4: Rusty Reds and the Pyramid Challenge
Juan Mata, Colombia and me; The Academy Briefing; and loads more.
Welcome! I’m Harry Robinson and every week, I’ll give you a fascinating tale from Manchester United’s past, my thoughts on the current goings-on at the club, an in-short briefing telling you all need to know from the Academy plus what I’ve been enjoying recently.
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If you don’t know me particularly well, I’m a 22-year-old Stretford End season ticket holder and freelance journalist with a passion for youth football, travel and the intersection of sport and social history. I’ve written or worked for Manchester United, FourFourTwo, MUNDIAL, The Independent, and The Blizzard, among others.
If you missed last week’s and want to read about my interview with Rasmus Højlund, Louis Rocca, United’s first Charity Shield and plenty more, head here.
What’s inside:
Rusty Reds: United’s season opener
Get the WD40 out! Manchester United were ever so rusty in their season opener at Old Trafford. And fortunate, too.
Erik ten Hag’s new midfield — Casemiro deep behind Fernandes and Mount effectively joining the forward line, often alongside Rashford — was ineffective in and out of possession. An isolated Casemiro was easily and frequently bypassed while United’s pressing attempts were valiant in the first half but embarrassingly unsuccessful after the break. Matheus Nunes, in particular, proved himself to be resistant to United’s press and he drove Wolves forward time and time again. They did not deserve to lose.
I’m not overly concerned despite the undeniable disappointment of a flat, uninspiring first fixture after a full pre-season in which injuries were few and signings were made early. Why? Because there were nine poor-to-average individual displays — Onana and Wan-Bissaka the exceptions — and you’ll never play well when that’s the case. Antony and Garnacho were blunt, such a shame after the latter’s sharp excitement against Lens a week before, Rashford was hardly present, Fernandes — also sharp when facing Lens — was ineffectual. Even Martinez, whose interview in the latest United We Stand is a must-read, was off it. Could that be because of the system? Perhaps, but I don’t think so. The first half was rusty, with signs of promise.
“I want to make Manchester United one of the greatest teams in the world again. And I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we could win.” - The great Lisandro Martinez, in his UWS interview.
I expect Ten Hag will stick with the same line-up at Spurs, and so we’ll soon find out. Jadon Sancho’s impact off the bench was a real positive. All in all, this was a typical United-Wolves game. Flat, sometimes chaotic, and with a tight scoreline.
After last season’s pragmatic approach, enforced by those two early humiliations, this is the real building season for Ten Hag. There’ll be some painful moments and matches, I think, but you just have to hope we don’t face any genuinely embarrassing scorelines as the team’s style and identity progresses. Onana is, of course, one of the keys to that and he impressed me on his competitive debut.
With changes to the organisation in The Red Army (TRA) section I normally stand in, I watched from the opposite corner of the ground for this one, in J Stand. Onana’s controversial clearing out of two opponents was right in front of us. That aside, he was excellent. You always get a feeling after a player’s debut. Do they look like they belong at Old Trafford, under the judgemental eye of 73,000-odd? Onana did. He was commanding and I like his attitude in interviews. He seems completely at ease with himself, his style as a goalkeeper and what he’ll bring to the team.
“Onana was commanding. He seems completely at ease with himself.”
Atmosphere-wise, Old Trafford was as flat as the team’s performance. The weather was pathetic. Jeans and coats under dark August clouds. The goal was a wonderful celebration of relief. There can’t be much more dissatisfying than beginning the season with a 0-0 draw, so I’m glad we’ve avoided that.
There was an apt remark on the United We Stand forum about returning to Old Trafford, though.
“It's sometimes only after a break that you realise how neglected it has been.”
That was painfully true. Old Trafford is a tired stadium. It remains grand, imposing and our home, but returning after some months away, you realise just how accustomed we become to a really poor ‘matchday experience.’ The introduction of more rail seating is brilliant, the imminent removal of the Executive Area at the heart of the Stretford End will be, too, but so much more needs to be done but can’t be while the disheartening takeover uncertainty continues.
Outside the ground, meanwhile, was the first protest against Mason Greenwood’s potential return to the club. The Female Fans Against Greenwood group’s statement was much-needed and written with such clarity and impact. I hope they find success in their cause. United must do the right thing.
The Pyramid Challenge
One football season, one game at every step of the English football ladder. I’m sure it’s been done many times before, but I received notice of this challenge from a mate recently who’d seen Zac Neal declare it on Twitter. Time to get stuck in.
Luckily, I’d already made a start. I began the 2023/24 season at West Didsbury & Chorlton FC (Step 3) and accompanied another mate for Chesterfield’s visit to AFC Fylde a weekend later. United followed two days on and they were three fairly contrasting experiences.
