United by Devils

UNITED BY DEVILS

[unitedbydevils]

Match Reviews: Manchester United Women versus...

I've been so swamped with work that these have stacked up, but good googly moogly do I have some opinions...

Manchester United Women 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain Féminines

United at Old Trafford. The stuff dreams are made of. A first ever Champions League appearance for the women at the Theatre of Dreams, but it was without star keeper Phallon Tullis Joyce, meaning Safia Middleton-Patel deputised.

Ironically, for our opponents, former keeper Mary Earps was in net, so this was something of a homecoming for her. The last time 'Mearps' featured for United was actually at Old Trafford in the WSL; a final day showdown in May 2024 where visitors Chelsea needed a win to secure yet another title and we succumbed 6-0. I was there. It sucked.

PSG tried testing the inexperienced Middleton-Patel early on and Echegini hit the post inside the first two minutes, but it was United who struck first; a long ball down the wing from Riviere and some impeccable duelling from Melvine Malard to catch up with the defender, overpower her, and cut in to finish across goal. 10/10.

In first half stoppage time, Olga Carmona buried an absolute beamer of a shot from distance into the top corner and past a full stretch Middleton-Patel. PSG carried on this intensity at the start of the second with Ebayilin having a great effort parried out for a corner. That corner was almost scrambled in too but for some clutch defending, but it is a worry how United handle box defending at the moment.

Luckily we have a Jess Park. Wide play hugging the sideline got us up the field through the thirds, and Jessica Park decided to cut in, skin a few people, show a bit of flair, and tee up Anna Sandberg for a lovely floated cross into the centre of the box where one Fridolina Rolfo was waiting to head home. 2-1 United, Champions League Rolfo at it again, Old Trafford bouncing.

Manchester City Women 3-0 Manchester United Women

Fucksake.

3 goals, all in the first half, but it could have been more. 4 minutes in and a ball behind Riviere saw Miedema shrug off Zigiotti and casually approach Maya Le Tissier before firing off the outside of the post. Firstly, don't get bullied like that Zigi. Secondly, CLOSE THE GAP MAYA ffs.

The entire time I'm watching it... it felt like United were half a second behind the play. If this was online gaming we'd be complaining about lag and running Speedtest to check our broadband speed. Lauren Hemp was in dazzling form, and fair dos she is mint, but this wasn't our best and in a game away at your city rivals... it's just not good enough.

A corner from Hemp in the 26th minute found Shaw easily at backpost, who headed it back central for Knaak to head in. 1-0 City, inevitable.

Minutes before half time and Rose would bundle past Miyazawa (again, poor strength) to feed Casparij out wide and a PEACH of a ball into the middle of the box for Shaw to stretch out and poke home. World class service, but poor coverage from Janssen and poor dive judgement from Middleton-Patel.

The third and final nail in the coffin came in stoppage time. A scrambled passing sequence from United out from the back saw a heavy ball from Galton miss Miyazawa - its intended target - and reach an outstretched Sandberg. She corrected, but fluffed her follow up pass, and Casparij countered; cutting in from the edge of the box to tee up Lauren Hemp in an acre of space and boom, pings it top left corner. Unstoppable goal, stoppable build-up. United punished for silly mistakes and the game was done at HT.

Jess Park did come close for United in the 71st minute, but shortly after that, in the 80th, we saw Zigiotti Olme robbed of the ball by Viv Miedema - defending quite deep. She then plays a big throughball to Shaw. It's 2v1 with MLT and Sandberg, yet neither takes responsibility to intercept and the ball just goes to Shaw for her to put on the afterburners. Saf made a good save at the end of it but what the fuck is going on with our defensive coordination?

VfL Wolfsburg Frauen 5-2 Manchester United Women

Marc Skinner said we got done over by City because they had a day's more rest than us and we were a bit tired. Now, I can believe the fatigue, given we're in all comps and have a modest squad size at best, but what happened here?

United typically go 4-2-3-1, so it was a little change of pace to go 4-3-3 with Zigi, Hini and Simi in the middle. They're industrious, and have good technical abilities, but it felt wrong and that the three were kind of in each other's way. I also dislike Tooney out wide on the right, though Rolfo and Malard were fine where they were.

Again this is on squad depth: Skinner's protecting Park a bit, and Bizet is out injured. It happens, it sucks, but then this is where a Keira Barry could help in the WSL a bit eh. Same for Jess Simpson at LB and Evie Rabjohn in centre.

United had a lucky escape 12 minutes in when Huth's effort crashed off the underside of the bar, and it seemed our luck in Europe was holding: Malard swinging in a cross from the left wing to find Fridolina Rolfo - against her former club - in the middle of the box. 1-0 to the visitors... ah how the optimism crumbles.

An injury to Jayde Riviere's face wasn't blown for, and Wolfsburg rightly played on and attacked United's half. Cue calamity. Bussy plays a ball centrally, MLT intercepts, she hits it harder than necessary back to Saf, who fluffs her clearance low into Peddemors, who bends it into the far side of the goal. 1-1.

If their first wasn't Middleton-Patel's fault, the second was. Peddemors having a pop from distance with a low, bobbling shot. It wasn't too fast, it wasn't remarkable really, and yet it squeezed in past the fingertips of the Welsh international and just like that the home side had the lead.

Beerensteyn made it 3-1 on the 45 minute mark but again, another shit sequence of United play. A strong pass from Maya to Zigi, who was visibly marked and would be easily crowded out. That 3-player press did occur, but she rode it out... and then fluffed her pass to Miyazawa. Now, that's irritating, but she's sprinting. Hini is jogging behind Beerensteyn, and Janssen keeps backpedaling, so Beerensteyn just hits it. Screamer, top right corner, class finish.

Luckily, whilst Rolfo exists, so too does Malard. From the kick off United went back on the offensive and somehow a headed backpass allowed a half-volley lob from Melvine to bring United back to 3-2. More than we deserved but hey, we take it.

