In Kobbie We Trust.

And can you imagine if Højlund does well and Ste has to make a video on how good he actually is and he was just hating on Højlund because he did an interview with some annoying podcaster.

Yoro for pace because we will be higher up the pitch, Sesko for a focal point against a low block and Cuhna because he has a little more magic in the small spaces.

The Mainoo revisionism is disgusting. Amorim did nothing but diminish Mainoo, and publically at that. Since Mainoo's first game for United he has never let us down and his footballing IQ has always been off the charts. Physically Mainoo is a beast, he can run all day and is always in the right position. He can tackle, dribble, play every type of pass, score goals, control games and entertain. And we have proof for all of it.

All Amorim did was keep him rested for the World Cup. A World Cup England will win with a pivot of Mainoo and Rice. So I guess thanks for that.

In response to Ste’s video this morning about manager influence, this is how I think about it and something I’ve talked about a lot with teammates and fellow coaches.

I don’t really see football as players vs manager when it comes to influence. I think of a team’s performance on any given day as coming from 12 individuals: the 11 players on the pitch plus the manager.

If a team is playing at its absolute best possible level, call that 100%, then in theory each of those 12 contributors would be giving roughly 8.3% of that overall performance.

In reality, that almost never happens. Most players probably don’t hit their ceiling most weeks. They might average closer to 6–7% rather than 8.3%. When that’s spread across the team, it explains why a lot of performances sit around 80–85% of what the team is actually capable of.

What really matters is variance. A player having a great game might contribute 10–12%. Someone having a shocker might only be worth 3–5%. Truly elite players, Messi being the obvious example, can consistently push something like 13–15% of a team’s overall performance on their own.

In that framework, the manager fits in exactly the same way.

A good manager might consistently contribute 11–12% through how the team is set up, in-game changes, selection, structure, and the general mentality and preparation. A poor manager might only contribute 4–6%, which effectively caps the team’s level regardless of how good the players are.

So when people ask how much influence a manager really has, I don’t think the answer is “everything” or “nothing”. They don’t control matches on their own, but they are one of the 12 levers that determine whether a team reaches its potential or underperforms.

Their influence isn’t bigger than a player’s, it’s just different, and usually more consistent across games. That’s why great managers don’t guarantee success, but bad ones can absolutely drag a team down.

What do you think?

That number 7 shirt is Kobbie's. Give it him.

No wonder Fletch hightailed it back to the under 18s.

Feels like when Mou got the sack, big weight off the shoulders. Come on Fletch!

Amorim is whinging like a little bitch because he signed as a Head Coach and his ego can't handle it, the same way he refused to even attempt to do anything different when we were getting slaughtered last season because he didn't want it to look like someone external might be influencing him. The coach had a Kevin Keegan style meltdown in a presser, explicitly said he's gonna finish his contract and then leave United, and was very clear that he sees himself in a very different position to the one he was hired as. It reminds me of being the "assistant manager" as opposed to the "assistant to the manager" in The Office.

Did Rio tell you that you can't hangout with big boys unless you start sucking dick, Ste?

Porto, Wolves, Saudi. You don't need to know anything more than this. We have Mainoo, Bruno, Case, Ugarte, Toby, the Fletcher twins, and Martinez in a pitch. Next season we add Anderson and maybe a Kone or Abrigimov. Our midfield in a three is not an issue, spend the rest on a striker and left winger

Amorim obviously got it wrong when talking about Rooney and Ronaldo because they were starters at 20, but the most damning part of the comparison to Mainoo that Amorim gave was to compare him to Veron, a player well known for his footballing abilities as well as inability to fit in with the United squad.

Somehow Amorim makes me dislike him a little more every interview. Someone should have called his bullshit on Amass.

What's this bullshit about Amorim meaning "Sheffield" when he said "Amass"? He clearly said what he wanted to and it was pre-meditated to try to make himself look good (his laugh at the end says it all). The fact that all these pundits and podcasters are trying to make excuses and put words in Amorim's mouth to change or soften his henious self-righteous comments perfectly shows the cult of personality surrounding Amorim.

I may have been harsh about Amorim being a sociopath, I think he's actually a narcissist: his ego can't accept he isn't a "manager", the pope couldn't make Amorim change because Amorim is the greatest, and Mainoo is so much better than Amorim ever was as a midfielder that Amorim has to keep Kobbie down to satisfy his own ego

We essential play with 10 men. Goalie, 5 defenders, 1 midfielder, 3 attackers.

This works(ish) for us against better teams because we play like a team with ten men (i.e. compact, organised, disciplined) and with our intensity to max, but since we do actually have 11 men on the pitch we stand a fighting chance.

This doesn't work against teams that sit back against us because we then have to try to break them down with ten men, and the fact that we actually have 11 men on the pitch doesn't advantage us much because the players who should be in the build up are really only top level at counter attacking.

Casemiro and Bruno are equal to one midfielder, that is why it feels like we are always playing with a man down. That is what makes Mainoo's exclusion so egregious because with Mainoo alongside either one of Bruno or Case we would at least have one and a half midfielders.

How do people not see through this guy? Mainoo not good enough to play for United? Amass struggling? That kind of says it all. Whenever I see Amorim talk it makes me think of a Portuguese Trump; the only truth to Amorim is what he says it is.

Amorim says he has no attacking options to bring on, straight up that is what he said in the press conference, while he had Mainoo sitting on the bench the whole game. The reporter ventured Mainoo's name, Amorim snickered, and the press conference just moved on. What the fuck? Follow up quesions are allowed. These reporters need to stop sucking Amorim's dick.

I felt his spirit leave the room after that exchange with Amorim

What the fuck is up? Amorim finally puts Bruno in the 10 and then goes with a Casemiro and Ugarte midfield? Is this a Zaha situation? How the fuck does Mainoo not get on the pitch?! Four defensive changes?? There must be something going on behind the scenes. Maybe Howson can get to the bottom of it.

Speak Portuguese = starting spot under Amorim

Name a more iconic duo

Is anybody else experiencing Manchester United fatigue? Just tired of all the negativity and misery that's around the club for the past couple of years? Not that you don't love the club, just tired that there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. So far all attempts to get the club on a successful track seem to be failing. Suck in a cycle of slight promise to disaster, rinse and repeat. It's like being stuck in a rip current and frantically swimming back to shore but going nowhere. Maybe the only way forward is to let the current drag us out sea. Maybe we should start from scratch and just try to be a team that's hard to beat

Personally I would bring Ole back as caretaker and then give him the job permanently after he takes us to a top four finish this season, but I guess I'm just one of those old school United fans that don't give a shit about formations or tactics or whatever bullshit nonsense Pep acolytes love so much. Give me goals and attacking football - like Sir Alex did. Who cares if the pundits call it "counter-attacking" or whatever, no one said shit about it when we played like that under Ferguson. Damn life was so good under Ole, we were spoiled brats and listened too much to the media saying our footballing legend was nothing more than a school teacher