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Episode 61 - Rivalries Special with the Daily Liverpool - Part 2/2
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On today’s episode, it’s part 2 of our rivalries special with the Daily Liverpool Kieran and Niall accept an invitation from the Jesse Sarwar and Karl Coppack to review a season that has some similarities on paper, yet seemingly vastly different outcomes thus far.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcasting as a Platform
00:00:00
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Do you have a story to tell that the world needs to hear? Have you struggled with reaching new audiences who are engaged with your story? It might be time for you to start a podcast.
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00:00:42
Speaker
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The Daily Liverpool Podcast Overview
00:00:55
Speaker
sports podcast network work Hello and welcome to the Daily Liverpool Podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network.
Liverpool vs Manchester United Rivalry
00:01:05
Speaker
Welcome to part two in our special podcast episode covering the unique football rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United. If you missed out on the first episode, go back and have a listen and then come back to listen to part two. In this episode, we'll be reviewing the season so far for both clubs.
00:01:25
Speaker
We'll also look at the new managers at both clubs and what we expect to see for the rest of the season. OK, let's take a look at this season and how it's gone so far for each club and and what we can expect or at least hope for for the rest of the sea season.
Liverpool's Managerial Changes: Arne Slott's Appointment
00:01:41
Speaker
Liverpool came into this season with a new man at the helm for the first time in almost a decade, Joggen Klopp giving way to form a final boss, Arne Slott.
00:01:51
Speaker
He went through a rigorous recruitment process, which included a certain Reuben Amorim, Liverpool choosing the um unflappable Dutchman in the end. And it has to be said, he's made a pretty decent start to his ah role as Liverpool boss.
Manchester United's Managerial Decisions
00:02:06
Speaker
United, on the other hand, started to stick with their Dutchman, Eric Tenharg. This, after it looks like he would lose his job at the end of last season, an FA Cup win, making the new leadership at United have second thoughts and stick with their man. Kieran, I'm going to come to you first. Where were you in the Tenharg debate at the end of last season? In or out? And why? I was in. um And and it's it's very easy to have 20-20 vision about the whole thing. Hindsight,
00:02:36
Speaker
will always be the way forward, won't it? But I was in initially, I think the the vast majority of us the podcasts were in and and give 10 hag a little more time, you know, he had a window where he got to make some signings, he wanted, ah you know, 100%, you know, okay, you can look past the Anthony one. But you know, there was some signings in there, I think it was one of our best windows in in recent memory. You know, the prices weren't absolutely over the top, the The quality of signings were were pretty good. and The value of the signings were pretty good as well. So I think on the back of that, we were quite encouraged going into a new season and then to pick up the 1-0 win against Fulham. It was cagey, it was tight, and it was one in the final minute, but it was a win. It was three points. And it kind of got us on a bit of a bounce. We thought, yeah, maybe this this will be different this season. and Here we are in November.
00:03:28
Speaker
um And I just sort of think, what were you thinking here? And i think but I think I was slightly blinded by the the FA Cup win. The fact that we beat City, the the fact that it was the FA Cup win, you know, is second in the trophy for Eric Tenhag. I think I might have been a bit hopeful, maybe a bit too hopeful. And maybe I had looked past the fact that the FA Cup patched up a lot of things that were wrong, a lot of cracks that had shown.
Challenges Faced by Manchester United
00:03:53
Speaker
And I just thought, well, give it a give it a one more season, see what happens, see see if he can get back, get us back up there. But I think his time at the top, his time at the helm as it turned out by October was just untenable. You know, it it wasn't going in the direction we wanted. We were near the relegation zone than I think we've ever been in in a long, long time. You know, and that also patched up the fact that the last season we had was our worst Premier League season.
