Hello! Welcome to a brand new column from me, Ian Irving, host of the Talk of the Devils podcast. Every Friday during the season, I will bring you my reflections, along with the best of our Manchester United content from across our channels, just in case you missed it. There will also be some big talking points and debates as we head into the weekend action. So let’s get to it…
“One more time/We’re gonna celebrate/Celebrate and dance so free…”
Against Wolves on Monday night at Molineux, Manchester United’s away fans serenaded their side with their new chant.
Celebrating and feeling free about a team still trying to be less daft, more punk, is easier some days than others. There is just such a difference of feeling across the fanbase at the moment about almost every aspect: the players, the head coach, the formation, the use of the academy… I could go on. Even within matches, the conflict can become clear.
Are Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United the side that put in a slick second half against Wolves or the team that wasted the moment in the first half when they led, the opposition looked crushed, and there was a mutiny at Molineux on the terraces?
Bryan Mbeumo scores the second against Wolves (Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
We understand what it’s like to follow our football club at the moment. For us to record Talk of the Devils each week and for The Athletic’s team to write their articles and get the tone right is tricky. There’s a constant contradiction between reflecting the extremes of opinion and setting the agenda with the insight we have from inside Old Trafford.
No doubt United needed that second half against Wolves — Amorim certainly did — after a week in which the mood had slumped again, when the slender lead was squandered against West Ham.
I asked Mason Mount about exactly that after the match, and he agreed, pointing out that the momentum needs to continue against Bournemouth on Monday. Amorim said similar in his interviews. “We need to reach a point in this club that we can have 20 wins in a row; the next one is so important and crucial to win,” he said in the press conference after the game at Wolves.
Every match feels like yet another yardstick for this team and their form, and the mood lurches as a result.
I’ve covered a lot of Liverpool and Manchester City matches this season, and it’s certainly not a phenomenon restricted just to Old Trafford. But maybe no other club embodies the see-saw of opinion more than the modern Manchester United. It can be easy to feel a bit queasy.
Have Manchester United turned the corner? How many times can that question be asked? Undoubtedly, it will be again after Bournemouth. One more time.
The United divide?
One of our semi-regular sections will be based on a big talking point over which opinions are split. There will be plenty to go at. First up, Mr Mainoo.
Oh, Kobbie. The cheer from the away end when Kobbie Mainoo was brought on against Wolves was almost the loudest of the night. And that’s saying something considering United scored four — and they seldom do that now, never mind six or 10. Laurie Whitwell and Mark Critchley wrote last weekend about a potential loan move away in January, and Carl Anka questioned what it would say about the modern Manchester United.
It was an interesting debate at the start of Thursday’s podcast, when Carl asked, “What is this Manchester United if Mainoo can’t represent it?” Your heart says there should be a place for him as an academy graduate, a local lad and boyhood fan, not to mention a player who has shown enormous potential. But if Amorim is the head coach and, in his judgement, other players are more deserving of a starting spot or better suited to his system, then where does that leave his future?
We will bring you the results of the poll in next week’s column.
Devils in the detail
Our look at the week’s main protagonist…
Mason Mount
Are we finally seeing the true Mason Mount? I was tasked with giving him the player of the match award after the win at Wolves, and despite Bruno Fernandes scoring twice and assisting Mount’s goal, it was well deserved. His energy, aggression and tactical diligence have made him a popular player with his managers down the years, and Amorim has certainly joined the list of admirers.
He’s behind Laurie in the queue, though obviously, and as our majestically coiffed writer outlined on Tuesday’s pod, every time Mount has scored this season, United have won. In fact, in the past five games he’s started, United have won. Perhaps his quality was never in doubt, but his fitness certainly has been. Mount has left no stone unturned in his attempts to stay fit and is regularly the last player at Carrington, with long stints in the ice bath and sauna after training to aid his recovery — and all his efforts seem to be paying off.
The 26-year-old is a popular member of the squad and a southern boy now properly settled in Manchester. United will need him to stay fit and keep up his form more than ever when the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on December 21. Good luck to him.
Manchester United players going to AFCON: Amad (Ivory Coast), Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco)
Fixtures they will miss: Aston Villa (A), Newcastle United (H), Wolverhampton Wanderers (H), Leeds United (A), Burnley (A), Brighton (H, FA Cup) Manchester City (H)
Red all over
The top articles (and podcasts and videos) that you might have missed this week…
- On the topic of United’s current No 7… Fancy being the self-proclaimed leader of the Mount fan club and naming Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic before him in a quiz about recent midfield signings. Can we confiscate Laurie’s membership card, please?
- Deep in Advent, it seems only right that a player named Gabriel should shine at Old Trafford. JJ Gabriel’s star is on the rise, and he underlined the social media hype with a match-winning display for United in the 1-0 FA Youth Cup win over Peterborough. Here’s the background story on the 15-year-old, one of the most talked about academy players at the moment.
- United’s perfect start to their women’s Champions League campaign may have stuttered slightly but understandably, with back-to-back defeats to strong Wolfsburg and Lyon sides. Marc Skinner’s squad are in the competition proper for the first time and still have a chance of automatic qualification for the knockout stages. They also face a crucial double-header with Spurs on the domestic front before the winter break. All the details are here…
Hannah Blundell arrives before the Women’s Champions League match against Lyon (Poppy Townson – MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)
- Is this the best arrival outfit you’ve ever seen? Ahead of the tie with Lyon, Hannah Blundell arrived, pushing her newborn daughter in a pram into Leigh Sports Village. The United defender made history in the win over West Ham, becoming the first professional player to return to competitive action for the club after giving birth.
Manchester Mailbox
This column needs you. Please send in your thoughts and questions each week on anything Manchester United related. Keep an eye here and on Talk of the Devils for the best of your messages. The email address is devilspod@theathletic.com — please put ‘TOTD column’ in the subject line for our attention.
But can you beat this from Nick Sullivan? I doubt it…
“I am starting a new art project and I came across these torn-out pages from a very old Independent weekend magazine article, about football fans and clothes.
“I saw a young Mr Mitten, but I thought no more of it and carried on with my research. Later that day in the evening at home, I listened to the ‘Talk Of the Devils’ pod, Fulham away (1/12/25), and it started with Laurie’s critique on Mr Mitten’s attire. Which made me laugh out loud, as I had earlier in the day at the studio ‘uncovered’ this old Independent clipping, so I thought I would send it across to you.
“Great show, best regards, Nick.”
Have a watch of the ’90s fashionista’s reaction at the end of Thursday’s Talk of the Devils…
And what a note to leave you on. Until next week!