Will Amorim’s System Actually Work? + Inside Man United’s Next Generation | Midweek Debate
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Hello and welcome back to the Midweek Debate. This is the second edition of this podcast. This is obviously the Manchester is Red podcast, but we launched the Midweek Debate last week. Myself, Stephen Ralston and Tyrone Marshall. We had a few comments from listeners. Hopefully you enjoyed it. I don't think we had any negative comments did we Ty? So maybe people just kept the thoughts to themselves if they didn't enjoy it.

I saw a negative one actually mate I didn't share it with you because I know your confidence can be a little bit fragile your generation don't take criticism well so I didn't share it with you but there was a negative comment on X I'm afraid which is a hotbed of negativity All engagement is good engagement Ty All engagement is good engagement they accused us of having some of the worst takes ever aired on United I think so it was slightly negative but we'll try and work on that

Well, that sounds accurate to be fair to their tweet. I'll give them that. So if you didn't listen to the podcast last week, the kind of premises we're going to hone into a subject in the first part. And the second part is going to be a bit more relaxed. We're going to chat about a few things that we're up to that week, etc. So this week, me and Ty have decided to discuss Ruben Amrim's system because there's been a bit of talk about

um in the media and among some pundits and among some fans about our room system and whether is the system going to work is the formation right for the players and stuff like that so ty it's really interesting to actually talk about isn't it and we're going to debate it because that's what this podcast is

But the bottom line, is Amram's system going to work? Because at the moment, he's operating with square pegs and round holes. I keep using that phrase, but it's very true. And it is a very difficult task for him to get results using that formation with players that were assembled for an Eric Ten Hag system.

Yeah, it really is. And I mean, I guess it's not a great first answer for debate, but the actual answer is I don't know if it's going to work. I certainly wouldn't be saying, yes, it's a certainty. I mean, the reason we were tossing around a few ideas for what can be the subject this week, what can we kind of hone in on? And the reason I went for this is that watching the first half at Old Trafford against Leicester on Friday, which was one of the worst 45 minutes I think I've ever seen at Old Trafford.

It was the first time I was kind of looking at it thinking, is this because of the players or is this because of the system? And I know the system attracted a lot of attention because of the whole Patrick Dorgue right-sided, left-sided thing, which...

putting maybe, you know, maybe a bit of a red herring, but it does all contribute to it. And I was just watching it and it struck me because of a few things a few people had said last week and kind of partly around why Amarim was overlooked for certain for the Liverpool job in the summer. And it just, you know, I just started to wonder whether this system is

I don't think it's free-flowing, thrilling, exciting, attacking football. It's probably a lot about control. And kind of watching last week made me think, do you know what? There's obviously players in the system who don't fit. But watching that first half, I just thought, is this system, is this ever going to be front foot enough?

to really work here. And I know that... Well, not this season, it isn't. Not this season. We can keep harping on, but he's not got the players, does he? I guess the argument is, should he change system now for the next few months to get the required results to see them into the summer? I guess that's the big sticking point, isn't it? I think when you look at Eric Ten Hag's start of his tenure,

those terrible defeats that he started his reign with against obviously Brentford and Brighton. There were conversations about whether United were going to finish in the bottom half. Ten Hag then reverted to a more pragmatic approach and they went on a run, didn't they? Won four consecutive games, that brilliant win against Arsenal at Old Trafford. And I don't think United really ever recovered from that decision because from the get-go, Ten Hag decided, right, I'm going to compromise my values, change my system,

And then that consequently made it harder along the line to really shift to his ideal philosophy. So I've got quite a lot of admiration for Amram sticking by this system. Having said that, there's tweaks you can make within that system, isn't there? And you can change things.

Yeah, you can. And the thing with Tanaka is he did compromise a little bit after those two games. But he managed 120, 130 United games. I couldn't tell you what his philosophy was, to be honest. I don't know what he was trying to achieve. Whereas with Amon, at least you can look at it and you can say, well, that's how he plays. And yeah, we can debate, should he change it this season? I mean, like we said, it's pretty clear he's not going to. You could argue he could, but...

This is, he's, you know, it's interesting that he's never even changed it within a game. He plays this 3-4-2-1 90 minutes a week, no matter what the situation is. And part of that might be trying to drill it into the players. But, you know, when they're chasing a game, he never goes two up front. He never goes to a back four. It doesn't change from minute one to minute 90. For every minute of his time at United, he has played this system. And like I say, you can have some admiration for that.

But it's, you know, at times, and certainly I can see why that they are better away from home. And I can see why they're better against good teams. And, you know, I've got no real concerns this Sunday that they will, I think they'll play as well. You know, I think they'll play well this Sunday. I think the game will suit them.

Like the games at Arsenal suited, like the game at Liverpool suited them, like the game at City suited them. And I kind of go back to when Sporting thrashed City in that Champions League game, that 4-1, when he'd already got the United job. And I remember going to United the next day and someone said, it's basically, someone said that it wasn't them saying it, but I think one of their children had said it's basically like, it was like watching a Solskjaer team.

in that Sporting kind of sat back and took advantage of City and countered on City. And that is what Solskjaer used to do at United. And Solskjaer was great in those games against City and, you know, occasionally against Liverpool. And he'd have good results by playing a back three and hitting them on the break and playing that fast transition football. And that's kind of what Sporting did. And you're seeing it again with United, that when United under Amarim now play a good team, they look all right.

