No Question About That - a Manchester United podcast

#1062 | Michael Carrick looks set to be sacked after a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, coming off the 4-1 loss at Como. Ed and Daniel go through the game and the week around it. If this is the end, Carrick went out with a statement: Bruno Fernandes criticising the staff in public then sitting on the bench without being used.

Then the disintegration of Carrick’s time at United, with the manager increasingly reaching for odd solutions as the season fell apart.  With the squad giving Carrick very little in recent weeks, the conversation turns to the owners and executives who decide what happens now. The same guys who picked Ten Hag and Amorim and Carrick decide who’s next, with Eddie Howe probably the favourite. 

In the short term United need to manage the crisis, but with a summer of expiring contracts and more investment needed than is likely, does a new manager really change anything?

0:00 Match Reaction

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#1061 | Manchester United were beaten 4-1 at Como in the Champions League. Ed and Dominic try to make sense of it. 

United’s pressing does not work; the players asked to lead it cannot do it, and Como passed through United at will. 

Carrick’s vision for the team is slipping by the week. How much is that on Carrick and how much on a club run by the same people who hired and fired ten Hag and Amorim, with a squad that was barely improved in the summer? 

Carrick probably won't go yet, though the November break and the January window are the usual moments for change. 

There there's Bournemouth at Old Trafford this weekend and a manager running short of options.

0:00 Intro: United spanked by Como

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#1060 | Michael Carrick changed the system at Elland Road and United came home with a 1-1 draw. It was closer to a street fight than a football match for much of it. Ed and Dharnish go through United’s approach and performance, including a back three and Bruno Fernandes pushed out wide. It wasn’t very pretty but at least United matched Leeds for physicality before the second half slipped away.

The point leaves United on two wins from 10 across all competitions this season. The question on everybody’s lips is how long Carrick has? More defeats over the next few weeks will increase the pressure on club and manager.

Then, what does a growing injury list mean for United’s trip to Como in the Champions League.

0:00 Carrick changes the system

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*Apologies for the dodgy audio on this week's episode*

#1059 | Ed, Dharnish, and Daniel open in meltdown mode. Manchester United have two wins from nine and the latest crisis is the fallout from Lisandro Martinez’ criticism of Jason Wilcox.

0:00 Meltdown mode

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#1058 | Ed and Dominic pick over United’s 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid. It was better than the scoreline but still leaves Michael Carrick under pressure. United opened with another defensive blunder but grew into the game, creating some decent chances before losing Leny Yoro to a dubious red card.

0:27 Intro: another defeat in Madrid

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#1057 | Ed and Andy catch up on four straight wins for United Women, which have turned the mood around after a difficult start to the season. 10-1 against Sheffield United, a narrow victory over West Ham, 5-1 against Durham, and a single goal victory over Liverpool. The team’s personality is becoming clearer under Eva Olid. 

The conversation widens to goalkeeper depth and how a youth-heavy squad is developing. 

Then there’s a preview of the games in the coming week. Charlton in the WSL, a second meeting with Liverpool in the Players Cup, and the Manchester derby.

Read the Barmy Article

0:26 Intro

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#1056 |  Ed and Daniel pick through Manchester United 1-1 Tottenham, a game United led until the 92nd minute but in which they played badly for most of the 90. The first half was as poor as anything this season, with Spurs running through United’s midfield at will. One side was moving, the other standing still. Carrick’s changes on the hour briefly changed the game, including a positive cameo from Carlos Baleba. But after Spurs were reduced to 10 men, United went into their shell and produced some more comedy defending. 

Where does Michael Carrick go from here, especially with Tuesday’s trip to Atletico coming up fast, and a very difficult schedule ahead. Nobody at the club wants another manager change but we’ve seen this film before.

0:00 Match reaction: United 1-1 Spurs

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#1055 | Ed and Dharnish talk about Manchester City's cheating three weeks on from the verdict and with the appeal under way. City's “it was government money” defence falls apart when the government, the sponsors, and the owner turn out to be one family. With club and fan denial hardening, the likeliest exit is a sale, or a vote to expel if City keep fighting.

There's some chat about why Financial Fair Play was created in the first place, Andy Burnham and the UAE’s investments in the UK, and what Guardiola knew.

Then it’s back to the football with Spurs on Saturday. Sesko is ruled out and Dorgu is injured. Will Cunha play through the middle again, what's the right balance in midfield as Baleba returns, and is there a case for Yoro’s pace at centre-back after his France debut?

The episode finishes with Ronaldo’s complaint over his Portugal minutes against Messi’s emotional send-off, and Ferguson’s book tour and what he said about living to see the new stadium.

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0:00 Intro: Spurs, City and Fergie

1:36 City’s CPC defence

7:53 Abu Dhabi, power and the exit route

16:51 FFP, the appeal and Burnham

24:56 What did Pep know?

30:05 Spurs preview: team news, midfield and Yoro

44:32 Ronaldo and Messi

50:42 Fergie and the new stadium

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#1054 | Ed and Paul pick through the fall out from City’s guilty verdict and conclude this is a geopolitical story more than football. The outcome might well owe more to diplomacy than to Premier League rules. Andy Burnham's situation and UK ties to Abu Dhabi suggest where the pressure is coming from.

There’s a long look at the City fanbase: why will so few will engage with the evidence or a reasonable discussion about what’s happened? How did a club that was once the punchline become the vehicle of a state?

There’s the damages bill that could run into billions and whether the other 19 clubs would really vote to expel. Could the only clean exit be a settlement fund and a forced change of ownership?

0:00 The guilty verdict

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#1053 | Daniel joins Ed to make the case that this was never really a football story: Manchester City's ownership is Abu Dhabi's ruling family operating through the exact same statecraft logic they apply to war, espionage and geopolitics. And that family’s refusal to ever hear the word "no" from anyone. It’s the instinct that produced the fraud itself.

Trace the money and the politics: Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth, the family network tying the state, the investment vehicle, the sponsors and the football club into one entity. Then there’s Andy Burnham's startlingly weak public response, read against his own history with City-linked land deals in East Manchester and the UK's broader security and investment ties to the UAE. 

Pep Guardiola is linked in the same way. His public advocacy on Gaza and Catalan independence is impossible to square with total silence on his own owners' role in Sudan. His City trophies cannot be separated from dirty money and the questions of doping that have followed his career since Barcelona. This is potentially the biggest scandal in the history of sport, precisely because of the geopolitics layered underneath it.

0:00 Intro: City found guilty

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