Manchester United’s BIG questions: Carrick’s future, Mainoo’s midfield partner & more! | ESPN FC

0:00 On the subject of Manchester United,

0:02 I've run out of Bruno Fernandez superlatives for many years.

0:05 Uh I think we're going to look back on this and in the same

0:09 way Eric Cantina looked different as a player and played different.

0:15 I was just watching this guy and like Bruno

0:18 Fernandez does not look like a just him physically.

0:23 He does not have the body t the body shape.

0:26 who does not have the look of a typical 2026 Premier

0:29 League footballer and yet there he is so influential uh that if

0:36 he gets the assist if he's I don't know if there's

0:39 the official he's not getting the assist okay the the gods of whoever

0:43 who determines it is it opta or is

0:44 it where perform or whatever the hell they call

0:46 yeah I think it's the Premier League and the their start but Woodman touches

0:50 the board to be fair okay it should never be an assist it's not an assist

0:53 but he has three more games where if he

0:54 gets another He will equal Kevin de Briner's record of andre's record

0:59 and Terry Enri's record of 20 assists in a season which is pretty spectacular.

1:05 Yeah,

1:04 fatal of course is a couple more games he could he could surpass that as well.

1:10 17 um this is this is pretty remarkable

1:12 what we're seeing.

1:14 Yeah, I think it was really interesting yesterday.

1:17 I thought in the Brenford game the previous weekend he clearly

1:21 is looking for those assist anyway now which is fair enough.

1:24 I think even subconsciously kind of his job.

1:26 No, no, no, no.

1:27 But there were times against Brenford where he should hit the ball

1:30 and strike and shoot himself but passes the ball because he wants the assist.

1:33 He wants the record.

1:34 It's an amazing record to break.

1:35 When you think about who owns the record right now

1:38 who try to get there even the likes of I don't know me

1:40 oy players like that who never made it and then you could beat it

1:44 and at some point maybe somebody will beat if Bruno beats the record somebody

1:48 could could beat his record or somebody like that but it would be amazing.

1:51 But I can see why he's kind of maybe not obsessed.

1:54 Maybe that bit wrong, but what he wants it.

1:56 Sure.

1:58 Yesterday he got really frustrated and that's why he got

2:01 taken off because he got he was on the yellow already

2:04 and because the frustration I think to be also pegged back

2:07 to 22 when they were so much in control, so much better.

2:10 But the fact that he could not get that assist there,

2:13 I think I think also plays a little bit

2:16 on his on his mind in a game like yesterday.

2:18 Um I think he will get there.

2:20 I think he deserves to get there.

2:21 I think he's an incredible player.

2:23 I think people in this country have underappreciated him for a long time.

2:27 I don't understand why.

2:28 Maybe because he's so Latin in the way he behaves

2:32 and plays that it could annoy people because he's always,

2:35 you know, he's a bit uh mooney at times or wingy at times,

2:39 which I can understand.

2:40 But again, this is the Latin, you know, we understand.

2:43 I'm not sure British people really understand that part of our personalities.

2:48 But I think he's an incredible player.

2:49 One of the greatest Premier League midfielders in history.

2:53 I am 100% with you.

2:54 And again, not to overdo the Canton parallel,

2:57 but Cantana wasn't was even more Latin than we are.

3:01 Wasn't necessarily appreciated until United started winning.

3:04 And maybe this is the thing.

3:05 He is associated with this incredible period of underachievement

3:09 from Manchester United compared to the year before.

3:11 And and I think that while putting up big stats.

3:14 Yeah.

3:14 Yeah.

3:14 And I think it's that combination which has

3:17 maybe turned some people unjustly perhaps uh off him.

3:20 I want to talk about um Toby Mayu as well.

3:24 Um we've made the point before he's a technically gifted player.

3:31 He's a smart player.

3:33 He's definitely not an athletic player in terms of covering ground,

3:38 in terms of having the strength, in terms of having the quickness.

3:41 all those stereotypes about young players, um,

3:44 they go out the window with him and he's obviously not going to get quicker.

