey. at great personal cost and expense. The players on the field never came close to matching the fans passion, energy and dedication. The 'Bilbao or bust' tightrope spun from United's grasp at the final hurdle. As the minutes ticked down and United fought against the dying of the light, I never like we were going to score. 

Reds miss out on continental feast

United will be without European football of any kind in a season for only the second time in my life. The last time was 2014-15 under Louis van Gaal - before then it was 1989/90 in the fledgling early days of Alex Ferguson. Fans, players and coaching staff will have to adapt to the new reality of playing oen game a week. 

The counter argument is no European football might actually help: it's not like we were going to win it and, now, Ruben Amorim can spend more time fine tuning his methods in training. But there are also significant drawbacks - the lack of 'pull' when approaching new potential new signings, far less TV, broadcast and commercial revenue and an escalation of our already dire financial situation. 

There needs to be clarity from the club now. Where do we go from here? What is the INEOS vision for the summer? What does the future look like? There will be sales - Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund will likely leave and don't rule out Bruno Fernandes going either. 

United need a better attack, a better goalkeeper with Andre Onana still not convincing two seasons in, and better options at wing-back. I admire Amorim's brutal honesty, but he is a struggling employee who needs clarification and support from those above and around him. 

It's a Heartache 

United are hurtling headlong towards financial and footballing oblivion and everyone seems powerless to prevent it. It will be tough to take as we step out into the wilderness and many years in the doldrums before the beast stirs again. Often, the only way out of situations like this is to simply plough on through.
This is a harsh lesson: no one is above rebuke, no one is above the fickle hand of complacency and misalignment. What we're seeing and living through is the culmination of two decades worth of treachery, negligence and abhorrent decision making at every turn. 

It is both apt and painfully ironic Amorim is serenaded with our own terrace take of the Bonnie Tyler hit 'It's a Heartache'. Right now, our hearts certainly are breaking at the state of our beloved football club. As for Amorim bringing the glory days again.... that, too, looks a long long way in the future. 

INEOS are a disgrace: I'm raging at this club's criminal negligence (RANT)

When news of Amad Diallo's season ending injury broke on early Saturday evening I finally reached boiling point. I had to write this just to get it all off my chest. 

The one Manchester United player to emerge from this car crash season with a modicum of credit - the one man keeping our heads bobbing above the waterline - will play no further part in it. I don't think we will win another game this season now. United's attack for the last three months of the season consists of Alejandro Garnacho and very little else. We're doomed, we're screwed and we're more f****d than Lily Phillips. 

And it's all down to INEOS. All down to United's minority ownership who have somehow become more unpopular than the Glazers. Little more than a year since taking over, how has it come to this? 

I can't take this any more. How many more times do us fans have to suffer Manchester United lurching from one catastrophe to another? When is it gonna end? I don't want to do this anymore. As ABBA once sang: "I was angry and sad at the things that you do."

Defeat at Tottenham tomorrow will be the final straw. Something is getting broken. This club is a social experiment to see how much pain a man can experience. 

Has there ever been a new ownership regime that has turned so toxic so quickly. Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his board were meant to usher in an exciting new era in lieu of the leeching, apathetic Glazers, but instead things have gone backwards. I didn't think it would be humanly possible to find a regime worse than what came before. They sold us a dream but instead have us locked in a never-ending nightmare. They took over the club on a wave of goodwill because they aren't the Glazers but that's a distant memory now. 

Amad's injury is a devastating blow to what's left of United's season. Of course it had to be our best player this season, the one man opponents are wary of and the one player who makes things happen every time he goes forward. 

Of course INEOS couldn't have foreseen this. They are not to blame for the injury itself. But they are very much responsible for the resultant mess we now find ourselves in. They got rid of Antony, they shipped out Marcus Rashford, they chose to get no one in. Whatever your thoughts on the respective merits of those two players, surely it's better to have them in the squad than out on loan. Why get rid of them if you know no one is coming in? We're weaker than we were five weeks ago. They thought that was acceptable? They thought having ONE attacker was in the club's best interests. They really felt what we had was up to standards? Very good to know they were 'relaxed' about all this, though. 

Great to know Sir Jim sleeps well at night knowing the chaos he has caused. He and his little minions stand on the brink of causing the collapse of the biggest sporting institution in history. I hope they're proud of themselves. 

It's backfired after two weeks - years of squad building have led to this. It serves every single person involved in the process right for these disastrous decisions time and time again, a self-serving ownership with no plan, no clue and no ambition. No longer able to hide behind the club's financial clout, that well has now run dry and has come back to haunt us. No left sided centre back for the rest of the season, no midfield for tomorrow and now no Amad. End the season now and put us all out of our misery. 

Lisandro Martinez last week, Amad today. Add to that Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer and an already thin squad is threadbare. Sack the medical staff, get all of them gone. But no, ol' Jim is too busy laying off cleaners, receptionists, office workers, shop staff and members of the catering team to worry about the real problem. 