00:04:22
Speaker
in a position wise and points wise in the modern Premier League era. You know, that should have been the warning sign for me. um But ah in my blind, in my blind thing of, you know, I always want an FA Cup now, give them another chance. Perhaps in hindsight wasn't the best move. I think I think that's the the problem with that is we we're every football fan will forgive everything if there's a trophy at the end of it. And um I saw a really the day when someone said,
00:04:50
Speaker
there goes 10 Hogg, a really failed Manchester United manager who's won two more trophies than Michael Arteza because he's won two. And I thought that that that does forget. And that reminds me, do you just say that just made me think about Liverpool 2012, when we famously came into Canada, which we finished seventh in the league, we were miles, we were 54 points or something that kind of was, but it was something really low. And we were getting beat at home by Fulham. But he went to the League Cup. And he is a crossbar away from taking the FA Cup final into injury time. I'm thinking Yes, it's not great. Yes, we're not in the Champions League, but he's winning trophies. and We're here to win trophies. And I think. Well, Mary, Mary, you know, when when he came to Chelsea, the first thing you did was when the league was against us um in Cardiff, because his whole rationale was get a trophy, get a trophy early on, then we build, then we're OK. Well, you've got to get you've got to scrap the trophy each before you do anything else. I thought with 10 hard, the biggest problem again,
00:05:48
Speaker
for I mean, obviously, I was elated when he won the f FA Cup, because I thought, well, that's another 12 months, they're going backwards. Because I think he's a genuinely good manager. But the problem with football is, he will be a great man, United manager in five years. And you haven't got five years. Because football is moving away from Manchester United, as it was moving away from us all the time. I mean, I'm more sorry, I'm jumping around a bit. and the My mate wrote a fanzine, he always said,
00:06:12
Speaker
about when Forrest went down in 93 and you pick over the carcass of the teams we've relegated. We got Nigel Clough, you got Roy Keane. Guess who was the most successful? I think the problem with Tenharg is immediately, and he won the wrong trophies almost, which is a ridiculous thing for to to say. I'm sorry you did win those competitions, but we'd rather you finish fourth in this league and therefore get us more money here. um I think that is the problem with ah that was the problem we had with slot initially, because I kept thinking,
00:06:42
Speaker
um What would I want an Arnold Slott debut season to look like? And I thought, Matt Juergen, get to a court final, um get a fourth place, get a European football, and then build from there. I've recalibrated that a bit since. No, the points that Karl has made, all fair, um is that not just a product of where football is now, in the sense that You know, look, when when I was growing up, when Karl was growing up, it was the same thing. If you won the FA Cup, oh my God, what a season you've had. Irrespective of where you finish in the league. If you win the f FA Cup, absolutely job done. But, you know, it's not going to be enough in in the modern in modern football, right? Because you've got to get that Champions League football. So pre-season, where were you? Were you 10-harg in, 10-harg out? And did you agree with the decision to get rid of him?
00:07:41
Speaker
Uh, very similar to Kieran in a way, it was funny thinking back on it now, because when we were kind of starting this whole, whole podcast thing, we we started to do a lot of practice episodes around kind of, um, maybe end of April, may Kieran was it. And then, um, you know, some of those, like they've never seen the light of day, but they were, they were rough episodes. Like, cause it was so bad. Like it was really, really bad. And then, you know, we were in early joking, going into the epic cup finals saying like, you know, if we could hold them to four, like that would be incredible.
00:08:11
Speaker
And like we were so low going into that ethical final that it was nearly laughable. And then for him to win and to win in the way we did, we're like, they actually played really well. And like many new scores and you're just like, oh, life is good. And you're like, you know what? and There isn't a really obvious replacement here. Let's just keep him in and see how he gets on with the new with the new ownership as well. Because that was definitely something that was that was playing in people's minds about, you know, let's see how he gets on with the new structure of the club.
00:08:38
Speaker
Um, but it, the signs were there for years. They just, the the way they played were just, it was really, really tough to watch. And me personally, I found it very difficult to see what the improvement was or what the patterns were, for example, and just kind of basic things. Um, and you know, the players do have something the to to say in that as well. It's not totally down to the manager. And and maybe your point around Tinhag being a manager in five years time when the club was settled and successful could could be a good point, but.
00:09:07
Speaker
Um, yeah, I said, yeah, happy enough for him to take it over at the start of the year. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had left this year. I think it's just strange that they got rid of him so early. If, if, you know, they should have just done it in the summer, it was clear that they were, they were talking to other managers. Um, and once you do that, you completely undermine 10 hag. And it's, it's very difficult for him to kind of, I say that change room is difficult anyway, but very difficult to kind of maintain control and maintain the.
