Manchester football latest: United’s best moments of 2024 and can City turn things around?

National World - LocalTV

A roundup of the latest news from across Manchester United and Manchester City.

Transcript

00:00So, Rich, looking at Manchester United and obviously Ruben Amorim, since he came in,

00:05a lot of big changes to sort of navigate his way through. He's obviously come out and said

00:10the Manchester United job was a bit harder, a bit more than he may have expected as well.

00:15So a bit of a strange time for him to come in and, you know, have all these changes to

00:20adjust to. You know, obviously quite a respected manager across Europe as well when he came

00:25in. But we are also seeing the same sort of situation as Eric Ten Haag when he came into

00:30the side. He was quite cutthroat. He was quite demanding of his players. And I think United

00:34fans needed that at that time, certainly when Ten Haag first came in. But what do you sort

00:40of think have been the biggest changes under Amorim and sort of where he's looking to take

00:46Manchester United this season?

00:48I think you made a good point there that it's sort of a fact-finding mission these first

00:52few months for Amorim in charge. He's got to analyse and sort of look behind the magician's

00:57cloth as to why things aren't working, because fundamentally it was the players that got

01:02Ten Haag sacked because the performances on the pitch just weren't good enough. And you

01:06might point towards his transfers or to the tactics. They certainly were a factor. But,

01:10you know, you look at that West Ham game, his last game in charge, there was some horrible

01:13misses, Dalot miss of the season, players just making basic, basic errors. And Amorim's

01:19learning all about that. He did say, I've come from a big club in sporting, but he's

01:24realising just how much of an issue there is at Manchester United. He's had the sporting

01:29director leave in Ruben Amorim. But I feel like he has continued that sort of toughness

01:34that Ten Haag brought to the role himself. Whatever Ten Haag's legacy is, he brought

01:39back sort of authority and respect towards the managerial position at Old Trafford. It

01:43was a move towards ending all player power. And we've seen that again under Ruben Amorim,

01:48Rashford and Garnaccio both dropped for the Derby. He insisted that was simply down to

01:53the fact that their training performances weren't good enough, not that there was any

01:56disciplinary issue. Whatever the actual answer is among that, it is such a huge call for

02:02a Manchester United manager to drop two academy products, two of the best players United have

02:08produced in the last decade for such a big game and a game where local talent takes centre

02:14stage. It's paid off. It's been vindicated. In terms of what he's actually changed, you'd

02:19have to say that he's brought back that maybe that ruthlessness that was missing towards

02:23the final months of the Ten Haag era. Obviously, the formation change has been big. We're looking

02:28to see that and see how that is fully implemented in the months ahead. But so far, the signs

02:33are good. He talks the talk. We're starting to see if he walks the walk on that. I think

02:37for me, the biggest and most positive change so far under Amorim is we can see what he's

02:43tried to do. Ten Haag, he's in his third season when he was sacked, and it was still

02:49so difficult to judge what his tactical approach was. What was it you wanted the team to do

02:53on the pitch? Under Amorim, it is clear already. United fans can turn up to every single match

02:59and see exactly what he is at least trying to do.

03:03So Rich, looking at Manchester United and obviously the January window approaching now,

03:08it's sort of become a window that the top flight navigate quite carefully in. The PSR

03:14and FFP rules do tend to hurt a few clubs now, and they are sort of treading on thin

03:19ice when it comes to January. It's a bit of a strange month because you look at the likes

03:26of Liverpool, they're going to need maybe someone to help boost them towards that title.

03:31Manchester United are in a bit more of a stranger position. They want to really just secure

03:37going for those European places. So how do you sort of look at January for Man United?

03:42It's a bit of a strange window, only a month to get some deals in or out. Who sort of stands

03:48out for United in this window?

03:51So we do know that United are looking long term at least getting a new left wing back.

03:57They want to get some new midfielders and a new striker. They'll also need a centre

04:02back next summer. That won't be sort of addressed for now because Lindelof and Evans both

04:06have a contract at the end of the season. That's one for them.

04:08So in terms of what we might see in January, United have already provisionally agreed a

04:13deal to sign Diego Leon. He's a 17-year-old from Paraguayan club, Cerro Portino, I believe

04:20it's pronounced or something along those lines. He can't join until he's 18 in April. So there

04:25might be an agreement in place for Diego Leon in January, but he won't join United until

04:30next summer. In terms of what else they might do in terms of business, the financial situation

04:34is tight we hear. And it's even tighter because United's uncertainty of qualifying for the

04:39Champions League. Obviously, they're only a couple of wins away from those places. Again,

04:43I still do think United will be there or thereabouts come the end of the campaign, but you can't

04:47plan to spend Champions League money until you've got the confirmation of it. So I think

04:52United will be very limited in what they do in January. They could get rid of a few players.

04:56It'll mostly be loan exits, but players like Lindelof, players like Christian Eriksen out

05:02of contract at the end of the season, they could be sold now just to get some money and

05:06just to help balance the books in whatever way they can. I wouldn't be surprised if United

05:11moved for a wing-back or maybe even another striker on loan in January. Similarly to how

05:18they got Weghorst, how they got to Sergio Reguilon in the past. Not these big star names,

05:23kind of outcasts at other clubs, people who need a bit of a chance, but people who can

05:27come in and do an adequate job. I'm not saying United need to find their permanent solutions

05:32next month, but hopefully get some players in who can help them towards that end goal.

05:36So in terms of January, I expect an agreement for Lyon, maybe loan signing, maybe a free

05:42agent if there's anyone about, but I really don't think there is. I haven't looked at

05:45the market sort of online myself. And then exits. Marcus Rashford is talk of the town

05:49at the moment, but for all the rumors and whispers and speculation around him, he has

05:55such a high wage demands and he's still got a high chance of valuation as well. So as

06:02fanciful as it is, however easy it is to move players on when you're playing FIFA or

06:06a football manager, it is a lot harder in real life. So I'm expecting a quiet January

06:11at Manchester United.