When they play and when they play away, they look a bit better. When they play at home and the onus is on them to dominate the game, take the game to the opposition, they look terrible, to be honest. And that's the difference with that sport inside, isn't it? That sport inside, when they play the lower teams under Amram, when they did play the lower teams, they could still win those games and they'd deliver stylish performances to put these sides away. And in the bigger games they might have had, the game might have looked slightly different, but they still would have done very well.

Did you see the report? I think it was from the Daily Mail from Chris Wheeler, our colleague, about players questioning the system. I thought that was worth bringing up because instantly fans kind of read that and are very, very unhappy and angry because it seems like, once again, player power festering, throwing another manager under the bus. But I'll counter that and say, is that just not completely normal for...

players to have these conversations if you've played football at any level you will be discussing amongst yourselves as players do you think the gaffer's doing the right thing do you think we could be doing this those conversations are normal especially at such a high level i'm not saying they should be pulling weight over the manager and kind of deciding his system i'm not saying that because that's the manager should have the final say and should have that power but those conversations are normal to have amongst players aren't they

Yeah, they are. Of course, players will be saying, do you think is this working? Do you think this is working? Especially when they're having the results they're having and especially they're having the results they're having at home when, you know, it's a slog against every team, to be quite honest. I mean, they were fortunate to beat Leicester, weren't they? And it was another really dull game. And that's kind of the concern that they just can't dominate these games. And the sporting thing is interesting because you're right to look at it. Like, you know, I looked at it and I looked at it on Friday and thought, I'm not sure this system is working.

attacking enough, proactive enough, it feels like, and a few people who know what they're talking say this is fundamentally a defensive system, a reactive system. And yes, Sporting didn't have any troubles against the lower teams in Portugal, but is that because the gap between the best team in Portugal and the 12th best team in Portugal is enough for individual quality to show through when it's maybe not the case in the Premier League? And of course, United would improve for having those players there

and having better players and players that understand the system. And it's a bit of a cliche, but everyone always says, oh, Old Trafford expects wingers. Well, that's gone. But it certainly expects attacking football. And at the moment, this system isn't anywhere near delivering attacking football. And that's what's got to change. And just to raise one point, the Gannaccio thing is interesting for me. And he is starting to make a real impact now.

but he's starting to make an impact when he comes on and almost plays as a winger. You know, we did really well in the second half on Friday night, but he was beating James Justin down the outside and he was playing on the left touchline a lot. And you wonder if,

you know it's almost when they go back to that idea and gonna actually goes back to playing wide and trying to take his man on the outside and stretch the game that they're looking better but is that entirely what what amarin wants or is that the tweak that we talk of that he is kind of happy for him to go back to playing as a winger because i'm i'm not 100 sure he will be and he obviously still not starting the last two games

he's come on at half time he's really influenced them but you wonder then there's that conversation about the natural when people say right is he better off the bench or is he starting but we had the same conversation 80 months ago this conversation about the natural has been happening the whole time since he's broken through so it might not necessarily be the position it might just be the player himself because we see these ups and downs with him don't we where sometimes you look fantastic off the bench and perhaps not have the same effect from the start

I mean, he didn't help himself with Patrick Dogu, did he? Let's just make that point. I think you'll agree with that. Agreeing again on the debate podcast. Because when you sang a player, and he was right in that press conference when he said Dogu has played a lot of football on the right. He has. That's a fact for Lecce.

But Dalot has been struggling this season. He's been screaming out to be relocated back to his most comfortable side, hasn't he? Really. And you watch him and he just needs help in hand. Someone from the club in November said he's feeling the effects of a long campaign from last year and he's a bit fatigued. He's needed some help. United finally signed a player who can start a left wing back and he starts a right wing back. It's unbelievable that, wasn't it? I thought it was unbelievable anyways. I know I'm trying to defend it, but you'd be shocked if you persist with that on Sunday against Tottenham.

I wouldn't, to be honest. But from what he said, I wouldn't anyway. But yeah, it was, I mean, the reaction on social media was incredible, really, seeing how it went down. And when we saw Dorgi go to the right side of the pitch, I think we were all like, OK, what's going on here? And, you know, he is right to say, you know, I mean, I did like his kind of looking up on Wisecout comments in his press conference defending the decision. And the way he explained it, I can kind of see. But again, the problem for me in the first half was

was there wasn't a single player playing on their natural side there. You had two left-footers, Dorgu and Ahmad, playing on the right, wanting to come inside. Mane was kind of the left-sided number 10. Dalla was the left wing-back. Both of them want to come inside. This is what I mean about it being slow football, in that everything was coming in field. Everything was being condensed.