3:47 No, no, no.

3:48 He's already super smart and I think he he

3:51 makes up for his lack of athleticism with his mind.

3:54 Yeah.

3:54 Yeah.

3:55 Uh, that said, you need, I think, the right framework around him if he's

4:00 going to start for Manchester United going forward,

4:03 which then brings us to the issue of the next manager.

4:08 I think we both agree that you don't just give the keys to Carrick, you

4:13 you encourage Carrick and you you count

4:15 as a pro the time that Carrick has spent there.

4:16 But as you said, I think earlier in the show,

4:19 I don't think Carrick has ever coached in the Champions League.

4:22 Um

4:24 it's a different pace

4:26 uh in terms of the the the fixtures one after the other.

4:30 It's a different skill set.

4:32 Yeah.

4:32 And it's not a question of whether Carrick has done what he's been asked to do,

4:36 which he undoubtedly has.

4:37 Right.

4:37 the results are there.

4:38 It's you should never think you should never give

4:40 somebody a job based on what they've done before.

4:44 You use what they've done before to decide whether you think

4:47 he's the right person to get you to do things going forward.

4:51 Yeah.

4:50 And so if it means considering Andoni Raola

4:52 or or somebody else or Matias Yisa, there you go.

4:56 See what I did or Ces Fàregas.

4:57 Why not?

4:58 Or or whoever else.

4:59 Doesn't need to be a young guy, right?

5:01 No.

5:01 No.

5:01 You have to go through this process.

5:03 But they will.

5:04 They will.

5:04 You know, they will.

5:05 But you say they will, right?

5:08 You you said before though in the slot context that they

5:12 need to have already decided whether to keep slot or not.

5:15 When we say they will, do we believe they're going through the process now?

5:18 Will I think so.

5:19 Why is the timetable different for United than Liverpool?

5:23 Like at what point do they need to announce the next manager?

5:26 No, no, because some of the managers who have

5:28 applied for this job have a club right now.

5:30 So, you know, and you need to wait for Carrick to finish

5:32 the season to also interview him to be part of that process.

5:36 Whereas with with Slot, there's no process.

5:38 The process is on slot and on the current team and the how the season has gone

5:42 as opposed to the alternatives.

5:45 Yeah.

5:45 If coach, it would be the same process as United, but he's not an interim coach.

5:49 He's in charge.

5:50 So, it's two very, very different things.

5:53 They're going through the project.

5:53 They've received a lot of um interest.

5:56 naturally is one of the biggest clubs in the world.

5:59 A lot of CVS, a lot of managers are interested in it, including Iraola.

6:03 Craig Burley yesterday on the EFC show said that for hima

6:06 is a better choice for United than Michael Carrick,

6:09 which I I completely I can understand his point like that.

6:13 I think Carrick will get it through that process once they've

6:16 listened to everybody and everybody has presented presented sorry their project.

6:21 It it be it'd be really interesting.

6:22 But the summer the summer is huge.

6:24 is huge for Mayu because you have to find the right

6:26 partner for him now that Kazmiro is going for example let's

6:30 or even decide if he's your starting central midfielder because

6:32 I I I don't I don't think we take that

6:34 charact he's definitely we haven't given him a contract until

6:37 2031 this week or last week to bench him again

6:41 well not necessarily bench but be part of a rotation look at different

6:44 solutions every indication is they're going

6:45 to bring in at least two central midfielders they have to

6:48 uh they have it's just the numbers two so they have to

6:51 so I I don't I don't know that that's 100% certain that you just plug him in.

6:55 Uh I in fact I would I would expect if

6:57 especially if it's not Carrick that almost everybody on this team

7:02 with a possible exception of Bruno and maybe Matias Kuna

7:05 is going to have to be re reitioning for their jobs.

7:09 Everything has to be kind of on the table, right?

7:10 If you're going to bring in somebody.

7:11 Yeah, I guess so.

7:12 Yeah.

7:12 But if Carrick stays, Mayu stays in the in the team.