My optimism for the second half quickly dissipated given that the home side were all over us. Depressing stuff, and then 65 minutes in and Beerensteyn scored her second; good strength against a poor Janssen to spin her and jog forward. Zigiotti again sprinted back whilst Miyazawa jogged back, Sandberg jogged back, Janssen jogged behind Beerensteyn, and MLT backpedaled til the Wolfsburg striker wasn't visible to Middleton-Patel at which point she pulled the trigger and 4-2.

The misery wasn't finished though, even if the game was, as a horrific backpass from Jayde Riviere left Endemann in acres of space to side-step an outrushing SMP and make it 5-2. Awful brainfart from the Canadian, but before that was an awful header into the feet of Endemann from Dominique Janssen. Not only a night to forget for our starting back 5, but a night that requires therapy. Ugh.

Conner Roberts from All For United WFC has written a piece on last night's defeat and he references a killer stat: we conceded 4 goals in our first 10 games this season, and now we've conceded 10 in the last 4. Ouch. United need to fix up fast or any hopes of silverware - in any competition - will disappear in a heartbeat. We can only hope that INEOS might back us in January to bring in 1-2 reinforcements, even loans, to help ease the burden, because if we're tired now we're going to die in February and March.

We've a brief break now for international fixtures, so United will be back at Leigh Sports Village for a midday kick-off on Sunday 7th December against West Ham in the WSL.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Manchester United

1 point is better than 0...

United played some fairly good football and looked decent value for our 1-0 lead for most of the game. Mbeumo, my FPL captain for the weekend, was meant to exploit the space behind the Spurs full backs and pow, goal. Instead he scored a header from an Amad cross. Ah well, same result 😂

The problem is that Amorim has unlocked Casemiro, which is great, but no Case no party for United. He came off and our midfield control wilted. All that possession and intelligence... pooof. Gone.

Ugarte's a good lad but he's just not rounded enough for what we need. He's a specialist. A terroriser type. He's rough and ready and a hound, but his lack of grace and quality on the ball is why we're looking at Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton, and Angelo Stiller. We do have Kobbie Mainoo, and I wish we'd use him more, but equally he's also injured so it means jack shit right now.

Thomas Frank is a solid manager, and I rate Mathys Tel, so his equaliser was unsurprising for me. Same for that shitter Richarlison scoring. Of course a melt like him would score a freak super goal.

What I'm concerned with, aside United's midfield deficiencies, is Ruben's tinkering.

Sesko for Mazraoui made sense, give us a CF, put Amad into RWB.

Mount for Cunha too - Matheus wasn't having a great game and Mount is a smart player who works hard.

Yoro for Maguire... didn't feel necessary. I'm happy to give Leny game time and I rate him highly, but defensive changes alter a delicate balance of trust and synergy. Amorim has a thing for a CB sub though.

Ugarte for Casemiro. Mainoo would have been perfect here alas. The problem is that Ugarte just didn't suit the game state. Jack Fletcher can play CAM and CM. He would have been much more suitable. Put an eager kid on with something to prove. Tell him to keep it simple, deny Spurs possession by playing keep-away, and watch him flourish. He has strong technique and passing.

Dalot for Dorgu. WHY? We finally had Patrick playing a good game, doing what we needed, and we sub him for the dimmest player in our team. Ugh.

Don't get me wrong - I rate Dalot's professionalism and workrate and mentality. He's just not a LWB. He's a RB, maybe a RWB. That's it. And away at Spurs these small margins matter. Were it me, I'd have kept Dorgu on and saved the sub. We'd already changed the dynamic with Yoro in for Maguire. Then, when Sesko got injured, here comes Diogo. Into RWB, Amad back forward, front 3 of him - Mount - Mbeumo. No 10 men situation. No dramas.

The saving grace - which is also down to Amorim - is our newfound mental resilience. We've come out the other side of the bad. We're not the finished article yet, but our mental focus now remains strong. Even with 10 men due to Sesko's injury, we kept at it, Mbeumo wins us a corner, and SUPER MATTY DE LIGT saves the day with a back post header to equalise. Legend.

It's the second international break now, so we get to pause while England host Serbia on Thursday and go away to Albania on Sunday. Other national teams are also available.

Next up then it's Everton on Monday 24th November at 8pm. A home tie, so hopefully we can get a win against them and keep our undefeated run going. We need to start to pull away from the pack, whether that puts us in a faux title challenge or sees us and the top sides pull away. We're 1-2-3 points away from Everton, Palace, and Bournemouth. A few more from West Ham and Wolves and Newcastle, also to come, but no game is easy because we're us and they're them and everyone tries that little bit harder with us.

Lets not waste the good run we've been on. 8/12 points from Liverpool, Brighton, Forest and Spurs is great, and with no defeats. It might not be the five win streak that Frank and his afro wanted, but lets see how long we can go without losing, and where we're at come the New Year eh? We can get Europe this season, I'm sure of it.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United Women 0-1 Aston Villa Women

Bugger.

Our first WSL defeat of the season. Marc Skinner's slightly altered side saw Gabby George, Lisa Naalsund, and Fridolina Rolfo all start, but you can't say that was the reason for United not winning here. We had entirely half chances in the first half, and barely better in the second. Possession counts for nothing if you can't score.

Villa, on the other hand, should have taken the lead midway through the first half through Georgia Mullett, whose tame hit in the box wasted a huge Villa counter-attack. That said, this attempt did inspire the visitors to have more of a go at United, and that pressure paid off with ex-United player Kirsty Hanson winning a corner off Maya Le Tissier's legs. That corner, which was poorly cleared by a flapping United defence, saw a loose ball fall to Miri Taylor just inside the box, who fired home into the bottom corner.

All 11 United players are visible here, so WHY WAS SHE UNMARKED. Hini was short, in case the corner is played short. Jess Park had a floating player to mark nearby too, and yet she sprints across and is the closest to stopping Taylor. Great from Jess, embarrassing from the rest - notably Toone, Rolfo, and Naalsund.