Leicester could defend the meal, the meal? Leicester could defend the middle. And it was important where that came from, I'm getting hungry. Leicester could defend the middle and it was easy to defend against because all 10 outfield United players were often in the middle 30 yards of the pitch, maybe. You know, it felt like it was easy to defend against. And you need, I feel like you kind of need at least one of those wingbacks to play on their natural side and offer support.

and offers some width and the reason things improved second half is that ganacho offered that width i know he's a left he's a right-footed wing of plane on the left but it felt like he played a lot further to the wing than mainu had played in that position for example and it felt like that kind of stretched the game that stretched the play and it helped united improve and ganacho was at the heart of kind of everything united created

I think it was Oliver Glasner who said after the 2-0 win at Old Trafford that you know what United are going to do. Has the system become too predictable already? But then on the flip side, we are scrutinising the system and getting into it, but I still believe that it's kind of redundant because it doesn't have the players. If you've got top players who are signed for the system, then you can really see the best of it.

but then he goes and signs Dogu who is the only player in that dress room signed for that formation and he pays him on the opposite side it's just it's just so frustrating at the moment watch and we're trying to figure out right how does the start getting more results what is the right and wrong he'll be thinking the same and I do admire how he is sticking by it though because you asked you setting out your stall there and sticking by your principles no matter what yeah you are and I do admire it but

like you say it is concerning that you hear managers do you think he's being too stubborn then do you think so we're talking about potential changes you could make do you think you should change the formation or so my I think there should be tweaks within that formation so for example dog who on one side it's not helped that there's not been a settled midfield parent that's not helped he's chopped and changed with the number tens a lot not having a settled team I think has disrupted and prevented them from getting a few better results yeah

I don't know. It's hard one to answer, do I think he's being too stubborn? In a way, I'm with you that I admire the fact that he is being like this. My bigger concern is not, is this going to work this season? Like we say, I can understand why it's not working particularly well this season. My bigger concern is, is it going to work next season? Is it going to work the season after that? Long term, is this going to work? Is this formation going to be attacking enough with the players available to United to

to make them the team that they need to become and that's you know that's that's my concern is this just going to deliver exciting football or is it going to deliver football that kind of doesn't doesn't deliver a what United fans expect and what United need really to get back to get back to that level because it is the win backs are so important for that aren't they because we saw with Chelsea for example when they played that formation I mean in that system I would argue the win backs are probably

two of the most important positions on the pitch because if you have really top high quality wing backs they can it's energy intensity quality in the final third also defensive cover they are so important and at the moment you've got well you had Dallow and Masrari in those positions and that just wasn't working yeah you're right the wing backs are probably key and I mean it was interesting that in his answers about Dorgo on Friday night Amarin called them wingers rather than wing backs and

which is essentially what they kind of need to become. And, you know, maybe that will make the difference. Maybe when there's another one in this summer, maybe if they sign, is it Giovanni Quenda, I think, the lad from Sporting? I mean, I'm still not convinced about him though, Ty. He's 17 years old, isn't he? He's 17 years old and he's another left footer. It kind of makes you think that maybe they're going to play one, they're going to play two left-footed wingbacks, perhaps, one on the natural side and one cutting in, which at least would offer some width.

but maybe when they've got two that can play high up the pitch, they do become this kind of attacking dominant team that you expect to see. And you're right that they are essential positions, but there needs to be, you know, there's still good players in that team now. And I think the midfield should be working better than it is. You know, Ahmad had a trickier game on Friday night, but I think even as a number 10 or a right wing back,

He's a good player, but it just felt on Friday like they were kind of being inhibited by the system rather than the system bringing the most out of them. And it goes back to, you know, we discussed this week, we had to discuss the strikers and we said, you know, we'd maybe leave it for a bit because we kind of touched on it last week. But I watched Hoyland on Friday night and I just felt sorry for him, to be honest. And like he was absolutely pulling his hair out and he

i do wonder if part of this strikers debate the thing we're not looking at is the fact that this is just a team not set up to serve these strikes yeah i keep saying that i mean you've got to give them you've got to criticize them because the bottom line is they've not been doing well though that is completely true i mean they're not taking enough shots or highlands record some of the few shots shots of all the strikers in the premier league this season he's just not shooting enough and if you can't you're not going to buy a ticket you're not going to win the raffle but i haven't said that that's obvious isn't it

like they're not creating enough chances as a team and you do feel a bit sorry for them during games and the Highlands just be turned into this battering ram when he's just challenging with players and that's his job it's a thankless task

Yeah, it really is. And you're right about the shots, but why is he not shooting enough? Is he not shooting enough because he's turning down shooting opportunities or is he just not being served the chances? I mean, he's not scored in 14 games, but he's had 11 shots in those 14 games. I mean, that's nothing for a striker, really. And he's just not being served chances. And you could see his frustration was just bubbling over on Friday. And we watched it thinking it doesn't look a lot of fun to play up front in this team, to be honest.

well you should be a crossing team theoretically in my mind if you're playing three four three you should do you should make a lot of crosses in a game your wing back should be bombing up and making those those balls into the box united don't really do those and you think they'd be perfect if a number 10 is arriving late in the box with highlands in the box surely that's a that would be a huge part of creating more chances

Yeah, but they're not a crossing team because the wing-backs or the wingers, whatever you want to call them, aren't playing on their natural sides. No one is playing in their natural side in that team. And the only player who showed any intention really to beat a man on the outside was Garnaccio when he came on.

