A Manchester United podcast focused on detailed, evidence driven analysis. Hosted by Aaron Moniz (@amonizfootball) and Kees van Hemmen (@HemmenKees) – two data scientists and United fans.
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#70: The Second Season Review (with Brent Maximin)
1:19:32
1:19:32
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To cap off a long and difficult season, we welcome the wonderful Brent Maximin (@logoffbrent) to help us recollect our players, goals, and moments of the season, before discussing the future that lies ahead for Manchester United.
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Desolate performances and results seem to finally be arriving in their full transparency, as United stare down their most disappointing season this century. We discuss this situation, and what comes next, with as much new detail as we possibly can offer.
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#68: Relegation-Level Team Defending
1:04:02
1:04:02
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United conceded dozens of shots and expected goals as they failed to win across three separate attempts this week. We broke down where exactly Ten Hag's setup is breaking down before talking about some positive lights in the side - Kobbie Mainoo, the returning Mason Mount, and recent academy promotee Willy Kambwala.…
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#67: Amad Cup Run, and Building for the Modern Game
52:30
52:30
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After missing a few International Break uploads, we return to discuss some pertinent topics from last week's Liverpool game and how it pertains to the team as a whole moving forward.
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#66: Garnacho Carries United to Victory and We Talk About The Other Onana
1:07:43
1:07:43
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Kees and Aaron discuss Alejandro Garnacho's season to date before starting their summer transfer preview series with a section on Amadou Onana.
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Two consecutive league defeats virtually end United's prospects of finishing the league in a Champions League place. With that in mind, and more than a quarter of the league season still to play, we revolve around the question... what now?
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#64: How United's New Executive Team Can Right The Wrongs of Solskjaer and Ten Hag's Tenures
48:41
48:41
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United's predictable demise on the pitch gives us little to discuss, but their significant overhaul at executive level prompts a discussion about the upcoming search for managers and players, and where the club went wrong under Solskjaer and Ten Hag.
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Aaron and Kees discuss whether or not United stole a win at Luton, whether Bruno Fernandes is the problem for this side, and rehash to what degree Ten Hag or the players are responsible for the side's wastefulness in possession.
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Aaron and Kees chat United's tactical problems, the top 4 race, and a slew of players in United's squad.
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#61: Mainoo, Hojlund, and Garnacho Give Glimpse Into the Future
1:10:29
1:10:29
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Much better Starting XIs, slightly better performances, and two wins. But it's the three youngest players in United's Starting XI – Kobbie Mainoo, Rasmus Hojlund, and Alejandro – who own the headlines this week after their match-winning performances. Here, we discuss why there's so much hype around these players.…
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#60: The Difficulties of Manager Scouting, and How Important is Winger Footedness?
45:43
45:43
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This week, we reflect on the difficulties of scouting managers, both as they pertain to the time Erik ten Hag was hired at United and to the possible near future. We also discussed whether United as a team should be looking to return to more traditional wingers, and how important it might be.
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#59: Is Højlund Good Enough? Do United Need an Overhaul at the Back? And Kees and Aaron's 5 point plan...
1:17:05
1:17:05
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Kees and Aaron answer you questions on all things United, as INEOS make their first major change to United's front office.
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#58: Breaking Down a Worsening Wing Situation and Sorting Out The Midfield
1:13:55
1:13:55
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We returned from a month away to a Twitter Q&A that received a massive response. Most questions pertained to the significant changes in United's wing and midfield outlook during the holidays, giving us an opportunity to deep dive into these areas of the squad and how they are shaping up for the long-term future.…
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Aaron and Kees discuss a slew of rocky performances, and the crossroads that United seem to find themselves at as a result with the festive period nearing.
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#56: Expiring Contracts, Injury Updates, and How Are United's Rivals Performing?
45:45
45:45
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During this international break, we took a look at expiring contracts and their implication on long-term squad planning. Then, we did a quick update on Hojlund and Onana's injuries as well as current performances of rival teams, and what they mean for United in the short term.
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#55: Recapping a Seven Game Rollercoaster [Fixed Audio]
1:18:08
1:18:08
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With the return of the international break, we take the opportunity to get a birds-eye view of United's problems, and in turn attempt to forecast where United go from here. Note: A previous version of this episode was taken down due to issues with the audio.
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#54: How Buildup Issues Prevent United From Dominating Bottom Half Sides
56:40
56:40
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The international break - combined with United's mixed results against Crystal Palace and Brentford prior - give us the opportunity to revisit the tape and discuss United's ongoing personnel issues in buildup and how (much) they're hurting the side.
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#53: Palace Twice, Galatasaray, and Brentford – Yes, We're As Frustrated As You Are
47:06
47:06
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A win, a loss, a win at the death, and a loss at the death put United even further into limbo than before. The side aren't obviously bad but they aren't good either. This week, we try our best to break down the chaos and navigate what comes next.
