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Athletic FC podcast network.

2:31

This is Talking Devils, the

2:33

Athletics podcast dedicated to Manchester United.

2:35

We are here to reflect on

2:37

the latest ever draw in

2:39

Manchester United's Premier League history or

2:41

the latest ever equaliser at Bournemouth. Not

2:43

huge amounts of narrative from that

2:46

game at the Vitality Stadium, but obviously

2:48

we are building up to the

2:50

biggest game so far, hopefully, of

2:52

Manchester United's season. The Europa League semi

2:54

-final first leg against Athletic Club in

2:56

Bilbao will have all the details

2:58

on that and it's another week of

3:01

yet more changes behind the scenes at

3:03

Old Trafford. It will also reflect

3:05

on that too. And I am very

3:07

pleased to say that

3:09

we have a full house

3:11

of Andy, Laurie and Carl

3:13

on the podcast. Hello Carl,

3:15

welcome back. Hello, how are

3:18

you? I'm all right, we've missed you mate. It's good

3:20

to have you back. be good to

3:22

get your noises on Manchester United's display

3:24

at Bournemouth. We'll get to that. Laurie, you

3:26

were there. I feel like I should

3:28

start with you. What was sweeter, the last

3:30

minute equaliser or the cherry ice cream

3:32

you had on the beach that you posted

3:34

on Instagram? As soon as you said

3:36

sweeter, I felt we've got an ear -nerving...

3:39

pun coming in. I don't like you eating

3:41

cherry ice cream before Manchester United play

3:43

the cherries I have to be honest. I

3:45

hadn't even clocked it until Rodry who

3:47

sometimes posts in our WhatsApp channel had mentioned

3:49

to people who wants a quick pre -match

3:51

quiz what is the nickname of the

3:53

Bournemouth team and obviously it is

3:55

the cherries and so I devoured the

3:57

cherries before you know United were unable

3:59

to devour the cherries. Not good enough. No sorry.

4:01

You wouldn't go to the Etihad stadium and

4:03

put blue ketchup on your hotdog would you?

4:05

I think only one person on this podcast

4:07

has done that. I feel

4:10

like Andy Mitton's got to have done that.

4:12

He has been watching City a bit

4:14

lately actually. You were at Wembley yesterday, Andy,

4:16

were you? No, I wasn't at Wembley.

4:18

And the only time I've been watching City

4:20

is for work. Is that what you

4:22

call it? Go on, carry on. What's your

4:24

point? Well, I had a lovely day.

4:26

South coast, little walk along the beach. getting

4:28

out of breath and getting sunburned but

4:30

yeah then the game kicked off and it

4:32

was a kind of familiar story wasn't

4:34

it really from United. Stronger team

4:36

than I think maybe people expected but

4:38

I also think that's where the

4:40

view of getting some rhythm and momentum

4:42

into the team. Clearly as soon

4:45

as 60 odd minutes hit Casemiro, Hermaguire,

4:47

Cobbie Manu all came off that

4:49

was clearly pre -planned and even Masrawi

4:51

came off didn't he after that sort

4:53

of well red card after a

4:55

VAR check fouled by Evan Ilson but

4:59

But it kind of felt that Thursday's match

5:01

coloured everything, really, even though they were clearly

5:03

trying to win the game. I think there

5:05

was a point at which they were thinking,

5:07

well, we need to win this game just

5:09

so we're not going into it with two,

5:11

you know, disputes and defeats against, you know,

5:13

teams around us in the table, I suppose,

5:15

born with that. really that much around Man

5:17

United these days. Slightly above. Nudged

5:21

United up to 14th. These results have

5:23

kind of become irrelevant, haven't they, in the

5:25

Premier League to a degree. I know

5:27

that might irk a lot of people because

5:29

actually United should be trying to win

5:31

every game, but clearly the focus is on

5:33

Thursday and I think that just coloured

5:35

even his substitutions, you know, bringing Cheedo Obey

5:37

on, but leaving Rosamus Hoylund on to

5:39

get that goal and get a bit of

5:41

pep in his step maybe ahead of

5:43

the game. Luke Shaw staying on was an

5:45

unusual one perhaps you know full 90

5:47

minutes maybe that wasn't done entirely with Thursday

5:49

in mind and that'd be interesting to

5:51

see how much he plays on Thursday because

5:53

clearly he is going to have to

5:55

feature although in which position centre back or

5:57

wing back which you kind of oscillate

5:59

between. I can't see him

6:01

playing left wing back. Amarin said

6:03

to Sky Sports before kickoff that

6:05

this is his best position. I

6:07

think Shogun was better when Bournemouth went down

6:09

to 10. Yeah, but he's going to be a

6:11

left centre -back for the foreseeable future. But he

6:13

shifted up, didn't he? Well, when they were

6:16

chasing the game, yeah, absolutely he did. When you

6:18

look at the team though, is

6:20

it the fact that Luke Shaw plays 90

6:22

minutes car that is the most surprising? Because

6:24

you think... He still needs protecting a little

6:26

bit doesn't he? I mean we saw him

6:28

play obviously more minutes than planned against Leon

6:30

and then was completely out of the squad

6:32

against Wolves so can he do 90 at

6:34

the Vitality Stadium and then play in Bilbao

6:36

on Thursday? I'd be surprised if he started.

6:39

He has to though doesn't he? On Thursday. Yes,

6:43

and no, how much do you trust

6:45

Victor? But he's played as the middle center

6:47

half when he's played recently in the

6:49

place of Harry Maguire So then you'd have

6:51

to play Maguire and Lindelof so that's

6:53

then yet another player playing in a slightly

6:55

unfamiliar position because I suppose Matthias de

6:57

Lits could be back by then but to

7:00

me it can be back Harry Maguire

7:02

does have experienced playing left -sided center back

7:04

for Hull and for England Yeah, so I'm

7:06

yes, I was surprised that Luke Shaw

7:08

played 90 minutes because he hasn't played 90

7:10

minutes since January 2024 February

7:13

1st, very close car. February

7:15

1st, 2024. 24 hours out.

7:18

12 hours out. Maybe it was January when the match started to be fair.

7:20

It was late when got his walls. I have

7:22

rewatched the Leon second leg at

7:24

Old Trafford. I wasn't here on the

7:26

podcast to talk about it, but

7:28

I texted you partway through it going,

7:30

this has been a really bad

7:32

look short performance. I think

7:34

it was only expected to play 45 minutes in

7:36

and playing close to 75. But

7:38

you could see the ring rust. And maybe, maybe

7:40

that I played into it, why I played

7:42

90 minutes? Because, because everyone's going, okay, you need

7:44

to get some reps in. Well, to be

7:46

fair, with Luke Shaw that day, he anticipated

7:49

to play anything like what he played. I

7:51

mean, the, the plan substitution was Victor Lindelof. I

7:54

mean, I've never heard this before.