He created the chance for Hoyland, which led to the goal. He should have passed to Hoyland when he took that shot on from a tight angle. And, you know, that was when, I mean, Hoyland had already been frustrated. At that point, I thought he was going to rip the net out of the goal, to be honest. He got that angry. And I think it was soon after that that he started having, and no one else really saw it, but he started having this pretty strong, it's hard to tell sometimes what the conversation is, but it looked a very animated debate with Amarim. And it ended with Hoyland basically pushing both palms to the ground, almost as if he was telling Amarim to calm down. Yeah.

And, yeah, I don't know, you just look at it and you think there's frustration there. And the question is, like, say, how are they creating chances for a striker? What's the idea here to create a chance for a striker? And it's not immediately obvious. And you only have to look at the shooting stats.

to realise that it's not happening. And I don't think, you know, Hoyland needs to be better. There's no doubt about that. But I think the reason he's not getting many shots in a game is he's not getting many chances in a game. And like we say, these aerial balls to him, it's just, it's too much. And I did a piece on Saturday that

Basically, Martinez after Fulham and Amarim on Friday basically said the same thing, that yes, the strikers need to improve, but we are not helping our strikers. And clearly that's a system thing. And maybe the next season that changes a lot. But at the moment, like I say, I just come back to it, that just does not look a lot of fun to play up front. Yeah, well, there's supposed to be passing routines, isn't there? And little triangles popping up and patterns of play that you're supposed to see. And I think we're seeing more of them towards the back of the pitch instead of the front line, I think.

And that's why they are really struggling to create chances. We noted on the podcast note sheet, Amram versus Ange Postakoglu. Are they modern managers wedded to one idea? I mean, I think Postakoglu is a bit more extreme. I'd like to think that if Amram was in charge of that Chelsea side, do you remember when they played Chelsea? I think it was in the Premier League, actually. And Tottenham had two men sent off and Postakoglu still insisted.

on Tottenham playing on the halfway line. It was the most insane game of football I've ever watched. It generally was remarkable, wasn't it, watching that? I couldn't believe what I was watching. For that to happen in the Premier League, where a manager's just gone, stick by it. And Chelsea actually took a little bit of time to score, didn't they? I think it was around 15 minutes. Spurs managed to defend for a while. But if that happened to United, I think Amram would change in-game. And we've both spoke to people who worked with Amram before he was appointed. And I was told his in-game management and the substitutions

are one of his big, big strengths. I think his substitutions have been good and he has changed games. You think back to the game against Victoria Pilsen, his changes were proactive. Mason Mount made a huge difference coming off from the bench, but tactically probably could do more, couldn't he? And be a bit more reactive in games. Yeah. And, you know, it comes back to this thing that they play the same system every minute of every game. And I mean, I don't know enough about sporting to know whether they ever changed it in game and whether he's just doing this now to...

to kind of teach the team how it should be working. But yeah, I don't know. I just think it's not, I think there are similarities between Amarillo and Posto Coglu and more of them, more of those kind of ilk of managers. It's almost like you need to, managers these days get, or the best managers or the ones that get the job. It's almost like every club wants a manager to have a philosophy and those managers with a philosophy and a very clear philosophy are the ones that are considered for jobs. And, you know, I look at,

I think Thomas Frank is a manager who's probably not got a real identifiable philosophy and can change it based on who his team are playing. He can play a back four, he can play a back three. He's very adaptable. He doesn't seem to get near any bigger jobs because he's not got this clear philosophy. Vincent Kompany took Burnley down, but because he's got a philosophy of playing out for the back, he got the Bayern Munich job. But I mean, they're top of the Bundesliga this season. Yeah.

Yeah, but I mean, I could get a boy in job if he was top of the bundles, Steve. Right, let's not get carried away. Do you think it's become fashionable then to have kind of that identity? If you're just, it's almost putting yourself before a club though, isn't it? When company, if company had changed its tactics and it'd be more pragmatic, Burnley would have had a better chance of staying up. But he's made himself look better by sticking by it and he's landed a Bayern Munich job. Yeah, exactly. And I think there's, I think there is,

a fair bit of that going on that a lot of managers now know that if they've got a clear philosophy and a good branding, so to speak, you'll get a better job. And I mean, maybe it's going to backfire with Poster Coghlu because he seems to be being ridiculed now, but you are seeing, I think more and more managers from this school are,

And Amarim was undoubtedly part of it. Look at what he said time and time again this year. I only have one idea. This is my only idea. This is very clearly his philosophy. There's no getting away from that. It's probably system-based more than Postacoglu's philosophy is kind of style-based. But they both have, they're both utterly convinced of their kind of one idea, whether it's what system we play or whether it's how we play. And I think more and more managers are kind of doing that thing. In a way, I think that's why

That's why Ten Hag partly failed, because no one could really say, even after all those games in charge, what his idea or his philosophy was. And all that money spent. And all that money spent. And we didn't really see an idea of what he wanted his team to do, where, at least with Ameren, we're seeing an idea of what his team to do. And we're debating if it's going to work or not. But at least we can see it and the supporters can see it. And, you know, fans listening to this, some will be totally convinced that it's going to work. And that's absolutely fine. Others might be thinking, I'm not entirely sure, but at least we know what he's trying to do.