06:12Rich, looking at Manchester United and across 2024, and obviously a managerial change, a

06:20few changes with the board as well, a bit of an uncertain situation throughout a few

06:25spells of the calendar year. But looking back across 2024, what's been their sort of best

06:31moment? Now, obviously, the FA Cup triumph would probably be quite clearly there.

06:36But how do United fans assess 2024 as a whole? Can they sort of view it as maybe a bit of

06:42changing tides with, you know, ahead of 2025 with a new manager, the new sort of board

06:47situation? What sort of stands out across the calendar year?

06:51I think, you know, there's two significant things that have happened or three things

06:55that have happened significantly this year. Like you said, change of manager, change of

06:58ownership, and then the FA Cup win. In terms of on the pitch, it's got to be that day at

07:03Wembley because it's ludicrous to think that United was such long odds to beat Man City,

07:08particularly after what we've seen Man City become. But a derby, a one-off game, you'd

07:12almost always back the underdogs anyway. But United were rank outsiders for that. If they

07:17hadn't have won the FA Cup, they wouldn't be in the Europa League now. Ten Hag would

07:21have been sacked in the summer. And just so much changed that day. In a weird way, winning

07:26the FA Cup set United back three or four months because it meant they kept Ten Hag

07:30and then sacked him rather than making the change when they had to have done it, when

07:34they should have done it. So that's, that's a really quirky one, the way that that sort

07:37of transpired and the way it worked. In terms of sort of notable off the field issues, the

07:42managerial change always felt like it could still happen even after they won the FA Cup.

07:47United didn't give Ten Hag a new contract. They just extended his previous one by another

07:52year. That kind of indicated that look, this wasn't a show of faith. This was just United

07:56keeping him because they were backed into an awkward position where they'd spoken to

08:00candidates. There was no one available who was a better fit than Ten Hag at the time.

08:05And they just didn't really want to go against the fan base because at the time it was a

08:10very popular unanimous decision amongst fans, I would say, for Ten Hag to remain. And the

08:15other has to be the ownership. Ratcliffe hasn't got off to the best start as Manchester United

08:20owner. There's been the protests over ticket prices. There's been the mess up of the Ten

08:24Hag situation, the mess up of the Dan Ashworth appointment now that he's left the club as

08:30well. And the fact that he is working with the Glazers rather than against the Glazers.

08:35Most United fans wanted the Glazers gone completely. What they've got is someone who's working

08:39alongside them, who gets on very well with them as well. But in terms of the longevity,

08:45the legacy of that, we will find out in the years to come how successful it is. We might

08:49look back at the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era and say, look, he made awkward, ruthless, but

08:56decisions that were required, those 250 redundancies, which seem really harsh. And you've got a

09:01lot of sympathy for everyone who lost a job. From a blunt business perspective and background,

09:06they might be things that have enabled United to do more in the future. At the moment, the

09:11jury is very much out, feels that Ratcliffe has an uphill struggle to win all the fan

09:15base over. But his takeover will be the defining moment of 2024 in the years ahead.

09:22Rich, looking at Manchester City now, obviously, the incredible beast that they've become over

09:28the last four or five years in the top flight. They're probably one of the greatest Premier

09:34League outfits of all time, if not the. I mean, an incredible downfall just so quickly

09:41has spiralled, you know, Rodri picking up the Ballon d'Or award, obviously taking it

09:45when he was injured as well. And then it sort of just spiralled so, so quickly downhill.

09:51And, you know, we saw it last season as well. Rodri was injured and Guardiola had to find

09:56the solutions and they sort of still managed it. They still obviously returned the title.

10:02How do they sort of need to adjust to change things? It seems like they're not sort of

10:07getting the best out of Haaland again. He's sort of struggling in the goal department,

10:12coming up a bit drier. What's the sort of, you know, it's got to be a change, but it can't be

10:18so exaggerated that Guardiola changes his style and it's a winning style. But there's so much

10:24wrong with Manchester City at the moment. They need to make sure that they turn it around before

10:29it's too late. You know, they're going to want to still be competing in the Champions League,

10:33in the Premier League as well. And it just seems like Liverpool are pulling ahead in the

10:38Prem and then they could be falling behind in Europe as well. It's a really difficult one

10:45because, you know, so often head coaches and managers talk about the fine margins and there's

10:51been some big glaring issues for City in recent games, but there's been just moments in the match

10:55that have gone against them and the whole momentum has changed. You look back to the

10:58Derby defeat against Man United, if Mateusz Nunes doesn't make one a bad pass and then a

11:04rushed decision to take Amad out, they'd probably go and win that game. Instead, it sets off a

11:09series of events and they go on and lose it. And then the snowball grows bigger again. And it just

11:15feels like a lot of those sort of small margins have gone against City. And there's a number of

11:19reasons for that. They're quite fortunate the table is still very open. I still think they'll

11:24be fine in the Champions League because of the new format. And I think in the Premier League as

11:28well, it only takes one good week and they could be right up there again. Not challenging for the

11:32title, but part of the chasing pack. I think right now for City fans, given the way the season's gone,

11:38given the players who are missing, Champions League qualification, perhaps an FA Cup trophy

11:43as well. That would be a relative good season to salvage from the situation. So I don't think

11:48it's all doom and gloom yet, just because a lot of those defeats have been in Cup competitions,

11:53where there's maybe a bit more leeway as well. But certainly something's not right.

11:57But if there's someone who can put things right, it's Pep Guardiola.

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