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#52: Drama at Bayern, Beating Burnley, and How Much Can We Expect Given the Injury Crisis?
47:18
47:18
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After losing to Bayern, United got their first win in four against Vincent Kompany's Burnley, but not without struggles. In light of the injury crisis, we assess how much can be expected of United in upcoming weeks.
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#51: Pressing Breakdowns and Midfield Disaster in a 4-4-2 Diamond as United lose to Brighton
1:16:09
1:16:09
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United lost their third game in the first five of the new season after falling to Roberto De Zerbi's Brighton. Key to this match, Erik ten Hag's side rolled out a new 4-4-2 Diamond formation, with mixed results to say the least. We discuss the tactical changes in detail, how Brighton exploited them, and what they could mean for the side moving forw…
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#50: A Deep Dive on Sofyan Amrabat, A Quick Look at Sergio Reguilón, and Who Plays Right Wing Now?
1:03:41
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On this week's episode we discuss United's newest signing, Sofyan Amrabat, both in terms of how he plays and how he's likely to fit into United's squad as a result. We also touch on the signing of Sergio Reguilón, and the state of United's right wing position.
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#49: The Arsenal Loss In Context and What We Learned from Højlund's Debut
56:34
56:34
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In the wake of a tough-to-swallow loss at the Emirates we break down the tactical and personnel driven forces that dictated the match, as well as digging in on what Rasmus Højlund's impact could look like going forward this season
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#48: How United Survived Injuries and Shocks To Beat Nottingham Forest
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49:45
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After a comeback win over Nottingham Forest, we discussed the driving factors behind the team's improved performance, and what they mean looking ahead to Arsenal.
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#47: What Happened at Tottenham on Saturday?
1:01:33
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This week, we rewatched the loss at Tottenham in slow and thorough detail for you, and brought back a report on United's pressing, midfield dynamics, forward play, buildup issues, and whether you should be worried about any of these.
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#46: What Went Wrong Against Wolves, How Worried We Are, and Replacing Maguire and Fred
1:03:10
1:03:10
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After a victory against Wolves that was underwhelming to say the least, we attempt to dissect the madness and whether you should be worried. We then discussed the departures of Fred and possibly Harry Maguire, and the names linked to replace them.
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#45: Is Rasmus Højlund the Key to Erik ten Hag's Manchester United Project? And Predictions for the 2023/24 Premier League Season...
1:31:08
1:31:08
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In this episode we discuss all things Rasmus Højlund, from his strengths and weaknesses to his potential ceiling, and why he his fate could make or break this United side's long term outlook. Also: our predictions for this season's Premier League, both in Manchester and around England...
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#44: Preseason Takeaways, Transfer Window Strategies, and The Differences Between Transition and Possession Football
58:28
58:28
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A variety of topics to cover this week as we return from a number of episodes with special guests. We first discussed preseason to date and some emerging faces in the side. Then, we dove into the complex nature of exploiting market inefficiencies in the modern transfer market, and what it means for teams to be possession-based versus transition-bas…
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#43: Mason Mount and Andre Onana Deep Dive (with Orlando Valman and Marc Geschwind)
1:12:11
1:12:11
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Two great new signings, two great guests to give us the best info. We first welcomed Orlando Valman (@0rland1nh0) to give us the lowdown on Mason Mount's career to date, after which Marc Geschwind (@MarcGeschwind) spoke to us about Andre Onana's rise to fame at Ajax. You can find Orlando over at Scouted Football (@ScoutedFtbl) or The Chelsea Spot (…
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#42: Erik ten Hag's Favourite Tactic, and Why it Matters (with Jon Mackenzie)
1:02:13
1:02:13
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Erik ten Hag can't stop talking about rest defence. On this episode, we dive into the origins of rest defence, which sides use it, and how it's done. We also talk about the details of United's rest defensive approach, the role it has played in United's improvement, and how this is a departure from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United sides.…
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#41: Big Transfer Updates, The Impact of a Modern Goalkeeper, and How to Scout Players Using Public Data
1:06:44
1:06:44
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This week, we briefly touched upon Mason Mount and Andre Onana - for whom a big episode is coming in a few weeks - before further discussing links to Rasmus Hojlund, Sofyan Amrabat, and how United's transfer activity overall might shape the tactical trends of the team.
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#40: Candid Mason Mount Transfer Reaction, Premier League Transfer Roundup, and How to Watch Football Analytically
58:31
58:31
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In this week's episode, we go over some noteworthy transfers around the Premier League, answer some questions about how we watch the game, and are surprised at the end of the episode by the breaking news of Mason Mount's transfer to Manchester United.
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#39: Renewing Rashford, Mount's Valuation, and How Good is Andre Onana?
38:08
38:08
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After a slow week of irritating transfer rumours, we stopped to dissect the most reliable and prominent: Marcus Rashford's massive reported new deal, stalling negotiations for Mason Mount, and the possibility of Andre Onana playing in goal next season.