 

It's criminal. It's abhorrent, it is negligent. Fail to prepare. Prepare to fail. No planning, no back up, no intention to even try and strengthen an area in desperate need of reinforcements. They've sold Ruben Amorim down the water. I wouldn't blame him if he said f**k you all and resigns tonight. 

How dare they bring him in mid season with a squad he doesn't want and give him no money to spend. How dare they set him up to fail. Just like we did with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Amorim's got nothing to work with and has no choice but to throw some of the Academy kids on the fire and hope they don't burn. It's like going in to the site of a forest fire armed with a water pistol. I'm absolutely fuming, in fact I have never been more angry at a regime in my life. 

What have we done to deserve this? What are these wasters doing in training to cause these injuries - we've had nine days off yet are dropping like flies with four players injured in key positions. It never stops pouring with rain at United. Pouring with rain through the gaping hole in the Old Trafford roof. 

United's season is over, we're in the gutter and there's no way out. I am done. 

Groundhog day for Manchester United - again

Two years ago to the very day, Manchester United suffered one of our worst defeats in recent memory as an abject showing at a rampant Brighton put the seal on our worst ever Premier League season. 

Two weeks later, interim boss Ralf Rangnick was gone, replaced by United's number one target - the name at the top of everyone's list - Ajax's visionary, revolutionary manager Erik ten Hag.

Twenty four months and 731 days on, and here we are again. Only the opposition was different this time. United need four points from our last three games just to equal our lowest ever total of 58 from 2021-22. We have lost 13 times already (it was 12 in the Solskjaer/Rangnick season) and currently occupy eighth spot - one place lower than we finished even under David Moyes a decade ago. 

We've conceded 81 goals in all competitions across the season, the most ever in a single campaign since the mid 70s. 55 of those have come in the league, only two fewer than our all-time Premier League worst two seasons ago but still with three games to play. 

With title-chasing Arsenal and revitalised Newcastle still to come to Old Trafford, and a final day trip to bogey side Brighton, I cannot see us getting another point never mind winning another game. That's before we even discuss the FA Cup final. Throw in 62 injuries (perhaps a discussion for another day), a boardroom takeover not completed until December, corrupt refereeing and the form of a few players falling off a cliff, and it has simply been a disaster of a season. It's end cannot come soon enough. 

Even taking into account the mitigating factors, there was simply no excuse for yet another humiliation on the road on Monday night. 

The type of performance ten Hag was supposed to eradicate reared it's ugly head again and, perhaps even more worryingly, he seemed powerless to prevent it.

From the moment a ragtag United conceded the first goal under the slightest of pressure, the game was done. From the moment Michael Olise received a throw in on half way, walked into the acres of space in front of him and kept going to finish well, there was no way back. What a great idea it was to allow one of the best goalscoring wingers in the land to simply cut a swathe through the middle of our non existent midfield without tracking him, closing down or squeezing the central area. Maybe we should have allowed him a few more yards to run, just in case. It was a goal so spectacularly shambolic it was almost impressive. United could do a lot worse than to sign Olise in the summer.  He was the best player on the park by a considerable distance. 

Wherever and whenever Palace fancied attacking, there were allowed to at will by a team lacking fight, skill, energy, attitude and any cohesion whatsoever. Under Oliver Glasner, the hitherto unknown Austrian appointed by the Eagles in February, Palace were dynamic, direct, pacy, penetrative and powerful - everything ten Hag's United were not. This is Glasner's first foray into English football, he has been in charge at Selhurst Park for a little over two months and there's already an identikit, a vision and a plan. A completely new way of playing against whatever this is meant to be from ten Hag's United.

The fact nine of the eleven starters at Palace are ten Hag era players was most damning of all. If the players have downed tools for yet another manager, then what does that say about the recruitment? They are his boys, his signings. Only the full-backs Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan - Bissaka pre date ten Hag. Andre Onana, Casemiro, Antony, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund were all acquired for hefty sums of money. Jonny Evans and Christian Eriksen were free signings. Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho are this side's future, the two players we should build the team around. Both have risen to prominence under ten Hag. But without the injured Bruno Fernandes, they looked around for leadership where there was none. This was a day where even two of United's better performers in a desperate season got dragged down to their colleagues levels. 

Whilst we're not in the business of singling out any individual for criticism, we need to talk about Casemiro. None of United's apparent superstars covered themselves in glory, but the Brazilian was perhaps the most abhorrent culprit. The five time Champions League winner was reduced to nothing more than a spectator as Olise and his partner in crime on the opposite winger, Eberechi Eze, with Jean - Phillippe Mateta the kind of powerful, physical presence even a regular centre-half has nightmares over.

