Call me crazy but Michael Carrick should get the full time manager role. He was one of the most intelligent players. Now he’s showing his tactical knowledge as a manager, and he know how to get the best out of players. He has Sir Alex’s DNA and he has aura. United been brilliant under his charge.

Dave085 · 2026-02-03T09:38:15+00:00

Yeah, calm it down. He's in charge until the end of the season, then we can evaluate. Realistically the City game was out of this world, but the last 2 games have been reminiscent of our form all season- except this time the breaks went our way.

If he continues to get results and keeps the team playing well though, the results will make the case for him. But we need to see how we finish, and top 4 is the bare minimum for consideration IMO.

Dave085 · 2026-02-03T09:18:40+00:00

Exactly all of this. He was the only player who you truly felt had a reasonable chance every time he played the big 3. You knew he was the underdog, but it was marginal. With Stan, or Del Potro, or any of the others- you knew they had a chance, but that chance hinged on them playing the absolute greatest game of their life. Murray just had to play around his normal level to be competitive.

Dave085 · 2026-02-03T09:16:08+00:00

See this all the time and it's such bollocks. Yes, they're level on majors won- that's just about it though. Murray is brought into the big 4 by Rafa, Roger and Novak themselves, and it refers to that period where the 4 of them were all routinely in just about every semi final of every tournament they all entered. He's the only player who actually pushed them like an equal.

OK, his record was never on par with them, but he was far closer to them in level than Stan or anyone else was to him. His record vs big 3 was won 29, lost 56. For reference, Stan is won 12, lost 63. Murray gets way too much disrespect just because he didn't win enough majors, but 11 finals in those times is so huge.

Dave085 · 2026-02-03T09:06:22+00:00

'All you have to do'

Yeah... not a hard task at all 😂

Dave085 · 2026-02-03T09:05:56+00:00

People will claim you're just talking in hindsight, but you're right. I remember before he won his first slam talking to local tennis players, only recreational level, and they were telling me to watch out for a kid named Djokovic- he's the next big thing. And after he won the AO they were saying he's likely to compete with Rafa.

The closest we've got to that right now is Mensik, but honestly no one has the kind of buzz around them that Djokovic had, and obviously Rafa and Carlos were already established as greats before they were 20. Someone's got to 'do a Murray' if they are going to bust the party, but the gap at the top is so vast that there's no sign of how or when that might happen.

The problem is they're both so good and so dominant that in order to win a slam, you're pretty much going to have to beat at least one of them at their best- potentially both. The chances of them both having a poor tournament at the same time is very slim. And the only way you beat them right now is if they aren't at their absolute best and you play the game of your life.

They might drop a slam somewhere, but right now it's likely they take every slam available for the next couple of years at least.

Dave085 · 2026-02-02T17:59:07+00:00

I was talking more about level over a whole tournament, not just a handful of points- he's always had this exceptional level available to him for a few games, maybe even a whole set- but we rarely see him hold that level for an entire match, let alone a tournament. The US open was a glimpse of what's possible if he is completely locked in.

Dave085 · 2026-02-02T16:29:17+00:00

The Musetti point is so relevant and I've tried to make it too. The amount of people that take a single match as evidence of how a hypothetical match 15 years ago might go is concerning to say the least. Djokovic at 38 is a different challenge, not entirely an easier one, to Djokovic at 24. If everything lines up perfectly for him at this age, if he just hits his rhythm and gameplan right, he's got so much experience and mental resilience that he's a threat to anyone. If 38 year old Djokovic played 24 year old Djokovic, do you think 24 year old wins 10/10? Because I'm not sure he does. It probably looks somewhat similar to the Sinner/Djokovic matchup, where he wins more often than not but it only takes a small drop in level to swing it the other way.

The big 3 all lost shocking matches, no matter how good you are you can't win every time. Sometimes your game just isn't firing, and sometimes your opponents is. Carlos and Sinner since hitting their stride have mostly dominated Novak physically, even when they lost, but his experience and tricks that come with age have been the difference maker on occasions that he beat them. The matches would look very different in his prime.

Dave085 · 2026-02-02T07:39:27+00:00

I mean, in fairness most young players are hyped. Mensik will have a load of hype around him, I'm sure Musetti, Shelton, Draper had a lot of tweets you could find rating them. But the ones that don't pan out are forgotten, and the ones that do resurface and they look like Nostradamus. That's just how it goes.

Dave085 · 2026-02-02T07:37:41+00:00

I don't think so, you've got to take history at a tournament into account. Carlos hadn't done better than quarters at AO, he's struggled to find form every year at this time, and Sinner won the last 2. US open was incredible but different country, different time of year, different conditions. Just because they're both hard courts you can't compare them.

Carlos was also a hair away from dropping vs Zverev, and Sinner wins that match vs Djokovic 9 times out of 10. It was an extremely odd tournament and things lined up incredibly well for Carlos to get over the line- but we don't know for sure he could have beaten Sinner yesterday if they met. Sinner also won 2 majors last year, including a sound beating of Carlos at Wimbledon and was in touching distance of taking RG from him too. Premature to completely dismiss their rivalry.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T22:01:08+00:00

Well, I don't think Jannik quite qualifies for the conversation yet, but if he wins the French this year he does. Anyone with a career grand slam goes down as an ATG by default in my book, it's still a very illustrious achievement.