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#38: Reviewing Erik ten Hag’s First Season at Man Utd (with Carl Anka)
1:50:24
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To cap off the season, we welcomed our friend Carl Anka (@Ankaman616) to talk through tactical trends, our players/moments of the season, and how Ten Hag’s ideas have played out on the pitch. We also welcomed Stephen Ganavas (@StephenScouted) from Scouted Football (@ScoutedFtbl) to chat briefly about their incredibly exciting new project in the foo…
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#37: The Post Ferguson Years - A Retrospection
1:32:59
1:32:59
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Summer of 2023 marks ten years since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. On this episode, we go back through every transfer window in the intervening years, and attempt to answer the key questions: What has gone wrong? Why have things gone wrong? And what can we learn from the mistakes that have been made?…
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#36: The Tactics Behind United's Struggles at Wembley
1:00:41
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This week, we take a deep dive into United's loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup Final and what went wrong before re-evaluating previous stances on the Mason Mount rumours, looking at some links to new strikers, and discussing United's major rivals heading into next season.
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#35: How do United stop Manchester City's treble bid?
1:10:17
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Devils in the Details returns to discuss Manchester United's last two fixtures of the Premier League season, transfer rumors involving stars like Mason Mount, Harry Kane and Neymar, and their upcoming date with Manchester City at Wembley...
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#34: Spring Cleaning United's Squad
1:02:02
1:02:02
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We're back! And this week we've taken a look at United's squad, playing 'keep, sell, or loan' with each of member of the side's squad. Also on this episode: a review of the Bournemouth match, transfer rumors, and some Q&A!
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#33: United's Problems, and Players to Fix Them
1:30:31
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Today's two-part episode looks at some player quality deficits between United and the best teams in the league and explores dozens of possible transfers to fix them. We also looked at some players we love from past United sides
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#32: One Ticket Home, One Ticket to Wembley
1:18:35
1:18:35
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A disappointing night in Sevilla was followed up by a nervy marathon win at Wembley at the weekend. Who's at fault for the issues? Who can offer the solutions? And where will United go from here...
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#31: Injuries, Weak Links, and Closing Out Games
1:14:27
1:14:27
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Key Topics: Sevilla (1:15), Controlling Games (4:30), Injuries and Fatigue (9:55), Inverting Fullbacks (27:30), Weak Links Football (32:30), Antony (42:30), Counterpressing (52:00), How to beat Brighton (1:01:00), Looking forward (1:07:00)
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#30: Bruno's New Role, Sancho's Form, and Replacing Rashford
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55:12
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Key Topics: Tactical evolution in the PL’s bottom half (1:15), Swapping Bruno and Sabitzer? (8:30), Why Everton crumbled (17:30), Sancho and Antony’s importance (20:45), Missing Chances and xG Samples (26:15), Rashford’s Injury (39:00), The Run-In (50:45)
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United finally paid dearly for recent underwhelming displays, as they were leapfrogged by top four rivals Newcastle United. We felt the performances warranted a long discussion on personnel weaknesses, squad assembly quirks, and player profile combinations as they apply to the current squad.
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#28: Bonus Episode: Detailing the Upcoming Summer Transfer Window
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To make up for a few weeks of lost time, we thought we'd publish an extra episode this week. This Friday upload answers every question you could possibly ask about the transfer window, including pl
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We've missed a few uploads! We finally had the chance to sit down this week and chat for nearly two hours. Today's half of the discussion covers the matches against Liverpool, Southampton, and Fulham, and increasing worries about team performances. Don't miss Part 2 Thursday!
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#26: CAMPEONES EDITION– Bye Bye Barcelona and Night Night Newcastle
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This week, we discussed the progress that has been made by the greatest team in the history of football, after they knocked out Barcelona under the Thursday night lights and lifted the EFL Cup trophy.
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Unbeaten in eight, and the topic of conversation has to be the attack, including some of the new faces playing at 10, and the ridiculous form of the wearer of the number 10 shirt, Marcus Rashford.
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After playing press-heavy Leeds twice, we discussed United's struggles playing out of the back, Casemiro’s role in United’s press, and why top coaches are combining man-to-man and zonal pressing. We also discussed how good Garnacho actually is and why.
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#23: Surviving in Suboptimal Circumstances
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United fought through injuries, red cards, and goal deficits to secure 4 points this week. Today we discuss new and returning figures- Fred, Garnacho, Sabitzer, Sancho, Dalot- as well as Rashford up front, and struggles playing out of a press.
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#22: Signing Sabitzer, Squad Building and Rotation, and Sancho's Return
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This week, we scouted new signing Marcel Sabitzer, dove into concerns about how United's squad is being built and rotated, and discussed how Sancho can find a place in the team again after his return to the side.
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This week, we hit a number of new topics based on your recommendations. Some include: building around Bruno, Weghorst’s first goal, youth forwards and player development trends in football, position changes, and summer recruitment plans.
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