The Man Utd Thread

[feltmonkey]

Rashford always seems to show up for the big European matches. He was fantastic tonight.

[feltmonkey]

Man, that bottled red card. Barcelona are a much worse team without Kounde. He was terrible tonight, but he's their best defender. He should be out of the second leg.

[fatbob]

Definitely the kind of decision that gets made (or doesn't, depending on your perspective!) at the Camp Nou. 

Was a really good performance, looking like Gavi (suspended), Pedri and Busquets (injured) might all be missing for the Old Trafford leg. Martinez and Sabitzer will be back too. United have a decent shot at going through here!

 

 

[feltmonkey]

That's the Spotify Camp Nou to you.

 

We definitely have a good chance of going through.  The way we dominated them for long periods will give the team confidence.  My worry is that sod's law dictates that Kounde will score the winning goal for them in the second leg.  Their entire first choice midfield (apart from De Jong) being out is a good sign though!

[Gabe]

So, a Tory Brexiter or a horrific regime, which do you prefer?

[feltmonkey]

It's horrific.

 

Edit - I'm not saying I would prefer the horrific regime!  Going back through this thread I just realised how you could read it that way.  I think the word "horrific" got stuck in my head from @Gabe's post, and it does describe the whole situation.

[Rorschach]

1 hour ago, Gabe said:

So, a Tory Brexiter or a horrific regime, which do you prefer?

 

One of them is just an amoral, self-serving capitalist, plenty of those going around. Would be much worse if we became the latest sportwashing campaign for a country with a deeply questionable human rights record. Would take the Glazers over them. Done with the club if that's who buys us. Not that it will matter a jot, there are plenty willing to take the place of "legacy fans" like me. Look at all the idiots on twitter clamouring for Greenwood's return for instance. It's not even as if on the evidence of PSG, there is any sign that the Qataris (whatever investment vehicle they use, the buck will stop with the royal family) know how to run a football club. It wouldn't surprise me at all if their first act was to piss the good work Ten Hag has done up the wall with some hollywood signings.

[footle]

“Which flavour of sportswashing would you like?”

 

although perhaps the chemical manufacturing industry is cleaner than football.

[bowser123]

It’s funny really, I find myself strangely apathetic to the news. Or maybe it’s a sense of utter bewilderment at the realisation that the chance of fan ownership has gone forever, though that probably already was the case. Well, short of going bust and starting afresh. That the parasites absolutely have won and will be 5 billion pounds richer for their pillaging and disdain is a fantastic thought, eh.
 

 Even though my choice to boycott was a completely fruitless endeavour, consequently completely rendered an utterly meaningless decision when the boycotters were replaced by others, at least I knew I had not directly given the club a penny since 2005. I dreamed of the day the Glazers were gone. Now it’s here and I’m like, oh, so it’s swap parasites who harmed and endangered the club for seemingly either:

Option A

- a people oppressing regime that will remove the (Glazers) debt and fund a new stadium from their own pocket, though if PSG aware anything to go by will think buying a million forwards with no understanding that it’s all about a team

Option B

- a local lad fronting a planet harming, greenwashing business who intends to seek support from US banks and complete a leveraged buyout (hello 2005) with a football pedigree of running a thoroughly mediocre French football team. Of course the same local lad is also 70, holds a Chelsea season ticket and tried to buy Chelsea so I’m not 100% sold on his top red status either

 

Of course the reality is there is no option, Glazers will sell to whoever offers the most and not care who it is. I would probably prefer the Qataris over Ineos from a purely selfish, insular view that they won’t load the club with debt and fund new toys, but fucking hell, what a choice.

 

I mean on one hand I have just had a home food delivery from Sainsbury’s, who are majority owned by Qatar wealth funds. I’m sure plenty of people already have Barclays Bank accounts and fly BA, again all owned by the same lot. So the people from Qatar are already here and achieving their aims, United are just another spoke in their sports washing propaganda. That said you don’t pass your love and support for a supermarket to your offspring like you do football, nor do you sing songs about banks (then again, build a bonfire might be apt for how they behave) or invest emotional and physical support to an airline for your life. So comparing them own United to Sainsbury’s isn’t quite the same.