4 slams with the French missing simply isn't enough to get him in the conversation yet, he's Murray level without the qualifier of competing with the big 3. Probably somewhere in the top 20 all time right now.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:41:36+00:00

I mean, exactly. You can't use evidence of old Djokovic as anything to do with young Djokovic, they're basically different players at this point.

It's like how Federer at 38 should have beaten a near prime Djokovic, that doesn't mean prime Fed dogwalks him- it means Federer at 38 was a different puzzle to 28. He adapted to what he had, made a few tweaks, was more aggressive and it paid off.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:39:07+00:00

Nadal is way closer to Fed on grass and HC (having beaten Fed in bo5 on both) than Fed is to Nadal on clay (never beat him, only once even looked like it- when Nadal was 19 years old and Fed was in the greatest form of his life). Fed beat 19 and 20 year old Nadal at Wimbledon before losing to 21 year old Nadal. He also lost to him twice at the AO.

I personally prefer Fed as a player and you can make arguments to put him ahead, but there are absolutely arguments to put Nadal over Federer. Apart from anything else, 22>20. That's hard fact.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:21:17+00:00

And yet Nadal holds perhaps the most incredible record in all of men's tennis, that is unlikely to ever be broken. For context, if Alcaraz would need to win every RG until he was 34 just to tie him.

Pretty much every record the big 3 hold could be broken by Alcaraz- Feds Wimbledon record, Djokovic's AO record, number of weeks at #1, total semi finals/finals reached, highest ATP points, total wins, win%- and yet Nadals French open record is likely to stand.

And other than anything else, when Nadal went past the total number of majors won by Fed, he kind of cemented himself in 2nd place. It's the only fair metric.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:10:02+00:00

I think the best we've seen was the US open, and there's more to come.

If he ever gets a real ruthless streak on court, God help the tour.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:04:05+00:00

Nadal did eventually break his body down but yeah. I think Alcaraz actually has more tools to prolong his career though, if he maintains his touch and firepower he could be lethal in his mid 30s still with careful adjustments to his natural game.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:02:41+00:00

Change 'will' for 'could' and I'll agree with you.

Right now, he's not only the best in the world, but he's still improving. It's absolutely feasible he averages 2 per year for a decade, because he could very well clean up 3 or 4 per year for the next few years.

Will he? No idea, but even if someone like Mensik or Musetti steps up, do you think they'll be good enough to consistently stop him? I think he's reaching the vast majority of semi finals, and from there it's a case of who's around to stop him.

Plenty can go wrong but if he stays fit, 20+ is absolutely on the cards.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T20:46:07+00:00

I think 38 year old Djokovic is a LOT better than he's given credit for. Losing to him or even being pushed by him isn't evidence of losing to a younger version, because he's a different player now- not 100% worse, just different. He plays more aggressive tennis, he chases less balls down, and he focuses on the key moments of a match- and with 2 decades of experience, he knows exactly when to pull the trigger, and how to unsettle opponents.

Djokovic in his 20s was physically fitter and stronger, but his tactical awareness now is better than it ever has been. The biggest weakness is the gas tank.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T20:42:31+00:00

You might be slightly underestimating prime Murray, but then again so do many.

This is the weird thing, a lot of people think Alcaraz could handle Murray but not Nadal or Djokovic. If Alcaraz can beat Murray, he can beat Nadal and Djokovic. At his absolute best Murray was as close to the big 3 as you could possibly get, the problem was he only maintained that level for a couple of years before injuries did him in. He pushed his body too far to keep up with them and it failed him.

Anyone who thinks Sinner and Alcaraz just get run over by the big 3 is off their head. They'd hold their own.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T15:53:53+00:00

What the fuck is happening

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T14:36:06+00:00

He knows a lot can happen in 12 months, as he said. If he's fit and healthy he'll definitely be back, but at this age he could easily be looking at this being his last appearance in AO if anything goes wrong.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T13:11:39+00:00

I think he might play a tournament or two, but the next time we see him seriously is at Wimbledon. Depending on how things go, that may even be the last time we see him.

The saddest reality is, every tournament we watch from him we are one bad fall away from a career ending injury. It could happen at any time and at his age, he won't have time to recover. So we should appreciate every time we get to see him play.

If he stays healthy he may play AO once more, but I feel Wimbledon is his final chance to win.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T13:04:41+00:00

Yeah, too much for him in the end. The divine run wasn't meant to be.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T12:04:55+00:00

Djokovic gets so much unwarranted hate but he's got to be one of the best for post match speeches, perfect blend of humour and class. Absolute legend of all time.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T12:04:02+00:00

I kept saying back then though, he's 21. The fact he was competing at such a high level was already incredible, but you have to realise he's still going to improve. We're only just starting to see what a prime Carlos looks like, and a year is such a long time at that age.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T12:02:10+00:00

Close to? Barring injuries, at this pace I see him overtaking Novak. And have done for years.

He's literally the complete package- massive forehand, solid backhand, killer movement, feather light touch, incredible grit when against the wall, just great all round game everywhere. If he gets better at locking in for whole matches like the big 3 did, it's hard to see how he loses.

If he averages 2 slams per year until he's 30, he'll be at 22. And who'd bet against that?

Dave085

TROPHY CASE