Well, we're gonna know more.

such a Michael Owen thing to say but we're gonna know more around eight months time aren't we because I remember when the storm would come it has come it's been a terrible storm and the results have just continued to be bad but you I don't feel you can really judge him truly until he has a summer transfer window under his belt and he goes into next season and then in September October we'll be having these conversations again looking back on this podcast and it will be fascinating because it might still not work but he will have the players then there'll be no excuses for it not to work

but he's just operating with it and the thing is about ten hog squad the squad he inherited you can say it's now squad but because of the profile of the players i mean it's almost you can look at that team and look like it's been assembled by multiple managers when predominantly it's been assembled by ten hog that's how bad recruitment was i think yeah um anything else to to us tie in that pot um no no i think we debated that pretty well don't we but it is you know what was the meal line

What was the meal line? It was easy for Leicester to defend a meal. Yeah, easy to defend a meal. They're not their arms about it. You're like, you're coming nowhere, nowhere near this meal. This is our meal. What the Tories did a few years ago. No free meals. Back off, back off. Right, we'll leave it there for part one. We'll be back in a moment for part two. We'll be back in a moment for part two.

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Welcome back to the Manchester is red midweek debate. I've slightly taken over hosting duties now with the recording this on a Wednesday afternoon and Stephen is going to leave. I was going to say leave us pretty soon. We're both going to leave you. Otherwise, you just leave me on my own, but he's going to leave pretty soon to go to Lee Sports Village. It is FA Youth Cup action. It's the fifth round tonight. I should know this. Yeah, the fruits of the quarters of the win tonight. Yeah, so I do know it. I should have more faith, more faith in my own ability. And

Yeah, fifth round action. So, I mean, there's little point talking about the game, given most people are going to be listening to this after the game is finished. But tell us a little bit about Lee Sports Village, though, Stephen. I know you've been quite a few times. What do you want to know, Ty? No, to be fair, I've only been, I think I've only been maybe twice to watch United there. Obviously, you do a lot of the youth stuff. Rich used to do it before us. I think you're going with Samuel tonight. Yeah.

for the fifth round game. I mean, I only live about 10 minutes away, but still trying to avoid it where possible because it's absolutely freezing. I happened to watch Lee Centurions in the Super League there a few times and enjoy beer on the terraces watching live. Was it a decent atmosphere when you went?

It was actually, yeah. And it was, I mean, the game I always remember going to was Lee against Wigan in the Super League in 2017. And it was the night before, it was a Thursday night and it was on telly. And it was the night before my stag do. And we were going to Hamburg on my stag do. And a few lads who I went to uni with had come up and stayed over because we were going early the next morning. So I said, oh, we'll go to...

We'll go to Lee Sports Village. It's Lee versus Wigan. And it's a local derby, that Battle of the Borough. Lee's in Wigan Borough Council. So it's a big local derby. They're actually playing tomorrow night in the first game of the Super League. But yeah,

we went and it was an unbelievable game i mean they get decent crowds i think it's pushing a sellout eight thousand plus maybe pushing towards ten thousand but the terrace behind the goal was full and lee won 50 32 i think which is a mad score for a game i'm not a rugby league man i prefer union but that is a game it was fantastic and obviously because it was my spaghty we were having a good few drinks on the terrace and it was it was a lot of fun to be honest and yeah the atmosphere you know i don't i don't did you catch your fight though tied next day

We did make the flight, yes. We had a good time. And what goes on in Hamburg stays in Hamburg. Stays in Hamburg. Did Hamburg have the concretey walls by any chance, did it? As well. The concretey walls?

come on reference the last week's podcast if you've listened to last week's podcast you'll get the reference um lee yeah to be fair i mean i joined the men in 2021 so um you're right rich used to do a lot of the youth games rich fay who i presume a few people listen to this podcast will recognize his name i kind of picked up that button when rich left which meant lots of trips to lee sports village i was told when i first joined there was no public transport i'm pretty sure but

But I think Nathan Salt, who's at the mail, he gets the bus in now. And I've given him a lift home the last few times we've been there since I'm very kind. But yeah, it is a pain in the backside to get to. That's one of the things when United are talking about stadium redevelopment. Ideally, you'd have, just like Manchester City do,

purpose-built stadium for the academy to play at, for the under-21s, the under-18s to play the matches at. And it would be great to see because they deserve better than to be playing at Leigh Sports Village. They played a lot of games at Old Trafford when they last won the Youth Cup in 21-22 at Old Trafford. And I think that both Chelsea and United who are playing tonight, obviously the result will be out by the time you listen to this probably, they were in talks to...

arrange the fixture for a certain date and I don't think it could get agreed anyways which is why it's at Leigh and I have a feeling that

the semi-finals might be at Leeds as well if they progress past Arsenal. If that's true, I'm not sure. I'll have to check in on that. But if that's true, that'll be a great shame. Because I did think that when I was at the Preston game. I mean, it's such an occasion, the Youth Cup. It's a really prestigious competition and these young players deserve better than playing at Leeds. It's a bit naff. And there should be a better crowd there tonight, but I think only a couple of hundred fans there and obviously quite a lot of kids. It's a youthful crowd for the Youth Cup.