Casemiro, signed as the figurehead of United's revival as a totemic and transformative serial winner, instead epitomised our cowardly, spineless and gutless surrender. He dived in needlessly instead of holding his position to allow Olise as much room as he needed for the opener. Then he was meekly barged off the ball on the byline by Daniel Munoz  to cross for Olise to score  his second, and Palace's fourth. In his defence, he is not a centre-half but has looked devoid of energy and industry, sinking under instead of stepping up as United have floundered of late. Casemiro looks leggy, he looks done and is fully checked out as a United player. 

An offer from the mega rich Saudi league or MLS will surely be coming his way in the summer - he is our highest earner and is meant to be one of United's leadership group. After a stunning debut season at Old Trafford, it is alarming to witness how quickly even the basics seem to have deserted him. Is he a victim of United's implosion, or part of the cause? Alongside him, Jonny Evans looked every inch his 36 years as he was caught flat footed by Mateta to saunter through and slam in the second. It is not Evans fault - he was the only centre-back we had available and was thrown in at the eleventh hour despite failing a fitness test. United's thirteenth different centre back pairing of the season was, unsurprisingly, found wanting. 

If something ceases to function, can it be said to exist at all? Christian Eriksen is another - like Casemiro - who was signed to herald in a new era but he was upstaged by his less heralded, but supremely more mobile and progressive counterpart Adam Wharton. 

All eyes have been on United's talented youngster Mainoo, and rightfully so, but even he was overshadowed by the performance of his young compatriot. The Englishman seemed drawn to the ball like a magnet, always in the right place at exactly the right moment for Palace. He was excellent positionally and caught the eye with his combative energy and slick, between the lines passing. The obligatory gap in United's midfield became a gaping chasm as Wharton seized control of everything around him, the standout player in a midfield consisting of Mainoo and Mount. In stark contrast, none of those in Red ever seemed to be where they've needed, with time and space granted to each and every opponents in midfield, on the wings and in behind. 

Up front, Hojlund toiled admirably but again got no service and was hooked after 80 minutes of nothing. This current mess is not his fault and he should be absolved of blame. 

So where does this leave us? Are we going to sack ten Hag and simply restart the same rinse and repeat cycle? Or do we put this down as a freakishly bad one off and build again with the Dutchman next season? A new manager doesn't make these players any better. A new manager doesn't de-age Casemiro or make Eriksen mark properly. If we do decide to part ways, most of the squad need to go with him. I would only definitely keep Garnacho, Hojlund, Mainoo and - dependent on fitness - Martinez. The rest I would not be against moving on. When are we going to stop pinning all the blame on our manager and look for the players to take responsibility. There is no doubt ten Hag is a good manager. He overachieved in his first season at United and has not suddenly lost his mojo overnight. He is just at a club where no manager can succeed. 

It is a mystery how you can go from that brilliant, exciting young Ajax side which took Europe by storm, to this. A side which is everything and nothing. If he does indeed go to recently deposed German champions Bayern Munich, I've no doubt he will do well there. 

Each time United have opted for a change in the Old Trafford hotseat, there has been a clear front runner to be the successor. This time, Thomas Tuchel is probably the best of a bad bunch but there's no one as a very obvious upgrade on ten Hag. 

As INEOS approach their first summer in control of all football operations, the job facing them - and United - is one akin to climbing Everest in slippers. For the first time in almost 20 years, I have confidence the men in the corridors of power at Old Trafford will get this right. 

Two years on from United's battering at Brighton, nothing, on the pitch at least, has changed. 

The remarkable renaissance of Aaron Wan - Bissaka

When Manchester United travelled to Fulham for their last match before the five-week World Cup hiatus, it seemed almost certain Aaron Wan - Bissaka had played in the red of United for the last time.
Diogo Dalot had started every game in league and cup with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signing AWB restricted to only four minutes off the bench all season, at the end of the Old Trafford win over Liverpool.

With Dalot suspended for the trip to Craven Cottage due to a fifth booking of the season, Wan - Bissaka was United's only available right-back. Erik ten Hag appeared to sound the death knell on the popular if struggling player when the Dutchman selected natural left-back Tyrell Malacia in his stead with Luke Shaw on the opposite flank. When Wan - Bissaka couldn't even get in ten Hag's team ahead of a makeshift stand-in, the writing very much seemed on the proverbial wall. 

A January departure seemed inevitable for a player incompatible with ten Hag's raison d'etre. The Dutchman's high-intensity pressing style requires his centre-backs to play a high line and the full-backs to 'bomb on'. For all his brilliant defensive attributes, Wan - Bissaka simply could not do this. 

Quite what sparked his incredible turnaround we will never know but, whilst Dalot's form, fitness and fortunes have plateaued since the restart, Wan - Bissaka has gone from strength to strength. Dalot was given a torrid time against the pace and talismanic trickery of Alain Saint-Maximin in the League Cup final.

