Martial'sEmergingSmile
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From ESPN (multiple journalists - Mark Ogden, Rob Dawson)
This is the article Andy Mitten was talking about last week, calling it an upcoming 'bombshell'. I think that's a big stretch but it is kinda interesting in parts.
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On Brailsford:
Transport seething:
The Athletic wrote about this back in June. Apparently the transport offered by the club was a bus.
Bruno's contract:
Job cuts:
Pissing off Casemiro:
Pissing off Rashy and Sanchy:
Continuation of the #StrongMinds
This is the article Andy Mitten was talking about last week, calling it an upcoming 'bombshell'. I think that's a big stretch but it is kinda interesting in parts.
-------------------------------------
On Brailsford:
"Brailsford held a meeting with the first-team squad shortly after INEOS took charge of football operations at the club," a source told ESPN. "He sat there in a cream shirt and pair of cream chinos, telling the players that he lived on the most exclusive street in Monte Carlo, but that he was coming to Manchester because he was going to help make United better.
"The players left the room rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. It was like they were supposed to be grateful that Dave had given up his idyllic lifestyle to save them all. All they've seen since is cost-cutting and people losing their jobs."
Transport seething:
Three months later, the promise to "make United better" had a hollow ring to it as the first-team players threatened to pay for their own flight back to Manchester after the FA Cup final in London. The club was providing other means of transportation back from the capital. With the club holding firm, senior players pushed back and insisted they would source their own flight home.
The Athletic wrote about this back in June. Apparently the transport offered by the club was a bus.
Bruno's contract:
For the players, sources have said that the experience of playing for Manchester United now seems like anything but representing one of the game's most illustrious teams. Two people told ESPN that Bruno Fernandes was prepared to leave this summer after growing tired of the club's repeated failure to deliver, but eventually stayed and signed a contract after, according to one source, "the club panicked and gave him a massive new deal."
Job cuts:
Many of the players have been "underwhelmed" by the impact made by INEOS, while there has been anger within the dressing room at not simply the departure of several long-serving staff members as part of the job cuts, but also at the treatment of some of them.
"One member of the ground staff had been at the club for over 30 years," a source said. "He was let go by the club and was sweeping up on his own on his last day with tears rolling down his face. Nobody did anything for him, despite all the years he had given to the club."
Pissing off Casemiro:
"Erik is very blunt and direct," a source told ESPN. "He's fundamentally an honest guy, but he had to be told last season to soften his approach with the players. He was too critical too often, but sometimes it was down to his use of English.
"He speaks the language, but he doesn't have a great grasp of it or the nuances. For instance, he pissed off Casemiro last season for saying he was dropped for 'football reasons.' Erik meant 'tactical' reasons, but he ended up angering a multiple Champions League winner by suggesting he was criticising him as a footballer."
Pissing off Rashy and Sanchy:
Ten Hag's handling of Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford also caused disharmony within the squad. While there was initial support among the majority of the players for the decision to discipline Sancho for a social media outburst after the winger was dropped from the first-team dressing room, sources say the treatment was soon regarded as heavy-handed and displayed a lack of flexibility on Ten Hag's part.
Sources have told ESPN that Rashford's loss of form and focus last season was not helped by Ten Hag regularly criticising the player in media interviews -- again partly exacerbated by his limited grasp of English.
Continuation of the #StrongMinds
Some players struggled to boost their confidence under Ten Hag's hardline approach, and sources have told ESPN that one senior player asked low-level members of staff to give him motivational talks before games to help his morale.