Actually, on the replay, you see Naalsund choose to be a block, Janssen choose to be a block, Le Tissier blocking, and Rolfo moves out of the way - which might be to give Phallon vision more than cowardice, but ironically she could have blocked the effort with her head or body. Sigh.

The second half saw Villa make more of a go of it, but bugger me were we wasteful too. Jess Park made some uncharacteristic errors with her passing, whilst Hanson continued to look like a player we shouldn't have let go, and Ella Toone missed an absolute sitter mere inches from the Villa goal line - albeit defended 3v1. A tame left foot effort vs the hypothetical right foot smashed shot. The latter goes in and evens the score.

Ah well. A lesson learned, though with Chelsea and City looking so formidable, and Arsenal being Arsenal, it makes for a rough top 4 battle, let alone eyeing up the WSL title.

Next up: PSG at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. Tickets are £15, so get yourself along if you can. OT is so rarely this cheap, so it should be packed and a top atmosphere for a huge Champions League tie.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Brighton & Hove Albion Women 2-3 Manchester United Women

Bloody Brighton. They never make it easy eh.

Zigiotti almost struck early for United with a low shot in the 11th minute but it was a quiet first half from then until the 39th minute and a tame side foot effort from Ella Toone.

Luckily both would combine minutes later, with a Riviere cross from deep headed into the floor by Brighton and only as far as Tooney. A smart choice to tap a pass through rather than smash it seemed like a pass to Zigiotti, but she body blocked and turned to open a huge gap for Elisabeth Terland to step in and tuck a shot home inside the right post versus her former side. 1-0 United, but a masterclass in teamwork for the goal build-up.

Zigiotti was at it again in the second half, with a 53rd minute cross so deep backpost it almost drifted in, and caused Brighton keeper Chiamaka Nnadozie to clatter off her goalpost.

Five minutes later and our wondergirl Jess Park showed why she's so invaluable to us already; intense pressing of the Brighton backline, forcing them wide into the press of Jayde Riviere. Interception won, pass back to Park, throughball to Toone, back to the middle of the box for Park, left foot swinging finish into the Albion net. 2-0 United, and finally some breathing room.

Of course, Brighton didn't like that, and so came the fight back. A fine pass from sub Hannah Blundell (welcome back) to Maya Le Tissier saw the captain with an uncharacteristically heavy touch that put Seike in behind her - and it was only our far post that kept Brighton out.

A few minutes later and a bit of Brighton give-and-go put them around Hinata Miyazawa and the chasing Julia Zigiotti Olme and into the danger zone. Here's the issue. I can understand that Fran Kirby did her thing. What I don't get is why Dom Janssen is stood in No Man's Land and why Anna Sandberg isn't alert to this fact or the danger of Kirby. They do get pre-match briefings on opposition, and you know who a striker is by their positioning lol. It was good play from Brighton to open us up, but all too easy to do so.

Rolfo came close in the 71st minute, with an effort aimed low at the left post deflecting out for a corner, and almost turned assist maker in the 84th with a peach of a cross for the head of Terland - her effort pushed over.

Lisa Naalsund would get a rare goal in the 89th minute to give United a two-goal cushion once again, but 3-1 lasted... not very long. Brighton hit a hopeful curling ball down the left flank and for the second time Maya Le Tissier absolutely biffed her control and allowed Kiko Seite in for a cute chip over the shoulder of the outrushing Phallon Tullis Joyce to make it 2-3 in the 92nd minute.

So yes, a win, but a hard fought one that was let down by some stupid defensive errors. Two big errors from the captain too... hopefully it was just a bad day at the office for her because when you're trying to convince the England boss you're a CB not a RB you really can't afford these mistakes. That being said, this is our first game back after the interruption of the international break soooo...

Next up: Villa at Leigh Sports Village, Saturday midday, and then a midweek hosting of PSG at Old Trafford in the Champions League!

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Manchester United

A tough game, a fair result, as United were hosted by new manager Sean Dyche in his first home game as Forest gaffer.

It's disappointing to break the winning run we were on BUT I think we're only so invested because of Frank needing that haircut 😂 As mentioned above, the City Ground full to the brim with a new manager making his home debut... it was always going to be tough.

United took the lead through a resurgent Casemiro and a great header in the 34th minute, rising nicely to meet the corner ball and put the visitors in the lead. Forest fans were furious that the corner was mistakenly given, and on VAR reflection it was microscopically in HOWEVER....

How many wrong decisions have gone against United this season? Arsenal, Brighton... we have the receipts

How many wrong decisions went against United in this very game? Forest later got TWO corners that weren't corners. Is it our fault they didn't score from them?

VAR not interjecting is because it's meant to rectify clear and obvious errors. In this instance it actually did the right thing - a quibble over how millimetres isn't a major fault from the ref and is the spirit in which video assistance was intended. The frustration with VAR is that offsides have been treated with this hyper scrutiny when they shouldn't be, and that kills the elation of goals.

Forest punished United twice in quick succession as the second half kicked off. The first - a cross in found Morgan Gibbs-White's head for a perfect inside post finish. Lammens was at full stretch, and MGW used his height to punish Amad - his marker. Fault should also lie with Cunha a bit too, who doubled up the press at LB and left his man unmarked for said cross. A little bit more patience and we spare ourselves these sorts of circumstances, but not everyone is an elite defender. We have to remember that they need guidance.

Goal no2 was another ball in the air dropping into the box and whilst it didn't get dealt with properly first try, Dalot being asleep or ball watching was horrible to witness. I like his work ethic. I don't like his football intelligence.

Bruno drilled a low shot off the left post in the 60th minute and many fans might have thought it wasn't our day - classic United - but an 81st minute corner from Mbeumo sent the ball backpost. Casemiro heads it down, Dorgu swings at the bouncing ball, Forest clear... and Amad on the edge of the D just belts a left footed volley into the net. The beautiful game at its finest.

Amad almost ALMOST did the unthinkable and scored another left footed shot from just inside the box but for an incredible goalline clearance, but three points would have been cheeky and a draw was the fair result. United are looking better, and Amorim himself said that last season our heads fall and we lose that game.

