Editor F365 14 Jun 2025 8:12 AM 
Ruben Amorim could be forced to reintegrate Marcus Rashford at Manchester United
Why send Marcus Rashford on loan when the alternatives arent as good? Talent alone doesnt go to United to die, sense does.
Send your thoughts to [email protected].
Sense goes to die at Man Utd
If you want to sell something, you dont start off by saying its shit. It doesnt go well. Ask Gerald Ratner.
It also doesnt help to fall out with your players, especially if you want to sell them for a decent price, because youve shown your hand and given yourself no room to manoeuvre. You also dont tell the world youre desperate to get rid as youre broke.
Now, Im crap at negotiation and haggling, but even I know this. There are people being paid big sums to do this professionally that dont seem to understand these principles.
The club stated its desire to sell Rashford last summer (again). Hes still there, even after a successful loan. Of course its early days but at this point all signs point to the three loanees and Garnacho all to head out on loan with United covering some of the wages. I see zero chances of us selling Dalot or Shaw, Maguire is going no where, no interest in Onana. Only two serious options to exit are H�jlund and the unthinkable transfer of Mainoo.
At this point, the logical move would be to at least outwardly suggest we keep Rashford as striker hes better than any of the options were likely to sign and probably say the same with either Antony or Sancho as a 10. Make them desirable and worst case scenario actually try them. Who knows, maybe these talented players might actually be decent?
Instead were more likely to throw big money at a one or more season wonders, and then be stuck with them for the next 5 years on big wages after we realise.
Talent alone doesnt go to United to die, sense does.
At least Brailsford is going again. Thanks for your marginal gains, dickhead.
Badwolf
Ratcliffe continuing what the Glazers started
So, I was looking at Man Uniteds possible transfer dealings trying to work out whether I thought theirs was a continuation of the poor policy of old or something a little more measured, sensible and evidence-based. Ultimately, Im not sure. I have more concerns about Cunha than I do Mbeumo, but Utds business is far from over so it seems pointless to judge at this stage, Ill wait and see what ins and outs occur and assess the window come September.
One thing that is already apparent though is that there is money to spend at Utd. This should come as no surprise to anyone who understands PSR and the flexibility afforded to clubs, but rather it does sit in stark contrast to the doom mongering and poor pot wielding Jim Ratclife, who offered the public his justifications for severe cuts in staff and expenses as the club would have run out of cash by the end of 2025&
Obviously, Utd have since found sixty million quid down the back of the sofa and are likely to find another �50-100m at the bottom of an old drawer.
Many people had characterised Ratcliffe as a private equity investor who purchases businesses, slashes costs, and then sells for a profit. I do not necessarily think this is the case with United, Ratcliffe has declared himself a lifelong fan, but what it has shown is that he is not going to change attitude or deviate from the playbook of private equity ownership just because the institution is his favourite football club as opposed to a chemicals corporation. When discussing the cuts with Gary Neville, he was asked about stopping the free lunchs United provided for its employees, his response was who else in this world gets a free lunch from work?
It was a perfectly reasonable argument. I dont, and probably most of the people reading in the mailbox dont. I am not sure a billionaire needs to worry about lunch costs of course, and the reality he conveniently ignores is that he himself utilises every tax relief possible to offset as much of his work-related expense as he can, which is his right. Regardless, the vast majority of us do not work for football clubs. Football clubs are different from most commercial operations. They do not prioritise profits and a return on investment for investors as their barometer for success. Football clubs are community organisations. Their fans/stakeholders are the priority. Success, community involvement, support of the local population and fan happiness are the pillars upon which a successful football club should be built. Most football clubs exist below the Premiership and live and die by the continued support of those long term local and generational supporters, building foundations through social enterprise and outreach between the club and its people. That the elite clubs in the premiership are global brands with worldwide fame should not ultimately change the fact that they should be judged on how much happiness and support they bring their fans, and also those people who work to support the club professionally like players, coaches, physios, admin staff, stewards, youth support, community liaison and charitable foundations. You do that by buying the admin and catering staff their lunch in your million pound facilities because you are a billion pound organisation. It might not have to be the expectation, but it should be the goal.
What Sir Jim has done is crystalise the worst aspect of the modern club, its desperate desire to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on new football players. Its a process that evidentially does not work particularly well, with Utd largely selling or releasing players who are equally as good as the players they bring in, except the swapping process costs the club tens of millions of pounds. Also, the savings, as discussed at length in pubs across the country, are a fraction of the cost of purchasing and paying the vast wages of football players. I am sure there were legitimate savings to be made in aspects of the club, but in taking an Elon-esque chainsaw to the clubs expenditure with charitable, community, ex-pro and staff benefits heavily affected, they are removing the community and support aspect, which costs them a fraction of a single players salary, just so they can squeeze out a few extra shekels to throw away on agent fees.
