Midfield always holds the key

Ruben Amorim got his three top-targets in Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko to fix the embarrassing goal-scoring record of 44 last season. What about midfield? It's an area of the pitch where the opponents easily drive their bus through. No legs to run and press, no tacklers to win the ball back instantly, no progression to run with the ball. It's been apparent since a few seasons especially when Roy Keane asked for Declan Rice and Harry Kane in summer of 2023. Sir Alex Ferguson in his first full season had new centre-backs Viv Anderson and Steve Bruce, striker Brian McClair, and later got goal-keeper Jim Leighton and brought back Mark 'Sparky' Hughes from Barcelona. Ferguson looked to fix the spine of the team not just one area.

Amorim to his credit distanced the bomb squad from rest of the team for the Premier League summer series which Manchester United won in the USA by beating Bournemouth, West Ham and drawing with Everton. Bomb squad were told to find new club and kept away from the team, they include Marcus Rashford (joined Barcelona on loan), Jadon Sancho, Anthony, Alejandro Garnacho and Tyrell Malacia. Amorim stressed on training from Chicago as a base and going around to the venues in order to get maximum time on the pitch with the players. He also stressed the need for players to bond on and off the pitch with team dinners and evening time offs. By all accounts the mood in the camp was excellent.

United continued to re-structure in the background. Most important change at Manchester United was the opening of the refurbished Carrington training centre which cost 50 million Pounds. It looks stunning with large open areas which have natural light to create an uplifting environment as per Simon Stone of the BBC. Now Carrington will be the base for team to gather and leave as a group to Old Trafford on match-days instead of arriving directly at Old Trafford four-hours early. On the personnel front Will Carvalho joins from Brighton as Head Performance Chef and Marcus Hannon as Head of Sports Nutrition from Qatar FA and Aston Villa previously. Sir Jim Ratcliffe's scathing attack on lack of Data Analysis has led to recruitment of INEOS group's Mercedes F1 team's Head of Data, Micheal Sansoni as new Director of Data. Kirstin Furber joins as People Director to "to take the lead in developing and evolving the club’s workforce and people culture." Except Chief Operating Officer Collette Roche, rest of the staff are new as Head of Academy Nick Cox also left to join Everton as Technical Director after very successful stint at United. Thank you, Nick.

Who plays with Bruno Fernandes in midfield is the key question? Manuel Ugarte who played under Amorim struggled last season and was dropped in the final of Europa League while Casemiro is not so mobile anymore at 33. United pursued Brighton player-of-the-year Carlos Baleba but the club do not want to sell the player this summer and United think they have made significant ground work for next summer's top target. Other targets include Adam Wharton, Morten Hjulmand, Ederson, Lucien Agoume and Hayden Hackney. United have not disposed off their bomb squad yet which has hampered their acquisition of a midfielder. Other clubs know United are desperate to sell and are making a low bid or the players like Sancho are not willing to take a pay-cut. If United do not sign a competent midfielder, they might struggle to be in top X.

Despite finishing 15th United were able to complete three big signings of Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko for an average of 75 million each. This was made possible by the fact that from July 1st new financial season starts and United have a whole year ahead to adjust the books. Last year they used Sir Jim Ratcliffe's investment to clear the debt or can increase revolving credit facility temporarily. They have not been able to raise money from the four members of the bomb squad yet but have done via sales of Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest to Newcastle, Alvaro Carreras from Benfica to Real Madrid. Further they got Barcelona to pay Marcus Rashford's 14 million salary while on loan and Victor Lindelof, Christian Eriksen, Johnny Evans are no longer on the payroll. Scott McTominay meanwhile has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or for his terrific form for Napoli. Good luck, Scott. United have also signed 3 exciting youngsters Diego Leon, Enzo Kana-Biyik and Harley Emsden-James.

United as a club are very happy to finally have Benjamin Sesko who they have tracked since he was 16 years old. Head of Recruitment, Christopher Vivell brought Sesko from Slovenia to Austria to Germany and now to United; he also negotiated the deal with RB Leipzig, where he worked before. Amorim's first choice was always Victor Gyokores who joined Arsenal as he thought they are further in their project to win the Premier League than United and also he is already 27. Fair. United said the same things about Rasmus Hojlund two years back like signing for the long term et cetera et cetera; but by signing two #10's in Cunha and Mbeumo to support the new striker Sesko, history won't be repeated. Hojlund's boyhood dream was playing for Manchester United and in a results driven business he is made surplus to requirements but yet to agree terms with any club. Tough.