The confidence and system knowledge is growing. We are beginning to show our competence. Avoid defeat versus Spurs next match and we've taken 8 or 11 out of 12 points vs them, Forest on a manager bounce, Brighton our bogey team, and Liverpool. That's a very good return in either instance, and the sort of form that secures Europe.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United 4-2 Brighton and Hove Albion

Even when it's good, it's tricky against these fuckers. Jfc.

United picked up where we left off against Liverpool and FINALLY got a goal for Matheus Cunha. No more of that 008 bollocks. The lad's been playing well and was, for me, THE star against Liverpool. Today he got his reward - a bottom corner finish in the 24th minute after a nice bit of possession retention from Bruno and Casemiro to create just enough space for the tekky Brazilian to hit one low and hard. LIFT OFF.

Casemiro would then (sort of) get his reward 10 minutes later; a shot on target wickedly deflecting off Ayari into the Brighton net past Verbruggen. 2-0, and deserved, but very unfortunate in this specific moment.

My personal worry was how do United adapt? A big part of our issue, and the criticism (mostly) fairly levelled at us is that until we know our system inside out, we can't then adapt game-to-game to tweak that to suit us versus our opponent. We finally did that against Liverpool, but doing the same against Brighton would be suicide.

Thankfully we didn't. Mason Mount was benched with a knock and Harry Maguire out injured this week, but I still think this was probably the line-up planned. It was too well orchestrated. United went narrow but with a high press, and I've linked to analyst Nik Storey below to cite his insights into today's game.

For those not on Twitter / X, I'll paraphrase Nik's views and interject a bit of my own interpretation/opinion:

United played man-to-man and wanted to stick to short, sharp passing and quick, aggressive pressing. Defensively this worked well with Yoro and Shaw, as both are pretty press-resistant ball-playing defenders, but with the quick technical brilliance inherent in Bruno, Cunha and Casemiro, it allowed space to be created for Sesko (who holds up beautifully) but more importantly Mbeumo - even in the narrow corridors we were building through. We kept it narrow for defensive reliability, and exploited it through individual quality and team workrate.

Sesko showed his quality with his assist for Mbeumo's first: a lovely take from Dalot, a heel chop to turn himself wide, and then a finely weighted pass into the feet of Mbeumo to dance, make space, and fire home near post. 3-0, United... look to be clear?

Wrong. Brighton got a free kick in the 73rd minute and Danny Welbeck (of course) buried it - but not after Brighton moved it notably further forward. Ref?

United then conceded a second in stoppage time; a corner ball where Kostoulas lost Zirkzee and glanced a header over the shoulder of Lammens. Soft from our big Dutch forward but an error from Lammens in misjudging the flight of the ball and moving at the wrong time to come and claim. He comes sooner, he gets it. He stands, he saves it. But he's young, it's his third game. Errors will happen.

Thankfully, United kept at it - rightly not content with 3-2 after being 3-0 up and grumbling that it should have been far more. A ball from just shy of the halfway line from Ayden Heaven was DUMMIED by captain Bruno for the overlapping Mbeumo. Genius. The marker had stepped up, Bryan had left his two for dead, and he thumps a left foot shot into the top right corner over the sprawling Verbruggen who was trying to cover his posts low down. 4-2, gap somewhat restored.

And that was that. We've beaten one of our arch rivals, the current title holders, and our bogey team in back to back games. Three on the bounce now, and next up are... Sean Dyche's Forest. Fuck.

United are (currently) fourth in the league though. Had we won that Arsenal game we'd be top. Not bad for a bunch of overpaid shitters in the wrong formation with a clueless manager and clueless owners.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Liverpool 1-2 Manchester United

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha get fucked.

Honestly, huge performance from the lads. It genuinely felt like a turning point watching this. Again, a late review, so i'll keep it brief and skip to today's Brighton game BUT...

MBEUMOOOOO.

MAGUIIIIIREEEE.

This whole BS narrative about United having no style, no tactics, looking disjointed... yeah, we've had issues. Nobody's denying that. We've also had dogshit goalkeepers (praise be to Lammens) and a media feeding frenzy that if it happened to other clubs, they might fold and be replaced by apartments or a big Asda or something. We get scrutiny on top of scrutiny.

Still, this one proved the haters wrong. Amorim's plan was play long, let them be big men and win the aerial balls, but then punish them with the press on the second balls. Man, did that strategy pay off. Van Dijk won the ball and clattered MacAllister in the process, Bruno found Amad with a short pass wide, and he played Mbeumo in behind for him to meg Giorgi Mamardashvili and put United 1-0 up at Anfield inside two minutes. SCENES.

Yes, Liverpool got a goal back. Cody Gakpo loves a goal versus United. Liverpool also hit the post several times and what could have been on another day. But United hit the post too, and had narrowly missed chances. That's football. That's luck. When United pantsed Arsenal 8-2 back when, we had 8 chances. Sometimes it do be like that. When Liverpool snotted us 7-0, they had 7 chances. Their xG was higher in their 3-0 win over us in September 2024.

United love a clutch finale, and here's just how good it was: Bruno with a short corner to Mbeumo, he shoots, it's cleared... and without it touching the floor Bruno lobs it in again back post, where the towering head of Sir Harold of Maguire rose to nod it home and secure a crucial win for Manchester United Football Club, the first back-to-back league win for Ruben Amorim, and our first win at Anfield since 2016. Madness.

All in all that was a huge performance. Commitment and bravery from the kick off. Nobody slacked, nobody shirked responsibility, and people actually showed the training ground drilling that's going into them. It wasn't always pretty, but football often isn't. It's usually moments of magic amidst regimented play, but United are finally remembering how to cast spells...

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Atletico de Madrid Femenino 0-1 Manchester United Women

Rolfoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Apologies for the late review - life is busy. Given this is a while after, I'll keep the recap and thoughts short.