7:56

So Masarawi has to leave at halftime

7:58

for personal reasons. Then Lindelof is

8:00

prepared throughout the halftime period to come

8:02

on. former's rowey and then he

8:04

finds out at the end of the period

8:06

that he also needs to leave for personal

8:08

reasons because he's a child that had been

8:10

involved in an accident. Thank goodness he's okay.

8:13

And then... Basically sure with barely any warm

8:16

-up then has to come in for the

8:18

second 45 minutes. It's no wonder he

8:20

looked rusty considering he'd not played for

8:22

so long and he is probably the worst

8:24

player that you would want to be

8:26

able to bring in with barely any

8:28

warm -up. They're clearly having to be very

8:30

careful with him which sort of flies

8:32

in the eye of him playing 90

8:34

minutes yesterday and then being needed for Thursday.

8:36

Needs must Manchester United are carrying injuries. It

8:39

was awkward watching Luke Shaw against

8:41

Leon, even more awkward when Leon

8:44

went down to 10 men and

8:46

were passing through Manchester United's lines

8:48

when Leon scored four goals against

8:50

Manchester United. United have

8:52

just got to learn hopefully from that

8:54

game that you're going to be

8:56

exposed against the better teams in Europe

8:58

and Athletic Club are the best

9:00

team Manchester United will have played so

9:02

far this season. Luke's sure

9:04

he's still rusty, you can understand why.

9:06

As you've said, it's a long, long

9:08

time since he started a game. Then

9:10

again, some of his best performances that

9:12

I've seen in play have been on

9:14

the left centre role, remember a game

9:16

at Chelsea a couple of years ago.

9:19

But can you expect someone to get to

9:21

those levels in such an important game when

9:23

they've been out for so long? Especially as

9:25

he's been nursed back in very gently because

9:27

Manchester United don't want another injury. There's

9:30

lots of tough decisions to make this week. Yeah,

9:32

the thing we're sure as well is people's

9:34

patience maybe is a little bit thinner than it

9:36

would have been considering the injury problems he's

9:38

had over the course of his time at United.

9:41

I guess going to play for England in the summer. obviously

9:44

has annoyed some Manchester United

9:46

fans as well. Just coming back

9:48

to some of the other

9:50

topics then from yesterday, Laurie, I

9:52

mean, the standout thing, the

9:54

latest equaliser in Manchester United's Premier

9:56

League history. scored

9:58

by Rasmus Hoylan 96 minutes,

10:00

95 -34, was it something like

10:02

that? And then his social

10:04

media posts afterwards, he needed that. We all

10:06

needed that, but we could have done with another

10:08

one after that as well, maybe. Yeah,

10:10

I mean, they did try, didn't they? Yeah,

10:12

social media posts, we kind of

10:14

debated this off -camera, haven't we?

10:17

Off -camera, off -recording. Off -air. Where,

10:20

yeah, is that the right thing to sort of

10:22

immediately do in a dressing room after a

10:24

game? Because I think he does his own posts,

10:26

like... But then again, you know, United

10:28

players were posting after the Leon game, and

10:30

we quite enjoyed that. You know, Ahmad's post,

10:32

even Hoylan's post himself, you know, about... Semi

10:34

-enjoyed it. Yeah. Shall we say, I

10:36

semi -enjoyed it. Yes, I

10:38

mean, I can understand where he's coming from. He's

10:41

had a lot of frustrations. He's clearly, you

10:43

know, going through it, isn't he? So if he

10:45

wants to just tell people that he needed

10:47

that, then I suppose that's okay. It's just that

10:49

I kind of think that in the... immediate

10:51

after effects of a draw like that you sort

10:53

of thinking okay just sort of talking with

10:55

your teammates rather than get straight on to Instagram

10:57

but maybe it's a new generation and that's

11:00

something that we just have to accept so. Who

11:02

invited Roy Keenan? Well

11:04

it was it has been a thing though hasn't

11:06

it I'm pretty sure I don't think I'm speaking out

11:08

of turn by saying that Darren Fletcher when he

11:10

first came into the club sort of had a few

11:12

conversations with people about going on their phones in

11:14

the dressing room straight after games and sort of was

11:16

trying to guide them away from that so but

11:18

it's obviously an easier thing to say

11:20

than to kind of actually do. But you know,

11:23

if they go and win, you know, in

11:25

Bill Bow, I'm sure we'll all be perfectly fine

11:27

with them posting and tweeting from the dressing

11:29

room. Oh, no, it's only half time. Maybe it's

11:31

just the context. You've got to

11:33

do it in the second leg. You definitely can't

11:35

do it then, can you? Yeah. Unless it's fine. But

11:38

I mean, it was it was certainly a

11:40

game. I mean, I'm a room. I was

11:42

watching him on the touchline and he was

11:44

feeling everything. You know, he was kind of

11:46

rubbing his brow. He was having his arms

11:48

out. He was, you know, prowling the technical

11:50

area. Adelio Candido certainly enjoyed the equaliser, he

11:52

really did celebrate that and I think there

11:55

was a little bit of a moment where

11:57

Bournemouth Bench got you know tested with that

11:59

and there were some you know officials kind

12:01

of trying to calm the situation down a

12:03

little bit. It wasn't anything too dramatic but

12:05

just it showed that clearly these are people

12:07

that are you know appreciating the seriousness of

12:09

the situation in the Premier League let alone

12:12

then what it leads into in the Europa

12:14

League. But there were certainly

12:16

moments where Amarin was having to

12:19

Conveyed to the players on the pitch which

12:21

positions he wanted them in they were a

12:23

little bit uncertain as to exactly where to

12:25

go because I thought a guy was sort

12:27

of like left center back at one point

12:29

Then he was midfield and it gone actually

12:31

was maybe a wing back, but then maybe

12:33

it was short So anyway, it was it

12:35

was kind of a bit of a freestyle

12:37

formation at times And I think Amarin basically

12:39

said it wasn't really tactical instructions that was

12:41

getting across to players It was that I

12:43

didn't want them to allow space

12:45

in the middle and potentially a counter attack

12:47

that then would have lost as the

12:49

game. And clearly that's going to be something

12:51

that is an important aspect in Europa

12:53

League matches when it's a knockout competition. When

12:56

you might get these different configurations of

12:58

players, you know, Harry Maguire going up front,

13:00

when you really just need to try

13:02

anything to get a result. And so I

13:04

think maybe having that as muscle memory

13:06

in their minds to not then be too

13:08

open to concede a counter is important.