00:09:35
Speaker
I suppose the the fight and the hunger that those players need nearly a fire under them every once in a while. And and it's very difficult to have that when the players know that you'd probably be gone in a few months anyway. um And yeah, I think they could have got rid of him before that first international break. And I think that would have looked even worse. So they probably said, let's just wait it out for another couple of weeks, see if he gets a win. And then the West Ham one was just the the last nail on the coffin for him but yeah I can't lie as Kieran said um 2020 hindsight and all that but completely blinded with that epic upwind and I think everyone was um probably the board thought look might be an unpopular decision after that so uh yeah I think it's we're in the right place at the moment in terms of having a new manager but it's just probably could have been dealt a wee bit better
00:10:22
Speaker
Yeah, I'll just expand. I just want to expand on Niall there. A case of Tenharg. In the end, I kind of agree that he should have been let go hindsight 2020. But not only a case to to expand on your point of winning trophies is is the Beall and Endel. Yes, winning trophies is great. the The end of it matters in how you play against the other teams in the matches in the league. And I think the way we went about, you know, games against Liverpool,
00:10:49
Speaker
We weren't just beaten by Liverpool. We were in embarrassed by Liverpool. And that's not the first time we've been embarrassed by another top flight team, by another world-class team. I mean, we got embarrassed by Tottenham. I mean, that's a low. Come on. So I think, you know, yes. Come on, lads, it's Tottenham. Exactly. Lads is Tottenham. Look, it was it was not necessarily because he didn't win the right trophies. It's because when we did play against those big teams,
00:11:15
Speaker
we had it could have been a narrow win or an embarrassing loss and and the embarrassing loss happened way too many times so in the grand scheme of things you know it probably was the right decision to part ways and yeah let's see let's see how Amurim comes in and and changes up the side whether he instills his formation early on or whether it's a case of no we need to you know secure you know whether it's a top half finish get the best finish we can with the players that we have And when we get to the 25 summer window, we can we can go from there. yeah we' come on a about firsts there to if ten hag went to spurs you would add a statue i say I just thought that it was they undermined him as soon as they had that kind of... process where you know this kind of review where we'll see whether you're good enough to still be Manchester United manager which is basically you're looking around for other other managers and and when they see that there was no one available for them to to get you you say okay you carry on and I just think that with the players that you you've got in that dressing room and one of the big criticisms has been
00:12:22
Speaker
not necessarily their ability but their character and if you have players whose character has been questioned the last thing you want is a you know kind of a lame duck manager someone who just hasn't really doesn't have the authority but but given all that um where did you have both of our clubs finishing in your pre-season predictions i remember we had a pre-season pod um i asked karl karl said look I cannot go into any season thinking that we're not going to win the league, even if it we're not going to win the league. So Karl predicted that we were going to win the league. And I said that I thought that we'd probably finish second because I honestly thought that we are the closest challengers to Man City. I don't care what Arsenal thinks. um they they I don't see them as a legitimate challenger just because of but just because we had a bad season.
00:13:21
Speaker
um i I think there's a danger that Arsenal have already gone over that hill where they've finished kind of also runs too many times and you've got to get over the line eventually like we did against City. You know after after losing the title out for 97 points, we got 97 points if we didn't win the title that could that would have killed most teams. They came back and they went they win big trophies and I'm i'm just thinking maybe Arsenal have started to go over that That kind of hill. So I thought that we'd finished second. I had United down as finishing sixth. Obviously that was with 10 Harg as manager. Kieran, did you have pre-season predictions in terms of ah both United and Liverpool? Yeah, we sort of do a... A league, while my friends and I do a league outside the outside of this podcast, but um yeah we make a prediction of all 20 depositions to see who can get the closest. And it's very low scoring game, but it's a fun one. I had Liverpool actually finished third in the league, so I put Arsenal and City above them. But I had United to finish fifth. And of course, that was, as you say, in the 10 hug era.
00:14:34
Speaker
I thought maybe you know we could bounce back a little bit, at least get us into Europe, some sort of European competition ah again. And I just thought there are a handful of teams, quite a few teams actually that are that are better than this United side right now, playing better football. I could not have imagined Chelsea getting everything together, sorting all of their ducks in a row and actually putting in some really good performances. And I think at this stage, we're only four points behind Chelsea, aren't we? Yet we're about I tell you, about nine positions lower. it's Yeah, it's it's an it's a crazy start to the sleeve for all involved, apart from Liverpool, who have just been sailing away at the top of the moment. What about yourself, Niall? Pre-season predictions for both teams? Yeah, it was very similar. I think maybe, United, we weren't getting too carried away, um even though we wanted to have to stay. So I think it was probably between those kind of
Liverpool's Success Under Arne Slott
00:15:27
Speaker
left-sex positions.
