It's Carrick! You know….' Hard to believe it's not… Scholes? Lol

Dre_00 said:

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2 goals
1 goal incorrectly ruled out for offside
2 goals correctly ruled out for offside
2 crazy insane saves by Donnarumma

…all of that and City managed exactly 1 shot on goal.

I have never been more surprised by a result and a performance. Like what just happened? lol

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Most dominant performance regardless of opponent, we have had in a long time.

Glory, glory Man United!!!!

xG was 2.03 - .45

Would have been close to 3 if VAR didnt screw Mount. An absolute beat down.

Dre_00 said:

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2 goals
1 goal incorrectly ruled out for offside
2 goals correctly ruled out for offside
2 crazy insane saves by Donnarumma

…all of that and City managed exactly 1 shot on goal.

I have never been more surprised by a result and a performance. Like what just happened? lol

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And don't forget Maguires header off the post and Amad going off post as well there at the end. Pretty sure there was 1 I am forgetting

Showstopper said:

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Looking forward to a weekend where I can watch the other games without being pissy and mad! Early kickoff for the win!

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I was just thinking how much nicer it is to start the weekend off on positive.

BigAg95 said:

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Time to strip the interim tag from Carrick?

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Aston94 said:

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BigAg95 said:

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Time to strip the interim tag from Carrick?

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You laugh but "pundits" are already on that story. And you know if this team manages to repeat this performance against Arsenal that avalanche will be coming.

It will be idiotic and loud and almost unstoppable.

Mathguy64 said:

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Aston94 said:

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BigAg95 said:

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Time to strip the interim tag from Carrick?

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You laugh but "pundits" are already on that story. And you know if this team manages to repeat this performance against Arsenal that avalanche will be coming.

It will be idiotic and loud and almost unstoppable.

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Well I am laughing mainly because it's true.

And I sincerely hope that Carrick does so well that at the end of the season it is a legitimate discussion.

Aston94 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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Aston94 said:

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BigAg95 said:

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Time to strip the interim tag from Carrick?

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You laugh but "pundits" are already on that story. And you know if this team manages to repeat this performance against Arsenal that avalanche will be coming.

It will be idiotic and loud and almost unstoppable.

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Well I am laughing mainly because it's true.

And I sincerely hope that Carrick does so well that at the end of the season it is a legitimate discussion.

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Same. I'd much rather be debating whether we should could keep a guy because he's done so well it can't be ignored than counting the days for the next appointment.

Just running back through it. That was absolute smashing. As comprehensive beatdown of city as you will see.

Aston94 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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Aston94 said:

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BigAg95 said:

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Time to strip the interim tag from Carrick?

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You laugh but "pundits" are already on that story. And you know if this team manages to repeat this performance against Arsenal that avalanche will be coming.

It will be idiotic and loud and almost unstoppable.

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Well I am laughing mainly because it's true.

And I sincerely hope that Carrick does so well that at the end of the season it is a legitimate discussion.

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Sure. It would be a nice story and it would be a good solution to a messy situation.

But I wish they would give the poor ******* more than 3 days and one match before adding this to his plate. Although I suppose it was always going to be inevitable if he started well.

I can't imagine managing this club. Here, Barca, RM. The media pressure is so much worse compared to anywhere else.

Well maybe the impending sacking of Frank will take a little of the spotlight away and buy Carrick a little room to relax.

Glasner is about to walk out of Palace mid-season. That might provide some media cover as well.

Come to think of it, Glasner to Spurs before the next round makes too much sense. Heck maybe Palace and Spurs just trade managers and call it a day.

Speaking of Glasner… even less of a fan now. Unfortunately, with our owners and leaders, as a manager you sometimes have to eat s- and like the taste.

Meh, I don't blame him too much. Crystal Palace is a selling club but since they won the FA Cup, they've sold their English international midfielder, their English international defender, and are rumored to be shopping their leading scorer. He wishes his owners spent half the money that United routinely spends.

Main reason why I think he makes some sense is that he should be a good candidate to transition a roster that has been built for the last year for a 3 man backline formation into a roster that can use a 4 man backline formation. I'm tired of these abrupt resets where we just bin everything and start over from square 1. It doesn't have to be that way. He's tactically varied enough to be the link between Amorim and whatever it is United want to instill after Amorim.