13:10

Does it feel like Amarins getting more animated

13:13

on the touchline? because I

13:15

saw him during a Newcastle game

13:17

and he looked downright furious. And

13:19

he seems to be throwing his

13:21

arms around a bit more compared

13:23

to January time. I think he's

13:25

always been this way, right? I mean, I

13:28

don't know if I mentioned, but I went

13:30

on a trip to Portugal once and he

13:32

was certainly he was certainly very demonstrative on

13:34

the touch line. Then shall we say, I

13:36

thought he was different against Bournemouth. So if

13:39

you if you felt that a Newcastle, then

13:41

I think maybe that's a fair comment to

13:43

make. He's obviously just straining to

13:45

try and get his team scoring goals

13:47

and that's his way of he feels

13:49

it doesn't he's quite an emotional manager

13:51

he said that after the the Brighton

13:53

game where you know he clearly he

13:55

spoke to the players you know in

13:57

a very fierce manner and he said

13:59

afterwards that he perhaps should have let

14:01

himself calm and then go in and

14:03

so that's why he doesn't really give

14:05

a debrief in the dressing room afterwards

14:07

because he's so wound up so we're

14:09

seeing that in visual form on the

14:11

touch line I think he's very emotional

14:13

and there's been times in games at

14:15

halftime when he's gone in and Bruno

14:17

Fernandez or one of the other coaches

14:19

has led to talking. He's

14:21

clearly under a huge amount of pressure

14:23

and and Rasmus Hoylanders as well.

14:25

And when he put that tweet out,

14:27

I didn't mind it. I think

14:29

you've obviously got to be wary of

14:31

sentiment when they're putting stuff out

14:34

there. But he is under a massive

14:36

amount of pressure because he's a

14:38

goal scorer who doesn't score. So he

14:40

goes out with that comment. I

14:42

thought he's won after Leon. about the

14:44

semi was pretty funny. I'd much

14:46

rather have players doing their own social

14:48

media posts than an agency doing

14:50

them because I've read some over the

14:52

years and I'm like, this sounds

14:55

absolutely nothing like you. And I don't

14:57

like that. But they've also got

14:59

to be careful and aware of the

15:01

responsibility of their words. He needed

15:03

that goal. Desperate for that goal.

15:06

Glad he got that goal. If that lifts his

15:08

confidence going into that match, And

15:10

if he feels that he has to put

15:12

a message out, then then I'm all right

15:14

about it. Yeah, I am too. I think,

15:16

you know, two goals in 29 matches. That

15:18

is now it's his first goal post the

15:20

March international break and the team needs him

15:22

to score as well. The team needs him

15:24

to feel that sensation. You could see in

15:27

his celebration that He definitely needed it. He

15:29

didn't need a social media post to tell

15:31

us that. And I kind

15:33

of feel like we should all follow Rasmus

15:35

Hoylan this week, like all of his pictures

15:37

across the last two seasons in Manchester United,

15:39

colours in Denmark, colours, anything he's done in

15:41

his personal life, like every single post and

15:43

give that boy as much of a pep

15:45

in his step in the words of Laurie

15:47

Whitwell that we can give him ahead of

15:49

Thursday night. What do you think, mate? I

15:52

totally endorse that and I'm sure you've already

15:54

gone through a few of his pictures and

15:56

given it the old thumbs up. He's got

15:58

weird. I've gone all the way through. Fantastic.

16:02

I think maybe he just wanted to make

16:04

sure that people knew he'd scored the goal

16:06

because the stadium announcer actually announced it as

16:08

Manuel well. Oh really? Oh really? Yeah, maybe

16:10

he just wanted to nail It wasn't a

16:12

celebration, it was just frustration that he'd not

16:14

been given the proper acknowledgement by the stadium

16:16

announcer. Someone please appreciate the touch,

16:18

the deflection, the deliberate. Not the type of

16:20

goal he's been scoring though, in a

16:23

way. Yeah, exactly, good point. Even the way

16:25

that the team responded, okay, Bournemouth were

16:27

down to 10 men, but this is a

16:29

Bournemouth side who are playing for Europe

16:31

in the Premier League. It's a Bournemouth team

16:33

who've caused Manchester United problems. Maybe these

16:35

stats were inflated, Laurie, by the fact they

16:37

were playing against 10 men, but they

16:40

ended the game with 25 shots, over 60

16:42

% possession, an XG of 2 .5, Garnaccio

16:44

again supplying balls from the left. -hand

16:46

side that weren't finished. Mason Mount

16:48

again, missing a great chance. Fernandez

16:50

putting one win. then they got my

16:53

Mason Mount moment, didn't they? He keeps getting

16:55

these chances that are just not quite

16:57

going in. It was on target, deflected wide.

16:59

I feel like something's coming there. Yeah,

17:01

in Bilbao. Well, let's not

17:03

get too heady, but you know something's calling.

17:05

Yeah, but I mean there's a resilience there

17:07

There was a there was a spirit there

17:09

to United again You know and a late

17:12

equalizer after the late equalizer against Leon again

17:14

Just underlines that this team is not giving

17:16

up even though these games feel like they

17:18

don't mean as much They feel like maybe

17:20

there's not as much emphasis placed on them

17:22

as the Europa League games that

17:24

some of them look knackered at the end, to

17:26

be honest, had given it their all. Very knackered.

17:28

mean, I saw Luke Shaw with hands on his

17:30

knees. Obviously, as we've touched on, because that wasn't

17:33

part of the plan, I don't think. Garnaccio, again,

17:36

Hoylund as well. So these guys are obviously

17:38

trying, I think, every sinew, really. I

17:40

don't think that's question. Trying every sinew? That's

17:42

a new one. Straining every

17:44

sinew? They're trying every sinew. They're straining every sinew. Listen,

17:46

I just vibe. I just, you know, go off

17:48

piece a little bit with some of these sayings, I'm

17:50

not sure. My brain

17:52

doesn't catch it to my voice, anyway. Not

17:55

then. What

17:57

was my point? I

17:59

often wonder. Oh, that

18:01

was it. It's different in the Ralph

18:03

Ragnick era where at the end

18:05

of that season you could tell that

18:07

the players, I don't think, were

18:09

trying every sinew, shall we say. So

18:11

I think that's a counterpoint there. And

18:14

even, as you say, I know the

18:16

stats were inflated by the 10 men but

18:18

they were creating chances when it was

18:20

11v11. I mean that one from Fernandez to

18:22

Garnaccio could easily have been a goal,

18:24

Garnaccio had a couple other shots so it

18:26

was it's kind of like an even

18:28

contest I think really and it was just

18:31

you know united conceding in that annoying

18:33

frustrating way that made it then a Bournemouth

18:35

game for them to lose. Yeah before

18:37

we move it on we'd need to reflect

18:39

the way that the goal was conceded

18:41

don't we really? I mean Carl is it

18:43

any surprise that the speculation about Antoine

18:45

Semenio in the week and that equals an

18:47

Antoine Semenio goal against Manchester United. If

18:49

you like narratives, if you're like, if

18:52

a superstitious person, I guess so.