Tooney nearly struck gold early after a cheeky back-flick from Melvine Malard who is just oozing sauce at the moment. That girl is CONFIDENT. Unfortunately Ella's effort was just over, because it would have been a crowning achievement on what was her 200th game for Manchester United Women - the first player to ever do it.

Rolfo came close in the 7th minute from the edge of the Atleti box after being teed up nicely by Elisabeth Terland, but she'd have to wait until the 24th minute to bag the one and only goal of the game - a lovely volley into the roof of the net after a floated cross from wide right by Zigiotti and a deflection from either Toone or her marker Alexia Fernández Díaz to bounce perfectly for the Swede to hit.

Between the two events, Jayde Riviere was booked for a late and clumsy foul on left-back Andrea Medina Martín, which was very uncharacteristic for her.

Zigiotti - seen below as POTM - put Malard in for another big chance as the clock hit 34:00 but the French international stabbed her close-range effort wide.

The most eggregious incident though came in the 37th minute when Dominique Janssen brought down Gio Garbelini. It was a clumsy tackle, and certainly yellow card worthy, but after a VAR check the ref upgraded to red and put United down to 10 women.

Now, here's the issue: Ian Wright came out and said on his Crossways podcast that it was a red. He argued that clumsy and no intent doesn't excuse a foul and serious harm. Fair enough. The issue is that Janssen is very visibly pulling out of the challenge after committing to the tackle, realising her error. It's also the trailing leg of hers that led to the injury, causing what we now know is a trans-syndesmotic fracture of the fibula on Gio's trailing leg. It's unfortunate, but accidents happen, and I'm not convinced a red card was fair given it wasn't cynical or aggressive. But hey, maybe Wrighty's spot on.

Atletico piled on the pressure with the player advantage but Phallon Tullis Joyce continues to excel in net for United and kept the hosts at bay, before Alexia Fernández Díaz got herself a second yellow in the 74th minute and evened things up. From there, United settled, and despite Atletico having the momentum the visitors were able to create chances, but again Melvine Malard failed to find the target with her last big chance in the 84th minute. Regardless, United hung on for the win to make it 2 victories in 2 in the Champions League.

Next up: Brighton away on Sunday November 2nd at midday, after the international break.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Everton Women 1-4 Manchester United Women

Everton might come out to the Z Cars theme, but in the end they didn't manage to nick anything.

Before I review, Z Cars was a Police procedural show on British TV, and to nick is to steal or to pinch. It can also be used by law enforcement to say "you're nicked" and arrested. Who says education can't be fun!

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To the football then, and Everton entertained our mighty reds at the new mens ground: the Hill Dickinson Stadium. It's only fitting that we baptised the place by winning, but we let the home side score the first goal out of kindness. We're not heartless.

Hayashi gave the hosts the lead after 16 minutes after a Momiki free kick near the corner flag whipped in fiercely, forcing a Phallon Tullis Joyce punch out into the box. Honoka Hayashi crashed into the box and fired into the roof of the net to give Everton the lead, but the replay shows hesitation from their compatriot, Hinata Miyazawa, who stood waiting for the ball to drop and allowed the space for Hayashi to invade. A silly mistake, but fixable.

United went in at the break 1-0 down though, having had chances to level things up and take a big lead in retaliation. Naalsund floated one over the bar, Terland shot a foot wide of the left post... it just wasn't happening.

Ian Wright summed it up on his Youtube channel: United are doing all the right things but just a bit too quickly. Slow down, ensure the quality, and the goals will come. And they did.

A Miyazawa pass through the defence put Melvine Malard in for a shot on goal, which Emily Ramsey did save but unfortunately parried back into the path of Malard for a second go and the equalising goal.

Next came madness. A foul on Jayde Riviere gave Anna Sandberg a free kick. She whips it into the box, Kitagawa heads it into captain Clare Wheeler, it bounces back to her, and as she tries to regain her balance from jumping to head the ball AND tries to hook it clear of Melvine Malard... she hooks it into her own net. A tidy finish but an own goal, and one Malard celebrated directly over the face-down Hikaru Kitagawa much to the debate of WSL fans about whether it was sporting or not, and whether entertainment trumps sportsmanship.

With United in the lead, the smooth, flowing football really came out - and no surprise a lot of it came with the introduction of Jess Park. She got her rewards though, with two goals to her name - both assisted by Ella Toone.

The first wasn't really an assist - a short pass so that Park could run at Everton and hit a slow, bobbling shot at Ramsey's near post for 3-1. The second, a minute from time, was a short pass from Galton and pass again from Toone as they shuffled it across the box for someone to hit a shot. Park did just that, and nestled another one in that bottom right corner of the Everton goal. 4-1 United, job done, but very poor defending from Martina Fernández against Leah Galton to allow the chance to even occur.

Everton are a team improving, and I think they'll look better and better as the season goes on and will avoid relegation, but at the moment they're still a poor side so anything less than a win here would have been a sign that we're not up for a title challenge. This was a good comeback and a good look at how the women's mentality is holding up.

With the women's international break looming there's no league fixture now until November 2nd away to Brighton, but we still have one more big game to play. On Thursday we take on Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, in Madrid, 5:45pm kick off.

Another CL win would be sensational, but just avoiding defeat on the road would be a good result in a tricky league phase of European competition. We're in form, Skinner rotated the squad nicely in the league... confidence remains high. Lets get at them. UTFR.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United Women 1-0 Vålerenga Fotball Damer

GET IN. First goal, first win, first clean sheet - all in our first game in the Women's Champions League.

A 31st minute Maya Le Tissier penalty saw United win the first of the league stage games in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday at home at Leigh Sports Village to Vålerenga.

The Oslo-based side are chasing SK Brann in the league, who we beat to qualify for the competition, so confidence was high going into the match, and United tested Enblom early through Terland, Malard, and a darting Miyazawa.

Melvine Malard appealed for a penalty in the 20th minute but nothing (rightly) was given, and Vålerenga actually went down the other end on the break and had a go themselves - albeit a tame effort.