But yeah, it should be at Old Trafford, really. They brushed aside Coventry City in the first game. It was very easy. They played Preston a few weeks ago when I was there. 5-2 in the end. Chido Obi-Martin got two. I'm sure you'll know Chido Obi-Martin's name, Ty. Of course, of course. Who doesn't? It's funny, isn't it? We talk about young players on the podcast, and I think I said last week, a lot of people listening won't know these kids' names, but I'm pretty sure they'll know Chido Obi-Martin. Could you tell me who Chido Obi-Martin signed from, Ty?

Arsenal, come on. Come on, Steve. That was disrespectful. Too easy, too easy. There's been a lot of chat about him, obviously. He's still raw. I've watched him quite a few times now. He's not the finished article. I think Samuel asked Amram about him, didn't he, in one of the press conferences? He did, yeah. Maybe a week and a half ago. I think it was Samuel's question.

So look, he's still got a long way to go. Whether or not he's involved in the first team from now until the end of the season remains to be seen. But with Highland and Xerxes struggling a bit, there is obviously an opportunity there. He's got the frame, he's got the kind of physical attributes for it, but he still needs to kind of fill out and mature more.

And there's still aspects of his game that he needs to work on. I think his first touch, his positioning, his finishing is very good. He's naturally a very good finisher. And he scored two goals against Preston. But I have laughed when I've seen, get him in the first team, get him in the first team, toots like that, because he still is only 17 years old. And he celebrated his 17th birthday a few weeks ago. I think it was in December, actually. What were you doing when you were 17, 18, Ty? My 17th, I seem to remember, I went to watch Shrewsbury away at Blackpool.

And we, I was playing for the away supporters at the time. So we played Blackpool away supporters at half 10. And then I just got changed afterwards and got thrown in the showers. So I had to go around Blackpool on the 4th of November with soaking wet clothes, uh,

and then i got had a few drinks in blackpool got back and then went to the nightclub in shrewsbury with my dad my dad and his mates the nightclub nightclub in shrewsbury uh i think i even got into there was a section for 18 year olds and a section for 21 and i was neither obviously because i was with my dad and his mates pretty sure i even got into um it's called park lane and liberties and i'm pretty sure i got in liberties for the uh

the over 21s nightclub when i was 17 because it was my dad and his mate so a great a great day as you can tell by the recall from my my 17th birthday well i seem to remember as you know it was about 10 or 11 years ago i was about to say that 30 years ago not that yeah that's a good from my 18th i remember two of my friends almost had a fight in my friend garden so we'll uh we'll move on from that um in terms of other classes i don't know it was just your birthday

In terms of up there, I'll touch on Harry Amas a bit as well because it's probably worth mentioning him. He's a name that, again, you should probably know. Tudor Woldenmartin and Harry Amas are pretty prominent names. Amas featured heavily in pre-season, of course, made a very good impression in America. He was involved in quite a few first-team squads last season in the Premier League. And considering Malasia and Luke Shaw weren't available at the start of this season, I think we all thought,

Amas would probably get a kick, didn't we, Ty? But it wasn't to be. It was quite strange, wasn't it? Yeah. So, I mean, we were obviously the Community Shield game. He travelled down to the game. He wasn't in the squad. But after that, I mean, he seemed to shoe in, really. He didn't need to make his debut. Yeah, he really did. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it has been, given those issues at left-back, it's amazing that he's still not played a minute, really, isn't it?

I mean, I think physicality is the reason for that. He's not the biggest left back, but he makes up for that with his aggression, I think. When it became clear that he wasn't getting a kick, basically, under Tanag, the club started to prepare him physically and he put on a lot of muscle to go out in the January window. And when I watched him just before Christmas, it was noticeable, to be fair. You could see he has physically matured and bulked up.

but i was told at the start of the window by a contact that it had to be right and i know it sounds like an obvious thing to say but you look at dan gore for example who went out he was going to go out regardless he's two years older in school years than harry amas so he was going to get out the door and harry amas is still only 17 he turns 18 in a few weeks i think it's the start of march so there wasn't a particular they weren't going to force it basically it had to be because you see so many times when young players go out on loan um

And they can't exactly go out and get boozy in a town centre kind of tie that deliver a more disciplined life. And it can be hard to settle. And the loan has to be right. You have to get the minutes with the right manager who's looking after the player. So basically, it turned out that Amas didn't get a loan move. But that does mean he will be involved in this Youth Cup campaign. And that is a huge opportunity because there's been some really good players who have won the Youth Cup for United at the time. And you think back, was it 2010 or 2011? It was Pogba and Ravel Morrison. I think it was 2010. That was a really good team.

Yeah, it definitely was. I mean, talking of Dango, do you think United are regretting sending him out to be looked after by Steve Evans? That was absolutely bizarre. And now he's got fractured foot. He's backtracked on it now, yeah. Well, he got backtracked on it. The guy's got a fractured foot. Oh, man. He's just an idiot, that bloke, isn't he? Yeah. He loves a pizza and a kebab, I think, Steve Evans. Maybe he lost his head too much grease that day when he made those comments about Dango. Because he tried to imply that...