But with Wan - Bissaka introduced at half-time, Saint-Maximin was rendered almost anonymous in the second 45 minutes, so much so he was withdrawn for Jacob Murphy with 12 minutes to play. Despite only playing one half, such was Wan - Bissaka's seminal impact, he was a contender for man of the match. It was probably AWB's finest performance in the Red of United and paved the way for the team to go on and end the six-year trophy drought. 

Dalot's selection at Anfield certainly raised eyebrows and he was picked again as ten Hag named an unchanged side for the Europa League visit of Real Betis on Thursday. Four days on from the Anfield anomaly, United looked in trouble again after Ayoze Perez had cancelled out Marcus Rashford's early opener. But the introduction of Wan - Bissaka once again proved pivotal as United gained the ascendancy and restored the equilibrium, helped in no small part by AWB's devastating deviation between defence and attack. He gave us more defensive authority and played a part in the move which led to captain Bruno Fernandes headed third goal. 

The combination of Wan - Bissaka and Antony completely nullified the threat of the high flying La Liga side and saw United put the tie to bed even before next week's return in Seville. 

Wan - Bissaka has been the ying to Dalot's yang and surely will now be ahead of his contemporary in the pecking order. Wan - Bissaka has to come in to the team now for the foreseeable future starting with the visit of 19th-placed Southampton on Sunday. 

Could it be ten Hag worked his magic on AWB during the World Cup break when there were no domestic games? Could it be him peaking at the right time given his lack of game time in the first half of the season? Perhaps the talk of a move away proved the turning point. Rumours of a move back to first love Crystal Palace failed to materialise and he has certainly made the most of his second chance.

What I love too is the fact he never complained, he never whinged or threw his toys out the pram. He never aired his frustrations over a lack of game time in public. He has got his head down and remained focused on the job of winning ten Hag over. A certain Cristiano Ronaldo could certainly learn a thing or two.

Dalot has not been right since returning from the World Cup injured and Wan - Bissaka has enjoyed a terrific revival as the main beneficiary. His defensive play has been as solid as ever but there has been a clear uptick in his attacking output too. Although he only has a solitary assist to his name this term, his darting runs from deep, composure on the ball and strong dribbling ability have been notable improvements in his game. Nearly every player has improved under the expert tutelage of the erudite ten Hag but perhaps none more so than AWB. 

He is our best right-back at present and the team looks a much better one with him in it. ten Hag certainly doesn't now need to dip into the transfer market for another right-back such has been Wan - Bissaka's remarkable, heart-warming resurgence. 

Valiant Reds fall short but there's plenty to be proud of

Manchester United fell agonisingly short at the Emirates but Erik ten Hag's improving side should leave the capital with plenty to be proud of.

Eddie Nketiah's late, late winner kept Mikel Arteta's Gunners firmly on course for the title but it's important to remember Arsenal are in the third year of their project under the dapper Spanish gaffer. 
ten Hag has been at United for six months and had to make do without key midfield maestro Casemiro in one of our biggest games of the season. They are two seasons ahead of us but we still went toe-to-toe with them and only succumbed in the final minute.

A fine side at the very apex of their lofty ambitions against an improving one on those tentative first few steps up the mountain.

All things considered, then, and despite the agony of this late defeat, it was also a measure of how far we've come. Arsenal will feel they deserved their win but the Reds - clad in our white away strip for this fixture - will be encouraged by their fighting spirit and determination. Last season's United side would have been eviscerated by this Arsenal vintage and, indeed, many predicted a similar result this time. 

Marcus Rashford's stunning goal briefly raised hopes of a famous victory and a league double over the leaders and champions-elect. Nketiah quickly responded as he headed the hosts' level before Bukayo Saka curled home a stunner early in the second half. Lisandro Martinez stuck his head where most players don't put their feet to equalise with a looping header but lack of bench options and a punishing fixture schedule ultimately told. But there is no doubt this tenacious and improving United side is going in the right direction. 

United thought they had done enough to resist the inevitable late twist in the tale as the clock ticked down and our defence - with centre-backs Raphael Varane and Licha magnificent - held firm. It would be a stretch to say this was an onslaught, as David de Gea only made one save, in the 86th minute, but in the end, Arsenal's relentless pressing and insatiable energy finally wore us down. That always seemed inevitable seeing as the Gunners had a week off and this was our third game in eight days. 

Arsenal just ran that bit further; just had that little bit more in the tank they needed. That in itself is an illustration of they are two years ahead of ten Hag's United, but the erudite Dutchman will know we need to get to these levels. Arteta has done so, and thus ten Hag must be given the same lifespan to replicate the Spaniard's impressive work in north London. He has made a very strong start and has certainly got us charting a course for a successful season. This result may have ended any faint, lingering talk of a title challenge but we are in the top four and still in contention for all three knockout cup competitions. Considering no one gave us a chance before a ball was kicked, that is a very upward and tangible trajectory. 

