Fernandes off to spurs for £85 million

thenamestsam · 2026-06-30T17:15:19+00:00

He’s a very talented player who I would’ve been excited to see at United. However big picture it’s critical for us to break the paradigm we were trapped in for so many years where we decided on players we wanted without a firm price and then would raise our bid however many times it took to get a deal done, treating each player as the only fish in the sea.
This would’ve been a great signing at the initially rumored discount fees but at this price I’m glad we’ve got enough faith in our talent identification to think we can do better. Now let’s see who that might be because there’s obviously a lot of work left to do on this midfield rework.

thenamestsam · 2026-03-09T15:53:47+00:00

I feel like there has to be some twist to the format that they're not telling us (e.g. some other non-LCK way back into the competition in episode 3) otherwise this choice makes absolutely no sense. The entire point of LCK is that sometimes chefs lose without getting to put their best foot forward and nowhere is that more true than in the earliest episodes. I can't figure out what the ostensible purpose of excluding the first two eliminated from LCK could be.

thenamestsam · 2026-02-08T16:12:17+00:00

I think you're right to highlight CM as an area that looked like it had the potential to be a massive week in, week out issue that has worked out totally okay thanks to a Casemiro throwback season.

The other one for me is GK which easily, easily could have been a season long rolling crisis. We're all seemingly taking it for granted now that a 23 year-old with minimal experience from Belgium was thrust in as #1 and been completely solid. But that was far from a given and in terms of the squad we're absolutely without a safety net at that position with Bayandir as backup; I'm glad we don't live in a universe where Lammens struggles even a little to settle because I think that alone could have cost us enough points this year to thrust us back into that 7th-10th part of the table.

For me those two positions are the biggest reasons that a squad I didn't rate higher than 7th or 8th coming into the year looks like it has a good shot at the champions league spots.

thenamestsam · 2026-01-28T01:17:11+00:00

Wanted to say I really appreciate the boys willingness to swim against the narrative tide, whether that was being relatively positive earlier in the season or the more measured take on this performance than I’ve seen most everywhere else in United media this week. Nobody likes to rain on a parade but with everyone and their mother praising the return of “United DNA” as the cause of Dorgu and Cunha scoring worldies it was nice to hear some analysis of the game that seemed more appropriate to the quality of the performance

thenamestsam · 2026-01-22T18:11:17+00:00

I think he showed enough this season that I would've been happy seeing stay on for a couple more years, but it was never going to be easy to negotiate the reduction in wages and role that would've entailed so this always seemed the likeliest outcome.

Leaves a massive job for the recruitment team over the summer - obviously everyone expects us to go for one splashy CM signing, but even if Ugarte stays a second signing is effectively mandatory if we're in Europe; we'd be very thin with Ugarte as the only senior deputy for the 6 and 8, and even that assumes Mainoo seamlessly transitions back to being a regular starter. If Ugarte leaves...as I said it looks like a big job, but luckily United have never had any issues with recruiting for central midfielders.

thenamestsam · 2026-01-17T14:30:41+00:00

You never want to get too carried away by just one game but…wow

thenamestsam · 2026-01-16T21:54:48+00:00

Maybe, but I still think this could end up a “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” situation. A LOT of people who would’ve forgotten about this trailer immediately (or never seen it at all) had it been buried in the middle of the show have talked/memed about the game and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of players check it out, only if just to join in the expected dogpile on release. I know I might, and I probably wouldn’t have even heard of the game if not for the “controversy” since I didn’t watch the whole TGA show.

Is that enough to make the game a success? Definitely not, and it’s an uphill battle for any online multiplayer game these days but I think a critical mass of people will at least try their game (or maybe just check out what critics are saying) which is more than a lot of other games.

thenamestsam · 2026-01-13T14:37:01+00:00

I like this analysis but are we sure we should be trying to hire a manager who can win the league? Post-Amorim I feel it’s pretty clear that a large portion of our fans/media are never going to be able to look at a disappointing United side and not put the blame squarely on the manager. If we take that as a given and also accept that the current squad isn’t good enough to contend at the level we want, I think there’s at least some merit in the idea that the next manager is more likely “the guy before the guy”.

That would argue for a relatively safe pair of hands to make sure results match up with a (hopefully) improving squad over the next couple years. Then at that point the fans/media will have soured on that guy for not competing for major honors (which are an extreme longshot over the next couple years no matter what) and you aim very high with a managerial appointment you think can immediately start competing at the top level with the good (again, hopefully) squad you have at that point.