00:15:29
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, I kind of still thought that city and arsenal will be battling it out. And I put Liverpool a third as well. Um, but not like massive gaps between them because like people forget Liverpool were top of the league, like towards the back end of last season. yeah Um, and it it was not really discussed a lot. Um, I think the squad is, is, is brilliant. Obviously considering you didn't really need to sign anyone in the summer, like it's not as if, uh,
00:15:56
Speaker
Klopp left a bunch of duds for Slott coming in, um so you know really impressed with how they've gotten on this season. But yeah, something similar around kind of Liverpool competing, but kind of coming in third and then United, fifth or sixth probably. You mentioned Slott taking over from Klopp and obviously inherit inherited a ah good squad.
00:16:18
Speaker
yeah Why do you think Liverpool have been able to, you know so far at least, successfully transition the club from the Klopp era, you know dominant, powerful figure at the club, transformational manager, um yeah to a new manager almost seamlessly? what you know Why were Liverpool able to do ah that post Klopp when both United and Arsenal couldn't do that when their legendary managers left? Ferguson at United, Wenger at Arsenal. Karl, any thoughts on that?
00:16:49
Speaker
Um, it's, it's well, it's it's hard to answer that because this is such a strange season. Um, whereas how we originally thought it was going to go was it was as as I say, we just get a top four. And you know, what, what I wasn't really expecting was a man to come in, change the system. Um, because normally I wrote this last week, what what, what, I think anyone will do in the situation where he's replacing Jurgen Klopp is just think when you play four, three, three, and you want everything. So I play four, three, three.
00:17:18
Speaker
and keep those people there don't sell anyone get another year and we're probably going to get top four and he's not he's written it you've ripped it to we don't play 4-3-3 anymore um we play a formation that we've never played in living memory for a for a well not not since i'd say late raffa something like that um it's just been astonishing and he's changed the forward line pretty much as well because obviously because they're all injured most of the time these days um that's why i think we're all a bit stunned so that it's It's been such a weird system where I think every club's been inconsistent and we're the one club who should be inconsistent and we're not. We've dropped five points in the league. What a complete aberration against Forrest, which I put down to the fact that for the first time ever, we went a goal down in the game and didn't know what to do. How do you, what what do you write a rule book on that? but Well, we've never gone behind. So, you know, emotionally, if you have an experience that you can't, let's get to that. And, you know, we got, we got the draw at Arsenal. We've beaten everyone else, literally beaten everyone else. So it's, um,
00:18:20
Speaker
it's such a strange season for this at all. And ah just come back to United about about this. I think the pre you're right, you know, the problem with is the way you play against the top teams and things like that. But the problem United have faced is the same we had in the 90s. So many things like Brentford away is a problem. Whereas when you're absolutely in your pump, you'd go I think you beat Villa like eight seasons in a row home and away and they didn't score something stupid like that. Because you know, you're going to be filler. That's it's you know it's the merino thing about beat you to beat the bottom 10 and then see what you do against the others well if you beat the bottom 10 you pretty much got second and then it's just a head-to-head with the other one and you're nice and on in that situation and i thought we might be a bit like that as well as well admittedly we did lose Nottingham Forest there are European placed Nottingham Forest i'm quite keen to point out uh about that but i think it's like it's such a strange season to call because if this is transition i can't wait till he gets going
00:19:17
Speaker
It's going to be amazing. Yeah, i do I'd see where you're coming um with that point. But so I don't want to say that, you know, I i kind of saw this, but I predicted second for a reason. and And that was because I just didn't think that this was going to be the drop off that everyone predicted it was going to be because of the fact that You know, we've got a decent score. The players are too good regardless of where you are. The players are too good, but there are areas we need to strengthen. Obviously, you know, there was the chase after Zubermendi, which was well documented. But I just think that the way that Slop plays his football, the transition, even though we are playing a different formation, but, you know, modern footballers,
00:20:09
Speaker
You know, they they are used to playing different positions, being quite adaptable. And I think that the leap from slot to clock is not as big as, let's say, some of the United managers have imposed on their players. um your what What about your thoughts, Kieran, in terms of the transition but ah that's gone place that's taken place at Liverpool,
00:20:34
Speaker
um you know There was that very common narrative that Gary Neville kind of forwarded as well, that he famously said that Liverpool would finish outside the top four and United would finish above um Liverpool. And one of the reasons he sighed was that, look, you know it happened at United with Ferguson, it happened at Arsenal.