So it was no wonder there was utter devastation when the brief hope offered by a VAR check on Nketiah's winner, first against Oleksandr Zinchenko and then the goalscorer, was extinguished and we simply did not have time to salvage a point.

United will look back on the costly absence of the experienced Casemiro, whose composure and game management would have proved vital in the frantic final stages. Giant striker Wout Weghorst acquitted himself well but is still adjusting to life in the Premier League.

There was still plenty to admire in our team, who gave as good as we got for the first hour and fought back well after Saka had put Arteta's side in front.

This was a breathtaking, thrill-a-minute Premier League game. Games such as this one are often cagey and chess on grass, but here were the country's two most in-form sides engaged in an almighty ding dong going at it hammer and tong for 94 compelling and captivating minutes.

It was a throwback to the halcyon days of yesteryear when these two giants of English football were engaged in a long and gruelling struggle for supremacy. A match that went to the limits, right up to the last seconds and even centimetres, could also be the one that proves Arsenal really can go all the way more than ever. 
United were such creditable parties to a vintage match that more than revitalised an all-time classic fixture, evoking memories of a time when this game used to bring the globe to a standstill. It hinted the Premier League's tectonic plates may be starting to rumble again. After Liverpool and Chelsea revived the energy of those trepidatious stalemates which were once the norm under Messrs Benitez and Mourinho in the mid-2000s, Arsenal and United rekindling the nostalgic vibes which have kept this storied rivalry simmering since the turn of the millennium made for a refreshing and perhaps unexpected change. 

Two giants have simultaneously awoken from their slumber with renewed panache, vigour and focus - the rebuilds at the Emirates and, indeed, at United, are ongoing and exemplary. There may not have been Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira, Martin Keown, Ruud van Nistelrooy or projectile pizza slices, but this was as close to those heady days as there has been since both of these heavyweights slipped from their pedestals. 

Rashford and the magnificent Martinez were again United's most impressive players. Luke Shaw, imperious of late, struggled against the pace and trickery of the outstanding Saka but is certainly not alone there. Aaron Wan - Bissaka was good again but Scott McTominay, deputising for the big shoes of Casemiro struggled whilst the game bypassed the quiet Christian Eriksen. United were also missing the Spaniard in September's win at Old Trafford - the Gunners' only league loss so far - but Arteta's side were without the services of the influential Thomas Partey. Questions remain over the suitability or otherwise of relative veteran David de Gea who, whilst he cannot be blamed for any of the three goals, put us under pressure with his suspect handling and questionable kicking. His ham-fisted punch under no pressure in the 81st minute, when it seemed easier to simply hold the ball and get United up the pitch, came to epitomise a curious performance from the keeper. 

On the other flank, Oleksandr Zinchenko was without peers. Not only did he limit £88m man Antony to fleeting glimpses of his undoubted talent, but he - perhaps more than anyone, helped Arsenal to exert the pressure. His ability to play as an inverted full-back, breaking into midfield to overload the opposition and resist the press with his passing is a key element to this Arsenal side's renaissance.

 Antony is good defensively and helps to retain possession, but he is understandably posing more questions than answers. He wasn't as bad as has been made out here, but you do expect a bit more from someone so expensive, even if that someone is still young and in his debut season at this level. United's defensive structure and durability certainly looked more vulnerable when the Brazilian winger was taken off. 

Losing to the champions-elect in the very last minute, a side which has only failed to win once in the league at home all season is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. There is absolutely no disgrace here at all. 

Erik ten Hag has reawakened the sleeping giant of Man Utd

The sight of the diminutive Luke Shaw rising to win a series of headers against the towering figure of Erling Haaland epitomised this Manchester United performance more than anything else.

As City pressed in vain to salvage even a point from a derby they thought they'd won, Shaw, starting ahead of World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez at centre-back, rose like a salmon to cap a colossal performance with one final heroic act of derring-do.

 

Cheered just as loud as Bruno Fernandes' leveller and Marcus Rashford's winner, Shaw - looking every inch the seasoned central defender - delivered a masterclass up against one of, indeed if not THE, greatest strikers of his and any other generation. At the final whistle, Casemiro sunk to his knees and Raphael Varane fist pumping and whipping up the crowd was a sign of the renewed belief and confidence surging from every inch of these players' pores. 

It was growing evidence that everything the erudite and tactically astute disciplinarian ten Hag is doing, every decision he is making, is working exactly as he planned. For this is not luck. Here is a simply magnificent and meticulous master of his managerial craft, a man putting a more and more indelible stamp on Manchester United by the week. He looks more at home, more suited to the task than many of his perhaps more illustrious predecessors have done in recent years.

United have only lost once in 19 games since that derby day humiliation back in October and even then can count themselves unfortunate at Villa Park on a day when we had enough chances, and much of the play, to warrant at least a point. 
It certainly gives weight to ten Hag's belief a harrowing experience could be used as a force for good. As the old adage says, more can be learned from defeat than it can from victory and that has been the case this season.