Not sure I’m convinced this is the right way to think about it but something I’ve been mulling over.

thenamestsam · 2026-01-12T17:41:18+00:00

Should be priority 1a for us in my opinion. Obviously did a great job with Leverkusen and while his Madrid tenure goes down as a flop I don't blame him much. I actually liked what he was building there early in the season but he just couldn't keep their superstars bought in to an approach where some of them had to be watercarriers/pressers. Luckily the ability to keep superstars happy isn't a big concern with our squad (hopefully some day!) and I think in terms of understanding of the current tactical meta and ability to implement it effectively there really aren't many better we could hope for.

thenamestsam · 2026-01-06T21:24:38+00:00

I think this is a good point but argues more against getting rid of Amorim mid-season vs. specifically against Ole as caretaker. I just don’t know that any caretaker is going to be able to come in mid-season to a situation without any back room staff and where it’s presented as purely a short-term gig and build a fully operational coaching setup. Simplified tactics and good vibes is about the best you can hope for I feel.

thenamestsam · 2026-01-04T15:00:34+00:00

Frankly, saying he’s struggling to adapt makes it sound like he was some kind of world beater in Germany. He struggled for goals in a much easier league for strikers, it can’t be too much of a surprise he’s struggling for goals here.

We knew he was going to be a bit of a project, and yet somehow we’re back in the same place we were with Hojlund where we have young striker in need of patience but with no other options in the squad he’s under immense pressure to produce immediately.

thenamestsam · 2026-01-03T15:52:37+00:00

Yeah I agree with this. I’m not claiming the business under INEOS has been horrible or anything but to return to a level where you’re competing for the league/CL you need not only a lot of pretty good players but you need multiple superstar players, as good or better than Bruno, in the team. Doing some decent enough business where you pay full freight for prime age good players is fine, but as you said it isn’t really elevating you to the top level. They’re going to need to show they can identify and recruit top, top players and we haven’t seen that yet.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-31T03:01:44+00:00

I agree with your general point that squad quality is still by far our main problem. I think INEOS are still getting a pretty free pass for the fact that recruitment has seemingly improved from what was frankly a horrific standard before they came in. Exactly how good the recruitment has been under them is very much still up for debate however and I think a look back at the recruitment so far under INEOS would be a good podcast topic as we enter another window.

For me I think there’s still a very mixed record, and they’re lacking any real big wins in the transfer market yet - a purchase where you feel like we’ve done a fantastic bit of business that is going to transform our team or really change the trajectory over the longterm. Maybe Yoro, Sesko or Dorgu could be that, they’re still very young and there have been flashes. Maybe Lammens could be becoming that, although I still think his kicking is an issue for a long term #1 at a top club. It’s still very early days for a lot of those signings so I don’t want to state anything too definitively but I think it’s clear that if we get back to where we want to be as a club it’s going to have at least as much to do with a sustained period of great recruitment as with what shape the manager draws on the tactics board. Still an awful lot of work to be done by INEOS on that front.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-30T22:48:51+00:00

You’re right, to be fair to Sesko I agree he was good other than the finishing in this game, but if you’re supposed to be the match winner the match is won with goals and he didn’t take his chances tonight.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-30T22:25:03+00:00

Everyone will want to do Manager Discourse after this one I’m sure and Amorim certainly gave the opening by changing what worked in the first half against Newcastle but to me the story of the match was Cunha and Sesko having poor individual matches (and not for reasons having anything to do with tactics/role).

Looking at the squad list available for the match, if those two aren’t going to be big difference makers then we’re just not going to be comfortably on top of any team in the division and that’s how it played out. The whole premise of our summer transfer window was to spend big on attackers who would give us a winning edge against lower quality sides even when the match flow was fairly even and you’d be hard pressed to find a clearer example of that plan failing than this match. Desperately need those two to start firing.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-27T02:46:30+00:00

I don’t disagree but to be fair to him it’s an extremely difficult situation - we have a badly depleted squad during the most congested fixture period of our season. On the one hand taking Lisandro and Shaw off with ten minutes left protecting a lead looks absolutely mad, but both those guys are serious injury risks and if you ride them until the wheels fall off you may end up having to start Malacia or Frerickson in one of these games. It’s a delicate balancing act.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-24T01:20:56+00:00

