No Question About That - a Manchester United podcast

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United Draw Ugly Oct 19, 2026

Show notes

#1060 | Michael Carrick changed the system at Elland Road and United came home with a 1-1 draw. It was closer to a street fight than a football match for much of it. Ed and Dharnish go through United’s approach and performance, including a back three and Bruno Fernandes pushed out wide. It wasn’t very pretty but at least United matched Leeds for physicality before the second half slipped away.

The point leaves United on two wins from 10 across all competitions this season. The question on everybody’s lips is how long Carrick has? More defeats over the next few weeks will increase the pressure on club and manager.

Then, what does a growing injury list mean for United’s trip to Como in the Champions League.

0:00 Carrick changes the system
0:46 Leeds away: a proper scrap
2:46 What’s going on with Bruno?
6:37 Fight and physicality, but no football
17:22 Should Carrick be sacked?
26:03 Does Bruno need a rest?
33:24 Preview: United vs Como
42:26 Final thoughts and sign-off

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The Tactics Show: Meltdown Mode Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

*Apologies for the dodgy audio on this week's episode*

#1059 | Ed, Dharnish, and Daniel open in meltdown mode. Manchester United have two wins from nine and the latest crisis is the fallout from Lisandro Martinez’ criticism of Jason Wilcox. The tactics tell the story. United conceded after 50 seconds at Atletico with five players in one zone and nobody closing down. They had used a 4-4-2 mid-block against Spurs and were pulled apart anyway. The diagnosis is a team caught between pressing high, sitting deep, and dominating the ball. Masters of none. From there, we work through questions around Yoro, Maguire, Martinez and De Ligt at centre-back. Then there’s Leeds’s 3-5-2 to deal with at the weekend and what Como will ask of United next week.

0:00 Meltdown mode
1:35 Pressing problem vs Atlético
5:24 High press or mid-block?
7:51 Spurs: the 4-4-2 falls apart
9:58 Squad building and Carrick’s vision
14:57 Centre-back questions: Yoro, Maguire, De Ligt
18:29 Ball dominance isn’t working
25:00 Predicted XI vs Leeds

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Martinez Calls Out the Board Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

#1058 | Ed and Dominic pick over United’s 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid. It was better than the scoreline but still leaves Michael Carrick under pressure. United opened with another defensive blunder but grew into the game, creating some decent chances before losing Leny Yoro to a dubious red card. But defeat is defeat and the noise around Carrick is likely to grow, especially if the run of Leeds, Como, Bournemouth, and Chelsea goes badly.Then post-match, as we were recording, Lisandro Martinez dropped a bombshell!

0:27 Intro: another defeat in Madrid
1:15 Team news, formation, and that opening goal
7:44 The noise around Michael Carrick
15:39 If not Carrick, then who?
21:17 VAR, the disallowed goal, and the red card
25:33 Midfield: Santos, Baleba, and the trade-offs
31:38 Martinez calls out the board: recruitment and finances
50:20 City, PSG, and the cheating debate

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The MUWFC Show: Eva Olid Era Takes Shape Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

#1057 | Ed and Andy catch up on four straight wins for United Women, which have turned the mood around after a difficult start to the season. 10-1 against Sheffield United, a narrow victory over West Ham, 5-1 against Durham, and a single goal victory over Liverpool. The team’s personality is becoming clearer under Eva Olid.

The conversation widens to goalkeeper depth and how a youth-heavy squad is developing.

Then there’s a preview of the games in the coming week. Charlton in the WSL, a second meeting with Liverpool in the Players Cup, and the Manchester derby.

Read the Barmy Article

0:26 Intro
1:40 New momentum: four wins in a row
5:22 Aggressive press
10:50 Goalkeeping depth
16:38 Crowds, marketing, and the fanbase
19:12 Young players coming through
26:39 WSL picture and City’s charges

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Well That Was Dreadful Oct 11, 2026

Show notes

#1056 | Ed and Daniel pick through Manchester United 1-1 Tottenham, a game United led until the 92nd minute but in which they played badly for most of the 90. The first half was as poor as anything this season, with Spurs running through United’s midfield at will. One side was moving, the other standing still. Carrick’s changes on the hour briefly changed the game, including a positive cameo from Carlos Baleba. But after Spurs were reduced to 10 men, United went into their shell and produced some more comedy defending.

Where does Michael Carrick go from here, especially with Tuesday’s trip to Atletico coming up fast, and a very difficult schedule ahead. Nobody at the club wants another manager change but we’ve seen this film before.

0:00 Match reaction: United 1-1 Spurs
2:15 Squad building and transfers
8:25 Tactical analysis: pressing and intensity
15:50 Accountability and selection
24:15 Baleba
31:10 Red card
40:30 Manager future and fixtures
53:20 Atletico preview and sign-off

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City Fallout, Spurs Preview Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

#1055 | Ed and Dharnish talk about Manchester City's cheating three weeks on from the verdict and with the appeal under way. City's “it was government money” defence falls apart when the government, the sponsors, and the owner turn out to be one family. With club and fan denial hardening, the likeliest exit is a sale, or a vote to expel if City keep fighting.

There's some chat about why Financial Fair Play was created in the first place, Andy Burnham and the UAE’s investments in the UK, and what Guardiola knew.

Then it’s back to the football with Spurs on Saturday. Sesko is ruled out and Dorgu is injured. Will Cunha play through the middle again, what's the right balance in midfield as Baleba returns, and is there a case for Yoro’s pace at centre-back after his France debut?