The conclusion to this derby may be riddled in contention, and you can feel a certain sympathy for City's complaints but United's character, belief and unity justified the growing optimism around Old Trafford - a far cry from the dark days of August when we lost at home to Brighton and were then eviscerated at Brentford the following week. Five months on, and even those defeats do not look so bad now given how well both sides are doing with the Seagulls seventh and the Bees eighth.

Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and now perhaps the mightiest of them all have been vanquished here by United this season, but victory over the champions, and the manner of it, is by far the most powerful statement of ten Hag's fledgling United tenure. 
The subsequent celebrations at the end of a thrilling and chaotic derby carried the conviction this giant club, our giant club which has lost its way so badly, is beginning to stir again. 

Casemiro has been the cement between the stones following his arrival from Real Madrid but so many other factors are coming together now as the Reds now sit only one point behind our vanquished opponents. A state of affairs no one would have believed a few months ago. Even the notion United would be in third place would have seen you laughed out of town. 

ten Hag has restored belief, instilled smart game management and has also made it clear who is in charge when Cristiano Ronaldo was hustled out the door sharpish following his insubordination. Even Marcus Rashford has not escaped ten Hag's stance as a firm but fair disciplinarian when he was dropped at Wolves after he was late for a team meeting.

Nearly every United player has improved beyond all recognition under the tutelage of ten Hag, but surely no one more so than Rashford. His winner here means he has now scored in each of his last seven games in all competitions, eight in total, and has hit nine in each of his last matches at Old Trafford - an extraordinary run of red-hot form in front of goal not seen for over two decades.

In stark contrast to Rashford's visceral joy, City goal machine Haaland had a rare fruitless day with only 19 touches in 95 minutes, only five of these in the United box as he was forced to the fringes by a magnificent performance from Shaw. 

Shaw was drafted in as an emergency centre-back during United's festive fixtures but, in only his fourth outing in that position, looked as though he's played there all his life. His inclusion over Lisandro Martinez raised eyebrows and looked a massive gamble especially considering the presence of Haaland, but it was yet another decision ten Hag got right. Just like he has with everything else. 

Such has been Shaw's string of superb showings as a left-sided centre-back, he is now a genuine option for ten Hag. 

Of course, any talk of the title is wide of the mark and very much tongue in cheek, no matter how much I've enjoyed the banter on social media.

City are still the benchmark and have dominated not just United but pretty much everyone else for the best part of a decade. We cannot, not yet at least, talk of measuring gaps to them, but what cannot be argued without contradiction is the fact we are, at last, moving in the right direction. Something special is cooking in the corridors of Old Trafford. You can feel it, you can sense it, you can witness it on andoff the pitch and in the stands at United now. 

ten Hag still has a lot of work to do after the barren years of underachievement, but to have us in the top three, right on the heels of City and even casting a glance at the leaders Arsenal (who we face next weekend) is testament to his fine body of work only six months into his reign. It is certainly a position we'd have snatched with both hands if offered back in August.

ten Hag's arrival and his measured, considered - perhaps even under-rated - approach was always going to be a case of gradual evolution rather than rapid revolution. But the best way to prove the graph is on an upward trajectory is to send the champions packing, especially when those champions are Manchester City. 

Rapha against Licha in 2022 World Cup Final

After the holders and defending champions France won their semi-final on Wednesday night to set up a final with Argentina, one thing is certain.
A Manchester United player will return to Carrington as a world champion.

In a World Cup full of shocks and heroic underdogs, we're left with a final which - in truth - was widely predicted. Argentina recovered from falling victim to arguably the greatest upset of them all when they were humbled by the rank outsiders of Saudi Arabia in their first game. Since then, Lionel Scaloni's side, spearheaded by the little genius with magic in his feet and the heart of a lion, has got better and better. But enough about Lisandro Martinez. This has been a tournament where the stars seem set to align for Lionel Messi to finally deliver on the biggest stage of all. At times, it has seemed as if he has dragged them to this point virtually single-handedly. Underwhelming and erratic in their first two games, La Albiceleste have eventually lived up to their billing as pre-tournament favourites.

Martinez has started two of Argentina's six ties in Qatar with his role dependent on the shape deployed by manager Lionel Scaloni, who has tinkered liberally between a 3-5-2, a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3 system. Let's not forget his totemic, match-winning block against a fast-finishing Australia side in the round of 16; truly Martinez at his combative and no holds barred best! 

 Since dispensing with Licha's out-of-sorts namesake Lautaro in favour of Manchester City's Julian Alvarez after the second group game with Mexico, Argentina have never looked back. Should he win it, the Butcher would go back to Manchester with a winner's medal draped proudly around his neck. It would also mean BOTH of United's first-choice centre-backs would be World Cup winners. Not many clubs can say that. Barcelona had Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, Bayern had Mats Hummels and George Boateng in 2014. 2010 winner Sergio Ramos played alongside a certain Raphael Varane - himself a World Cup four years ago - as part of an immense and impenetrable pairing at Real Madrid for the best part of a decade.  

