Man United 3 Nottingham Forest 2
What a fun game of football that was. With nothing to really play for I’m glad we got a good game of football compared to last weeks bore fest with Sunderland, United got off to the perfect start just six minutes in as a poor Forest clearance gave the ball to Luke Shaw in the box who controlled the ball on his chest on fired a beauty past Sels to put United in the lead. Both teams had chances in the first half as Gibbs-White had an shot expertly saved by Lammens with United countering from it and hitting the post from Mbeumo who had rounded the keeper, Forest did though hit back early in the second half as corner was played short to Anderson who shrugged off Amad and crossed a brilliant ball into Morato who couldn’t miss and equalised for Forest in the 53rd minute. Just two minutes United went back in front as Dalot crossed the ball into the box as Mbeumo brought the ball down with what looked like his arm with the ball falling to Cunha who rolled the ball home to give United the lead, the Brazilian didn’t even celebrate as the referee was brought to the screen by the VAR but shockingly stood by the decision saying that the handball was accidental giving United the goal, United created chance after chance after that and eventually did get a third as Cunha played the ball out wide to Fernandes who fired the ball into the box to Mbeumo who turned the ball in to finally give Bruno Fernandes his 20th Premier League assist of the season equalling the record. Forest did pull another back as Anderson found Gibbs-White in the box who somehow managed to score an unbelievable goal to get one back for Forest, it was too late however as United secured 3rd place in a crazy game.
A perfect last home game of the season for United. Of course it would have been nice if Bruno had of broken the assist record today given the sheer amount of chances that the likes of Mbeumo, Dorgu and Zirkzee had especially the Cameroonian who could have scored 4 or 5 today but to equal the record is special anyway and he can break it next week at Brighton, on another day United could have scored 10 with the chances that they had creating 4.57xG which shows how dominant United where. It was also an emotional day for Casemiro who played his last game for United at Old Trafford today getting a brilliant send-off from the fans inside the stadium today, he’s going to be a huge miss in that midfield next season as him and Mainoo have played a huge part in United’s success in the second half of the season. I do hate to be negative but yet again Mbeumo and Amad where absolutely horrific out there for United and I can’t help but feel that if Sesko was fit United would have had 5 or 6 today given the chances that were missed by both, however on a positive note I thought Kobbie Mainoo dominated that midfield today against Elliot Anderson who is set to probably sign for City if you believe what you read. Anderson would be perfect for United but I can’t see us competing with City for his signature in the summer if the price is over £100 million, you never know though.
Forest will feel aggrieved on United’s second goal. As soon as I saw the first replay I thought it would disallowed given the fact that the ball was wedged between Mbeumo’s hip and arm but given the rules the referee allowed the goal, the VAR did all they could bringing the referee to the monitor but the final decision came down to the man on the pitch who deemed the handball accidental. In my opinion the goal should have been disallowed given that Mbeumo literally trapped the ball using part of his arm so I can understand why Forest would be upset, in terms of the Forest performance I don’t think they were great in the 4-4-2 which Vitor Pereira set them up in with Wood and Jesus up top not working at all with each other. Defensively I thought Forest were terrible giving United chance after chance with the defending for the some the goals looking really questionable from the likes of Milenkovic, Morato and Netz along with the midfield looking quite poor bar Anderson who did provide two assists but was outfought by Mainoo and Casemiro in there. It’s not been a brilliant season for Forest but staying in the Premier League is a positive given the way it was looking a few months ago, Vitor Pereira has done a good job since taking over from Sean Dyche. I wonder what the goal is for Forest next season?
What are the goals next season for Man United and Michael Carrick? We find ourselves back in the Champions League for the first time since the 2022/23 season where Ten Haag finished 3rd in his first season, the summer that followed brought Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Sofyan Amrabat on loan along with Reguilon and Jonny Evans. Looking back an absolute disaster of a window which led to United finishing 8th and winning the FA Cup, United cannot have a repeat of that summer and should be looking at a summer similar to last only in the midfield bringing in ready made players along the lines of Elliot Anderson, Tchouameni if he’s available, Sandro Tonali etc who can make an impact straight away in place of Casemiro. United need to be serious in the Champions League next season given that the last few times have been severely embarrassing for the club getting grouped the last two times they made the competition, they also need to challenge in the cups following getting eliminated in the earliest possible stage this season to Grimsby and Brighton. I would obviously love to challenge for the league but unless we have an all-timer window I can’t see it, cement that top 4 place and challenge in Europe and the cups. That has to be the bear minimum for next season for Michael Carrick.
Is Bruno Fernandes going to break the record next week? Obviously we can’t answer this question today but I have a feeling that we will see a very different team at the AMEX next week, first of all I don’t think we’ll see Casemiro next week given it’s a dead rubber for United and he has a world cup ahead of him in the summer. I would also like to see some youth in the team next week like Shea Lacey who we saw briefly under Darren Fletcher in the games against Burnley and Brighton, there’s no doubt Bruno will play next week barring any injury but I have the feeling that with Brighton playing for European football United could be caught in two minds. Do you play your best team and give Fernandes the best chance of breaking the record or do you play some youth players to give them a chance in the first team? It’s a tough call for Michael Carrick so I’d imagine he’s going to do a bit of both and give 1 or two youth players a game whilst starting the rest of the first team, I suppose we’ll find out when he does his press conference during the week. Can Bruno Fernandes make history next week at the AMEX? I certainly hope so.