All of that said, the above is a moot point if Carrick is relatively successful in his tenure and proves that the current squad can compete well in the vision of United that Wilcox and Ratcliffe supposedly have now even though they said they had it 18 months ago too. If Carrick succeeds, the appeal of Glasner is diminished greatly. In that scenario, you just get whomever you think is best for this new tactical vision Ineos professes to have now.

Also here to say...

Paul Scholes is easily my favorite United player. But I absolutely love Lisandro effectively telling him to STFU. Every former United player turned pundit is horrible and I despise the nonsense they routinely put out.

Newcastle don't fare any better against Wolves than we did. And somehow someway we will end the week in 5th place all alone.

The thing is we haven't really bought players for 3 back line. We have 5 CBs, 2 RBs, 2 LBs if we count Shaw and Mazraoui as full backs (which they are). Dorgu was playing LB at Lecce. The only player we bought that is really out of place is Cunha because he played Bruno's position when Wolves were 4-2-3-1. So he has the Mainoo problem (ie Amorim had him competing for Bruno's position, and Bruno plays almost every game and rarely gets subbed). We need a midfielder, but that's true under either system because if there's one thing that should be really clear it is that Bruno isn't a true midfielder. When did we start doing that? Was it the Europa final? I guess we determined that was a great idea based on how well that game went?

And 5 CBs for 2 slots isn't actually a huge problem because at least one of them is basically always injured.

The problem isn't the backline per se, it's that we got rid of a lot of wingers. Not a problem if you don't play wingers in a 3-man backline. But we don't have a recognized left winger on the first team and in spite of Dorgu's performances there, he's a make shift answer at best. He'll struggle the rest of the season against teams that defend deeper. Of our two right wingers, only Amad can provide width from the position. I would argue that if a 4-3-3 is indeed the future, getting 2-3 wingers is as much of a necessity as 1-2 central midfielders. You basically have to go out and, at a minimum, go find replacements for Garnacho and Rashford.

Well Amorim's system essentially made the wingbacks the attacking wingers, and we had Dorgu and Amad playing those positions. So how are we in a worse position if we still have those players playing those positions, and is playing Dalot at wing as a makeshift actually better than playing Mount or Mbeumo at wing (which I assume we will see some on the wings)?

We actually are a little short defenders to run the 3-4-3 the way Glasner wants, which actually is more of a back 5.

I guess I just don't see the supposed benefit of Glassner.

I'm not sure I agree that the wingbacks were attack wingers. They weren't asked to be wingers in the same way they will be in a 4-3-3.

Whatever, let's just hope that Carrick performs a miracle and gets this team into Europe. If he does that, Glasner almost certainly won't be on anyone's radar, least of all mine.

If you're a tactics geek, Athletic would some good info today from the City match. Interesting to see United attacked City and also how they adjusted their attack in the 2nd half when City didn't step up to follow Mbeumo when he dropped deep as often (because Dorgu and Amad were often filling the space he vacated when they did step up).

Dre_00 said:

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I'm not sure I agree that the wingbacks were attack wingers. They weren't asked to be wingers in the same way they will be in a 4-3-3.

Whatever, let's just hope that Carrick performs a miracle and gets this team into Europe. If he does that, Glasner almost certainly won't be on anyone's radar, least of all mine.

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Compare Lamine Yamal's season heatmap with Amad's…. Very very similar.

I didn't think this was particularly newsworthy, but multiple reports that it had been decided that Casemiro will leave as a free agent at season's end. The club official twitter account put out a series of goodbye soon images from Casemiro. It is unwieldy because multiple posts, but it's in the official account.

A message from @Casemiro 💌 pic.twitter.com/ytJhSb7YOs

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 22, 2026

In other news I don't care about, a photo of Bruno in next year's home kit has been leaked. Looks like this year's home kit but with white Adidas stripes and a polo style collar. Exciting stuff (unless it is AI and I got fooled).

🚨🚨| JUST IN: Manchester United’s 2026/27 home kit has been leaked. It draws inspiration from the club's classic Admiral kits of the 1970s. [@Footy_Headlines] pic.twitter.com/w0jBm8LG44

— centredevils. (@centredevils) January 22, 2026

I wouldn't have hated Casemiro coming back at a greatly reduced salary as a squad player/spot starter. But I'm guessing he wants a Saudi paycheck or maybe an Inter Miami type employment. Hell of a player in his prime. That hook tackle against City still lives in my head rent free.

Officially means that United need at least 2 central midfielders now. Could strongly argue for 3.