18:54

I think again, it's the problem

18:56

I United have in that they

18:58

are low in confidence, trying out

19:00

a style of football that's been

19:03

implemented midseason, trying to do what

19:05

Amry wants, building up from the

19:07

back and also they're weak. I

19:11

can dress it up, you can say weak

19:13

in that arrow, you could say physically weak.

19:15

There were two or three moments in that

19:17

game where Bournemouth players are just bullying United

19:19

players off the ball. And that's why I

19:21

keep asking Emeryn about physicality. That's why Emeryn

19:23

is then forced to talk about physicality a

19:25

lot more because, yeah, that Luke Shaw should

19:28

be playing a better pass in that moment.

19:30

He should have the awareness to realise that

19:32

pass isn't on, but for some

19:34

reason he doesn't. Dolgu should be stronger in

19:36

that moment. and recognise the de -income in

19:38

danger. There was a moment, I think, around

19:40

a 20 -minute mark where Garnaccio would go scampering

19:42

after the ball and Kirkers just gets into

19:44

a squat and goes, no, you're not getting

19:47

this. You're not getting past me.

19:49

And then, I think, 33

19:51

minutes afterwards, you know,

19:53

Bruno Fernandez deep in the ball with half and Semenyo's

19:55

dropped deep and just gone, Bosh,

19:58

having that counterattack. And this

20:00

is the concern in that, yeah, there are

20:02

times where you can see a little bit

20:04

of nice one touch play down the left

20:06

hand side. Well, you know, there are times

20:08

where you can say, oh, okay, this, this

20:10

might get better if Ameren gets two or

20:12

three players in the summer. But

20:14

for now, there are two, three bits

20:16

where you're not even doing nice footwork.

20:18

And there's just a, just a bigger

20:20

football player guy, no punch, done goal.

20:22

I think that's what happened when that

20:25

born of goal. There's little bits where

20:27

you're thinking this is nice play, but

20:29

Hoylund's goal was only the second goal

20:31

in five matches. I mean, that's a

20:33

disgraceful. statistic Manchester United have been struggling

20:35

to score goals. The one conceded yesterday,

20:37

why invite pressure from one of the

20:39

best pressing teams in the league? Yeah,

20:41

exactly. Bournemouth who'd already beat

20:43

Manchester United were on the way to

20:45

another win. So it's to United's credit

20:47

that they did find some intensity, which

20:49

they struggled to do to get back

20:51

in the game, albeit against 10 men. I

20:54

thought Bournemouth were aggressive

20:56

and the physicality point is

20:58

an important one. And

21:01

just that equaliser, it does lift

21:03

the mood in a week where

21:05

it is needed. But I'm watching

21:07

United yesterday for large parts thinking

21:09

this is such an ordinary team.

21:12

And to be fair, the manager has said,

21:14

look, it ain't getting any better this season.

21:16

This is, you know, like it or lump

21:18

it. And people are lumping it at the

21:20

moment. But we've got this potential get out

21:22

clause with the Europa League. Could have done

21:25

with lumping it from that little build up

21:27

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23:11

well in the build -up to the

23:13

match at Bournemouth, there was a

23:15

Laurie Whitwell exclusive on the Athletic about

23:17

a change in the scouting department

23:19

for Manchester United. Director of scouting Steve

23:21

Brown will leave the club as

23:23

part of wide -ranging changes to the

23:25

recruitment strategy. Laurie, what's the story with

23:27

this then? Yeah I think it's

23:29

a significant one because Steve Brown has

23:31

been at the club since 2016

23:33

and was a key figure really in

23:35

the shaping of United's recruitment and

23:37

you can obviously question the degree to

23:39

which that was a success or

23:41

not but certainly they had to I

23:43

think evolve the structure after Sir

23:46

Alex Ferguson departed and Project Bethlehem was

23:48

christened as the kind of rebirth

23:50

of United's scouting structure and you know

23:52

sending this global army of scouts

23:54

out there. trying to bring data into

23:56

the process and inventing track among

23:58

this kind of bespoke database for hundreds

24:00

of players. So there is... United

24:02

will have information on every single player

24:04

really that is of no in

24:06

the world. It's just then whether or

24:08

not that information was acted on

24:10

decisively, whether targets were aggressively pursued and

24:12

whether you had that synergy between

24:14

the manager or the head coach and

24:16

then the people that are making

24:18

decisions and the negotiators. So Steve Brown

24:21

was a key figure in that

24:23

and he also became more prominent, I

24:25

shall we say, in Ericsson Harg's

24:27

reign. He was involved in meetings when

24:29

they're discussing who to go for.

24:31

for example, when Frankie the Young was

24:33

clearly not going to come and

24:35

they're trying to look at alternatives. So

24:38

that kind of era. So

24:40

yeah, I think it was maybe, the writing was

24:42

on the wall with this because, you know,

24:44

he was aligned, you know, John Murta was who

24:46

brought him in. They worked together at Everton

24:48

and Murta left, you know, last year. And,

24:51

you know, to Jim Ratcliffe's regime

24:53

have brought new people into that. picture

24:55

so Jason Wilcox as technical director

24:57

Christopher Vervell has had his interim director

24:59

of recruitment job made permanent and

25:01

I think that then led to a

25:03

new offer of a job to

25:05

Steve Brown that he felt wasn't suitable

25:07

for his experience in his point

25:09

of his career so he turned that

25:11

down so it's his decision to

25:13

leave and I think it also comes

25:15

at a time when Ratcliffe has desired

25:19

for more redundancies and they're going through

25:21

that process at the moment. I think the

25:23

scouting area will be hit. I think

25:25

they're having HR meetings coming up in the

25:27

next week or so where they're going

25:29

to go through that process. But

25:31

yeah, they had about, I mean, when I

25:33

first did a piece a couple of years ago,

25:35

it was 140 scouts, 90, I

25:37

think casual, 50 permanent, and then that's

25:39

even come down to about 80

25:42

more recently, but still. that is probably

25:44

a pretty big number and Ratcliffe

25:46

I think is saying that that's too

25:48

much and again you can debate

25:50

the merits of that a little bit

25:52

but clearly these are changes that

25:54

I think were in the offering for

25:56

a while and now they've come

25:58

to conclusion really. Yeah just to spell

26:00

it out then so Project Bethlehem

26:02

that was a recruitment rebuild in the

26:04

aftermath of Sir Alex Ferguson's just

26:06

contact book basically and then Tracker Man

26:08

was designed which was United's bespoke

26:10

scouting database to be a cross. all

26:13

the data and all the lists

26:15

of players across the world that

26:17

United were targeting which led to

26:19

the how many right backs the

26:22

SS before signing Arumambasaka. 804.

