I even got the subs right! Could have placed a bet and retired but instead I wasted my 1 in a million on a TexAgs forum.

Wasn't able to watch the game live but have watched it now. Saw some match reports describing it as a similar start to last season's against Wolves. That's just absurd. Wasn't a dominant performance. I'm not even sure it was a top 4 performance. But it was a big improvement over the Wolves game. xG alone in this game was 2.72 x .42. Even if you take away Garnacho's last minute flub (which had a xG higher than a PK), it was still a sizable difference. The biggest improvement was in restricting opportunities. Wolves had 26 shots in last season's opener. Fulham had 7. After last season when letting the opponent shoot as the pleased seemed to be a feature rather than a bug, it's nice to see the improvement.

Still a lot to improve upon. Final third was sorely lacking. Starting an actual striker will help but Zirkzee's history suggests he won't be prolific in front of goal in spite of his debut goal unless Ruud can work some magic on him. Brighton should be a much tougher test and a poor performance there will undo the vibes after this game but definitely saw some improvement over last season.

That's incredible

I'm gonna need the name of this place.

Another view.

Here's another view from inside @CosmLosAngeles pic.twitter.com/pVH0W9ZKkF

— Paul Manc Bald and Bred (@MufcWonItAll2) August 17, 2024

Wouldn't be a huge sum but every little bit helps and he clearly has no future at United.

🚨🔴 EXCL: Panathinaikos in advanced talks with Man United to sign Facundo Pellistri on permanent transfer.

Not finalised yet but negotiations are ongoing as Pellistri could leave #MUFC in the next days. pic.twitter.com/3LZpYSxuP2

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 18, 2024

Dre_00 said:

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I'm gonna need the name of this place.

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Called Cosm in Inglewood. The only other location is in Dallas at the Grandscape in the Colony. which will be showing the A&M/ND game . Living in DFW I might have to check this out but runs about $80+ a pop. At least for the A&M game.

Looks like for the United/Liverpool match next month you can get in for about 45/ticket. But they have different tiers and you can buy out whole booths

Tracked it down from the tweet but yeah, that looks insane. May have to try and check it out next time I'm in LA/Dallas.

Think United wanted 30m for McTominay. I'm guessing if Fulham offer 25, they say yes.

Fulham have re-opened talks with Manchester United over signing of Scott McTominay. Fulham had 2 bids rejected & & weren’t expected to go back in unless United were willing to negotiate on asking price. Fulham now expected to make improved offer if talks go positively. #FFC #MUFC https://t.co/hb4xcABG9O

— Dharmesh Sheth (@skysports_sheth) August 18, 2024

Well they didn't reopen for long. Fulham signing Sander Berge from Burnley for 20m + 5 in add-ons. So they didn't buy McTominay and instead bought a guy that United was linked with. lol.

Supposedly Napoli is interested in McTominay but can't do anything unless they sell Osimhen which is proving difficult.

We are (probably) buying Ugarte on layaway.

🚨🔴 Understand Manchester United are working on loan with obligation to buy proposal for Manuel Ugarte.

Negotiations to continue with this formula as Jorge Mendes’s leading talks with Paris Saint-Germain.

Ugarte wants United, pushing a lot after personal terms agreed in July. pic.twitter.com/ZtiXJvGqEC

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 19, 2024

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5711441/2024/08/20/manuel-ugarte-manchester-united-psg/

Thought this did a good job of connecting the dots between Ugarte's strengths/weaknesses and how United might/should/could use him.

Basically he's a tackling and pressing machine who sometimes lacks positional discipline and is not a passer or ball progressor. He'll suffer in any system that requires patient build-up and does best when his teams attack directly and at pace. If he is signed, he would likely be expected to maintain his tackling and pressing skills while not getting caught out positionally and asked to make simple passes to the more progressive players as soon as he wins possession.

I think it could work especially if United can stay healthy. The entire first choice back line (assuming De Ligt eventually becomes 1st choice) are quite good at ball progression so Ugarte doesn't need to be. But 50m is a lot of money for a guy that's really only good at 1 or 2 things. And I think United are still likely to look for other midfielders next summer even if they bring in Ugarte. Not necessarily to replace him but rather to give them a better or different set of skills.

Why are Manchester United still so vulnerable to counter-attacks? (nytimes.com)

I think this sums up the frustrations I had with our first match. We did not panic like we did last year which is a huge improvement in mindset. But, we are still allowing these counter attacks to happen to often.

That's on the high end of what Panathinaikos typically spends so not bad considering.

Facundo Pellistri has completed a permanent move from Man Utd to Panathinaikos. Fee of £5.1m and performance-related bonuses of up to £1.7m. Utd have a buy-back option for 3yrs and a 45% cut of any sell-on fee #mufc

— Chris Wheeler (@ChrisWheelerDM) August 21, 2024

Can't complain too much with a buyback and high sell on clause. That said, I like him as much as a lot of players bought in the PL in the 15-25M range. I guess no one really fell in love with him, though.