And this is not a criticism of United as a football club, on the contrary, the club and fans are the victims in this financial endeavour. This kind of approach erodes good will and reduces Utd from a football club to a financial institution. Their product is football, the fans are customers, and they are just a private company providing a service to the paying public. It is the continuation of a journey started under the Glazers, a family utterly devoid of any affection for what the club stood for, its heritage, history and place in the local community. They saw a business opportunity and took advantage. Ratcliffe was supposed to come in and prioritise success and a best-in-class philosophy yes, (though his governance has been equally as shambolic and incompetent as those who came before) but he was also supposed to be a fan, who grew up in the city and would reconnect the club to its fans. He should know what the club stands for. Instead, his billions have removed him so far from where he grew up, that he forgot a club needs its community as much as its millions&
Ed Ern
READ MORE: Florian Wirtz value exposed by quarter-price Rayan Cherki in seven damning stats
Cherki to outshine Wirtz?
In late 2020 during the height of the pandemic, we needed a new car to replace one of ours which had been (not even joking) stolen from our gated community in broad daylight. Just basic life in Los Angeles I suppose. We had CCTV coverage of the incident, authorities were involved, insurance handled everything, we were provided a rental vehicle and daily life quickly moved on.
By coincidence of timing wed been mulling a shiny new motor anyway, and were monitoring a new model that had been announced to significant fanfare in 2019 but was delayed arriving to dealership showrooms due to the pandemic. Supply chains were clogged up, much of world trade had obviously ground to a halt, and the port authority in Long Beach (where most of the new vehicles for California arrive and gateway for much of the West Coasts auto intake) had experienced massive container ship stoppage. In fact, unionized labor tensions at the ports were already an ongoing issue well before the pandemic struck so it was an unmitigated shitshow for an age.
Anyway my point in all this is that awaiting confirmation of Florian Wirtz impending transfer to Liverpool reminds me of that car buying experience, as we had an exact make, model and trim in mind well before we even needed a new car out of necessity, but when necessity arose we then had to wait out a storm. We were on several dealer waitlists and had been patiently watching for availability on our own terms and our own schedule, but the sudden theft accelerated everything and we didnt want to motor around indefinitely with a rental car.
Late in the summer of 2021 we finally got a call the car was arriving. The exact wheel option wed hoped for was unavailable due to the shipping port delays, and dealerships were lockstep in placing USD$10-20K premiums (above MSRP) on all inventory for this specific model due demands and limited supply. Our connection offered the lower end of the premium and suffice to say it took us mere milliseconds to decide and wire a deposit; we bought the car outright within days and drove it home chuffed to bits.
Now several years on we see a few of these same cars out on the road, although not many (just by virtue of the specific make and model being somewhat unique and still extremely limited in supply). Ive even spotted one or two on the motorway sporting the exact wheel trim we had initially wanted. Ive also learnt that subsequent model refreshes now include many options as standard& options wed paid for a la carte, on top of the ask of a five-figure dealership premium. Yet if Id gone back in time to summer 2021 Id have done nothing differently; its a striking automobile, an absolute joy to drive, and even now still very difficult to acquire via effort and luck with waitlists and networks.
Part of me does wonder whether Rayan Cherki at City will outshine Wirtz , and at a fraction of the outlay. There was news Liverpool had ambitiously hoped to sign both (but that Cherki was nervous his playing time could be marginalized by Wirtz as incumbent second-choice 10). This at least tells me Liverpool rate Cherki very highly as well, and to my eye he certainly looked better in Nations League action than did the German.
But end of day I suppose everyone simply wants what they want, balance and justify to our own ledgers and accounts, we constantly customize our own value propositions. If Liverpool believe Wirtz is the lad and Im some stupid guy sat at my keyboard rationalizing it with some ill-fitting anecdote about car-buying, so be it. Life is a highway, no buyers remorse, you get what you pay for& insert your own idioms but if we lift 21 at Anfield on the back of this kid, hell be priceless wont he. You heard it here first, hell be a Rolls-Royce of a raumdeuter.
Eric, Los Angeles CA (Oh and lets be fair, repulsive was the apt descriptor. Footballing talent is never license to act a preening prat. Lets hope Trent12 doesnt follow his club teammate and compatriots lead, although that slopes been slippery for some time now&)
READ MORE: Rating the 10 most expensive Premier League signings as Wirtz nears record Liverpool move
Kane holding England back
Surprised that the England inquest after a friendly is still ongoing, but my 10 cents are:
Southgate wasted the prime of an experienced and well seasoned squad. He gets credit and endless honours for taking us to the late stages of 2 tournaments, which ignores the fact that we underperformed in both, taking into account the quality of opposition.
I was happy with Tuchel when appointed. I was wrong. Its more of the same, but maybe worse.
Henderson?? How is this not straight up trolling at this point? Does literally anyone think that he is the answer to any England question? Seriously.