26:24

804 so it was a pretty well extensive

26:26

and obviously you know i mean so this

26:28

was something that for example ed woodward he

26:30

was the he led this in a way

26:32

you know trying to change this and he

26:34

i think he quoted that number to two

26:36

people and um you could say to me

26:38

that was my interview was that actually in

26:40

your interview i thought it was only of

26:43

a stuff sort of you know off the

26:45

record so uh okay it was actually in

26:47

your interview um i mean but people would

26:49

say well are you know 800 right backs

26:51

really good enough to play for mantis united's

26:53

you know well when they all come down

26:55

on one besaka I mean, I can understand

26:57

why 800 might be assessed, I suppose. Yeah,

27:00

anyway, let's move on everyone. Bersak

27:02

is long gone. Andy, in

27:04

terms of The future then, we'll

27:06

talk about some of the redundancies in

27:09

a moment because it's going to be another

27:11

difficult week to be around the club.

27:13

There's been a lot of them in recent

27:15

weeks off the pitch. But what do

27:17

you think the future of United Scouting Department

27:19

looks like then? What are these wide -ranging

27:21

changes that they're trying to bring about?

27:23

It's another rip it up and start again,

27:26

almost bringing all your new people in

27:28

with this idealized version of a brighter future.

27:30

None of us know whether it's going to work

27:33

or not. There's a reduction in the numbers

27:35

of personnel, reductions in staffing

27:37

in almost every area right

27:39

across Manchester United and employees

27:41

are deciding whether to take

27:43

redundancy now when the terms

27:45

are relatively attractive compared to

27:48

what it might be like

27:50

in the future. Some

27:52

of them are moving on at

27:54

their own accord, some of them

27:56

are losing their jobs. It's a

27:58

difficult time at Manchester United. The

28:00

headcount continues to be reduced. Some

28:02

really good people are leaving. Manchester

28:05

United. I wish every

28:07

single person who's moving on well. The

28:09

club is losing some very competent

28:11

people. James Holroyd, who

28:13

headed up the merchandise, which is

28:15

incredibly lucrative and profit -making, you

28:18

know, he's going to be the new Chief Executive

28:20

at Burnley in the Premier League. So

28:22

this is a calibre of people. you

28:24

are losing. These aren't people who are

28:26

going, oh no, I've been lucky to

28:28

work at Man United. Not everyone is

28:30

a genius either. Some people I've seen

28:33

lose a job and I've privately thought

28:35

I wouldn't give you a job. But

28:37

there are lots of others with decades

28:39

of service who are moving on. And

28:41

this is part of the drive to

28:43

get the staff headcount down to around

28:45

700 because Manchester United are losing so

28:48

much money. But there's a lot of

28:50

tension at the club. There's uncertainty. I'm

28:52

hoping this will be the last

28:54

round of redundancies or where people can

28:56

take redundancies. And I spoke to

28:58

a lot of staff who they're just

29:01

like, it's just not for me

29:03

anymore. I want to move on. I

29:05

want to do something else. And

29:07

they're entitled to make those choices. That's

29:10

quite a different Sandy though, isn't it

29:12

from the last round of redundancies? I mean,

29:14

speaking to people around the club in many

29:16

different departments, just the way that things have

29:18

gone over recent times, it feels like there

29:20

is a lot more people willing to

29:22

leave. now than there was the first time

29:24

around. Is that fair? It is

29:26

fair and there are a couple of

29:28

reasons for that. There are redundancy terms

29:30

being offered. at the moment that are

29:32

unlikely to be there in the future

29:34

if you look how how INEOS makes

29:37

staff redundant it's not normal for them

29:39

to to offer such a general term

29:41

so some members of staff are like

29:43

okay I can go now I can

29:45

get this amount of money that gives

29:47

me a little bit of breathing space

29:49

to look at what I can do

29:51

next I can weigh up my options

29:53

there are others who are just like

29:55

I'm not happy in this environment this

29:57

isn't for me I've given it a

29:59

shot working under the new regime. I

30:02

don't particularly like it. And there's two sides to that,

30:04

you know. That is

30:06

their option. And they

30:08

decided to move on. And then there were

30:10

other people who were losing their job, plain

30:12

and simple. And that's obviously difficult

30:14

because they've not really done anything wrong.

30:17

The spanner area is that when

30:19

the redundancies were originally announced, It

30:21

was originally said there's only going

30:23

to be one round of redundancies.

30:26

This is now the second round

30:28

of redundancies. So when that happens,

30:30

staff are like, well, wait a

30:32

minute, you didn't say that. So

30:34

a neutral will be hoping that

30:37

there will be not another round

30:39

of redundancies. But the fact is

30:41

Manchester United were losing between £18

30:43

and £90 million per year. It

30:46

couldn't carry on. You're

30:48

now bringing the staff count right

30:50

down to... even being the biggest employees

30:52

in the Premier League and you

30:54

could argue that while Manchester United are

30:57

absolutely bobbins on the pitch, it's

30:59

still a huge club and you need

31:01

staff to be able to do

31:03

that. You're seeing little mistakes because someone

31:05

who was in charge of that

31:07

part has left the club. And that's

31:10

why there's a little bit of

31:12

tension and mistakes. In

31:14

the best case scenario, you would

31:16

hope for a leaner and more

31:18

productive workforce. But it's been

31:20

an incredibly difficult time for people at

31:22

Manchester United. That said, there's been a

31:24

lot of new arrivals as well. They

31:26

deserve their chance to shine. They deserve

31:29

their chance to... make a good impression.

