Win at Luton | Hojlund Firing | Dan Ashworth in as DoF - United Hour Podcast

[Vault Dweller]

Nik(@Rood) and Imran(@Annihilate Now!) discuss United's good / bad / lucky / should have hammered them win over Luton. They also discuss all the news from the boardroom as Newcastle put Dan Ashworth on Gardening leave, before previewing upcoming games vs. Fulham and Nottingham Forest.



https://x.com/United_Hour/status/1760245420318404720?s=20

What are your thoughts, troops?

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Hope you guys enjoyed the episode! Any questions or thoughts for next time?

 

[Yorkeontop]

1. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...n-ashworth-manchester-united-newcastle-united

Sometimes we forget, DoFs are just people and they are liable to make bad decisions as well. That fancy title doesn't give them superpowers.

2. Marcus seems subdued, I keep waiting for him to kick on. I wouldn't be surprised to learn he's contemplating that PSG interest, he'd kill it in Ligue 1. Still don't think we'd sell him unless he wants to go.

3. Casemiro is the face that runs the place. Top 4 seemed all but gone, top 5 will do as well it seems.

4. Højlund, those poacher instincts! Can't teach that. As long as he can avoid injuries he'll be fine. Still think my boy Martial was eventually done in by them.

5. I would sell Bruno this summer. He's going to run himself into the ground soon enough ala Alexis Sanchez.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...turning-arsenal-exhausted-man-world-football/

And *whisper it*, a humbled Sancho, and Mount could replace him.

6. I'm learning that my top pick to potentially replace EtH is probably not it. Tuchel's soft skills are bad, and that's before we get to the coaching. I'm not itching for EtH to go though.

 

[Rood]

@Yorkeontop - I read that Guardian article and this was my response to it!

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It's a bit of bizarre take and you can't really blame Ashworth for things like Allardyce or Tonali where the individuals make major errors of judgement.
But yes no one will get everything right and just getting in Ashworth wont fix all our issues overnight, even under Fergie we made many errors in the transfer market but nowadays its the ones that succeed that are the exceptions rather than the other around

 

[Yorkeontop]

@Yorkeontop - I read that Guardian article and this was my response to it!

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It's a bit of bizarre take and you can't really blame Ashworth for things like Allardyce or Tonali where the individuals make major errors of judgement.
But yes no one will get everything right and just getting in Ashworth wont fix all our issues overnight, even under Fergie we made many errors in the transfer market but nowadays its the ones that succeed that are the exceptions rather than the other around

I read a fair of amount Liew's articles, he sprinkles in mild irreverence, tongue in cheek and sarcasm to his stuff.

The very nature of recruitment, of building a new culture, is that it requires creativity, fresh and divergent thought, the ability to imagine new things. But United have long been an organisation inseparable from the teat of Big Recruitment, not just as the means to the objective, but as the objective itself. A backroom structure, you say. An organic culture, you say. An end to the saviour complex and the cult of the individual. Yup. Yup. Furious nodding. Diligent notes scribbled on a jotter pad. Question. Say I wanted the Alexis Sánchez of chief executives, the Cristiano Ronaldo of sporting directors and the Ángel Di María of heads of recruitment. Who might those be? Hypothetically.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Good episode lads, I'm gonna try and get on the next one!

Side point @Rood - Evans has 16 appearances in the league this season, which from the list of defenders is more than Lindelof, Maguire, Licha, Malacia, Shaw, AWB and level with Varane. In terms of the squad, the only players to have made more appearances is Onana, Dalot, Bruno, McT, Rashford, Antony, Garnacho & Hojlund. Imran makes a good argument for me, out of that list the only ones I'd say who have played better are Garnacho & Hojlund, with Dalot improving a lot recently and McT scoring crucial goals. For the reason we re-signed Evans he has contributed a lot and would be in with a shout for our player of the year, he won't win it mind.

 

[Rood]

Good episode lads, I'm gonna try and get on the next one!

Side point @Rood - Evans has 16 appearances in the league this season, which from the list of defenders is more than Lindelof, Maguire, Licha, Malacia, Shaw, AWB and level with Varane. In terms of the squad, the only players to have made more appearances is Onana, Dalot, Bruno, McT, Rashford, Antony, Garnacho & Hojlund. Imran makes a good argument for me, out of that list the only ones I'd say who have played better are Garnacho & Hojlund, with Dalot improving a lot recently and McT scoring crucial goals. For the reason we re-signed Evans he has contributed a lot and would be in with a shout for our player of the year, he won't win it mind.

On minutes played (all comps) Evans is behind Varane, Maguire, Lindelof, AWB & Shaw - he's only just ahead of Mainoo at this point:
https://fbref.com/en/squads/19538871/2023-2024/all_comps/Manchester-United-Stats-All-Competitions

But regardless he's been great whenever called upon, I just wouldn't put him in a POTY discussion due to lack of minutes but he's certainly made those deriding his signing in the summer look daft!

 

[Rood]

I read a fair of amount Liew's articles, he sprinkles in mild irreverence, tongue in cheek and sarcasm to his stuff.

The very nature of recruitment, of building a new culture, is that it requires creativity, fresh and divergent thought, the ability to imagine new things. But United have long been an organisation inseparable from the teat of Big Recruitment, not just as the means to the objective, but as the objective itself. A backroom structure, you say. An organic culture, you say. An end to the saviour complex and the cult of the individual. Yup. Yup. Furious nodding. Diligent notes scribbled on a jotter pad. Question. Say I wanted the Alexis Sánchez of chief executives, the Cristiano Ronaldo of sporting directors and the Ángel Di María of heads of recruitment. Who might those be? Hypothetically.

Ye I do get that it's a bit tongue in cheek but it also reads as lazy journalism to me - he's questioning Dan Ashworth's record but then actually doing very little to research his actual history and achievements.

Also he's comparing him to big money signings and saying it's crazy for United to pay £20m for him, but I highly doubt we will pay that kind of fee.

Still will be interesting to see what happens as the Saudis may well dig their heels in and make him sit out the next season rather than let him come to us.