Sir Alex Ferguson given the backing and still missing out on Paul Gascoigne finished his first full season at 2nd place. He and his team clearly overperformed. Amorim's best could be finishing around top 8 with full summer of training and his choice of front three attackers. With the toughest set of fixtures since David Moyes - United play Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool in first 8 games; a bad start would make Amorim the bookies favourite to be first managerial casualty. United persisted with Amorim despite their worst season in 50 years but how patient would Jim Ratcliffe be if results and performances do not improve? Would Rice, Zubimendi, Odegaard school United and dent their optimism for the new season? Amorim thinks otherwise while fans fear without a ball-winning midfielder.

Probably first XI: Bayindir(GK), de Ligt, Yoro, Heaven, Dorgu, Amad, Casemiro, Mount, Fernandes, Cunha, Mbeumo.

34th season opener since 1991 and all excited.

Premier League proven

Manchester United need players who are 'Premier League proven' in the summer transfer of 2025 if they are to do any better than finishing 15th, their worst in English League since being relegated in 1973-74. United stuck with manager Tommy Docherty despite being relegated then and have done the same now by continuing with Ruben Amorim. Yes, this season did feel as if United were relegated such were their poor performances: 18 defeats, 9 draws, only 44 goals scored, 54 conceded. Only three relegated teams scored fewer goals than United i.e., 17th. Ruben Amorim's record since taking over from Erik ten Hag is the worst with 6 wins, 6 draws, 13 losses, 24 points in 25 games which is less than 1 point per game.

United used to buy the best in the Premier League during Ferguson years starting with Eric Cantona from rival Leeds, young Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest and Paul Ince from West Ham, Any Cole from Newcastle, Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa, Rio Ferdinand from Leeds again, Micheal Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham, Edwin van der Sar from Fulham, Wayne Rooney from Everton and Robin van Persie from Arsenal. This trend could not be sustained due to increase in revenues of all Premier League teams compared to their European counterparts that made inter-PL club deals difficult due to high costs, but United simply made away with it which was completely wrong.

Club have announced the deal to sign Wolves number 10, Matheus Cunha the Brazilian attacker. This move was initiated towards the end of last season and concluded in early June. Cunha is physically strong, can carry the ball and is a goal threat with 15 goals last season. His childhood favourite club was Manchester United and he described joining the reds as a "dream" move. United have been linked with Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo. If it goes through United will be addressing the key issue plaguing them last season: goals. Mbeumo scored 20 goals last season with impressive stats: 7 assists, 17 big chances created, 202 crosses. Amorim's left-footed right winger. This would mean United signing two of the best attacking players from last season in Cunha and Mbeumo as per Opta. 

United do need to buy an elite number 9. But this will depend on transfer fees generated from player sales of either Rashford, Sancho, Garnacho, Anthony. Victor Osimhen's available from Napoli for 70 million euro's but his salary demands may be putting off United! He's been top scorer in Italy, Turkey, African Cup of Nations qualifying rounds. Among the Premier League teams Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa is an obvious choice but he is approaching 30 years of age. Of the right age is Hugo Ekitike of Eintracht Frankfurt, just 23 with 19 goals and 11 assists in Bundesliga and Europa League last season. Rasmus Hojlund will only turn 23 next year! In his prime is Osimhen and such an opportunity might not come again.

United's splurge in recent seasons has been on costly imports who were not ready made fit to the relentless pace of Premier League; be it Jadon Sancho, Anthony or Rasmus Hojlund. Their Premier League buys have been questionable like Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal and Harry Maguire from Leicester who for 80 million has yet to become the best defender in the Premier League. Jason Wilcox has been promoted from Technical Director to Director of Football and maintains a lean setup with Christopher Vivell as Director of Recruitment. It's the first summer transfer window of this team and so far, they have done the job. Wilcox's past association with Southampton will mean United might be linked with two of their wantaway stars in Tyler Dibling and Taylor Harwood-Bellis. Adam Wharton is another exciting young player of interest from FA Cup winners Crystal Palace who earned high praise from Roy Keane.

Consequence of writing off a season was in lifeless final of Europa League, where Ruben Amorim played his favourite Mason Mount ahead of in-form Alejandro Garnacho while Amad had just recovered from serious injury. Abject United lost the match and a chance to return to Champions' League next season. Perhaps giving Amorim more time with players on training pitch might be a blessing in turning United's fortunes around sooner. After the Europa League final Amorim admonished a young Garnacho by reportedly saying he will be allowed to leave the club thus diminishing his transfer fee significantly. Atrocious handling of 20 year old, most exciting talent under-21 years of age in top-5 leagues of Europe.

Premier League just released the fixtures for 2025-26 season and its the most difficult start with games against Arsenal(H), Man City and Chelsea in the first five games. As usual the litmus test against Liverpool at Anfield is on October 18th. Will Amorim survive past this date? This makes it even more important for Amorim to have all his new signings ready for pre-season on 7th July.