7:15 So it becomes even more important who you sign to play next to him.

7:18 Let's say an Adam Warton for example.

7:20 I'm not sure this combo of Manu Walton would work

7:24 in the Premier League for example and in the Champions League for United.

7:27 So they have to get the recruitment right

7:30 this summer to build on this third place.

7:32 They will get third place whether it's Carrick or not on the bench.

7:36 We think it's going to be Carrick because you

7:39 can't get it wrong again like you did a bit

7:40 with Tenhag in between the first and the second

7:43 season like to certain extent you also did with Amorim.

7:46 So it's it's a huge summer for them.

7:49 Um, final word on this on on Cesco.

7:52 Um, they spent a ton of money on him.

7:57 When I think back to the sort of the strikers

7:59 who moved over here for a lot of money, Cesco and Joeris um,

8:04 and I think there's one winner out of those three and it's Ekkit.

8:10 Jocker has obviously grown in importance.

8:12 M Cesco though, I think by most he was seen as a guy who's more

8:16 of the certainly by me is a guy who's more of the slow burn.

8:20 I think Zesco has a higher ceiling than the other two guys do.

8:24 Um because because of his size, because of his athleticism,

8:29 because also he was coming off a bad season uh at Leipzig.

8:35 You need another you need an alternative to him at center forward.

8:40 Does the alternative become one of the guys

8:43 who already there like maybe moving Kunor

8:45 and Bumo in those situations or should you

8:47 go and spend money on somebody to challenge him?

8:51 Yeah, I don't it depends I guess who's on the you know who's on the bench.

8:54 What do you do with Zurgy?

8:56 Hand obviously is a bit different assuming Xerxy and Hland go.

8:59 Yeah.

8:59 Yeah.

9:00 Um, yeah, maybe.

9:01 I mean, I think what's interesting with Bogaris and Cesco

9:04 is that they better in 2026 than they were in 2025,

9:06 which was inevitable because I think especially for one

9:10 young player like Cesco to come from the Bundesliga,

9:13 you need some time, especially with Amarim first.

9:16 Yuker is different.

9:16 He's a bit older, but still to come from Portugal, you need to adapt.

9:20 Your cares has more goals, by the way, than than a KitK.

9:22 So, I'm not sure who's having the best season between the two, but

9:26 who would you rather have in your team?

9:28 It depends of the profile.

9:30 I think there's a lot of things that on the slot wishes that Ekkit does like

9:34 your career and there's probably things that Arteta

9:35 would like your cares to do like a KitK.

9:38 They're just two different strikers.

9:40 But what's I think is important is that I think there's a player like I

9:44 agree with you in Cesco uh that I

9:48 think he's getting there slowly but surely he's

9:51 getting there and I think they just

9:53 need to continue with him that journey because

9:57 once he's once he gets there I think he would be a very very good player.

10:00 That's always a challenge.

10:01 I mean, this is I think Zesco is undoubtedly in the project C category.

10:05 And we've seen so many players where you look

10:07 at it and you say if they get everything together,

10:10 they're going to be one of the top five, top 10 in the world at their position.

10:14 But we've seen this throughout history, whether it's,

10:16 you know, from Marco on down, right?

10:19 Um there is a lot of work to be done and it was never going to happen,

10:26 I think, in his first season.

10:27 Um, on the Akitik Gawker thing, I think it's it's interesting.

10:31 Uh, it's interesting you put them sort of uncomparable uncomparable.

10:36 Only you said that was the three the one that had the best season of the three.

10:42 Yeah, when you put it like that, yeah,

10:43 Jocker could end up winning the double and scoring more goals.

10:47 It's not just goals, but Yeah.

10:48 Yeah.

10:48 I think it's interesting.

10:50 I dig it.

10:50 I mean, I think because Yakurus is older,

10:52 if only for that would be the one, you know.

10:55 Sure.

10:55 Sure.

10:55 Sure.

10:55 But um but it is a it is a debate that's

10:58 uh that out there and you can have with your friends.