31:31

There was definitely an element

31:33

of staleness. A lot of

31:36

people who found themselves in positions that they

31:38

weren't qualified to be in, if I'm honest. Now

31:40

you've seen all of these changes. Some

31:42

changes were definitely needed. Yeah you want a

31:45

motivated workforce as well. United have to

31:47

try and find a way to get that

31:49

again right across the club. The timing

31:51

I'm sure Carl will be down to some

31:53

legal issues and technical issues but again

31:55

you know Laurie says there that there's a

31:57

week coming up where people are going

31:59

to be finding out and having meetings with

32:01

HR and it really is a stark

32:04

contrast with the team needing to give their

32:06

all in there. Europa League

32:08

semi -final, doesn't it? I mean, the timing,

32:10

there's never a good time for people to

32:12

lose the jobs clearly, but the timing

32:14

for the team seems a bit questionable again,

32:16

but you know, maybe that's beyond the

32:18

control. Timing for teams seems a

32:20

bit questionable. I'm the son of

32:23

an accountant, so my head's going, hang on,

32:25

who tax you? What was the April and

32:27

whatnot? So is that maybe doing that? You're

32:29

getting a feel for your budgets, what you're

32:31

going to do now? You're shuffling

32:33

the deck? I think Andy's completely bang

32:35

on. in how things are a bit

32:37

different in this round of layoffs compared

32:39

to the other one in that there

32:41

are people there are a section of

32:43

people that are going nah this is

32:46

becoming a new environment that's not for

32:48

me anymore then I'm gonna walk albeit

32:50

with a hand in my back at

32:52

the same time there are football clubs

32:54

like Chelsea that it was expressed to

32:56

me when Chelsea do layoffs they rip

32:58

the bandaid off and do it all

33:00

at once and get it over and

33:02

done with but this is So Jim's

33:05

way in your says way of doing

33:07

things and and unfortunately, this is the

33:09

new reality. I think you are if

33:11

you are particularly eagle -eyed and Covering

33:13

when you're looking at man United. I

33:15

think you can even begin to feel

33:17

the difference in the smaller workforce There

33:19

are two or three bits now when

33:21

I'm looking at my United youth team

33:24

coverage. I'm going hang on There are

33:26

just fewer people about to help bring

33:28

all this information in and It's

33:30

just something I have to get used

33:32

to, unfortunately. And I think things will

33:34

stabilize once we get a clearer picture

33:36

of if any European, if you know,

33:38

we're playing European competition next season and

33:40

what happens next after that. That's a

33:42

really good point, Carl, because if you're

33:44

playing European competition, your budgets are going

33:46

to be much higher, even Europa League,

33:48

which obviously United can't play next season.

33:51

You've got loads more match days. Each

33:53

match brings in millions of pounds. Every

33:55

single department is affected by this because

33:57

if, for example, you're

33:59

the analysis department, then

34:01

you've got 20 %

34:04

fewer games need

34:06

analyzing. If you work in the

34:08

shop, you've got 20 % fewer games

34:10

that that needs to be staffed at.

34:12

This is another reason why it is

34:14

so important to be playing European football

34:16

next year, but it's still a stretch

34:18

because, well, what we're saying, a one

34:20

in four chance. Let's

34:22

talk about Europe. after

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36:06

Thursday night, bill bow. Manchester United

36:08

in the first leg of their Europa

36:10

League semi -final against Athletic Club We've

36:12

already mentioned it, but quite simply

36:14

it's the biggest game of United season

36:16

so far and Andy You can

36:19

see this up for me. You've been

36:21

in conversation with an insider who

36:23

knows a little bit about our opponents.

36:25

Yeah, Jossu's an athletic fan. He's

36:27

a football coach as well. He worked

36:29

at Barca with the young teams

36:31

and I know a couple of athletic

36:33

season ticket holders and I thought

36:35

he would be good in part because

36:37

his English is decent. So I

36:39

met him on Friday and we had

36:42

a little chat. Welcome

36:44

to Talk of the Devils

36:46

Jossu. How do you feel

36:48

about your club playing Manchester

36:50

United in Europa League? For

36:52

us, it's a good opportunity

36:54

to feel better and demonstrate

36:56

to Europe that we can

36:58

fight against one of the

37:00

monsters of the clubs here

37:02

in this continent. So for

37:04

us, it's an opportunity. What

37:07

is the atmosphere going to be like in

37:09

San Mavez on Thursday for the first leg?

37:11

At home, it's always,

37:14

always fantastic. You're

37:16

going to see against

37:18

these kind of matches

37:20

is a little bit...

37:22

one step better because

37:24

the people is always

37:26

helping the team. Never,

37:28

never, never saying bad

37:30

things about the play. How

37:32

has this season been

37:34

for you? Fourth in

37:37

the Liga, progress in

37:39

Europa League? Yeah, it's

37:41

a super season because

37:43

our first idea was

37:45

maybe try to repeat

37:47

Kings Cup. But then,

37:49

with the final in

37:51

Bilbao, the other

37:53

idea was this, arrived there. And

37:56

of course, the fourth place in the league,

37:58

it's a way to go to a Champions

38:00

League, so for us it's amazing. Who

38:03

are your most important players? We

38:06

have some players, good level.

38:08

We have maybe the best

38:10

goalkeeper in the league, it's

38:12

Simon. We have two central

38:14

backs. with a good

38:16

level, Vivian and Gerai, and then

38:18

in the midfield we have some

38:21

players who can play, who can

38:23

fight, and we have Santhet,

38:25

offensive midfielder, maybe he doesn't play

38:27

on Thessaly because maybe he's injured,

38:29

but we don't know. And then

38:31

we have Williams' brothers, William Brothers.

38:34

They are so dangerous for the

38:36

opponents because they have power

38:38

to go, to try to dribble

38:40

in the opponents to score,

38:42

so we have chances to to

38:45

try to win. Your coach Ernesto

38:47

Valverde is very respected. He won

38:49

the league at Barça. He was

38:51

somebody Manchester United were interested in

38:53

taking as manager two or three

38:55

years ago. Tell me briefly

38:57

what is he like? I

39:00

think Valverde is a

39:02

little bit not modern

39:05

coach. But he's

39:07

super -equilibrated. He always

39:09

has clear ideas with

39:11

clear misads for the

39:13

players and for the

39:15

atmosphere of the fans. And

39:18

when he wins, he

39:20

never loses his idea. And

39:23

when he loses, it's the same.

39:25

So it's an important thing for us

39:27

because with... With

39:29

the philosophy of Atleti Bilbao, we need

39:31

this kind of coaches. The philosophy is Basque

39:33

only players. Is this something you would

39:35

ever like to change? No, it's

39:37

impossible there, change there. The

39:40

mentality of Basque people and

39:42

Bilbao's fans is always play

39:44

with the people from Basque

39:46

country. It's not our club

39:48

if we change this idea. What

39:51

do you think of Manchester United

39:53

and what kind of reception will

39:55

the travelling supporters get in Bilbao?

39:57

There were some problems with rangers

40:00

supporters, but last time when United

40:02

played there, it was an incredible

40:04

party atmosphere. Yeah, I think

40:06

it will be a party. Bilbao

40:08

is a good city to have

40:11

or two days to drink,

40:13

to eat, to visit.

40:15

We have some museums, things

40:18

to do and then

40:20

the atmosphere of the city

40:22

is always trying to

40:24

receive good to the bisters

40:26

or any problem. Are

40:28

you confident? With

40:31

a lot of respect from

40:33

Man United because you are one

40:35

of the best teams in

40:37

the world for me. Not

40:39

now because the level is

40:41

a little bit poor if you

40:43

compare with the best of

40:45

the Premier League but For us

40:47

it's always Man United, one

40:49

of the best teams in the

40:51

world, so maximum respect but

40:53

confidence, yes. How important

40:55

was the game in 2012 when

40:57

you won Old Trafford and then

41:00

back in San Marmez? I

41:02

was there, I was there

41:04

with Bielsa, 2 -3 we won

41:07

there, it was amazing because you

41:09

were better than now in

41:11

this year with Rune, with these

41:13

kind of players and for

41:15

us was an amazing

41:17

match with a good team

41:20

and for us now it's

41:22

different because we have now

41:24

maybe we need to win

41:26

because the final is in

41:28

Bilbao so it's a different

41:31

chance. Can you

41:33

teach me some Basque? Yeah. How

41:35

do I say glory, glory,

41:37

man united? You can say for

41:39

example Gora Gora man united.

