'I do not see any way Rashford bridges can be rebuilt'published at 15:56
15:56
Phil McNulty Chief football writer
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BBC Sport Chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions on the Premier League.
Rob asked: Hi Phil, I'm intrigued to hear what you would do as manager/sporting director at Manchester United regarding Marcus Rashford when this season ends. Assuming he continues to perform well at Villa, would you try to welcome him back/discuss ideas with him, or has that ship now sailed?
Phil answered: Hello, Rob. This is a really interesting question. Rashford has done well at Aston Villa and looked much more like his old self, but I believe Ruben Amorim has looked at Rashford, on and off the pitch, and decided he is not for him.
He made that pretty clear. There is always room for discussion when his Villa loan spell ends but, based on what Amorim has said publicly about Rashford, I do not see any way those bridges can be rebuilt.
The verdict on Garnacho published at 18:41 2 April
18:41 2 April
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We asked you about Alejandro Garnacho's future at Old Trafford. Here are some of your comments:
Joseph: Keep Garnacho and let Ruben Amorim improve his football. He has the potential to be a fantastic talent. Let's not waste it. We got rid of Anthony Elanga and look at hime now. You could say the board has no brains at all!
Jon: Unfortunately, the numbers, facts and data do not lie. I have spent the season watching him and things are just not improving at all. His performances are getting worse!
Greg: This is exactly why other young players flourish away from Old Trafford. There isn't another club in this country where the expectation on a 20-year-old is so ridiculously high. Compare him with Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah at the same age.
Richard: Get rid of him. He is too inconsistent.
Eric: Garnacho is an excellent talent - young and exciting. Needs to step up, yes, but if the players around him improve, so will he. Confidence is lacking and he tries too hard. But his decision making is starting to improve, and it will even more with more experience.
Emily: Keep Garnanacho. He is United's best player by far.
What to do with Garnacho?published at 14:32 2 April
14:32 2 April
Joe Bradshaw BBC Sport Senior Journalist
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Watching Anthony Elanga blitz through Manchester United's defence to score the decisive goal for Nottingham Forest on Tuesday was tough for the visitors' fans.
The forward rarely showed such dynamism when wearing a United shirt, but his speed, close control and devastating finish stood out on a night of low quality in front of goal.
At the opposite end of the pitch, United's (in theory) most effective dribbler, Alejandro Garnacho, cut a frustrated figure throughout.
And that is not a new story for the 20-year-old.
Linked with a move to Chelsea in January, it has been a difficult season for Garnacho, and questions about his suitability for Ruben Amorim's tactical set-up are increasing.
The stats do not offer mitigation either.
This season, in the Premier League, he has averaged 1.4 chances created per game, ranking him 72nd out of all players who have played 900 or more minutes.
Perhaps most damningly of all, his dribble success rate - for players attempting more than 50 - is just 30.8%, which places him rock bottom in 58th place.
In fairness to Garnacho, he does get plenty of shots off in a game, averaging three and a half per 90 minutes, but that merely makes his shot conversion rate worse – his figure of 5.9% ranking him down the list once again (71st out of 80).
Even when comparing with Garnacho's own numbers, the figures make disappointing reading.
He is still digging out the same number of shots as in 2023-24, with an average of 3.5 a game - but in other metrics, he is down.
Last year, he created 1.6 chances per game. That is only a small decrease on this season's 1.4, but that was over more games than he has played in 2024-25.
And then there's the dribble success rate.
Last season's 42.8% was nothing sensational, but it was middle of the road for similar players as opposed to rock bottom.
It suggests a forward who heads down blind alleys with the ball at his feet, usually losing possession and offering little product.
Amorim said on Tuesday that Garnacho is "sometimes trying too much" and "sometimes doesn't make the best choice".
Perhaps that is understandable for a young player finding his way in the game, but his on-pitch demeanour can perhaps make it hard to warm to him.
Being outshone by Elanga, who is the latest ex-United player to thrive away from Old Trafford, surely only makes it rankle more for supporters.