The episode finishes with Ronaldo’s complaint over his Portugal minutes against Messi’s emotional send-off, and Ferguson’s book tour and what he said about living to see the new stadium.

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0:00 Intro: Spurs, City and Fergie

1:36 City’s CPC defence

7:53 Abu Dhabi, power and the exit route

16:51 FFP, the appeal and Burnham

24:56 What did Pep know?

30:05 Spurs preview: team news, midfield and Yoro

44:32 Ronaldo and Messi

50:42 Fergie and the new stadium

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Never Really About Football Oct 04, 2026

Show notes

#1054 | Ed and Paul pick through the fall out from City’s guilty verdict and conclude this is a geopolitical story more than football. The outcome might well owe more to diplomacy than to Premier League rules. Andy Burnham's situation and UK ties to Abu Dhabi suggest where the pressure is coming from.

There’s a long look at the City fanbase: why will so few will engage with the evidence or a reasonable discussion about what’s happened? How did a club that was once the punchline become the vehicle of a state?

There’s the damages bill that could run into billions and whether the other 19 clubs would really vote to expel. Could the only clean exit be a settlement fund and a forced change of ownership?

0:00 The guilty verdict 2:54 A geopolitical story 9:42 CAS 2020, six emails and the redactions 15:03 Financial doping 27:18 Why City fans won't engage 30:40 Who's who in Abu Dhabi 39:31 Was FFP ever a fair rule? 47:00 Lawsuits, damages and expulsion 55:36 Can titles be reassigned? 1:02:36 Settlement and getting the owners out 1:12:29 Wrap

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The Geopolitics of City's Corruption Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

#1053 | Daniel joins Ed to make the case that this was never really a football story: Manchester City's ownership is Abu Dhabi's ruling family operating through the exact same statecraft logic they apply to war, espionage and geopolitics. And that family’s refusal to ever hear the word "no" from anyone. It’s the instinct that produced the fraud itself.

Trace the money and the politics: Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth, the family network tying the state, the investment vehicle, the sponsors and the football club into one entity. Then there’s Andy Burnham's startlingly weak public response, read against his own history with City-linked land deals in East Manchester and the UK's broader security and investment ties to the UAE.

Pep Guardiola is linked in the same way. His public advocacy on Gaza and Catalan independence is impossible to square with total silence on his own owners' role in Sudan. His City trophies cannot be separated from dirty money and the questions of doping that have followed his career since Barcelona. This is potentially the biggest scandal in the history of sport, precisely because of the geopolitics layered underneath it.

0:00 Intro: City found guilty 2:30 From anti-competitive to human rights 4:39 Statecraft, sovereign wealth and sportswashing 6:58 Paper trail and the defence 14:55 Andy Burnham and Manchester politics 23:36 Punishment, lawsuits and a forced sale 37:48 Guardiola's hypocrisy and his legacy 47:52 Biggest scandal of all time? Wrap-up

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United Inc: Financing Old Trafford, Path to Ending Glazer Debt Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

#1052 | Jamie's latest Substack note gets the deep dive treatment: United's newly published loan documents show a real, dated path to finally clearing the $550 million Glazer-era LBO debt. The new notes are repayable at par with no further interest from 10 June 2029, but only if it's tied to a "stadium financing event," with a matching change-of-control clause built to let INEOS take a majority stake without triggering repayment. It’s complicated but clear.

Jamie's model puts the realistic cost for a new stadium closer to £3.2 billion once a typical overrun is applied to the headline £2 billion figure, funded through some mix of club debt, owner equity, and external partners. Personal seat licences could plausibly raise several hundred million pounds on its own.

The pod opens with City with Ed and Jamie still processing last week's guilty verdict and the Premier League timeline that could produce a sanction within months.

Jamie's note mentioned in the pod: https://spgoals.substack.com/p/can-ineos-clear-manchester-uniteds

And for my take on last week's finances: https://nqatpod.substack.com/p/uniteds-new-cash-machine

0:27 Intro 2:38 City verdict and timelines 6:15 What punishment fits the breach 12:14 Premier League credibility and expulsion 15:45 United's refinancing note explained 26:17 Ineos' path to majority ownership 29:26 Stadium cost and funding options 42:31 Squad budget and wrap-up

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Pep's Rep Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

#1051 | Ed and Adam use the City verdict to talk about reputation rather than punishment mechanics: City's for organising the fraud, the Premier League's for taking eight years and letting itself be outmuscled by lawyers, and Pep Guardiola's, since virtually everything he won at City was built on financial cheating he spent years publicly denying.

There's an awkward political dimension: City are owned by the UAE, a UK security and investment partner, and there’s scepticism that the other 19 clubs would vote for expulsion given how many owners have their own business ties to the Gulf. Given that, how might any punishment be constructed and what might be just?

On Pep specifically, they trace a pattern running from his playing days through Barcelona to City. His legacy is now inseparable from the fraud that funded it. Then there’s the broadcasters who’ve pretended non of this was happening. Shame on them.

0:27 Intro: 114 of 115 charges 2:32 Reputations in the toilet 4:52 Why spending limits exist 9:27 Can City rebuild their reputation? 14:17 Nation-state ownership and the UAE 19:36 Would clubs vote to expel City? 27:00 What punishment actually fits 32:57 Charge stacking and precedent 38:28 Getting the owners out 39:24 Pep's legacy 45:30 Sudan, sportswashing and silence 47:50 How the media will cover it 55:04 Fan reaction and the weaponized fanbase 58:04 What happens next 1:00:06 Wrap-up

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