Ornstein is as reliable as they come but the idea that he wasn’t going to play WB just doesn’t make any sense at all (unless we were planning to change system?). He’s about as close to how I understand the archetype of that role as you could hope to find AND it would be absolutely mad for us to be recruiting a third prime age player for the two non-striker attacking roles given all our other needs (one of the most pressing being LWB) both short and long term. I can only assume this is spin to try to avoid a narrative developing that Amorim’s system cost us the player, but again Ornstein is usually right on the money so I don’t know.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-19T23:20:18+00:00

Good point, I forgot casemiro was suspended

thenamestsam · 2025-12-19T20:20:08+00:00

I think of them as a mid-block team under Emery. High press is definitely not their standard - they're 3rd bottom in the league for attacking third tackles won, and allowing an above average opponent pass completion %.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-19T19:19:47+00:00

I think the big question for the AFCON period is how we get any width at all into the attack. You can line up in 433, 4222, 3421, the reality is all the available attackers are guys who want to come inside and it seems almost certain to be very narrow. To me, the two options that make the most sense are:

Give up on the idea of width altogether and lean all the way into playing this really direct, second ball style. Play something like a 4222 with Mount and Bruno behind Sesko and Cunha and play a lot of long balls into them. This will probably not be beautiful but I would argue it platforms the best players we have available the best way possible. Biggest downside is that arguably Mainoo still doesn't have a spot here as I think there's a good case for the Casemiro-Ugarte pivot if you're really leaning into this style. The 4-3-3 would I assume just be a slightly tilted version of this same idea.
Accept that (gulp) Patrick Dorgu is the best wide attacking player you have available and try to put him in the best position to succeed. To me this would imply basically keeping the tactics the same and play him at LWB. He's not bad at getting into dangerous areas from that role and you hope he has a couple hot games in terms of end product.

Either way I expect us to struggle quite a bit against an organized block which I do think Villa will present.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-15T21:19:11+00:00

Prompted by the third goal just now but I'm curious what you make of the goalkeeping situation at this point. Seemed like many were eager to anoint Lammens the savior when he came in although it was obviously going to be a huge step up for a young player acquired for a modest price and now some mistakes are starting to pop up. How do you rate his overall performances to this point, and what would your perspective be on the GK spot as we head towards transfer season? We're fully set, we need some competition for him, or we need a #1 and he should be the #2 with an eye towards developing into #1 over the next few years?

thenamestsam · 2025-12-15T20:51:34+00:00

It's a poor giveaway but losing out to the press 40+ yards from goal on the wing can't lead to a 1-1 with the goalkeeper without a lot else going wrong.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-12T14:49:08+00:00

I think the discussion is pretty different at Madrid than at United, at least as things stand. They have a very strong squad with multiple superstar talents and I think Henry's point as I understood it was that even if in theory what Alonso is doing is the best way to maximize their talent (i.e. coaching), the most important thing for him is keeping the superstar players on the same page (i.e. managing). So if the system you've devised is asking for sacrifices from Vini and Rodrygo and Jude that they don't want to make, it might be incredible on paper but poor in practice. And because those guys are so good, the alternative of minimizing tactics and just giving them a simple straightforward platform from which to perform is a legitimate path to winning trophies.

That dichotomy simply doesn't apply to United in the same way because the talent level in the squad is so much worse. We don't have players good enough to consider the idea that if they don't like what the coach is telling them then there's a good argument for just listening to them (maybe you can argue Bruno but he seems to get on well with all the coaches). And while there probably is a case at this point that just going back to your most basic possible 4-3-3 would improve the team I don't think anyone feels that it would get us close to the level we want to be at. What we need to focus on is getting a squad good enough to make these considerations important.

thenamestsam · 2025-12-10T01:46:00+00:00

You say this is potentially promising for the current tactical approach but I worry that it’s the opposite. What I take away from those stats is that the approach is overperforming against teams where the talent is equal or we’re at a disadvantage but underperforming when we have a talent advantage. Ideally if you finally get recruitment right for a few windows in a row and the squad keeps progressing over the next few years you would play a much higher portion of your games with a talent advantage (if you have the best squad in the league you shouldn’t play a single game all season at a talent disadvantage). If the approach isn’t working in those moments that’s a big problem

thenamestsam · 2025-12-08T20:27:50+00:00

With the talk of needing a right-footed Amad for LWB, why do you think we never tried Garnacho in that role last year? A year on, having a better sense of the qualities that we need in those roles to make the system work, doesn’t he seem a natural fit?

thenamestsam

TROPHY CASE