All posts
Opinion
Carrick's struggles don't vindicate Amorim or Ten Hag
The nostalgia for the previous two managers ignores that their problems were ideological, not executional, and that recruitment was built around the same flaws.
Opinion
United are repeating their Hojlund mistake with Sesko
Bought for direct GK to CF progression and duels for long balls, Sesko is now used as a deep passing outlet in an unbalanced team.
Opinion
End of Pep paradigm and recruitment at top clubs
With the tactical era that shaped two decades now fading, sporting heads and managers are far less certain about which direction to build their squads in.
Opinion
Slot and Ten Hag failed the same way, for the same reasons
Both arrived from the Eredivisie, both succeeded by profiling their best players, and both were undone once they moved towards their actual models.
Opinion
The Carrick decision
The results justify continuity, but without tactical knowledge and authority above the manager, United risk repeating the ETH and Amorim pattern.
Opinion
Losing Rashford is the club's failure
United failed to maximise an asset through constant changes in managers, game models and roles, and the end result is what matters.
Opinion
Selling Rashford is a cultural defeat for United
The footballing case for selling Rashford holds, but losing him is a verdict on how the club has been run for a decade.
Opinion
Amorim should be judged on adaptation, not replication
The back 3, the wingbacks and where Bruno fits are the wrong questions; the real ones concern risk-reward, pressing structure and whether his model can evolve here.
Opinion
Death of gegenpressing
Klopp's exit closes the era of gegenpressing as a system in itself, and United under Ten Hag have once again arrived at the tail end of a tactical cycle.