Key events
It’s also worth noting that Patrick Dorgu starts at left-back tonight, for the first time under Carrick. Bought for Ruben Amorim, really he’s a specialist wing-back – not a defender because his awareness isn’t great, nor his ability to pass the ball out from the back, nor a winger because he lacks finesse and one-on-one ability – he starts at the back tonight mainly because Shaw is rested and there’s no better option. But if he’s to have a future as a starter, it feels much more likely it’ll be at the back than in attack – though, as we’ve seen he’s got a worldie in him.
Thinking more about that United defence, this is a big evening for Leny Yoro. He was pretty good in his first season at Old Trafford, but didn’t get to play much last; ultimately, Carrick couldn’t afford to risk him because he had a formula that worked – Maguire and Martinez, plus fast counters – with points to win and a job to secure.
But if United are to get properly good, they need to close the huge spaces in their midfield that come about partly because of how deep that first-choice centre-back pairing needs to defend due to its lack of pace – for defensive reasons, but also so they can squeeze up on opposing teas. Though Yoro has actually been better at left centre-back, not right, Martínez’s playmaking is perhaps the best in the world – one of the reasons United struggled for parts of the game at the weekend is because Everton forced the ball to Maguire – so he can’t really be left out.
A good game tonight won’t be enough to earn a derby spot, I don’t think, but I’m certain the plan is to upgrade on Maguire – and perhaps Martínez too. If Yoro has a good season, he can be the internal solution to solve that problem; if he doesn’t, he’ll have a problem, because United won’t be waiting.
Email! “Yes, there are reasons both emotional and mythological why United need to be in the Champions League,” concedes Matt Dony. “But there are equally emotional and mythological reasons why, to fans of other clubs, their Champions League return being on a Thursday night against a relative European minnow is objectively funny. It sort of doesn’t feel like a Champions League night. Not that that will matter one jot to the players and fans. And it shouldn’t, obviously. A club like United clearly belong here. It’s a footballing shame that they’ve been so far away for so long. I’m not convinced Carrick is the long-term solution, but I hope he enjoys an extended European adventure. (Just not too extended, obviously.)”
Of course – one of the joys of football is the opportunity to glory in ultimately meaningless misery. Carrick’s done well so far, and though there’s not been as much progress as is required out of possession, in possession they’re doing more of the right things, with Carlos Baleba still to come in. He may not be the long-term solution because almost no one is, but he might be able to take United most of the way, even if it requires someone else to finish the job. Whoever on earth that is.
The manner of Sabah’s qualification was also incredible. Get a load of this.
Sabah, by the way, are second in the Azerbaijani league with three wins from three. If you’ve not come across their manager’s story, it’s a movie; the movie Slumdog Millionaire wishes it was.
Carrick tells TNT they’ll give Sabah maximum respect. They’ve won a lot of matches, play attractive, attacking football, and they’ll be a challenge, but he’s mainly focused on United.
Shaw came off with cramp at the weekend so they opted not to take a chance on him, but they wanted freshen things up and get the balance right. He’s got a good squad and thinks this is a good team, but he didn’t want to change too much as that makes things difficult.
Though results haven’t been great, Carrick thinks United have improved from last season, with some good attacking and combination play. He wants his team to be ready from the first whistle and other scat, then off he goes.
Looking more closely at that United XI, it makes broad sense. Though I’m not sure why it’s Noussair Mazraoui not Diogo Dalot, Michael Carrick can’t afford to risk Luke Shaw, who didn’t train yesterday, given the lack of left-back alternative and derby coming on Sunday.
In the centre of defence, Leny Yoro gets a necessary start, Matheus Cunha is back on the left, and Benjamin Sesko makes his first start of the season after scoring off the bench at Everton. It’s also worth noting that Mason Mount, really impressive in pre-season playing in the midfield pivot, is on the bench having injured himself – sadly, again – though the competition for places in that position is intense.
Latest scores: Fenerbahce 1-1 Roma, PSV 1-1 Shakhtar.
Teams
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Mazraoui, Yoro, Martínez, Dorgu; Tielemans, Mainoo; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko. Subs: Darlow, Mee, Dalot, Maguire, Mount, Rashford, Zirkzee, Andrey Santos, Heaven, Lacey, Fletcher T, Amass.
Sabah (4-2-3-1): Pokatilov; Zedaka, McCarthy, Dashdamirov, Puchacz; Rakhmonalev, Lepinjica; Parris, Simic, Nwachukwu; Mickels. Subs: Ramazanov, Mirzammadov, Kahibulaev, Isaev, Rustamli, Mutallimov, Almeida, Du Queiroz, Fernandes, Mukhtarov, Mbina.
Preamble
We live in a world eager to issue commands about all the things we need – chief among them money, not one we often contest. But it is unarguably the case that the world’s resources are bountiful enough for every person in it to live in comfort and luxury … if only our species was pleasant enough to deem that essential.
The problem is that for some people, it’s not about having, but about having more. Take Manchester United, for example: we’re currently being told that they need to be in the Champions League because the financial disadvantage of being out of it is so extreme that it’s impossible for them to compete with the clubs that are involved.
This is not so because, rather like planet earth – yes, here cometh the segue – Manchester United possesses the means to sustain itself. Rather what Manchester United need is owners who don’t sequester sizeable chunks of what it generates for their own selfish ends.
It does, though, remain the case that for reasons emotional and mythological, well enough known not to require enumerating here, Manchester United need to be in the Champions League. Well, here they are.
And they have the players to do something. They’ve made a spotty start in the league, but despite conceding an injury-time equaliser at Everton last weekend, the game contained more positives than negatives, the team still settling into a style of play intended to be dominant and controlled, in the aftermath of a World Cup summer, with their big midfield signing still injured.
All that will cost them in the league, so too the failure or inability to reinforce the defence. But provided they can stay in this competition into the new year – something that’s often been beyond them in the Post-Fergie Wilderness YearsTM – they ought by then to have a method which suits knockout football, and already no longer have André Onana in net, chucking them in as fast as they can be scored.
In the meantime, though, there’s a league out of which they need to get – created, by amazing coincidence, because for some, it’s not about having but about having more.
Kick-off: 8pm BST