United immediately bounced back and Malard robbed the Vålerenga defence of the ball IN their box but could only shoot directly at Enblom, and the rebound from Terland was cleared off the line. Aaaaaa.

Malard continued to shine and in the 29th minute a smart ball central to Julia Zigiotti (my beloved) rather than Hiniesta allowed her to play a first time stabbed pass at Elisabeth Terland - only for a hand to intercept its flight. Penalty given, and up steps the future England captain Ms Maya Le Tissier. 0-0, captain's duty, we've never scored in the CL... and she absolutely thunders it bottom right, sending Enblom the wrong way. Sensational.

The rest of the game was more of the same. United dominating, and driving through the heart of Vålerenga led by talisman Ella Toone. The highlights below don't do her performance justice - she was everywhere with her pressing, duelling, and willingness to receive passes. A big part of why I think we're doing so well at present is that flexibility and mobility in our midfield/wide 5. Toone, Park, Malard, Zigiotti and Miyazawa are all willing to rotate between who presses, who drifts wide, who darts through the lines... it's great to see.

The one disappointment you could say is that United didn't get a second, and we had the chances. Terland's freakishly accurate finishing had a night off, Hini came close, Malard was perhaps hitting too many spectacular efforts rather than making for statistically easy finishes... but the win's the win and people earned the right to take and miss those chances. We grafted and got what was deserved.

I'll end with this: I've been a fairly vocal critic of Marc Skinner for the past few seasons, and gagging to take over our girls on FM26 when it comes out next month. We lack a bit of squad depth and a Plan B tactic because of it, but I'm really liking the squad, the harmony, and the level of coherence and understanding around Plan A. Skinner may have had his issues and elements of favouritism, but he seems to be growing as a manager and I'm all for it. I'm happy to be proven wrong, and I hope this season could do it via more silverware.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland

A clean sheet for a composed Senne Lammens on his debut will do nicely, but we should have been well out of sight vs newly promoted Sunderland...

I'm not trying to be a miserable git here. We played well. We looked comfortable in possession and assured out of it - bar the odd hiccup. Mason Mount put United in front early on by expertly pulling an Mbeumo cross out of the air on his left foot just inside the box. It dropped, falls to his right, and he bops it away into the right hand corner past the hands of Robin Roefs.

Fun fact: that was Mason Mount's first goal of the season but more importantly his first for us at Old Trafford.

An inspired Amad fizzed a shot at the splayed hands of Roefs in the 21st minute for a bit of 'Match of the Day' magic, and Bryan Mbeumo did the same 60 seconds later, but it was Benjamin Sesko who doubled our lead and his PL tally for the season; a simple side-foot finish from a forward in the right spot at the right time. Been a while since we said that, eh?

Fun fact: This was also HIS first goal at Old Trafford, but also brings his season total to half of what Rasmus Hojlund achieved last season and we're only at the start of October. Huh.

The issue is that we were 2-0 up in just over half an hour and it ended that way. 2 up at half time isn't bad, but even with Sunderland making more defensive substitutions, we brought on Cunha, Dorgu, Mainoo... we should have been able to bag a third or even a fourth.

For me there were two main reasons why we couldn't do more:

Diogo Dalot was really rubbish. He's not good away from the right flank, and the problem is that where he's braindead on the right and plays by instinct, on the left he thinks but then takes too long to act and weeeee game's passed him by.

Bruno deep. He wasn't bad today, he did well, but he's (arguably) the best CAM in the league and we're wasting him in CM when we were crying out for more chance creation in the final third vs a team sitting deep on us.

That said, back to the good: Senne Lammens put in an unremarkable but SOLID performance. He was comfortable with his feet and passing, he can kick long, he has good reactions, and a major thing HE CLAIMS THE BALL FROM THE FRIGGIN AIR. I even put proof in above because A UNITED KEEPER CAUGHT SOMETHING. Fuck me. We've been starved, and Patterson's tweet below made me laugh too.

So yes, a good win versus actually a solid team. Sunderland might have looked poor today but they are doing well in the league and have got pundits thinking they might be the first newly-promoted side to avoid going straight back down. A comfortable clean sheet, albeit at home, is a good result for a team notably struggling for confidence and synergy.

Next up are the World Cup qualifiers, so it's a short wait for more United action until Sunday 19th October when we go away. To Anfield. Fuck. Maybe we can nick something, maybe Lammens cements himself as our new lord and saviour. Maybe we finally get that Cunha goal. I just hope we don't get embarrassed.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United Women 1-1 Chelsea Women

Well, it's better than the defeat last time.

United's form against "The Big Three" is historically pretty poor. 5 wins in I believe 34 games now? 3 versus Arsenal, 2 versus City, and we've never beaten Chelsea. Sigh.

Today could have changed that, but the way the first half started you wouldn't believe it. Kaptein started the move and finished it, and it might be one of the goals of the season. The Dutch midfielder set Kaneryd away down our left flank, whose clever cutback allowed an easy pass into the box to Macário and a deft backheel into Wieke Kaptein to tuck it under Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

All was not lost though, and United equalised 11 minutes later through a stunner from our 22-year old LB, Anna Sandberg. Absent last match through illness and narrowly failing her fitness test, the Swede was back in style today. A wide ball out to Jayde Riviere was cut back deep to Maya Le Tissier for a looping cross into the box. Millie Bright cleared it as far as Ella Toone, and whilst at first her fluffed header into the floor seemed an opportunity wasted... up steps Anna Sandberg to rifle a finish into the bottom right corner of the Chelsea net. A huge first goal for United, and finish any striker would be proud of.

United were the better team in the first half, and did continue to show that strength in the ever-deteriorating conditions at Leigh Sports Village, with Fridolina Rolfo at LW really causing Chelsea problems. A pass in to a very open Ella Toone saw an uncharacteristic biffed chance flying well over the bar (she just didn't get over the ball) and then a later solo effort hit the crossbar.