41:41

Gora Gora it means a little

41:43

bit up up man united.

41:45

Something like that. Gora Gora man

41:47

united. And when I hear

41:49

Aupa, what does this mean? It's

41:51

similar. It's a similar word,

41:53

but Aupa is a Spanish word

41:55

that we use there in

41:57

the north of Spain. Aupa, but

41:59

Gora is Basque. So

42:01

it's similar. The Basque cuisine

42:03

is very famous, the Pinchos.

42:06

What is better, fish and chips

42:08

from the north of England or

42:10

the Pinchos and the freestyle Michelin

42:12

restaurants of the Basque country? For

42:14

me Pinchos, but we can fry

42:17

both. Prediction please for

42:19

the game in Bilbao.

42:21

2 -0 for Bilbao. Am

42:23

I allowed to call you Bilbao

42:25

because everybody says... Athletic. It's always athletic.

42:27

Athletic or athletic club? Athletic. Yeah,

42:29

it's athletic for us. It's never Bilbao.

42:31

Never Bilbao, yeah. I thought that

42:33

I was just checking. It's athletic, yeah.

42:36

Esquericasco. Es dago so retic. And

42:38

are you calling them by the wrong

42:40

name there, were you? No, just checking. Okay,

42:43

yeah. Esquericasco

42:45

is thank you in Basque. So

42:47

if you're going, just be really

42:50

appreciated if you spoke a couple

42:52

of Basque words on Thursday. The

42:54

Confident, I can see why. Fourth

42:56

in the Liga. They've got a five point

42:59

cushion in the Champions League places in that

43:01

competition. One defeat in the

43:03

last 10 and that was away at

43:05

Real Madrid with a pretty heavily rotated

43:07

team after the games against Rangers in

43:09

the quarterfinal of the Europa League. The

43:12

thing that stood out to me, they've only

43:14

conceded two goals in the past eight games. And

43:16

if Manchester United are a team who struggles

43:18

to score, that doesn't sound like

43:20

a very good statistic. They're a team with

43:22

no no passengers. They're a very competent team.

43:24

And if you look at who they've been

43:26

defeated against this year, it's Real

43:28

Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico, they're incredibly

43:30

consistent. The only time you

43:33

could say they've slipped up

43:35

is against. Besheet

43:37

Kass, managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In

43:39

his first game they got beaten 4 -1

43:41

there. Could we tap him up maybe

43:43

for some insider info Andy? I don't

43:45

know if you've got a number for

43:47

him. I will get some insider info

43:49

on that one. The other game they

43:52

lost was in Olympic or against Roma,

43:54

2 -1 away but they won 3 -1

43:56

back in the Basque Country. The atmosphere

43:58

will be off the scale. They've

44:00

got 3 or 4 top -top

44:02

class players who could easily move

44:04

on and play in a top

44:06

European team. Their manager is exceptionally

44:08

good. Strong history of Manchester United

44:11

against Athletic Club. There's a game

44:13

in the 50s in the European

44:15

Cup and obviously the game in

44:17

2012 where they won home and

44:19

away against a much stronger Manchester

44:21

United team. But I want

44:23

some positivity here. Oh yeah. Yeah look

44:25

how we're going to go into

44:27

this we're going to be thinking we're

44:29

you know this is a team

44:32

we were fourth in Spain they're not

44:34

first in Spain they are an

44:36

upgrade on on Real Sociedad but they

44:38

are they are beatable and the

44:40

second leg is at Old Trafford and

44:42

in normal circumstances that would be

44:44

a good thing but then it's only

44:46

on score four times at Old

44:48

Trafford. They don't matter if

44:50

we score five that's fine. Exactly. Bring

44:52

it on. I'm buzzing that we're

44:54

still in this competition. No Scouts in

44:57

Europe, no City in Europe. Manchester

44:59

United are still in Europe. I don't

45:01

want to be anything other than

45:03

positive either. So looking at their away

45:05

performances, Laurie in the Europa League. 0

45:07

-0 in the last round at

45:10

Rangers with 10 men. They lost

45:12

2 -1 against Roma in the last

45:14

16, which Andy's mentioned. He also

45:16

mentioned the defeat to the Sigtas

45:18

as well. It's just at home,

45:20

isn't it? They've won all six

45:22

of their games in the competition

45:24

at the San Mames and United

45:26

really do need to be leaving

45:28

that first leg with something more

45:30

than a deficit. to build on

45:32

in the second leg do you

45:34

feel yeah i think so but

45:36

i know i've rewatched the highlights

45:38

of them taking on rangers you

45:40

know okay maybe it's a condensed

45:42

well we we saw off rangers

45:44

easily didn't we didn't exactly and

45:46

they had to get A red

45:48

card after 12 minutes, a VAR

45:50

penalty, a VAR penalty in the

45:52

home game as well. So yeah,

45:55

if the VAR officials are just on

45:57

United's side again, as they were on

45:59

the South Coast, then they'll be okay.

46:01

And I've got more positivity for you.

46:03

United have scored in every single game

46:05

in the Europa League this season. That's

46:07

12 games, 28 goals, a rate of

46:10

2 .3 per game. Go on, lorry lad.

46:12

Athletic club Bill Bow have got nothing

46:14

for it, for that kind of attack

46:16

unit. Just

46:18

to paraphrase the

46:20

99 statement, United, are

46:23

they going to score? They always

46:25

score. Clive Tildesley said those words

46:27

in 1999, I feel like... the

46:29

commentators could say those words again

46:31

in 2025. I don't know,

46:33

I've said it like that. My

46:35

mind has gone. I'm frazzled by this

46:37

revelation that United are actually an

46:39

incredible offensive force. that, being called the

46:41

monsters, the monsters of the only

46:44

unbeaten team. Only unbeaten team in Europe.

46:46

When you look at Athletic, I

46:48

mean, there's the Williams brothers, obviously Nico

46:50

Williams shot to fame last summer. He's

46:53

been battling a little bit of a

46:55

calf injury. He was back for the

46:57

last game off the bench against Las

46:59

Palmas, so you'd think he'd be fit.