Gore's attitude was wrong and that he was missing that squad because he didn't fancy it. That was the implication. He basically said he cried off, didn't he? He said he trained absolutely fine on Friday and then texted the physio saying he's hurt his foot and he can't play. And Evans was saying it was disappointing and

essentially was throwing him under the bus saying his and those are the type of comments that stick to a young player I know he's got like he's got fractured foot he's out for weeks it seems especially for someone who's had so much bad luck with injuries I just thought it was really it was but yeah I think United will be raging with that I really think they'll be upset with that um and especially when you speak to people who know them on the

the players journey so I've spoken to a few coaches who have coached them along the way and you get a feeling for a player don't you when you speak to people and I was shocked when I saw that but obviously you're trying to see what the situation is and obviously Evans has come out and backtracked today but really well from him wasn't it to say that about a young player yeah it was and I mean that was the game on Saturday when Shrewsbury beat Rotherham 2-1 fantastic result that one was for you Dan not a problem at all anytime you need us we can help you out yeah well see you Dan go

Get well soon, Dan Gore. And come on, Salah. Come on, Gareth Ainsworth. You can stay up. I know we can do it.

And yeah, talking of Lee there, you mentioned public transport in Lee. I believe, it might be a bit of a local myth, but I'm pretty sure it's the largest town in the UK not to have a train station. So you're right that it's not exactly ideal for attracting crowds to these games. And it is the coldest place on the whole planet, by the way. It's the way the wind goes in. When you attend, obviously, a first team match at Old Trafford, because it's Shelton, because there's a stand, you're protected.

I mean, I'll hold my hands up tight. I wear cotton leggings under my jeans when I go to the league. I didn't want to admit it, but here you go. You've got a confession. And even then, at the end of the game, when you go down to talk to the manager... You're a topless, I presume, before that time. Yeah, I'm a plastic Geordie. Your legs are still cold. It's such a cold place. I usually bring a flask for a coffee at halftime, but it's brutal.

Yeah, it really is. It really is a cold place. And that's why when you go watching the rugby, at least you can have a couple of pints watching it. And also it's mostly a summer sport. So you never know. It's about 10 degrees in the summer in Leith. Me and Samuel might have a few pints off then. We'll see if we have a few. We might go off and warrant it after. Send us a selfie. Get them pictures on Twitter and Instagram. Look forward to seeing them.

One place that does have a train station is London. United away at Tottenham. What a segue. I mean, you can't teach that. That was fantastic. You're a pro. You cannot teach that sort of stuff. United away at Tottenham this weekend. Myself and Samuel will be making the journey again. It's going to be the third, no, it's going to be the second time I go to Tottenham this season, but I'm actually going with City as well in a few weeks. So it's going to be the third time this season that I'm going there in Tottenham.

With Avanti West Coast on strike again, I believe, on Sunday, it's a train from Leeds for us, so a drive over the M62 and train to Leeds. And what is still, I think, probably the best club stadium in the UK and one that United should be having a good look at when it comes to redevelopment or rebuilding Old Trafford. I mean, we've all seen it. It's fantastic, isn't it? The one bad thing is the season ticket prices. They've got the most expensive season ticket prices in the Premier League. And I imagine if Old Trafford is rebuilt...

So Jim Ratcliffe will pass the book on to support us and we'll have to cover that and there'll be no doubt be backlash if that does happen. What I'm interested in though, Ty, I mean, I've not been to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium yet. I have been to White Hart Lane a few years ago before it was knocked down, but we've all seen the clips and what the fan experience looks like example. But do you want to walk through the press box?

because i've saw the the pint in the concourse when they kind of put the plastic glass in the press box sadly not no sadly not maybe maybe from my copy sometimes you'd think it is but no uh unfortunately it's a dry press box but yeah it's i mean it's a it's a decent press box it's it's further to one side than than many so it's not right on the halfway line it's kind of opposite the away end which

which is often good for colouring and hearing what the away end are singing. And the press room is unbelievable, to be honest. It's the best press room. The food's decent, but the size of the press room is absolutely massive. It must be 10 times the size of Old Trafford's press room. I mean, the TV on the wall is bigger than Old Trafford's press room. It is absolutely incredible. The facilities are brilliant.

It's a nice one to do because of the quality of that stadium. The one-team stand behind the goal is amazing. It can make for a great atmosphere. But there's not a lot wrong with that stadium. There's just a couple of issues, which is the ticket prices and the team that plays in it, really, who have been pretty garbage this season. I mean, Osama below United. If you talk about United having a terrible season, Tottenham are below them and have exited both cups pretty meekly recently. So,

The Carabao Cup game now before Christmas was a lot of fun.

I think United will do even better. I can see United winning on Sunday. I don't know about yourself, but I just think it's the type of game that will probably suit them, to be honest. Well, I had a feeling they were going to sack Posta Coglu and then the dreaded manager bounce was going to come in, but it seems he's surviving for the weekend anyways. I don't think they're ever going to sack him. No, I know. It's incredible. You've just got to stick with him, mate. In terms of how we're going to... I want you to rank press boxes, actually, because I think...