00:20:57
Speaker
So where where do you see you know the the transition um being successful for Liverpool? why Why were they able to do what the other clubs weren't able to? I think you've got a lot of players at the top of their game and ah I for one being one of them was seeing the likes of Salah and Van Dijk and thinking they're the senior players in the team, they're in their early 30s and you think think at some point there's going to be a decline and there hasn't been.
00:21:23
Speaker
They're world class players for a reason. And I think the difference between Slott taking over and say Moyes taking over from Ferguson is that you had the likes of Vidic and Ferdinand who were at that point, they were legends of the club and maybe it should have been time for them to move on. You know, you you had all of these great players who were past their best.
00:21:43
Speaker
And you don't have that with Liverpool. You've still got Salah absolutely pumping in the goals. You've still got Van Dijk being a complete leader at the back. Alisson, when he's in the net, is phenomenal. And I mean, Keller has not been too bad filling in. I think you've you've got the talent there that's not past the sell-by date, that's not past the use-by date. Wholely different to what you know the United weight was, where you've got these players that have put in a fantastic season.
00:22:10
Speaker
And then after that, you're you're getting you're you're having Ferguson retire, who is all a manager they respected, perhaps even grew up with. you know Ferguson putting an arm around the shoulder being a father figure, but then you've got Moyes coming in who tries to command the same respect and it it doesn't work. It doesn't work for these players that have won pretty much everything with a manager who was you know English football,
00:22:33
Speaker
is he's one of the best, one of the greatest. So I think that it's a mix of the talent is there. And I think the respect slot has come in and he's just sort of won the respect very quickly. You need to do that, especially in the modern game, you have to come in, you have to win over the players with your system. And that is the first that's the first step in what is a long process to having that successful sort of transition period. And I think Liverpool thought long and hard. And I know the Klopp announcement when he did say that he was going to resign at the end of the season, that wasn't the first the board had heard of that. They'd heard of that months before. I think Liverpool were very well prepared. They were very well researched. They were very well informed about who they wanted to take over. They had time to think about it. They had time to implement it. and Maybe they even might have advised the players that this is going to be your new manager at some point down the line.
00:23:26
Speaker
But it's the fact they took their time with it. They took care and consideration. It's no surprise to me that slot has come in and everything seems to be working as it should. Yeah. I think the other point with the the Gary Neville comment is um I think I mentioned this on a ah previous part is that I found it surprising.
00:23:46
Speaker
that he he would predict this because one of the things that he's he's consistently banged on about with ah United is that one of the reasons that the United managers ah fail consistently is that there's no structure of the club. um know And so you get these managers come in ah They try their own systems and formations. They buy their players. It doesn't work out. They rip it all up. They get ah a manager with a completely different philosophy, different playing style. He will buy his own players and it's just kind of rinse and repeat. Whereas Liverpool isn't like that. they They do have a structure. They do have a very, very sound ah recruitment policy where yeah nine times out of 10, they get it right. And so I think slot coming in,
00:24:37
Speaker
I think it was destined to be a much more smoother transition than some of the other clubs like live but like United and Arsenal. who they They had to navigate through modern football as well because United was a very old structure. you know They didn't have a sporting threat so they didn't really move with the times.
00:24:57
Speaker
And so when Ferguson did leave, he left in an era when football was changing and and United just didn't change, you know, with with football moving on. And Liverpool experienced that as well a few ah decades back as well. But United now got their new manager, Ruben Amorim, who's taken them from the Portuguese League, successfully managed sporting.