Chelsea fought back, and the Champions are not to be underestimated. Their mad quality in depth feels silly, because surely people would want out and to get more gametime, but here we are and they made their subs and piled on the pressure. The last 15-20 minutes were a tough test for United defensively, and Chelsea came close two or three times to stealing a win at the death.

1-1 at the end was very fair though. United are the first team to take points off Chelsea in this WSL campaign, but the Blues remain undefeated atop the table and United marginally behind in second.

What it does mean is that City and Spurs could technically overtake us with wins in their respective games, so we'd like Arsenal to win or - ideally - draw with City to hold them off tomorrow, and Brighton to show up away to Tottenham and cause trouble.

Next up it's CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TIME BAYBEEEE. lol, cringe. Vålerenga of Oslo are coming to town as United begin the Champions League proper. And guess what? Our fucking luggage turned up eyyyy. Boots for everyone.

We'll be hoping that the excellent form of today's POTM Jess Park, and that of Anna Sandberg, continue midweek, though I'm praying for a goal from my beloved Julia Zigiotti Olme. She's the women's Roy Keane, I'm sure of it. Roll on Wednesday.

[unitedbydevils]

Academy Roundup

Its been a minute, so here's a quick look at what the youth have been up to since we last checked in...

U21s:

Liverpool 1-2 United

United 2-1 Athletic Club

United 4-1 Palace

Lincoln City 3-0 United U21s

Everton 1-2 United

We go a goal down, we score two and win. It was seeming to be a bit of a habit until Shea Lacey and the gank ruined Palace.

Lincoln.. was a dose of reality. Our U21s actually matched them for goal threat and had far superior possession and pass accuracy, and yet we lost 3-0. Wild.

Luckily we bounced back with a win away at Everton with goals from Jack Fletcher and Jayce Fitzgerald and remain top of the U21 PL table with 6 wins from 6. In contrast, City languish with 4 points from 4 games.

Next up: Barnsley in the Football League Trophy. Another test for Travis Binnion's boys against a seasoned men's team. There's a bit of a gap though, with the U21s not playing until the 21st October.

U18s:

United 1-0 Burnley

Wolves 0-4 United

United 2-4 City

Darren Fletcher's Reds were looking invincible until... yeah. Whilst the City U21s might be languishing a little, their U18s remain razor sharp.

A late Jim Thwaites penalty continued the lad's steady rise to fame with his set piece prowess being slowly caught up by his composed midfield playmaking. Then came a battering of the Wolves, with goals from JJ Gabriel, James Bailey, Samuel Lusale, and Nathaniel-Junior Brown.

United vs City then... we went in at HT 2-0 and came out 4-2 losers with 10 men. Whoops. The stats had us as second best so whilst we did score, through JJ Gabriel and Jim Thwaites, we can't be too aggravated. Their academy is mint, as is ours, and the games are usually a topsy turvy affair.

Next up: Middlesbrough, away, today. 12 noon.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Liverpool Women 0-2 Manchester United Women

A strong first half showing from the Red Black Devils, which should have carried on in the second half and put a shaken Liverpool to the sword. Nonetheless, a win's a win and we kept a clean sheet.

United struck early through Hinata Miyazawa, but the build-up is crazy. Terland was blocked by ex-United defender Gemma Evans, giving us a corner. Tooney's deep corner was nodded clear - as far as Hini. She floats it back sticks and Liverpool nod it to Ella Toone. Almost back to square one.

Toone - Zigi, Zigi - Toone, round the corner to Park, cut short with a chipped cross, flicked on backwards by Fridolina Rolfo, and who should be unmarked in space but Hinata Miyazawa who thumps a left-footed effort with backspin to ping off the inside of the left post.

United continued to have chances, and the stats above don't lie - it was a very comfortable performance for the most part. Gemma Bonner spared Liverpool's blushes once or twice, Hini hit the right post but this time her effort went outwards not in, Terland blazed an effort over, and Zigiotti's diving header sailed past the left post.

An effort from Holland just before half time saw her shot deflect wickedly to force an elite full-stretch save from Phallon Tullis-Joyce to nudge the shot onto the post and out for a corner, but it was a wake-up call for United that a 1-0 lead isn't enough.

Thankfully, there's always Ella Toone, and the talismanic United attacker was put through with time and space thanks to great pressing and physicality from Elisabeth Terland, who's looked far more robust this season. A touch to control the ball, a half second for it to settle on the floor, and bop - into the bottom left corner.

Ceri Holland found more time and spare down United's left flank, and I do wonder if that's because the partnership there was Mel (flair forward) and Rolfo (LB but not meant to be). One of her crosses, moments before Gabby George's introduction for Melvine, found Maclean in space in the middle of our box. Zigi was the one to close her, but it begs the question - whose mark was she? Was it a fluke finding of space or dereliction of duty?

I ask because to win the WSL, to beat Chelsea, Arsenal, and City, we have to tighten up in those little areas of opportunity. We're good, we really are. We're looking a lot more balanced in this midfield with Tooney/Zigi/Hini. We're more comfortable in possession than I've seen us, and while that's still a jot off Arsenal and Chelsea, I think we're more dangerous on the transitions and the breaks. Not every team needs to be a tika taka beast. They do need to be defensively astute though.

Next up then, 2nd host 1st. United bring Chelsea to Leigh Sports Village on Friday evening at 7:30. Last season (April) it was a close game but the Champions edged it 1-0 with a Lucy Bronze header, and this season they've won 4/4 and we're 3 wins, 1 draw on their heels. It's our second toughest game of the league, after playing Chelsea away 😅

A win for United puts us a point ahead, a draw is fine, but defeat and the gap becomes five points this early in the campaign...

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Brentford 3-1 Manchester United

Disgusting.

That was a shite performance. We were slow in our passing and movement, and poor with the accuracy of said passing. We're slow to think, slow to act, and a struggling Brentford side just humbled us.

Bruno was shit, and his penalty was shit. VAR farce aside, very poor.

De Ligt has been mint this season but today - shit.

Dalot, shit. Constantly out-muscled by smaller players. Get some balance, bro.

Bayindir, shit and THEN super shit for their third.