Progress on the new stadium is most welcome

Manchester United showcased plans of new 100,000 seater stadium on 11th March by Foster + Partners, the architecture firm of Sir Norman Foster. Norman's father worked at Metro-Vick in Trafford Park, perhaps the world's first industrial estate. Foster + Partners delivered the new Wembley stadium in 2007. Two local Mancunian's in Jim Ratcliffe and Norman Foster joining hands to regenerate the wider Old Trafford area being Manchester United fans is reassuring.

Jim Ratcliffe said “Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest football stadium, at the centre of a regenerated Old Trafford." Norman Foster added "This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today, with incredible regional and national significance. It all starts with the fans’ experience, bringing them closer than ever to the pitch and acoustically cultivating a huge roar. The stadium is contained by a vast umbrella, harvesting energy and rainwater."

This was the obvious next step after Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force's study of two main options to either redevelop 115-year-old marvel built by Archibald Leitch or build a new stadium altogether; delivered its verdict in favour of a new stadium on 17th January. Task Force was headed by Sebastian Coe, who successfully led London's 2012 Olympic bid and was the chairman of London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. With Coe the task force also had Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester and former United player Gary Neville.

United in April, 2022 had appointed a team led by Populous to create masterplan for redevelopment of Old Trafford. This was done by Ed Woodward and before Ratcliffe became co-owner. Populous had delivered the new 62,850 seater Tottenham stadium, considered by many to be the finest stadium in England today. Using Google tried searching for "wembley fan experience fans feedback" and got the following response in AI Overview: Wembley Stadium offers a generally good fan experience for many, particularly for major events, but some fans have reported negative experiences related to atmosphere, food and drinks, bag policies, and facilities.

New stadium at Old Trafford is modelled after the United Trident, a tower that Ratcliffe described as 'Eiffel Tower of the north". A few critics have called the umbrella enveloping the stadium as a 'circus tent'. Every new design has always had critics including the world-renowned Eiffel Tower. United certainly needed to do something about the stadium urgently as no major improvements to Old Trafford were undertaken since 2006 and it is not even on the list of stadiums for the bid of Euro 2028 by football associations of England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Since 1965 installation of cantilever stands on three sides of Old Trafford, United led the introduction of latest and innovative devlopments in stadium improvements. The glass-fronted private boxes the first in English football, executive lounges of the 70's, catering business turning profitable, thought of each area of the stadium to be financially self-sufficient, acquisition of 20-acre area around Old Trafford, second tier on existing three stands that increased capacity to 76,000. United set the record of highest average season attendance record of 75,821 in 2006-07 season. Fans have every right to hold the club accountable so that it retains the standards it set. For almost two decades fans have got a raw deal and ticket prices have continued to rise in last two seasons.

Larger worry for fans is that club continues to be in debt of over half a billion dollars; debt which was used by the Glazers to do a leveraged buyout which should never have been allowed by Football Association and the Government. Building a new stadium will add to the debt by about 2 billion dollars and the Glazers having never put a penny of their enormous fortune into the club, funds will be starved to develop the squad. Existing players are ill-suited to the system preferred by Ruben Amorim. Club should have had a reset of the playing XI, reduced the average age to 23-25, made net profits from player sales with a strong pipe of U21 and B-team players, and then embarked on working towards a new stadium.

New stadium is expected to be ready for 2031 season, built on the land adjacent to Old Trafford. Existing stadium will sustain the club for 6 more seasons by not significantly impacting the matchday revenue which would have been dented had they to play their home matches elsewhere. Naming rights to the new stadium might be inevitably sold and how odd it would be to not call it Old Trafford 'theater of dreams'. Housing projects will raise further funds but will it cater to the middle-class? Transport links will have to be ready beforehand to avert a parking nuisance for the locals. Ratcliffe certainly believes there's enough to make this work. In lieu of the boring football being played now, progress on the new stadium is most welcome.

💬 "Football first. All about atmosphere, all about fan experience."

Get insight into the planning of our new stadium from one of Foster + Partners architects 👀🏟️#MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 23, 2025

Denis Law: The King of Stretford End

Denis Law passed away on 17th January, aged 84. He was part of the world famous 'United Trinity' alongside his friend George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton that dazzled in 1960's to make Manchester United football club the most admired club in the world. Denis Law was fans favourite as he gave his absolutely everything to score goals, exciting ones that showed his world-class abilities despite being slender and short in frame. He is the only player to have two statues in Old Trafford. His modest background as a son of a fisherman to being the only Scottish footballer to win the Ballon d'Or, is a remarkable fairytale.