What United choose to do with another academy product who is not delivering on his potential could be a common theme over a tricky-looking summer.
Should Amorim do more to get the best out of Garnacho or is it on the player to improve? Is he even the right fit for United?
Why did Man Utd sell Elanga? published at 14:18 2 April
14:18 2 April
Simon Stone Chief football news reporter
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When Ralf Rangnick replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in December 2021, he quickly concluded Anthony Elanga had a bright future.
Rangnick clearly knew Elanga had pace - and felt his direct style was a threat to opposition defences, which in turn could create space for others.
Crucially, he also felt Elanga was aware of the space around him and did not forget his defensive duties, even if his preference was to go forward.
That he featured in 26 out of Rangnick's 29 games in charge says it all about the current Austria coach's view.
Sadly for Elanga, Erik ten Hag had a different outlook.
The Dutchman did not feel Elanga had the quality needed to be enough of an influence on his squad. That meant he was jettisoned in 2023 after a single campaign under the Dutchman.
The problem was the attacking players who came in the same summer – Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund – have failed to deliver. The wide attacking players United already had – Antony, Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho – were inconsistent at best, Anthony Martial was injured and Marcus Rashford's form fell off a cliff.
Ten Hag's assessment was probably right. United were third then, as Nottingham Forest are third now. Maybe that is Elanga's level. What he really did not bargain for was the Old Trafford side hurtling backwards at such an alarming rate.
Third to them now seems light years away.
'We are on the right track' - Dalotpublished at 14:17 2 April
14:17 2 April
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Diogo Dalot remains confident Manchester United are taking the right steps towards a return to their former glory.
Even though United lost their 13th league match of the season against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, the 26 year old was keen to take the positives.
"[Our fighting spirit] shows how much we wanted it and shows how much we want to change the situation, to not be in the position that we are, especially in the Premier League," Dalot said.
"And if we want to be competitive in the future, we have to start behaving like this and we have to perform like this.
"I think the results will come in the end, but this little bit will have to come first if you want to compete for the Premier League and the biggest titles. We have to start creating these habits and then try to be consistent. Then, I think the results will come by itself.
"We still have to suffer a little bit but in terms of trying to get out of this situation and trying to improve but I think we are on the right track."
The alarming attacking stat that puts Hojlund in Maguire's shadepublished at 12:04 2 April
12:04 2 April
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Harry Maguire's cameo upfront against Nottingham Forest has dug up some frightening stats for Manchester United's centre-forwards
BBC Sport's Alex Brotherton, it notes that Maguire had more shots in nine minutes than striker duo Joshua Zirkze and Rasmus Hojlund had in the whole match.
But that is not the most alarming stat of all.
As first spotted by xG Philosophy, external, Harry Maguire accumulated more expected goals at the City Ground than Rasmus Hojlund has managed to find in any of his past 15 appearances for the Red Devils.
His figure of 0.6 has only been beaten twice by Hojlund in the Premier League all season, actually against Forest at Old Trafford in December with 0.74 and at West Ham for Erik ten Hag's final game in charge (0.61).
Numbers like this will only add fuel to the fire for those who think United need a new striker this summer.
'Adapt or get packing' - fans on Man Utd defeatpublished at 08:10 2 April
Carolus: Tactically, a horrendous performance. It looked like the players have been drilled to follow tactics but all creativity has been removed from them. I saw effort, but confidence and creativity were amiss. Bruno Fernandes was awful but the guy is entitled to one of those.
Matt: Pathetic. I know Forest have been great this season but here they haven't even played and walked away with the win. None of the attacking options are good enough. Yet we loan out players like Antony and Rashford and sell the matchwinner for pennies. Embarrassing.
Adam: I hate to sound like a broken record, but Ruben Amorim got it wrong yet again. Poor formation, poor first-team choices, poor substitutions and no adaptability. He's digging his own grave so early on. Just because it worked in Portugal isn't good enough. It's proven to not be working in England. End of story. Adapt or get packing.