West Didsbury & Chorlton are opinion-splitters. They’re one of several English non-league clubs that have embraced and been embraced by local middle-class football fans who appear to have fallen out of love with the elite game. Instead, they mimic foreign ultra-style support at little non-league grounds. The contrast can be entertaining. When done in a self-aware and self-deprecating fashion, I enjoy it. I think the West Dids fans achieve this. They sing, tucked inside a small shed at one end of the pitch, about hummus and quinoa. They’re the Waitrose of ultras. It’s different, and you can imagine why their support might be simultaneously loved and derided.
The club has enjoyed significant recent growth. When I attended their FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round match against Vauxhall Motors, a decent crowd of 500-odd watched on. This can swell up to 2,000 for bigger matches.
It’s a community club with a nice atmosphere, as all non-league outfits should have. Dogs watch with their paws up on the advertising hoardings and kids kick a ball around at the clubhouse end. They sell good, local beer and they have a fantastic youth set-up which engages the local residents. That being said, as the crowds grow with the team’s success, some locals have become resentful. There is an underlying tension between the club’s directors and volunteers and a group of their neighbours. There shouldn’t be. It’s a great community asset and a friendly place to visit.
Up a few levels in the National League, AFC Fylde was very different.
Of the 2,000-odd watching on had travelled from Chesterfield. There was one turnstile for the visiting supporters, which caused obvious issues, partnered with bafflingly aggressive stewarding for a non-league match. I’d brought a sandwich wrapped in tinfoil and was nearly barred entry for daring to ask why I couldn’t take it in. An entertaining 4-2 away win followed at a clean, modern ground.
So, still to tick off: Championship, League One, League Two (I’ll sort this when United U21s play Stockport County next week) and Steps 2 and 4-7. If you have any suggestions for Manchester-based clubs or unique English teams I can visit during the challenge, please let me know!
England women’s success
The Lionesses are into a World Cup semi-final. Sarina Wiegman’s side play the hosts Australia on Wednesday (11:00am kick-off, BBC One). They beat Colombia in the quarters, and, to be honest, I’d have been happy to see either side progress.
Colombian passion for football knows no bounds and wherever there is an opportunity to celebrate their country, Colombians will find it. They certainly have in Australia, filling stadiums with their infectious noise.
I spent a week coaching in Colombia in 2019, working with the Juan Mata-supported charity Tiempo de Juego, a fantastic organisation which uses sport to fight for peace and equality. Here’s an extract from a piece on my time there, and you can read the full thing on my website here.
Colombia, Juan Mata, and me
A young child’s head nestles into the lap of his father, who covers it with a blue jacket of the Colombian national team. The sun is beaming down on a typical Sunday in Soacha, a district almost overlapping Colombia’s capital, Bogotá.
The child is snoozing rather than watching right now but it is a familiar sight — apart from my presence in goal. Nine women, and me, are playing in a five-a-side cage in the shadow of hundreds of ‘illegal’ homes. This is an area of Colombia where more than 50% of the residents are domestic immigrants, displaced by La Violencia in Colombia and the guerilla control of the countryside. Many come with stories of pillaging, rape and death.
Soacha’s background is one of protracted violence, caused by the decades-long wilful ignorance of government, widespread poverty, and constant population growth, creeping up the mountainsides which can turn to sludge in rain. The area drew fame when presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán was assassinated there in 1989. In the same year, Pablo Escobar bombed Avianca Flight 203 over Soacha. The local community is one of support and family but when the sky turns to dusk, and often before, everyone is aware of the threat of crime.
“You don’t live here, you survive.”
One charity supported by Juan Mata’s Common Goal movement has revolutionised the fortunes of the community. More than 2000 children benefit from the brilliant work of Tiempo de Juego, a charity founded 15 years ago to fight for peace and equality.
“You don’t live here, you survive,” one Bogotáno explains about some of the city’s most deprived ‘barrios’. In Cazuca, Soacha, that’s not the case anymore. Almost every day, men and women of all ages don the custom-made shirts of Tiempo de Juego, printed by the foundation in a small upstairs workshop. Orange, black and white ‘camisetas’ are integrated into a sea of European football shirts, mainly those of Real Madrid and Barcelona. The only United shirts on show are those from the 2014/15 season, the time of Radamel Falcao.
Every Saturday morning, Tibanica becomes a sporting hub. An athletics team constantly orbits this nucleus of sporting action: three football zones, a basketball court, two tennis courts. A small section on the far side is taken up by parents, working on their own fitness or in a classroom, learning about gender equality, safety and more.