Manchester United's New Direction: Ruben Amorim's Appointment
00:25:22
Speaker
um It was, you know, obviously Liverpool rejected him, but so we won't we won't go into that. I could just see the chance coming out from from Anfield already. but so see the cop the cop pain just having the banner up there liveable reject But you know tell tell us your thoughts now you know how did you greet this news you know are you cautiously optimistic or you know do you think that this is this is the man that's going to start i'm not saying look you're not going to win the league next season but at least start that process
00:26:02
Speaker
start that process of of getting United back to... Why next season? Let's not start this season. this I don't know. I don't know. You sound like Gary Neville. look yeah Yeah, I think the Gary Neville points. I think he just takes them all with his heart, to be honest. I think every year he puts Liverpool outside the top four. and Yeah, look, the ten-hag thing, look, it had to come to an end. and First of all, I was impressed by the how quick the appointment happened, um which I was expecting that to drag on that they had no plan in place. um And also happy about the rude decision. I think that would have been a a nightmare if rude was still involved. um Just think two big personalities. um You know, your success or just watching over every move you make if there's a, you know, if there's a mistake, there's like, I'm ready, I'm ready to hop in whenever you want. Like, so I think that would have been that would have been person kind of glad that
00:26:58
Speaker
Amram's kind of stamped his authority on that. And I'm not going to pretend I know an awful lot about him. I'm not sitting watching sporting Lisbon games over the past few years knowing how they're getting on. But um it It concerned me then the point that you raised, Jesse, about, you know, United are always coming in with a new manager, with a new system and new players that he's going to, but I'm like, oh, that sounds a bit familiar. So coming in but ah is covered with a radically new new system. Yeah, exactly. um And I think, you know, me and Kieran chatted about this last week on on one of the episodes about, you know, the players that we have available now and how they could actually fit into
00:27:35
Speaker
the system that's going to come in. and I don't think we're too unsuited to it. and I don't think we have very good fallbacks. We have decent fallbacks, but they're probably more suited to wing backs, which probably will will help us. We have an awful lot of center backs, and none of them are that good in the two. So that might help us as well, having having a back three. but Yeah, I think in general, he comes across really well. I think he looks great, which is also a kind of a big plus, but, you know, adds absolutely nothing to your team. But he looks good. Like it was like rude. It was like, I think he looks good, but don't want to menu near the club. um fit But yeah, cautiously up
00:28:11
Speaker
It's all squirmy. Cautiously optimistic, I think. um it's It's definitely going to take time, but um I don't know. we've just I think we're all saying the same things with Tim Hagg. That's what concerns me. you know Success in the Dutch League. Oh, he's a great style of football. He's going to implement it. he's really so you know eras All the years coming to an end, all that stuff, you're like, oh, here we go. and then you know, two trophies later, but like not a playing style inside. So I don't know. like It looked great. It looked great. They didn't need to know. Oh, I don't know. that But he did have a good place. That's harsh on as on a different level. Ciaran, what were your thoughts then? amaim Yeah, again, I'm not going to pretend I knew Ruben in and out. ah But once the appointment was sort of rumoured to be there once um a certain Fabrizio
00:28:59
Speaker
announced that it would be him. You start looking into him, you start looking at the results, you start looking at the style of play, the the players he wants to bring in. And it is an exciting system. It it is. And if he can implement that, I think it would i think it would be great. You just need you know absolute workers about bat down both flanks to try and cover the the back three. So it'll be interesting to see how we implement the system fully into the Premier League.
00:29:24
Speaker
But as Nar said, we're not too dissimilar to a three or a five at the back system. you know Van Gogh tried to bring in a sort of a five at the back system in his time at Manchester United. It didn't quite work. I don't think we had the quality at the wing backs, but potentially if Ruben sees other players down the line that he could have and bring into his system, then I'm all for it. The thing we have to be careful of is we don't want to turn into what we were previously in IX 2.0.
00:29:49
Speaker
and we now become a 2.0 of sporting, or a Wolves 2.0, if you will, ah signing Portuguese players to fit this new system. It sounds a bit familiar, but like Niall said, we've been here before and not just once before. We've been here, what's it, three, four times before now? um So it's it's getting a little draining to have to keep having having this optimism for a new manager. But I i wish Ruben all the best. i really does I really do hope he can bring us back to where we belong and challenging for titles.
00:30:18
Speaker
Carl, a Liverpool perspective in terms of Amram going to... I don't want that. I do.
00:30:29
Speaker
um There's a lot, I mean, the the the problem with the league is at at the moment, um it's it's it's got a stronghold, firstly by City, then we come into it in a sort of second tier, which is why we're the only, I don't think we're the only team fighting them. Whether that's going to be an enough, I don't know. Then there's the Arsenal and Chelsea.