Before you start the usual panty wetting, I appreciate that this wont happen, but Kane is holding this current squad back. He is undroppable (apparently) and is so slow and one dimensional that he prevents us playing to the obvious world class talents that we do have (Eze, Saka, Palmer, Bellingham, Rogers, Foden, and how does Bowen not make this squad??!!). Obvs Toney and Delap (Solanke shouldnt even be in the discussion) shouldnt play a sole striker role either but at least they have pace and run the channels endlessly, making space for all of the gifted midfielders we have. Or go full Liverpool and play 3 wildly talented attackers across the front. Free flowing football.
re Bellingham, again, stop with the hand wringing. It seems that the fact that the referee was female has added to the angst. Surely the goal is for women and men to be treated equally. Well, footballers sadly do tend to act like tw@ts on the whole, and the fact that there was a female referee didnt change his behaviour. He would have done whatever he does anyway. Thats equality. Lets change the rules around dissent and referee abuse across the board (we are now pretty much the only sport where appalling behavior towards officials is still wholly tolerated) rather than continue to divide ourselves into groups for the purposes of a virtue signaling agenda. Grow up all footballers.
Mike WHU
England starting from scratch under Tuchel
Not sure why Bellingham is being singled out , admittedly he is not ripping it up every time he plays but you cant really say hes not putting it in. Show more passion, but not like Jude is, thats uncouth. He, like every player, is entitled to be pissed off. Im not a massive fan of the arm waving but who can blame him for being cheesed off when they are being set up to fail.
I dont think we have a right to be the bestest. I am fully aware that we are. It really in the same league as Spain, France, Italy or Germany, or Portugal, I dont think we have the best players in the world, far from it and if we beat a top tier team I assume its a one off. Football is football, anything can happen. But we do seem to have slipped from a point of optimism, where we had a strong, young team with plenty of scope for players coming through to what now appears to be starting from scratch. Playing everyone everywhere all at once to find out things we already know. Tuchel should have had a simple job take a team that got to the final of a major championship and tweak it to help them win it next time. What he appears to have done is strip it down, keep all the shitty old bits and, put the best bits in the wrong place (while dressing them down in public) and introduced a load of bits that dont quite work properly. His admonishment of Bellingham (delivered by pretending his mum said it) is not going to build that team. Southgate worked hard to take the weight off the England shirt and tournament results showed it paid off. This all feels a bit Capello to me.
I am not an entitled England fan, I am just fed up of rubbish people being paid a lot of money by the FA to get it wrong time and time again. It s like they (the FA) are playing manager top trumps and are stuck on calling out the trophies category. Carsley was the choice for the future, he would have built on the team spirit and had a good understanding of the players coming through but they chickened out because he wasnt a big name.
Tom, also in Andover
Why Tuchel has to win the World Cup It is now more clear than it was when he was appointed that Thomas Tuchel HAS to win the World Cup. After dismal performances and results against Andorra and Senegal the only way he can convince the English media and most likely the majority of England fans that he is the right manager to manage England guiding the team to lifting that trophy over the Pond/in Mexico/in Canada next summer. Anything other and less will not be acceptable. No nearly nearly heartbreaks like Gareth Southgate. No strolling past teams like Iran, Wales and Senegal only to go out to the first very good team we come up against like Gareth Southgate. No limping past the likes of Serbia, Slovakia and Switzerland and one very good half against a Netherlands and then being outplayed by the first actually very good team we play in the final like Spain like Gareth Southgate. No heroic tear inducing penalty shoot-out defeats to an Argentina like Glenn Hoddle or a Germany like Bobby Robson and Terry Venables. He MUST win it. Its even more obvious and true now. And why? Because England are good enough to win the World Cup next summer? No. Because hes German and if he doesnt win England the World Cup hes rubbish and hes got to go (the English medias opinion, not mine) and because weve been crap in his first few games and lost to Senegal and the knives are already out for him. So win the World Cup Thomas Tuchel.
Dan, London
Michael XI
I nearly give up as soon as I started, I couldnt find a keeper so I used a bit of poetic license&..
Formation 4-5-1
Goal keeper
Peter Schmeichel&&..
Defenders Michael Reiziger RB Michael Ball LB Michael Duberry CB
Michael Dawson CB
Midfielders Michael Ballack CM Michael Essien CM Michael Carrick CM Michael Laudrup LW
Michael Olise RW
Striker
Michael Owen
Not a bad side, that midfield would run most games and with Laudrup and Olise feeding a prime Owen itll take a hell of first name team to beat it. Sorry DanT but this team would batter the Dans. Whos stepping up to beat it??
MickT (dont disqualify it for the Goalkeeper) Liverpool
Minge and Gash up top
The GK in the Q team got me thinking and if youll ever forgive me I put together a team:-
Areola, Alphonse (West Ham)
Arce, Francisco (Palmeiras) Koch, Robin (Kaiserslautern) Fanni, Rod (Montreal impact!)
Dicks, Julian (West Ham)
Pinas, Brian (Newcastle) Muff, Andre (Grasshopper) Tonge, Michael (Leeds)
Wang, David (Wolves)
Minge, Ralf (Dresden)
Gash, Michael (Cambridge Utd)
There were other options for midfield but I just had to squeeze Tonge in there.
I dont know if theyd win but with penetration from out wide and a fluid front two we might pull one off?
All the best
Hartley MCFC Somerset