Maguire - nice offside trap for their first, dipshit. Oh, and missing for MANY headers to clear our backline.

Shaw, shit.

Cunha... snapping at his chances.

Mbeumo is ex-Brentford so pressure + they know him implicitly.

Sesko... got his goal. A glimmer of hope. That's it. Did okay but some wasteful passing and disjointed train of thought with the other forwards.

Ugarte is just sad to watch. Man has no control or touch.

Dorgu wasn't too bad, but also wasteful like many others.

Mainoo and Yoro came on and did okay but nothing special.

Mount and Zirkzee came on and were ineffective with little time left.

Fuck it. Here's tweets summing up the game, because I cannot be arsed. Amorim's working himself out of a job and maybe we bite the bullet and say hey, go now and we'll get Nuno in for the season and if he does top half he can keep the job. Or something.

Goal number three was a doozy... fucking EA FC keeper coding.

The more known pundits also had their say:

This from Statman Dave would be damning if we didn't know we were already a car crash being witnessed in slow motion:

But yeah, Yoro and Mainoo on the bench and whoa, we're slow out from the back and invite pressure through an overloaded midfield. Who'd have thought it.

I think Amorim will either get sacked or walk. Had it been a 2-1 unlucky defeat no, but this was more the toxic vibes of the Grimsby defeat. It's unsustainable.

Cants makes a good point though...

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United Women 0-0 Arsenal Women

With the sad passing of Matt Beard, Liverpool and Burnley's games were postponed as a sign of respect. The latter were due to come to Birmingham to take on West Bromwich Albion, so with no game, I had no photography duties and managed to watch this one live.

Last season I went in person with Arsenal fan friends (can there be such a thing?) to watch United draw 1-1 with Arsenal at LSV. They were very frustrated that they hadn't beaten us. This season, they'd have no such leg to stand on.

0-0 was a fair result, and it wasn't the most spectacular watch, but both sides came into this tie 2nd and 3rd respectively. 2 wins from 2 and 1 goal difference between us.

Stats show that Arsenal had around 57% possession to United's 43, which is fair - the new United midfield is looking better and can hold the ball nicely, but United's style has always been for quick transitions and progression. We had less of the ball but did more with it, putting 3/7 shots on target versus Arsenal's 1/8.

I also feel that we would have looked even more dangerous being able to utilise Celin Bizet as a winger. The Norwegian deputised at RB with Jayde Riviere out injured following a heavy challenge in the 3-0 win over SK Brann in the week, which limited her attacking freedom. She did well there, thankfully, versus a very tough opposition last season's Champions League winners, but I'd have loved to see her running at McCabe as her direct opponent.

The counter to that is that Arsenal were without Leah Williamson. She's a big loss, no doubt, but when young Katie Reid puts in a performance of that calibre... was she even missed? 😅

I'm kidding, but the England U23 prospect well and truly put herself on the radar of Sarina Wiegman and others with that display. The 19-year-old was composed on the ball and robust off it. She battled, she shielded, she was brave in the air and with tackles, but not mindless. She wasn't perfect, and United had opportunities, but she was a huge part of why Malard et Terland didn't break Arsenal hearts.

Phallon Tullis-Joyce rightly won Player of the Game though, making confident saves throughout, and it's that reliability that really makes me think she's the Edwin Van Der Sar of the women's game. All goalkeeper's are a bit unusual, but she's chill with it.

I also think we saw strong performances again from Jess Park and Julia Zigiotti, and I'm finding it hard to decide whose name I want on this season's home shirt. Either of them, Terland, Riviere? Agh.

Next up: Liverpool, Sunday, away, at midday. Another early kick-off away for United fans of either side, but hey, at least Liverpool's slightly closer than London.

Lets get that win.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea

We won, but what a strange, strange game.

I was at the Stretford Paddock FC members day game last Saturday, so I watched this in the Hyde United clubhouse with a lot of United fans but also a few Chelsea fans. Ew.

United deserved the win. I don't get to say that much these days.

We started brightly, aggressively, and front-facing. It seems silly, but not wanting to go forwards is a big trait in United's banter era post-Fergie, so to see it more on display... it was nice.

A Bayindir ball down the field in the 5th minute was flicked on by the head of Sesko and into the path of Mbeumo, who was brought down in spectacular fashion by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. A red card to him, and United were handed a confidence boost AND a man advantage. It felt like it was going to be a good day.

United opened the scoring through captain Bruno Fernandes, who survived a very tight VAR check to claim his 100th premier league goal for United in his 200th premier league appearance. A lovely deep cross from Mazraoui was nodded back central by Dorgu for Bruno to stab home. 1-0.

Casemiro then went and doubled the lead in the 37th minute, with the Mazraoui/Dorgu combo trying to link up again. Luke Shaw steamed in at the left post to win the aerial ball and his headed effort went to the other post and a certain Brazilian midfielder, who just happened to be waiting.

Of course, it's United, so it's never easy. Minutes before half time and Casemiro earned himself a second yellow through a very clumsy tackle. Moron. He's more than experienced enough to know better. This then gave Chelsea fresh confidence, when they were down and out, but it also exposed a weakness in United's game: we were fine with our patterns and duties with 11 men but 1 dismissal and we lost all notion of what was expected of us. Not good.

Whilst our possession and ambition disappeared then and for the entirety of the second half, United defended resolutely and held on for the three points. We also saw the returns of Cunha and Mount, which was welcome news.

It has been an odd start to the season so far. An undeserved defeat but a defeat nonetheless to Arsenal. A poor draw vs Fulham. A cataclysmically bad defeat to Grimsby. A scrappy win over Burnley. A shell-shocked defeat to City. A clutch win now over Chelsea. Nothing has felt easy or dominant, and that's the big criticism. For United to be "back" and capable of competing in any level of Europe, we need to be putting a few people away.

Next up is a good time for that: Brentford. Can we make it back to back wins? We just won back-to-back at Old Trafford for the first time under Amorim. Maybe the comeback starts now...