With the absence of European football there was hope we might see more Saturday 3pms this year but we appear to have become Monday night mainstays instead. Not great for anyone travelling long distances, not great for fanzine sales and especially not great for those of us whose ideal match day is typically bookended by 5-6 hours ‘socialising’. I’ve not added it up but compared to last season’s total outlay I must’ve saved an absolute fortune in total.
Thanks to Michael Carrick and the general ineptitude of rival teams, at the time of writing it looks like CL qualification will be secured with games to spare. We’ve only played once over the last month and yet we’re still in 3rd place somehow – it’ll take an almighty capitulation for us to balls it up now. It’s been quite the turnaround from 12 months ago where despite lurching all the way to Bilbao, a 15th place finish was exactly what we deserved after an appallingly poor PL campaign.
This season has been much improved, particularly in the period immediately after Carrick’s appointment where Mainoo returned to the starting line-up and the whole team started to play like the shackles were off. We’re still quite brittle, particularly at OT (as Leeds recently demonstrated) but the positive signs are starting to outweigh the negatives (he said tentatively). The game at Stamford Bridge serves as a good example of this as there’s no way we would have seen that out so comfortably under Amorim.
Our inconsistency at home is made plain if you consider the experience of my mate’s 14 year old daughter. She’s been coming to the game with us over the last 3-4 years whenever there’s a spare ticket. Last season we noticed a trend had developed and after some discussion and questioning, it came to light that in 25+ visits to OT she’s seen United win a grand total of ONCE. It’s an incredible stat which has now led to her being known as ‘the curse’. If this poor girl had been born 2 decades previously she’d more than likely have never seen us get beat.
I was one of those people banging on about the missed opportunity for an unlikely title charge bearing in mind the horrendous run of dropped points over Christmas. A mate then helpfully pointed out that if we’d won those games (Everton, West Ham, Bournemouth & Wolves) then the likelihood is Amorim would never have been sacked in the first place. Instead of anticipating the return of CL football, we’d still be stuck in mid-table and Kobbie Mainoo would be about to leave for Napoli or wherever.
As usual, the upcoming summer transfer window is going to be key as regards how we progress from here. Prior to that, you’d hope they’ll make a decision within the next couple of weeks on Michael Carrick’s immediate future. All things considered, I wouldn’t have any issue with him getting the gig full-time as I think he’s done pretty well. Judging by the body language, the players appear to be fully on-board and results have been decent overall. If he finishes top four and doesn’t get the job then he’ll have every right to feel a bit aggrieved.
The main priority in the summer has to be replacing Casemiro with someone of a similar calibre, yet minus the ageing legs. Casemiro has been very good this last few months playing in tandem with Kobbie. He’s a top professional and will be remembered fondly for his efforts during what’s been a turbulent 4 year stay at the club. Clearly, he’s benefited from the less-congested fixture calendar this season as there’s no way he can handle playing twice a week at this stage of his career.
Casimero’s imminent departure wouldn’t seem so dramatic if we had someone capable of filling his boots, but Ugarte has been mostly terrible when called upon and will likely follow him out of the door. That leaves Bruno, Kobbie, the perma-injured Mount and a bunch of kids with a handful of first team appearances between them. Amorim explained last summer that we could manage with a depleted squad due to not playing in Europe but that won’t be the case next season.
Aside from that, the priority is probably a right back but given budgetary constraints I’d be content with a couple of new midfielders. 12 months ago I’d have been happy to cash in on Bruno but he’s responded with his best season since he was at the peak of his powers during Covid. He’s possibly in with a shout of winning the PFA award as I don’t really see many other standout candidates. City will probably end up edging out Arsenal to win the league but both teams are nowhere near the level they were a couple of years ago.
This summer will thankfully see us rid of Jadon Sancho, an absolute disaster of a signing whose career continues its steady decline. Neither Villa nor Chelsea wanted him on a permanent deal so he’ll likely opt for another shot at Dortmund – the only place on earth where he seems capable of getting his act together. There are numerous cases of modern pros thinking they’ve made it at 21 with nothing left to prove, post-Fergie MUFC have certainly been good at cultivating them.
Another one too thick to understand how lucky he actually was, is our friend Alejandro Garnacho. This brainiac has gone from an out-of-sorts, inconsistent mess at United to an out-of-sorts, inconsistent mess at Chelsea where everyone hates him. Those “we’ll have him for 3-4 years then he’ll go to Madrid” predictions seem a very long time ago now. All because he got dropped to the bench for the Europa final and responded with a complete hissy fit. He’ll get forced out there, do 2 years at Villarreal and then head ‘home’ to South America. In other words, the Anthony Martial career trajectory.
Talking of inconsistency, I’m not in the least bit surprised to learn that Marcus Rashford’s ‘dream move’ to Barca might be coming to swift conclusion. Due to a supportive fanbase and an effective PR team, he was given an easy ride here despite years of erratic performances. Instead of accepting some criticism as merely part of the job, the sense of entitlement grew and he’d completely lost the plot by the time he was shipped off to Villa. Keep your fingers crossed the club isn’t considering offering him an olive branch. Enjoy the summer and I’ll see you in August.
Copyright Red News – May 2026
carlosartorial 