Romano reporting that Maxi Oyedele is transferring to Legia Warsaw. I'd love to tell you I know who he is but that would be a lie.

No indication on the size of the fee but I'm guessing it's a relative pittance especially as his contract was set to expire in June 2025.

Another youth signing. Defensive midfielder.

🚨🔴 EXCLUSIVE: Man United agree deal to sign 2006 born Mali international talent Sékou Koné from Guidars FC, here we go!

Koné was on the list of several clubs but United have agreed deal today. 🇲🇱

Considered top talent, he’s part of long term plans similar to Chido Obi Martin. pic.twitter.com/WywZyfyIp7

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 22, 2024

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5717196/2024/08/22/man-utd-transfers-sekou-kone-who/?source=user_shared_article
(Edit: I hope he's good, but until today I didn't know he existed, so pure hopium; looks like he may effectively be the replacement of the guy Dre posted about)

If I knew nothing about Maxi then I know even less about Sekou. I think what's encouraging about this move is that it likely was not a very easy transfer (pure assumption on my part but non-EU transfers are usually more difficult) and it likely happened relatively quickly and decisively (I wouldn't be surprised if United scouts had their eye on him for a while but the decision to make a move couldn't have been any earlier than Ineos' arrival and we certainly didn't much about this until this summer).

We all know the stories of players that United let slip through their fingers because the Glazers couldn't be bothered to do anything remotely challenging and all the decision makers hemmed and hawed until the opportunity had gone. Moises Caicedo and Erling Haaland are the first that come to mind but there are others. No idea if this kid will become a first teamer let alone an impact first teamer but the issue in the past 10 years has rarely been United's scouting or not finding opportunities, it has been execution. Seems like this could be an indication that Ineos continue to improve the execution in the off-field organization.

Early game tomorrow. Let's see if I get lucky again...


---------------Zirkzee---------

Rashford----Bruno-----Garnacho

------Mainoo----Casemiro-----------

Dalot--Lisandro--Maguire--Mazraoui


So the same as last week except the two players that came on at the 60th minute start. De Ligt could start ahead of Maguire but De Ligt had no pre-season and may not be ready to start. But I'm least confident about Maguire starting.

going to be a tough match.

I'd guess the same, but de Ligt exited the Euros at the semis, and he returned to Bayern the same time as Bruno. So true, but because of Euros, mainly. That said, Maguire has been OK, so no huge rush.

I also think he will start Rashford, but would note that Amad is in the last year of his deal, I think, so if we want to re-sign him, he needs to be happy with his place.

I'm kind of tired of Sancho rumors, but there's an Athletic article from Lauri Whitwell saying he could go to Juventus on a loan with an obligation to buy. However, the asking price plus wages, along with United wanting it to help enough with PSR to get Ugarte, make the deal difficult. I have to say, I don't think 40 million pounds for Sancho is very unrealistic, so the big problem seems to be his pay. It may come down to whether he's willing to take a pay cut for Juventus for the opportunity to start and play, or keep his pay but compete with Antony for the fourth winger slot at United. United can't really pay him off and get much for PSR, so he may have to swallow a cut if he wants to move.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5718971/2024/08/23/jadon-sancho-juventus-manchester-united/?source=user_shared_article

Not trying to hog the thread, but Amad's mother has died. Not sure whether or not he will even be available (not that that's most important.)

Ugh, tough to lose a parent but especially at that young of an age. No way he should be anywhere near the pitch for the next couple of days at least.

Romano reporting that Napoli have offered 25m EUR for McTominay which United have rejected. It's 30m EUR or and not a penny less apparently.

On Mctominay, sounds like we are arguing over 5M euros. Sounds pretty close, but then again so was Fulham. In fairness, outside of EPL, Madrid teams, Barcelona, Bayern, and PSG, 25M is a pretty big bid.

🚨🔵 Manchester United have received €25m proposal from Napoli for Scott McTominay but still not enough to proceed.

Man United always asked for fee in excess of €30m to sell McTominay. pic.twitter.com/GAohXMPvWJ

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 23, 2024

Edit: I was typing and responding to emails and got beat in the interim.

I doubt they'll budge much on their asking price because they actually see some value in McTominay and they would almost certainly need to replace him if they have in fact told Eriksen he should find a new club and he leaves too.

Wow. Same lineup including an Amad start.

3v2 should have done better. Amad isn't who you want in the middle making the decisions.

And there is the defensive breakdown we saw last season.

Offside by Marcus but I don't care. That will do wonders for him.

Brighton created one chance and scored from it. United haven't looked bad until they get to the final third. Playing with an actual striker would maybe help that. Bruno and Mount are both pressing and passing but neither are looking to make runs into the final third.

Mathguy64 said:

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Offside by Marcus but I don't care. That will do wonders for him.

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He scored with a back heel while laying flat on his stomach. Should have let it count just for that.