The Mainoo Man?

And well done to Amorim on securing the 44th draw from a winning position at Old Trafford, from the (IIRC) 394th game since 1984 and just missing being the first loss, against mighty 13th placed Bournemouth.

I just wanted to highlight Mainoo’s performance from his cameo. He made good passes, broke lines, retained possession under pressure, turned defense into attack in two touches, made tackles and clearances, and – quite critically IMO – kept pace with Semenyo to dispel this BS narrative that he’s not fast enough.

He’s still not a DM, but alongside an equal partner who can also do a bit of both (Anderson, Wharton, Baleba) rather than Bruno who absolutely is not suited to a double pivot, he’s exactly what the team needs.

I’m *sure* this cameo will have secured his place now.
Badwolf

Manchester United: Man by Man

Deserves a run through man by man that match.

Lammens is bang average. Exactly what we need right now.

There’s a player in Yoro but might be a few years before we see him.

There’s a player in Heaven and we can see him already. Needs some fine-tuning but he’ll be special in a few years.

With Shaw, I’m just amazed he’s not injured yet. Maybe it’s because he’s not playing that great anymore.

Amad is a superstar.

Dalot finally managed a decent final ball for our opener. Shocked I was.

Casemiro is class. Old, slow class. But class.

We have high expectations for Fernandes so he has to be special to get praise but he deserves it for that free kick. Plus, he ran around a lot too which is appreciated.

Mbeumo was off the boil totally. His head was probably in Africa already and, according to Cameroon, that’s probably where his body should’ve been too.

Mount can be great but he can also sort of disappear. More of the latter in this game.

Cunha is a bit of a legend. Supremely talented, hard working, and showing his love for the club. He’s not a clinical striker but he’s a great player.

Sesko did well for Cunha’s goal and showed confidence taking the ball from Mbeumo.

Not sure Mainoo did much.

Martinez can be glad Amorim insists on changing a centre back every game.

Not a lot of point in Zirkzee right now.

Did Dorgu come on? Can’t remember.

Tremendous fun all round.
Damian, Dublin

What Happens Now?

Just watched the crazy 4-4 draw on MNF.

Here’s a question for you:

What happens when a team that has become quite good at scoring goals but also concedes a lot, then loses its best two brightest and nimble attacking threats to Afcon for 4 weeks?

Answer: we’re about to find out.
Andy H, Swansea

Why Does It Matter How Arsenal Win?

I don’t get why there is an issue how Arsenal win games.

We come from an era of beautiful football under Wenger and still lost games. Next was Emery with confused tactics until he got fired. We got Arteta who started bad and until he got us going, that first season where we came second, we played good football and still did not make it. Currently, we are solid and there is no way we will play well in 38 league games. We are bound to be poor just like the Wolves game but what matters is that we got the 3 points.

Back to Gyokeres, I do hope he does well enough but I doubt it; he will be lucky to get 15 goals.

My hope is that Kai and Jesus stay fit from now till the end of the season, because we seem to be playing better with them or there is an understanding with other players and how we play. I can see Kai coming back and scoring more goals than Gyokeres.
Lwazi (South Africa)

Who Doesn’t Want to Be a Viking?

In what world is “viking” an insult? It sounds f*cking mega to me.
Ben, AFC

Mansplaining the Harvey Elliott Situation

Aston Villa have to pay £35m for Harvey Elliott if he plays over 10 games for the club. We are under transfer restrictions and the manager clearly sees the funds better spent elsewhere so isn’t pushing to play him with the obligation hanging over him.

Awful for Elliott but he was signed by the now departed Sporting Director in a panic. Best that he goes back to Liverpool rather than Villa sign a player the manager quite clearly doesn’t want.

If Liverpool decided to do away with the obligation to buy, I bet he would be used a little more as part of squad rotation, get his minutes and provide up and maybe add value to Liverpool, but that hasn’t happened.
Paul

The Gamble

Weird one this, it’s neither topical nor irrelevant, managing to be arguably quite an inflammatory mail while also being a moment of genuine human honesty. TL;DR – This weekend I fell off the wagon.

That’s not a setup for a pun/gag around being addicted to Western genre cinema, I very literally fell off the wagon as a recovering gambling addict this weekend.

Now I love my game, our game, the beautiful game, very much, but honestly the older I get the more I see just how corrupted the sport is by the gambling industry and how, as someone who has thankfully survived to tell the tale of living through an addiction, we are constantly being talked at by loud voices telling us to “play responsibly” like such a thing truly exists.

For a recovering addict, those adverts are a minefield. Just be careful.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk, it’s been a blast.
Harold Edgard Hooler