I really enjoyed Brentford. That kind of went under the radar. It's a very small press room, but you've got space. I love having a bit of shoulder room. Like Old Trafford, it's quite tight next to the director's box, obviously, and you're quite hemmed in. We obviously are slot, the Manchester City of the News is next to the Guardian, isn't it? So if they have two people, it is very tight on that row. And what else? I think Chelsea was relatively decent. The press box itself in the stadium's pretty basic, but the food is just absolutely gorgeous. Yeah, I mean, dessert, starter, main, it was superb. Thank you.

The press box there is great as well because it's right behind the dugouts. So you do pick up some pretty decent colour from Chelsea. You can sit next to Mario Melcott. You can, yeah, yeah. And some of the modern generation won't even know who that is, Stephen. You'd have to explain to them who that is. Of course, I mean, I wasn't at this game, but yeah, Stephen famously in MEN circles had a good chat with Mario Melcott before Chelsea. I mean, the Bournemouth story is better than that, isn't it? Who was that? LAUGHTER

The Bournemouth story last in April, it's almost a year now, it's almost the 12th month anniversary. People might have heard it at the time, but it's probably worth down again. We've gone off subject here, I was getting you to rank your press boxes. But after the Bournemouth game, there was an old hack who had been down on their patch for a while on the south coast.

and I was speaking to Diego Dallo in the mix zone, and I think it was a 2-3 draw, wasn't it? And it had been really bad, the performance, so it wasn't the most positive kind of end to the game, especially in the context of the results in that season, how things were developing. Anyways, so I was speaking to Dallo, and this guy was angry because he didn't get to speak to Dallo, and he decided to take out on me, and he pushes, this guy was around 70 years old, and he's pushing us and swearing at us. I mean, I've never encountered anything like that. Have you ever seen anything like that in your career?

uh not that I can recall no no it was Samuel came with the nickname Captain Birds there which was brilliant so um I've been looking forward to bumping him we did we did uh kind of squash it I went local shake hands after that we had a few words but um we left his best friends I think and come on then I mean I would say the the one that you've got I think you're doing Everton next weekend aren't you yeah I'm doing City versus Liverpool that weekend so you've got

I mean, in a way, it's a shame I'm not doing that because it would be the last time the Manchester team play at Goodison. But I don't think you've done a game there, have you, previously? I mean, that is going to be...

and experience. It's a shame to lose such an iconic stadium. And I mean, people listening now will be thinking we are prima donnas, which would be very accurate, to be fair. But what you do want in a press box is a little bit of room. And there is none of that at Goodison. We'll always be in the middle of a row as well. And if you are claustrophobic, then

it is not a nice experience. Once you're in the middle of that row, you're done for basically. You cannot get in and you cannot get out. You might have to be winched out of your seat, to be honest, at full time. It is very tight. So yeah, the one thing I'll be looking forward to next season, now it looks like they're staying up, is a slightly bigger press box at their new stadium because that is probably the worst one. The

The view's okay, but it's just so tight in there that it's not a pleasant working experience. So I think that's probably the worst one for me in the league. What's the other worst than that? What's the second? Because obviously I knew about Goodison Park, but when I try to think about it, there's not any that kind of come into my mind myself.

No, I mean, Brighton's is really good, but it's not the biggest. So you sometimes get, I've been in the overflow a couple of times, including when City won title there in 2019. And the overflow is the back row of the top tier. And you're so far back that it's not the best view. So as long as you're not in the overflow, that's all right. I mean, the other one that springs to mind is West Ham, which I mean, I don't think it's a good view anywhere in that stadium, but the press box is kind of in one of the corners of

rather than in the middle. And you're just so far back from the pitch and so far back from the other goal that it's impossible to really see what's going on. But I did have an enjoyable experience there, at least, before I got this job, actually, when Burnley beat them 3-0, when West Ham were falling apart. And it was when there was a couple of pitch invasions and one of the fans planted the corner flag in the centre circle. I don't know if you remember all this going on. It was absolutely amazing. Was this in 1985? Yes.

Mark Noble. 1995? Oh, Mark Noble, okay. Well, it was well, it must have been, it was just before I'd left. It must have been like 2017, 2018 maybe. But there was, there was a lot of anger that day. And yeah, someone planted, someone picked the corner flag up and ran on the pitch and planted it in the centre circle. Mark Noble had a scrap in one of the fans, I think. And then all the fans essentially just gathered in front of the director's box to hurl abuse at Sullivan and Gold. It was quite,

quite the experience to be honest did you ever make it to Upton Park no I didn't no I never did that I was one of the stadiums that yeah I would have quite liked to have yeah it was a proper stadium yeah it was it was probably in the Goodison category that's proper you can see why they're moving but proper old school stadiums there's not many of them left now should we leave it there then Ty why not yeah

I think we deserve to, well, I say deserve a pint, but I'm off to Leeds Sports Village, aren't I? Someone's got to do it, mate. And hopefully United for the next round. And that someone is you. For the next round, exactly. Do you know what? I might try and get down to Arsenal if they're progressing the quarters. We'll see. Right, thanks for listening as usual. Leave us a comment, a like, and tweet us if you found this episode enjoyable. If you didn't find it enjoyable, also tweet us because as Ty said, it is interesting to see some feedback. Have a great week and take care.

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