One football session with a mixed-gender team is particularly interesting. The players range from 14 to 17 in age. A pre-session game of crossbar challenge is concluded and 15 players spread out on the perimeter of the centre circle. This is not school, but they have been set homework and it's not to practice their stepovers, but rather to think of one word to sum up the opposite gender. Some have done it, some have not. Women are described as ‘fuerte’ (strong) by some, but one player suggests that a woman’s main role is to be a companion to a man, whether as a mother, sister or partner. And as this isn’t school, he's not reprimanded. But 20 minutes later, when the discussion has reached its end, the coach turns to him.
“Do you understand now?”
And yes, he does. Training in football’s typical sense of the word has yet to begin. But this discussion will be more impactful than any of the drills that follow over the next two-and-a-half hours under a piercing sun.
Summer in Manchester
Monday, rain. Tuesday, rain. Wednesday, rain. Thursday, rain. Friday, rain. Saturday, rain. Sunday, rain. It’s really shit, isn’t it?
The Academy Briefing
Under-21s
United Under-21s opened their Premier League 2 campaign with a 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace.
Now led by Travis Binnion, 2021 FA Youth Cup-winning U18s coach, the young Reds offered brilliant first-half intensity. Mateo Mejia earned and confidently converted a 24th-minute penalty but a late all-around lapse of concentration allowed Palace’s best talent, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, to start and finish their move for an equaliser in the third minute of added time.
“I haven’t seen an U21s team press like this, for as long as this, for a long, long time.” - ex-Palace player Mark Bright, discussing United’s first half.
Midfielder Max Oyedele, who impressed on loan at Altrincham last season, played at right-back but frequently came inside into midfield and impressed with his energy and focus. He snatched a few key interceptions and drove forward quickly to start attacks.
United’s intensity dropped after the break but they still should have led. Isak Hansen-Aaroen was tripped in the area only for Marc Jurado’s conviction-lacking penalty to be well saved.
Palace soon deservedly gained the lead but Noam Emeran set up and scored United’s 90th-minute leveller. Driving in from the right, he found Jurado in the box and poked home the returning pass. And then the drama continued. United conceded another late goal, this time Jadan Raymond, this time in the eighth minute of added time and this time, with no opportunity of reply. Lessons to be learned.
None of Omari Forson, Hannibal, Alvaro Fernandez or Dan Gore were involved in this game, perhaps a hint at their current heightened status. Loans move are expected for some, while others may stay on the fringes of the first team.
Under-18s
Adam Lawrence’s U18s had no such drama in their season opener, instead dispatching Middlesbrough 4-0 away from home.
Like the U21s, though, this performance was defined by first-half intensity.
James Nolan’s penalty, Reece Munro’s far-post from-a-corner tap-in, Ethan Williams’ powerful left-footed edge-of-the-area strike and Louis Jackson’s brave header all came before half-time. No further goals were needed.
Williams was the stand-out player, earning the early penalty, scoring the third so excellently and threatening further after the break.
Other
23-year-old Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar has joined Bayer Leverkusen. He had an excellent season in his homeland on loan at Sparta Prague last season after decent experiences with Swindon Town and Burton Albion, too. Still young and having shown good, consistent quality, I expect him to do well wherever he goes. It’s suggested that United will have a buy-back clause and first refusal, but a sell-on clause might have been preferable. There’s no reason, if he continues to progress, why Kovar won’t generate a fairly sizeable fee in a few years’ time.
What I’ve enjoyed recently
This gut-wrenchingly wonderful piece by the mother of the late Jimmy Davis.
A gripping, one-sitting about a brutal murder spree in a rural Mississippi town called Money. Simultaneously funny and harrowing, it poses a mountain of questions and no direct answers. A thought-provoking but easy read.
Taskmaster - Series 15
Unerringly excellent. I particularly love how recent Taskmaster series have allowed me to discover new comedians, especially Fern Brady. After watching others, I’ve developed a new appreciation for comedians who I’d only seen act before, like Noel Fielding and Kiell Smith-Bynoe. The controversial Frankie Boyle comes across so differently in this series, with a perfect mix of outrage and self-deprecation. If you’ve not tried Taskmaster before, you should. In essence, five comedians are forced to complete sometimes ridiculous, sometimes simple challenges. The result is perfect TV.
Burnley’s latest genius transfer announcement.
This immensely satisfying compilation of side-footed, low, curling finishes from the edge of the box.
New Zealand’s police refusing to give that reprehensible chancer Gianni Infantino a police escort.
That’s the end of my newsletter. If you’ve got this far, thank you so much for reading and feel free to forward it on to a mate who you think might enjoy, or share it on Twitter. Have a great rest of your day - cheers!