Manchester United

Manchester United

Starting with the hosts, while Michael Carrick might have officially made his temporary return to Old Trafford on Tuesday, the former Middlesbrough boss has a major job on his hands in an attempt to steady the ship at Old Trafford. Ending Ruben Amorim's 14-month reign at the helm earlier in the month following a 1-1 stalemate against historic foes Leeds, the Red Devils have once again shown a string of glaring inconsistencies.

Nani, the former Portugal international who played for Manchester United from 2007 to 2014, believes the Red Devils can be back competing for every trophy in the near future, but they need a "coach with a good personality".

Manchester United are facing one of the most turbulent periods in their modern history, with the atmosphere inside the club described as volatile, frantic, and close to eruption, according to a trusted source on X. Tensions have reportedly reached breaking point at both boardroom and ownership level, while morale within the dressing room has sunk to an all-time low. Players are said to be deeply unhappy with the current direction of the club, raising serious questions about stability and leadership.

Image source, Getty Images As Manchester United fans filed out of Old Trafford yesterday, their club dumped out of both domestic cups at the first hurdle for the first time since the 1981-82 season, many were left bemoaning the fact that one of their former strikers had played such a key role in their misery. Danny Welbeck's strike in Brighton's 2-1 FA Cup third round victory on Sunday was his eighth career goal in all competitions against United his joint best record against any opposition, prompting former teammate Phil Jones to say United fans would "take him back in a heartbeat".

Manchester United could use more quality on the flanks, and the 28-year-old would be an excellent addition. However, they have Matheus Cunha playing in a similar role. The Brazilian will have to be moved centrally in order to accommodate the Japanese International. Mitoma will not want to sit on the bench. He will only join a club where he is a regular starter.

Brighton & Hove Albion's second game in Manchester in a matter of days takes them to Old Trafford in the third round of the FA Cup. Only Arsenal have won the FA Cup more times than Manchester United, the 2023-24 winners under former head coach Erik ten Hag. Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information on how to watch Manchester United vs Brighton online, on TV, and from anywhere.

Manchester United's hunt for trophies is over inside the second week of January after a ruthless Brighton took advantage of yet another loose defensive performance. This FA Cup third-round knockout means the 13-times winners have been dumped from the competition and the League Cup at the first opportunity for a first time since 1981-82. By the end of May United's season will stand at a total of 40 games their lowest number in a complete campaign since 1914-15.

Fletcher, taking charge of his first ever game as a senior manager, fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation, going completely against Amorim's previous 3-4-2-1 that the Portuguese was wedded to. He started Senne Lammens in net, although deputy Altay Bayindir could get a look-in for this game. Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw were at full-back, with natural left wing-back Patrick Dorgu in a more advanced position off the left flank.

Despite all the questions I'm getting on Enzo Maresca and Man Utd - he's been linked in Italy with the potential role at Man Utd [right now] - at the moment, what I'm told is Manchester City are interested in Maresca for the future. As I always told you, it's not something imminent or guaranteed, it's something for the future if Maresca is available when Pep Guardiola decides to leave. But Pep has not decided anything at this stage.

I can tell you in the last 24 hours that the message coming from Barcelona, coming directly from the club, is that in communications they had with Marcus Rashford's camp, so agents, family of the player, is that they already told Rashford they would love to continue with him beyond this season, Romano said.

Much was made on social media of Kobbie Mainoo's return to fitness for the game against Burnley, the first match since the sacking of Ruben Amorim. The young midfielder had been keen to leave the club on loan after the former manager indicated the only way for him to get playing time this season, in a World Cup year, was to displace our best player and captain, Bruno Fernandes.

Finding a long-term successor to Roy Keane before he left under a cloud back in 2005 was tricky, with the expensively-acquired Juan Sebastian Veron failing to make an impression. Michael Carrick earned plenty of respect in the deep-lying role, but was a very different kind of player. Owen Hargreaves was excellent for a brief time, but injuries curtailed his career at Old Trafford.