47:01

But the good news is that there's

47:03

a huge doubt over their top scorer,

47:05

Oihan Sanset. Is that the right way

47:07

to pronounce it, Andy? Yeah, he's from

47:09

Pamplona. I'm speaking to one of their

47:11

other players who's also from Pamplona today

47:13

who will probably play Alex Berenguer if

47:15

Sanset doesn't play. Okay, Sansa has been

47:17

their best player this year, but this

47:19

hasn't been a good couple of months

47:21

for him There's a lot of very

47:23

tired and a few injured players in

47:26

that team. So he had hamstring injury

47:28

He came back. He was substitute a

47:30

few times. He did start against last

47:32

Palmas last week Athletic we've got a

47:34

huge gap coming into this game But

47:36

he came off after 22 minutes, which

47:38

is not a good sign for them

47:40

If he if he doesn't play then

47:42

Alex Benengar who I'm gonna speak to

47:44

later who scored the goal to win

47:46

their first trophy in 40 years last

47:48

year, he would play, he's also an

47:50

excellent player. Yeah, 17 goals in all

47:52

competitions, Sansette. No one in

47:55

15 of those are in La Liga.

47:57

No one scored more than six in La

47:59

Liga, other than him, Kyle. So it

48:01

would be a miss for them, wouldn't it?

48:03

Absolutely. He's one of those players that

48:05

I'm sure will get linked to a number

48:07

of Premier League clubs this summer before

48:09

those clubs realise how much more difficult it

48:11

is to get a player out of

48:13

athletic due to their Unique approach

48:16

to transfer dealings also an ackee Williams is

48:18

is in around there and I've been

48:20

watching him for years and years and years

48:22

because he declared for Ghana. Fascinating

48:24

football player played I wanna say

48:26

251. Start 251 games consecutively made

48:28

more remarkable because for a certain

48:30

amount of time he had a

48:32

piece of glass in his foot

48:34

and he just kept trucking and

48:36

excited. Good hard Ghanaian food

48:38

is helping him play football so. Look

48:41

the anackee brothers are. tremendous

48:44

individuals and great football players to

48:46

watch. And I wish them a

48:48

absolutely miserable Thursday. Yeah, absolutely.

48:50

And I hope next Thursday's rubbish as well.

48:52

What about the lineup, Carl? How do you see

48:54

United going? I mean, there's no Diogo Dallo. sounds

48:57

like he could well be out for

48:59

the season actually maybe he could make it

49:01

back for the Europa League final if

49:03

United get there but his injury definitely will

49:05

keep him out of this first leg

49:07

no question obviously Mazurawi was taken off early

49:09

so you presume that he is in

49:11

line to start at right wing back we

49:13

don't know whether Matias Delict might be

49:15

back there's a question might like we said

49:17

about Luke Shaw's capability of playing midfield

49:19

now with Manu in the mix with Agate

49:21

Casimiro Bruno Highland has to

49:23

start. That's the one thing we do know.

49:25

So how do you think they'll go united?

49:27

Lugate and Casimir will return in a century

49:29

with food pairing, I believe. And Bruno Fernandez

49:31

will have to sort of floating row as

49:33

a number 10. I think

49:36

Garnaccio will be a number number 10. And

49:38

then it's Manu and others as your

49:40

finishes off the bench. I

49:42

think the team is almost beginning to

49:44

pick itself if only by the fold. Dallow

49:47

is a miss. You did see the

49:49

lack of physicality in wide areas for

49:51

two or three moments against Bournemouth. But

49:53

yeah, I'm not too concerned about this

49:55

lineup. There's not too many things I'm

49:57

going to throw at me now that

49:59

I'm to go, what? Excuse me. Which

50:02

is odd. Yeah,

50:05

this is doable. It's

50:07

going to be hard, but it's doable. Laurie,

50:09

any chance of Ahmad being back? I

50:12

don't think so, I mean I know he's

50:14

returning to training we saw him a couple

50:16

of weeks ago sort of so low but

50:18

when I asked around that at that point

50:20

the suggestion to me was that semifinals would

50:22

be too soon I mean I guess he's

50:24

got obviously another week then for the home

50:26

game he's obviously you know chomping at the

50:28

bit isn't he to come back and that

50:30

would be a real big boost you I

50:32

suppose you just don't want to throw him

50:35

in when he's not quite ready but I

50:37

suppose it being an ankle injury rather than

50:39

a muscle injury you feel maybe a bit

50:41

safer to to try him in that sense

50:43

it was interesting actually Amarin after the game

50:45

at Bournemouth for the first time said that

50:47

not having Cheeto Obi in his squad was

50:50

unfortunate for the Europa League, whereas previously I

50:52

think he's kind of approached it well,

50:54

he wasn't on the radar at that stage

50:56

and you know it was just circumstance,

50:58

it didn't seem to have too much significance

51:00

around it but I think after the

51:02

game I think he realised okay maybe it

51:04

would have been quite good to just

51:06

have him as an option to send on

51:08

because he sent him on didn't he

51:10

against Bournemouth and within five minutes he'd kind

51:12

of got a chance for himself shot

51:14

on goal. awkward angle so they're the kind

51:16

of chances that he seems to be

51:18

able to make for himself even though you

51:21

don't want to rely on him but

51:23

as an option to to alternate from holland

51:25

then yeah i think clearly amrin has

51:27

probably gone yeah i would have quite like

51:29

that andy final word on this it's

51:31

a european semi -final most teams in english

51:33

football are not in europe it's going to

51:35

be an amazing atmosphere in a top

51:37

stadium in a wonderful city, which

51:39

is difficult to get to. Ticket

51:41

prices for United fans are less

51:43

than half they were in 2012,

51:45

so there's been progress made there

51:47

by fan groups, by UEFA.

51:50

Can't say the same for the home fans.

51:52

Their average ticket price is €180. Wow.

51:55

The Basques are really friendly. It's

51:57

going to be a party atmosphere. There's

51:59

a little bit of tension around the Rangers game.

52:01

There won't be that there with Manchester United. If

52:04

you go in, get behind your team. Enjoy

52:06

it. It's a huge game and

52:08

as you've all said got to

52:10

survive it and get back to

52:12

old Trafford with a fighting chance

52:14

of reaching the final and a

52:17

trip to Bilbao Boomerang to Bilbao.

52:19

Okay, that's it then for talk

52:21

the devils For this episode,

52:23

Laurie, Andy, Kyle, thank you so much.

52:25

We are going to be back though,

52:27

ahead of that first leg with Talk

52:29

of the Devils Extra. It should be

52:31

out late on Tuesday or early Wednesday,

52:33

depending on how quick our producer Ollie

52:35

gets on with this. And it's all

52:37

about Manchester United's best ever European away

52:39

games and the best trips that you've

52:41

made as well. Loads of you have

52:43

been in touch, so it should be

52:45

a brilliant episode. Thank you in advance

52:47

for everyone getting in touch. We're hoping

52:49

that it's going to bring some good

52:51

karma. for Thursday. The usual

52:53

podcast will be back after the first leg

52:56

in Bilbao as well. So we'll speak

52:58

to you on either of those podcasts. But

53:00

yeah, thank you for your company. Good luck

53:02

United on Thursday and we'll speak to you

53:05

soon. Thanks for listening. Take care. Bye

53:07

bye. The

53:31

Athletic FC Podcast Network.