 

Obviously it was all an obvious endgame when the Premier league and Champions League were formed, that it stopped being about fans and was about marketing to supporters from all over the world to make money. TV deals, record wages and transfer fees, you can’t have that without the money from others outside of the game. That Utd are the biggest and most popular made them the obvious choice for Glazers and their glorious actions, just like now if you want to convey an idea to literally hundreds of millions of people there’s few better choices than Utd.

 

Perhaps best of all is Utd don’t need sovereign wealth or ethically dodgy companies to compete, they are independently wealthy and can fund transfers and whatnot without them. Hell, they have spent as much as City and that’s despite being shackled by Glazer debt. The issue is it’s now so big that only the biggest can afford it. Maybe that’s the kicker this morning, that the club died in 2005 when it was allowed to be owned by Glazers, that then was the chance and now it’s gone forever.

 

I hope we don’t buy Harry Kane for 8 squillion pounds.

[Gabe]

Good post @bowser123 and I look forward to going through similar emotions when Liverpool sell (at a lower price point, natch) whenever that happens.

 

I think the point about how integral Saudi/Qatari money is already ingrained into our lives is true, but I do believe that when it comes to entertainment (so games, sport, films, holidays etc) all these things are non-essential and we don't need them to live - so (in theory at least) they can all be forgone without issue. Obviously these things enrich our lives and offer escapism etc so it's not that simple, but at the same time I think when it comes to boycotting something like this versus not buying food/getting fuel etc then it should be an easier decision to make, where voting with our morals can have an impact.

 

And I do think the long boycott has worked, as all the noise in aggregate has led the Glazers to this point (because even if TV revenues started dropping, they would still be making lots of money for little effort), but it does look like potentially being a spectacular failure in terms of getting 'better' owners in.

 

Do any of you folks in here follow fan sites and stuff? What is the general mood? Are people happy at the thought of some City/Chelsea spending sprees (and stadium improvements) or 'Anybody buy Glazers' or is there a sense of doom at it all?

[Gabzy]

I think the fan base is divided, as expected. I did see the results of a recent fan survey online that showed 2/3 of fans voting for Ratcliffe over the Saudi bid.

 

edit: it was by The Athletic.

 

Quote

As per The Athletic, ” Sir Jim Ratcliffe who is the only person to publicly declare an interest in buying United [at the time of writing], came out on top by a considerable distance. Ratcliffe claimed 66.2 per cent of the vote, with Qatar second at 16.9 per cent.”

 

[Rorschach]

3 hours ago, bowser123 said:

I mean on one hand I have just had a home food delivery from Sainsbury’s, who are majority owned by Qatar wealth funds. I’m sure plenty of people already have Barclays Bank accounts and fly BA, again all owned by the same lot. So the people from Qatar are already here and achieving their aims, United are just another spoke in their sports washing propaganda. That said you don’t pass your love and support for a supermarket to your offspring like you do football, nor do you sing songs about banks (then again, build a bonfire might be apt for how they behave) or invest emotional and physical support to an airline for your life. So comparing them own United to Sainsbury’s isn’t quite the same.

 

Yeah you've hit the nail on the head there. As much as I might love the bakery section, I'm probably not going to defend them from human rights abuses because of their role in keeping it stocked. And let's be honest, no-one really cares who owns a supermarket chain, it's not exactly a very visible investment. A football club though, that's obviously more high profile, as well as offering a more emotional (and therefore less rational) connection with people. Qatar will be buying a keyboard army, millons strong, with this purchase if it goes through.

[ckny]

Nick Pope sent off today means he's suspended for the cup final. Their backup keeper Dubravka played for us in the League Cup earlier this season  Which means Liverpool legend Karius should start in goal.