Speaking of which, Varane of course is now very much United's defensive lynchpin. Having left the pitch in tears after picking up an injury against Chelsea, our totemic no.19 clearly feared his World Cup was over. But Rapha is made of stern stuff. France coach Didier Deschamps left him out of Les Bleus opener against Australia, preferring Ibrahima Konate alongside Dayot Upamecano to manage Rapha's fitness and ease him back in having not played a minute since that tie at Stamford Bridge in October.

Rapha has looked back to his best since coming into the side for their second group match against Denmark. Always assured in and out of possession, Varane lifted the trophy in 2018 and impressed against England in the quarters in which he sent club team-mates Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford packing. 

His stunning break-the-line pass started the move which led to Theo Hernandez's opener in the semi against Morocco. Varane is now geared up for a second, back-to-back final having been impressive as Deschamps tournament specialists prevailed four years ago in Russia. Should he do so again, he would have two World Cup and four Champions League winners gongs - before he's even turned 30. That is simply staggering and I wouldn't mind betting no other player boasts such an illustrious achievement. 

Argentina are looking for their third World Cup triumph and first since 1986. Messi was one when a small, squat footballing magician by the name of Diego Maradona captained his nation to victory against West Germany. 36 years on, and there is certainly a sense of poetic symmetry as the late Maradona's heir apparent Messi, also his country's captain, takes centre stage in what could be his last international match. 

There is added impetus as Messi is yet to win a major global international trophy and this would be Licha's first taste of that particular delicacy, too. 

Varane, on the other hand, is part of a side vying to become the first to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962. The task of keeping Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and, of course, the French's talisman Kylian Mbappe quiet will be a stern examination for Licha with all three purring and pulling the strings for Deschamps depleted but no less dynamic side. 

Varane, meanwhile, will have to be at his considerable best to shut down Messi, no doubt drawing on his experience of shackling the diminutive genius during his time at Real Madrid.

Argentina will start as marginal favourites simply because of the presence of Messi  (then again, France have Mbappe), but which Red will come out on top? 

The World Cup final kicks off at 3pm on Sunday in Lusail. 

Cristiano Ronaldo is right but also oh so very wrong

Alejandro Garnacho smashed through the ceiling and catapulted himself into the national spotlight with his late heroics at Fulham.

The Monday morning papers should have been full of superlatives for the young Spanish-born Argentine, but it was a man almost 20 years his senior who - inevitably - grabbed the headlines.

Shortly after 10pm on Sunday, the internet broke and the world's collective jaws dropped to the floor. Cristiano Ronaldo, one of this club's greatest ever players and arguably the finest ever exponent of his craft, spoke. He spoke damningly and at length. Even his choice of interviewee was questionable, but what he said overshadowed everything which had gone before.

    

Yet here's the thing. You won't find a single Manchester United fan, myself included, who would disagree with 98% of what he said. We've been saying the facilities have been in urgent need of investment for years. Nothing has changed in 20 years whilst our rivals have modernised, upgraded and left us for dead. Old Trafford's leaking roof is a testament to that and the players are still using facilities they had during Ronaldo's first spell at the club back in the 00s. He feels the club has stagnated and has failed to move with the times, with the setup exactly the same as it was when he left. 

That is a concern - particularly when it comes to enticing new talent into the club - but doesn't come as a surprise. It is what we already knew. Old Trafford looks great on TV but in reality it's a run-down relic, pickled in aspic and has been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. It's a shit hole and a damning indictment of the board's ineptitude. 

 His extraordinary attack on the club's running (or, more pertinently, lack thereof) carried enormous weight. Again, you can't argue with it. We've been saying the same for years - we know the Glazers don't give a s**t, we know they see United as a cash cow, an asset to bleed dry and not a global institution to take care of, to cherish and to protect. You'd like to think hearing all this from the mouth of the world's biggest global sports star will make them squirm. Then again, they are thick-skinned and oblivious to everything around.

If Ronaldo had left things at that, and if his words had helped to force the hated and much malinged Yanks to put the club up for sale, it would only embellish his legacy. We'd have loved him even more - he would be worthy of a statue and having a stand named after him. If he'd ended the interview there, the love and adoration for this man at our club would have lasted for eternity. 

But then again, nothing he said was new.  All of this has been blindingly obvious for years, so why he felt the need to say it is beyond me. Many pundits and former players have suggested both the timing and the tone of the interview - as the domestic season pauses for the World Cup -  is to make his position at United untenable and force through an exit in January. 