Trevor: Same old lacking of any kind of real sharpness and expectation up front, Alejandro Garnacho extremely frustrating and predictable, Patrick Dorgu worrying on this performance but he has much more to offer I'm sure. Why not keep Harry Maguire as centre-forward for the rest of the season? There is no-one else to challenge him. Great goal and all credit to Forest, but it highlights the very average standard of this season's Premier League that they are in third place.
Anton: Lots of good ideas in the build-up but we looked clueless in the final third. We created nothing of note aside from a few crosses into a crowded box. It felt like we played into Forest's hands. This is how they would've hoped the game would've gone. Fair play to Nuno.
Adrian: I feel so sorry for Maguire. He's rightly been criticised for some of his defensive performances, but sticking him upfront seems almost cruel. It's not his job to be scoring goals yet leads to even more criticism. I'm really having doubts about this manager/coach. Surely there should be a level of adaptability? And I'm only considering Maguire at the moment - the same could be said for every other player. What works in Portugal doesn't necessarily work in England. An absolute mess!
Gossip: United gather striker targetspublished at 07:19 2 April
'We deserved more' - Amorimpublished at 23:26 1 April
23:26 1 April
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Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "It is clear we should have taken something, but we have to focus on the goal we conceded. Nottingham are really good on the transition and it was a goal from nothing.
"Suffering the first goal in this way puts the opponent in the position they want to be in, defending with a lot of men and making the transitions. During the game we lacked a bit of quality in the final third which is important when you are trying to win games. We deserved more."
On the Forest goal: "We have men to block and a whole pitch to run in which to make a foul. We have to make better decisions."
On introducing Harry Maguire as a substitute: "If you look at the game in the final 15 minutes they were defending with six men in the box so we had to get more players in there. We cannot get inside the box with the combinations.
"Harry Maguire is really strong on set pieces and when you are in the opposite box you are a striker not a defender. He is maybe the best guy to play inside the box."
On the Manchester derby on Sunday: "If you look at the game we are improving the way we play football, we are creating chances and dominating the games more.
"We know that this season is going to be like that, win momentum, lose momentum. We continue going into the next match."
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Man Utd: Did you know?published at 22:39 1 April
22:39 1 April
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In all competitions this season, only Leicester City (25) have conceded the opening goal in more matches among all Premier League sides than Manchester United (23).
They also had 24 shots in this match, their most in a Premier League game in which they failed to score since September 2021 against Aston Villa (28), and their joint-most on record (from 2003-04) in an away game without scoring in the competition (also 24 v West Ham in 2006, Portsmouth in 2004, and Portsmouth in 2004).
Man Utd reveal savings from first redundancy programmepublished at 17:18 1 April
17:18 1 April
Simon Stone Chief football news reporter
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Manchester United have confirmed the club saved between £8m and £10m on the first round of redundancies last year that cut 250 staff jobs.
United have subsequently embarked on a second redundancy round which could see another 200 jobs going.
In figures published on Companies House as part of the Manchester United football club accounts - a subsidiary of the club's parent company - that announced a £113.2m loss to 30 June 2024 in September last year, United said they had an average of 937 employees, 659 of whom were involved in administration and other areas.
Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said he is determined to drive down costs and slash losses after claiming the club could go bust by the end of the year unless action was taken.
As is normal in accounts of this nature, it is stated the club has "adequate resources to continue in operational existence for 12 months from the approval of these financial statements", which were signed off by co-chair Joel Glazer on 31 October.
United confirm the initial staffing reduction was "substantially completed" in September 2024 and "associated costs of between £8m and £10m will be recognised in the first half of fiscal year 2025".
In addition, the accounts confirmed "net finance costs" of £42.88m. The club spent £35.3m on interest servicing a secured loan and other credit facilities.
The huge amounts paid out to service United's debt since the Glazer family bought the club in 2005 is the major reason behind the ongoing fan protests against the ownership, the latest of which will be a sit-in after the end of Sunday's derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford.
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