00:30:46
Speaker
I'm not buying the better thing. And I think that United are trying to sort of get into the Arsenal League. I don't think it's going to happen immediately because that's how football goes. You know, that's the whole thing. The Leicester City thing was an aberration. And that's why Leicester City disappeared. And then he is, you know, you don't just go and win the league straight. And it's and it's a bit. And there's the old Hansen, you know, don't you don't think things would win things with kids. He said that because it very rarely happens, but it just did. Again, I was against that at the time.
00:31:13
Speaker
um I think he's a good manager. I do. I think you mean, well, we we were looking at him for a long time. And yeah, I mean, I've got something towards 10 hog. Absolutely related when you got so sure, obviously, just related because, again, this is my point about your past can only hurt you sometimes. um And so Yeah, he's irritatingly good. I just obviously think I hope it takes him absolutely years before he gets settled in a sort of 10 hard type way, which is a possibility because football is unfair football as a line as Rafa said, you know, it's, it's a very, very unfair thing. And in being the one question, is he going to keep Fernandez as captain, do you think just because of the Portuguese thing?
00:31:59
Speaker
I think Fernandez is a terrible choice as captain and I have I've got to say I I think he might be the worst captain in the league Yeah for a very very good play through I mean no one's mentioned the elephant when I was at the 7-0 um I remember i i make like I said, surely at some point the captain jumps in and starts kicking people. you know You're not doing that against my team. And I speak as a man whose team the team I play in lost 13-1 on Friday. You start to kick people and Fernandez was like... Well he gave up he gave up running. um was Who was on the flank?
00:32:33
Speaker
yeah some Someone out beating on the flank. Was it it was was it con Connor Bradley? well i a blondeer his name a name i can never remember but It might have been Connor Bradley. I can't remember. But basically, he just gave up. But I just think, look, Fernandes, supremely gifted, very talented. But I think if you look through if you look through any successful team, if you look at any past United team that were successful, you look at their captains.
Critique of Manchester United's Leadership
00:32:58
Speaker
you know their Their captains were the example.
00:33:03
Speaker
you know, they they were a reflection of that manager in terms of their commitment. And I, for me, every time I see Bruno Fernandes as captain of Manchester United, I'm thinking, brilliant, fantastic, because you're not going anywhere with ah with a captain um like that. And I did what, I echo what Karl said, i was I was praying for Roode Hewlett to take over as manager. um But I do think Amorim, seriously,
00:33:30
Speaker
You know, I wanted him at Liverpool. Obviously, I'm very happy with how it turned out slot. But when the rumors started that Amorim was being considered by Liverpool, I was really excited because the one thing I think that Amorim has got, and it touches on what Niall said, and we we kind of, you know, we we kind of laughed about it. But when you this kind of thing about having a presence and being able to project yourself and being and having that personality to manage a club like Manchester United. Not anyone can manage Manchester United. You have to have a huge personality. You have to have an ego. You really do. You've got to back it up. And let's face it, most managers at the top level, they know what they're doing.
00:34:15
Speaker
irrespective of whether you're in the po Portuguese league, Dutch league, you know what you're doing, you know about systems, you know how to set a team up, but I honestly don't think that that's what makes or breaks you when you manage at the very, very top tier. It's can you handle these mega players, these multi-million air players? so yeah Yeah, can you handle these guys? Can you walk into that dressing room and tell Bruno Fernandes,
00:34:42
Speaker
I'm sorry, you are not captain. But you know what, you're going to be a starter, you're going to be the main player in that midfield, but you're not going to be captain. in And can you get the best out of a Marcus Rashford? Can you say to Rashford, look, I'm sorry, but you're not a young player anymore. But you should be our best player. And I think Amorim's got that. I think Amorim's got something about him where I don't think he will take any nonsense.
00:35:06
Speaker
I think he can impose his will on that team and if anyone crosses him it's not going to be like a Jaden Sancho thing but I just think people he's got that kind of personality where you are drawn to him and those players that that can't cut it will be out. So I do think that they've they've hired the right manager. It's just whether he's given the time now because there there may be a lot of players there that he cannot fit into how he wants to shape United. And it's just whether he's got the time um to move them forward. um But so where where do we see United
00:35:49
Speaker
What would you what would be a good season for you guys now now from now to the end of the season what would you see as a successful season for man united.