[Chewylegs]

18 minutes ago, ckny said:

Nick Pope sent off today means he's suspended for the cup final. Their backup keeper Dubravka played for us in the League Cup earlier this season  Which means Liverpool legend Karius should start in goal.

Kiss goodbye to the League Cup, Karius is a shot stopping god! 😉

[feltmonkey]

34 minutes ago, ckny said:

Nick Pope sent off today means he's suspended for the cup final. Their backup keeper Dubravka played for us in the League Cup earlier this season  Which means Liverpool legend Karius should start in goal.

 

I hadn't realised that! That's hilarious.

 

He's definitely going to have the game of his life, isn't he?

[5R7]

OK... This is bizarre!?

 

"Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka will only receive a Carabao Cup winners medal if his side lose to Manchester United in the final. The goalkeeper played twice for Erik ten Hag's side in the earlier rounds this season."

[feltmonkey]

I love how a few pundits are saying it's unfair that Pope will miss the cup final, forgetting that Bruno Guimaraes was sent off in the second leg of their semi-final and will be able to play having served his suspension in league games. You can't have it both ways.

 

Newcastle haven't lost this season when Guimaraes has been playing. They've only won one match without him, and that was against Tranmere. I know Pope has been excellent this season, but Guimaraes is definitely more important to them. They are benefitting from the way this rule works.

[5R7]

Rashford!

[feltmonkey]

Should be 2-0.

 

Well, it should probably be 3-1 to Leicester really, but that was a great chance for Dalot.

[feltmonkey]

Quite a relief to go in ahead.

 

Sabitzer is really settling in well. He looks a good player, and we should be working on signing him.  Weghorst continues to be about as good as expected. He's a bit of a passenger in attack. He's not terrible, and he's been very useful to us in the way he defends corners. He's tidy with his passing, and he bounces the ball back to the supporting players. But he's so slow! Defenders can give him a five yard head start over ten yards and catch him. It's also a bit strange that he's the biggest guy on the pitch, but seems unable to impose himself physically. He doesn't win headers or bully defenders. It's weird.

[MikeBeaver]

Double Rashford

 

Oh, FFS, VAR giving it a check....

[MikeBeaver]

1 minute ago, MikeBeaver said:

Double Rashford

 

Oh, FFS, VAR giving it a check....

Yes, it stands!!! VAR getting something right? WTAF is happening!!

[Nicky]

tighter than a gnats fanny

[feltmonkey]

Great work from Fred to make the goal.

 

I was sure it was offside until they drew the lines.

[Gabzy]

What a lovely goal by Sancho

[feltmonkey]

That was an absolutely beautiful goal. One of the best we've scored all season. So good from Sancho and Bruno.

[feltmonkey]

Great win. We relied on a De Gea masterclass in the first half, but Ten Hag's changes at half time transformed the match. Weghorst was excellent in the second half, doing all the stuff I was complaining that he doesn't do at half time, and Sancho with a free role caused Leicester no end of headaches. Weghorst deserved a goal, but he really should have had one with the chances we made for him late on. I enjoyed how the whole team was obviously trying to get him a goal late on as well.

 

Bruno was man of the match for me, even though he started botching easy passes in the last ten minutes. I have a theory that that's the only way you can tell he's tired. His face looks tired from the first minute, but that's just his face. He keeps running even when the tank is empty, but when he's knackered his passing gets really sloppy.

 

By the way, we're now three points behind Man City having played the same number of games.

[feltmonkey]

By the way, doesn't today's result mean that De Gea now holds the record for the most clean sheets for United?

[spork]

42 minutes ago, feltmonkey said:

By the way, doesn't today's result mean that De Gea now holds the record for the most clean sheets for United?

Equalled Schmeichels.

[feltmonkey]

Ah, I thought he already had equalled it, but it apparently depends on whether a match when he was substituted counts. It doesn't, according to Opta.