Supporting Man Utd is like being a crack addict, according to one fan. And nobody is fooled by the comeback.

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Supporting Man Utd like being a crack addict

I imagine this is what smoking crack is like, yeah there’s the lows but jeez that high…..

Enjoy it fellow Reds, it’s all too fleeting.
Steve (ex-Flixton Red), Ontario
(Don’t do drugs kids)

…What a day! I’m not sure whether I’m more excited about the 3-2 comeback win or the arse kicking that Trump is getting right now. What a time to be alive!
Steve (ex-Flixton Red), Ontario
(Some Guinness may have been harmed since my first email)

Just what was needed, when it was needed. And no, I don’t mean the result. Well, not entirely.

A victory in lean times is always welcome. A rousing comeback victory is even better. But, if this marks any kind of turning of the tide in Utd’s season, it won’t be the goals or the result. The emblem of the turnaround will be Matheus Cunha whipping off his jersey and jumping into the crowd.

I’m not even joking. Cunha is an intelligent guy. He knew the relationship with the fans was broken. A winning goal in a comeback victory would go some way to fixing that but taking that moment and literally bringing it to the fans goes a whole lot further. He remade the connection to the fans by literally and physically connecting with them.

Some will say it was a stupid yellow card and indeed he picked up another a few minutes later and was sent off. But to hell with that. He recognised the moment and absolutely made the right call. It was worth the yellow and the sending off a thousand times over.

You can build something with that spirit. Let’s see if they do.
Damian, Dublin

Dear Sir Jim,

This does not mean he should stay, and you are not absolved.

Sincerely, all of us.
Ryan, Bermuda

Failing to understand Man Utd

I just can’t with these players. I simply don’t know what is going on.

First half, we see a low energy and low IQ performance. The fluid front three all gravitating to the right-hand side of the pitch, wandering around like lost kittens. You can reasonably question the tactic, if you like, but when the players are out on the pitch, they’re expected to use some sort of brain and they simply don’t have one, apparently.

Then after a woolly right-foot pass from Baleba comes to Bruno who still has time to arrange himself only to faff a pathetic left-foot shot high from the edge of the box and then start his blaming routine after a pretty terrible first-half performance.

Maguire repeatedly giving up soft chance after soft chance and standing to watch his f***-ups play out. This of course after his terrible pass exposed the defence for the shot that became a (pretty harsh) penalty.

As Rooney said at half time, no one seems to give a damn. It’s so weird to watch.

Second half, a transformation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a Jekyll and Hyde change.

Right from the off some nice quick play, a lovely switch ball out from Mainoo to Amad, loses it, wins it back, plays in Baleba who drives into the area for what should be a simple pull back and tap in and… he’s injured. SHIT! Doesn’t that just about sum things up.

Still, it carried on and so much better; people staying in their positions, passing sharper, Dalot not for some reason being the only player on the left, and things are working. Lovely quick move and aggressive run earns a penalty which… Bruno absolutely fecks. And yet somehow gets a second bite to actually score it.

Then a lovely bit of counter play, Mbeumo through on goal and… he hits both posts and it stays out. Sweet fecking Jesus.

Maguire being wrestled to a hilarious degree at corners but no punishment.

Lacey on for the eager if lacking-in-end-product Amad, and immediately lively and pretty unlucky not to win another penalty as he spins round a defender.

Satisfying that it’s Balerdi who miskicks to let Cunha in for the second after his crap at corners.

Then – holy sh*t – a lovely driven ball from Lacey that somehow Cunha carries and then absolutely lashes it in!

Where tf was this hunger and passion in the last 5+ games, though? Incidentally, it looked like the whole team took some responsibility in the second half rather than leave it to an off-form Bruno. Need a lot more of that.

All in, I really don’t know what to make of it. Confirmation that the players can play, but only when they choose to. Confirmation that the manager can manage, but only when the players turn up.

I want to be elated at that epic turn around, but I’ve been hurt too many times before.
Badwolf

We need to talk about Bruno

Bruno got man of the match, is this insane? He gave away the ball all the time, blamed teammates, crap penalty, should have been taken off at halftime, rescued by Baleba injury, Dalot cannot play lb, Amad should never play again, give Lacey the job, Mainoo to be captain, Heaven badly isolated by his teammates, what does Holland? Delighted for Carrick, but it won’t last, they need lb,rb,cb, rw, cf at least, the drama continues.
Dominic O’Dowd

Ratcliffe more Hamlet than King Lear

Credit where it’s due, people – seeing Jim Radcliffe mocked up as Lear did pique my interest. I enjoyed the concept of Richard Green’s article, even if, by the time he’d cast Michael Carrick as Cordelia, it was stretching the comparison to breaking point.

But, it did get me thinking about the Shakespearean tenor of the Decline and Fall of Manchester United. And it’s not King Lear that proves most apposite, but Hamlet – haunted by the ghost of its patriarch and paralysed by indecision, forever contemplating decisive action without ever actually pulling the trigger. And of course, I have indeed lost all my mirth, as has every other supporter. The difference is, we know precisely wherefore.

Anyway, f**k the Gla**rs, f**k Ineos, and up the Reds.
Ben, depressed, but in a Hamlet-y way

Aston Villa > Man Utd

Villa fan here. Obviously the whole Jamie Carragher debacle has become a lot of something over nothing and he should be allowed
to express his opinion, but Lewis Oldham writes that Jamie Carragher gives a “fact based opinion” about Villa’s world standing in football.

Today’s UEFA club rankings have Villa 11th and United 24th. Just in case you wanted to look at actual facts.
Danny Chapman

Some Liverpool v Arsenal facts

Few mails I want to respond to, but they’re from different days etc, so I’ll just hit the talking points.

Mourinho’s first Chelsea team, the one that scored tons or loads of goals – can’t quite remember how it was put. They scored 1 more goal than Arsenal last season and 10% of their goals were penalties.

Liverpool have had 35 penalties in the PL since the introduction of VAR. That’s 5 more than Arsenal and only bettered by Chelsea and City. If you’re getting them anyway, you don’t need VAR to give them.

Liverpool have had 12 players sent off in the PL since the introduction of VAR – That’s less than Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Wolves, Everton, Spurs and even Newcastle, who spent a year out of the league.

Stipulating a preferred winner is the opposite of pretending to be neutral.

Liverpool should have had a stonewall penalty and as long as we’re tribal about it and only say it when it’s our own club, it’ll never get better.
Doug, AFC, Belfast