As refreshing as it was to hear someone of such stature call out the club's hierarchy for what they are, Ronaldo has made a huge and fatal error of judgement. His comments on Wayne Rooney and Reds manager Erik ten Hag has sent him past the point of no return. To accuse the club of 'betraying him' is very rich indeed coming from the man who failed to turn up to training, refused to come on as a sub, left the ground early twice, lied, and then felt the need to air his dirty linen in public. Oh, plus the fact he almost signed for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.

This coming from the man who said he was 'a slave' the last time he was here. He cannot handle the fact he is no longer the main man. He could have said any of this at any point last season but he was in the team then, and scoring goals. He doesn't like the fact new talents such as Garnacho have taken centre stage and can't accept the fact his star is on the wane. Don't forget, too, ten Hag integrated him back into the side after his antics in the Tottenham game and made him captain against Aston Villa. 

It is a huge shame this will be the over-riding memory of his time at United. It is all anyone will ever remember which is some going considering this is a player with 145 goals in 346 games for us. A player who had surely the greatest season in modern times with his astonishing 42-goal haul in 2007-08 to inspire us to the double. Yet the memories of those wonderful times, those heady days with Ronaldo and the Reds at the summit of English football, have been eviscerated almost overnight with the damage he has done. The minute you publicly criticise your manager, there can be no way back. Ronaldo is done. He has surely played his last game for Manchester United. He is in breach of contract and has brought the club into disrepute. Despite everything that's happened, Ronaldo will always be held in high regard at Old Trafford: no one, probably least of all him, wanted things to end like this. 

Come in number 34 your time is up

No one can have been more delighted to see Erik ten Hag appointed at Old Trafford than Donny van de Beek.

Now in his third season in the English game, it still feel like van de Beek is yet to truly arrive - if he ever does. ten Hag was seen as van de Beek's best shot at a revival at Old Trafford. After all, United's current gaffer was the manager that helped put him on the map at Ajax. But his compatriot - van de Beek's fourth different United manager - has been just as baffled with how to solve a problem like Donny as his immediate predecessors. Sometimes despite the best efforts of all parties, the component parts are simply incompatible. 

That was the impression you got from watching the disparate Dutchman on Sunday at Villa. 

It was his second successive start and his first in the league for 701 days. It is surely his last. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was widely criticised for not giving van de Beek, a player he signed (but never really wanted), enough chances but he did. It's just van de Beek did nothing to justify his selection every time he played. With a stroke of delicious irony, perhaps his best performance in the Red of United came in the second half of the 4-1 defeat at Watford which brought about the end of Solskjaer's reign. Is it any wonder Solskjaer didn't believe in him despite numerous chances to prove his worth? 

van de Beek's no show inadvertently proved why Bruno Fernandes - suspended here -  remains this side's most important player. Such is Fernandes' crucial role as string pulling architect-in-chief, almost everyone felt Christian Eriksen would move into the attacking tip of ten Hag's three man midfield system. The Danish playmaker has been used in a slightly more withdrawn role since his signing in the summer, but his natural attacking instincts and ability to make things happen seemed to suggest he was tailor-made for the number 10 role. 
It seemed obvious either Scott McTominay or the World-Cup bound Fred would fill Eriksen's void and slot in alongside Casemiro, not only offering an extra layer of 'beef' in midfield but also allowing Eriksen's star to shine. But ten Hag, despite van de Beek's anonymity in San Sebastien, again stuck with him. He surely cannot persist with him any more. 

Whilst it's true none of the team covered themselves in glory on a bad day at the office in the Midlands, van de Beek's struggles were the most noticeable. Quite how he lasted 65 minutes before being hooked again is beyond me. The first time you noticed him was when the number 34 flashed up on the electronic substitutes board, signalling his imminent departure. He managed only 18 touches in the game and proved more of a hindrance than a help. You had to feel for him a bit as he trotted off, head bowed, after another afternoon in anonymity. 

He looks completely and utterly lost in the Red of United - all at sea, out of place and completely incompatible with the stresses and the strains of our 100mph English game. 

 If even ten Hag, the man who literally invented Donny van de Beek, cannot spark him into life, then it is surely the end of the road for the player. Sometimes, a player can look the business in Europe but then come here and just not 'be it'. van de Beek epitomises that. He is simply not good enough for the Premier League and four different managers can't be wrong. Five if you include Frank Lampard when the player spent half of last season on loan at Everton. 

Of course, he has not long returned from injury and only started at Villa Park by default. But his United career has failed to live up to expectations for far too long, meaning there is a growing belief both the club and van de Beek might have to accept it just hasn't worked out. Relative to expectations, he surely has to be one of the worst players I've seen in a United shirt. 

I don't want to make this sound like a personal vendetta or an attack against the player, but I just do not see what he does, or what he is supposed to be. Is he a number ten? A six? An attacking player, or a box-to-box playmaker? There is simply no identity - baffling for someone signed from a club synonymous for exactly that. 

It's time to amicably part ways and move the player on in January. Come in, number 34, your time is up.