Denis Law's first visit to Old Trafford was on 19th February, 1958 when United played their first match after the fatal crash in Munich which decimated the first team. Law was playing for Huddersfield Town's reserves under Bill Shankly where an operation to correct the squint in his eyes changed his life. Sir Matt Busby wanted to get Law after facing Huddersfield in FA Youth Cup but was unsuccessful. Debut at 16 for the Terriers and for Scotland aged 18. Sensational! Law moved to City and then to Torino for a British transfer record. Busby made Law his most expensive signing for $115,000 from Torino where Law although playing well, was finding it hard to adjust. Law wanted out and Busby would make Manchester his nirvana. Torino wanted to sell Law to Juventus for a record fee $160,000 reportedly but Law wanted to return to England to end his nightmare in Italy.

Law scored on debut against West Brom in 1962 in a 2-2 draw. United had an inconsistent season avoiding relegation in 19th position when there were 22 clubs in First Division, but managed to make it to the finals of the FA Cup thanks largely to Law's 6 goals. Law formed a great partnership with David Herd and duo scored all 3 goals in the final of the FA Cup against favourites Leicester City who had done the double over United in the League with stars like Gordon Banks, Frank McLintock, Ken Keyworth. It was United's first trophy since Munich. It was a momentous occasion for the club that was rising from the ashes literally.

The following season 1963-64 belonged to Denis Law as he scored 30 goals in League, 10 in FA Cup and 6 in Europe; 46 goals in all competitions - a record that is still held. This was mainly due to another Scot in Paddy Crerand joining United in the summer and providing more clinical assists from midfield. 18th January, 1963 will be a date that will be forever etched in memory when a young rookie George Best debuted against West Brom. It was the first of 293 matches the 'United Trinity' played together until 28th October, 1972 and scored 264 goals. Law's contribution was immense with 173 goals. Law won the Ballon d'Or in 1964 becoming the first United player and the only Scottish player to have won it. United still finished runners-up to Liverpool.

Emergence of John Connelly on the wing with 15 goals lifted United to win their first post war League title in 1965 and a second title in 1967 without Connelly but with John Ashton Jnr, David Sadler and crucially Alex Stepney as the new goalkeeper. They won the 'holy grail' the European Cup in 1968. Denis Law had a knee injury and did not play in the final. Matt Busby brought the cup to his bedside the next day! Busby announced that 1968-69 would be his last and Law banged-in 30 goals for his boss. Next season he played in only 16 games as his right knee injury blighted his contribution. Law trained alone in pre-season without taking off to regain his fitness and promptly came back to form to score 16 goals in 1970-71 season. Hugh McIlvanney argued that Denis Law would have been the only British player who could have made it to the 1970 World Cup winning Brazil team, considered the greatest team ever. 

On the eve of 1966 World Cup in England, Denis Law demanded a pay-rise from the club by writing a letter to Sir Matt Busby and going on leave. Busby informed the press about this saga by transfer listing the player and asked him to return at once to Old Trafford. United and Liverpool were the meanest clubs in First Division those days. Busby informed Law that if he apologized in front of the press, he would get a substantial pay rise in his next contract and become the best paid player at the club. Law dutifully obliged. This would quell any further discontent in the squad about money. 'Nobody is bigger than the club'. Law was intensely private person like Sir Bobby Charlton.

Law started the 71-72 season with a bang but injury limited his appearances later. When Frank O'Farrel was sacked after a heavy defeat to Crystal Palace in December of 1972, it was Law who suggested the name of reformed Scotland boss Tommy Docherty to Sir Matt Busby who was still calling the shots as a director at the club. Docherty initially steadied the club to safety and later offered Busby's favourite Crerand to be an assistant coach. Law also claimed that Docherty made a similar offer to him but was later transfer listed when on holiday with family back in Aberdeen. This saga was brought to the fore in a litigation between Docherty and winger Willie Morgan at the Old Bailey in late 70's.

Law scored 237 goals for United in 404 appearances, the 3rd highest tally behind Rooney and Charlton. Its common knowledge that he rejoined City and scored that infamous back-heel against United to confirm their relegation. What is less known is the fact that in May, 1963 Manchester City were needing a win against United in the penultimate match and were leading 1-0 when Law earned a penalty which drew the match and relegated City from the first division. 

Busby said Law was the quickest-thinking footballer he ever knew. Law would barely come-up till the shoulder of Liverpool great Ron Yeates but still managed to harass the monster out of the match. He was good with both feet, excellent in heading and knew the most important thing to do when inside the box was to score. Sir Alex Ferguson idolized him. Fans simply worshipped him. If the Team-sheet did not have his name, there were a few hundred less attending the match at Old Trafford. His work-ethic and brilliance on the ball were simply world class, cementing his status as one of true greats of the game. The King of Stretford End, hat-trick hero a record 18-times, hair-raising bicycle kicks and that celebration by raising his right arm while clutching his sleeve. Iconic.