Having thoroughly enjoyed the thud and blunder of Monday night’s tremendously entertaining draw between Manchester United and Bournemouth, Football Daily found itself stifling a yawn during the post-match discourse. Much of the chatter focused on tactical tweaks Ruben Amorim may or may not have made to his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, a debate roughly equivalent to Titanic passengers discussing the second violinist’s tempo as the ballroom tilted into the Atlantic. It was a measure of the Old Trafford chaos that pundits couldn’t decide definitively if Amorim had consciously abandoned his “non-negotiable” back three policy, or if his system simply dissolved in the evening’s chaos. Asked to clarify, United’s head coach offered cheeky obfuscation. “That is for you to discuss, not for me,” he parped. “I know you guys know that I trained this week with a back four. I don’t know how [you know], but that is a good thing for you to discuss.”
United failed to prevail at home against a team that are now winless in seven matches, lost more leads than a distracted dog-walker in a squirrel sanctuary and relied heavily on their goalkeeper to help them avoid conceding two late goals [isn’t that his job? – Football Daily Ed]. For all that, their performance was hailed by Sky Sports grandees Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher as “their best performance of the season”. Whether this is a reason to be cheerful or a reflection on just how far standards have plummeted at the Theatre of Dreams is irrelevant; such praise would inevitably buy Amorim a few days of peace without having to concern himself with the cacophony of grumbling that has soundtracked his tenure. Wouldn’t it?
“It hurts me a bit,” sighed United skipper Bruno Fernandes in a Portuguese Football Federation interview, as he lamented the United’s hierarchy’s apparent willingness to sell him to Al-Hilal during the summer. “More than hurting, it makes me sad because I’m a player who has nothing to criticise. I’m always available, I always play, good or bad. I give my all. The club wanted me to go, I have that in my head.” Adopting the tone of a man being exiled to a salt mine, rather than one being linked with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia, Bruno revealed that it was only a heart-to-heart with Amorim that convinced him to stay.
The United boss has said he would also be open to a tête-à-tête with a different disaffected midfielder, who got a rare 20 minutes on the pitch only to have his thunder stolen by his half-brother, spotted in the stands wearing a “Free Kobbie Mainoo” T-shirt. Having previously been criticised by Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and man-of-the-people Rio Ferdinand for his apparently shabby treatment of Mainoo, Amorim said he would be happy to discuss the matter with the 20-year-old. “The team comes first and I will be really pleased if Kobbie comes to talk to me about that,” he honked. One suspects the first item on the agenda may be a certain sibling’s controversial choice of matchday leisure wear.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join John Brewin at 8pm GMT for updates on Cardiff City 1-3 Chelsea in the Coca-Cola Cup quarter-finals.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Al-Qadsiah appoints European coaching giant Brendan Rodgers as head coach” – the Saudi Pro League side give the former Celtic, Leicester and Liverpool boss quite the sell on their official website.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Oh, come on, Big Website, you’re not even trying. How could you have gone with ‘Nice plunged into crisis after fans’ dissent goes too far in physical assault’ when ‘Nice not nice’ was right there staring you in the face? PS: it’s good to see that Big Sir Jim’s other team are doing about as well as you’d expect” – Noble Francis.
Could I suggest that the Celtic Park ultras pay a small royalty to football’s biggest friend, Donald Trump, and immediately order a container-load of green and white baseball caps with the slogan ‘Martin Was Right About Everything’. With nine days to go until Christmas they will fly off the shelves” – John Collins.
Re: Celtic being a shambles (yesterday’s Football Daily) – a brilliant and funny article. Many thanks” – Simon Webber (and no others).
Joining in with my fellow Americans, Tyler T and Daniel Stauss, may I offer my apology to the universe for the selection of US Soccer’s mascot for the Geopolitics World Cup. Don’t know how Banner will survive in the heat” — JJ Zucal.
The last line from yesterday’s mail (full email edition) will no doubt set people of a certain age humming to themselves, being the penultimate line of the Wedding Present’s sterling single ‘You Should Always Keep in Touch With Your Friends’. This being the Weddoes’ 40th anniversary year, I was due to see them in September, only to be derailed by a positive Covid test (a bitter irony, considering the song title). Meanwhile, the reference to Manchester United and Bournemouth, in Memory Lane, brought to mind one of my earliest exposures to FA Cup shocks, as ‘Arry’s Third Division Cherries saw off United in the third round in 1984. The prospect of Bournemouth one day finishing above United in the top flight was as ridiculous then as, well, sending emails about it over 40 years later. Why, yes, I am a middle-aged man, what makes you ask?” – Mike Slattery.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Mike Slattery. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.
TOP 100
Our countdown to the best male player for 2025 begins, with Arda Güler, new Sunderland hero Nick Woltemade and Raphael Leão among the batch between 100 and 71. Check it out now.
The Truth Media 
The Truth Media 