A dark cloud has been lifted over Old Trafford. Winning football matches, successive ones for the first time in over a year, helps. But so does actually following through with promises to change a damaging culture at the club.
It sounded like a political party manifesto pledge, one that few believed would actually be carried out. Walking around Manchester United’s shiny new training facility, however, and even before a run of three wins propelled Ruben Amorim to unprecedented heights, you can feel change.
The feel-good vibes are a world away from distant figures unable even to look each other in the eye, let alone offer consolation, following their Europa League final loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Squad camaraderie
The team celebrates as one. Even supposed disgruntled substitutes struggle to contain their collective euphoria – see Joshua Zirkzee at Anfield. The unrelenting positivity is no accident.
Ineos’s gloom purging started with the much-needed departure of “bomb squad” members Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.
Bryan Mbeumo scores his second to ensure Manchester United win their third match in a row
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 25, 2025pic.twitter.com/twz3PqWYDo
None were trying to create any kind of underground putsch, but public criticism of the manager, along with airing desire to leave, proved to be a dangerous distraction.
Those who have replaced them have arrived at Old Trafford down to their personality and ability to fit into a revolutionised ethos as much as their talent.
Even before the current uptick in results, the squad camaraderie has reached levels not seen around Carrington for many years, several sources told The i Paper.
Unlikely bromances
There are no cliques, something highly unusual at multinational football clubs.
The new Ineos-led culture ensures everyone gets on with everyone. Nobody is left out of social events, with unlikely bromances forming.
Zirkzee and Bruno Fernandes have become close ever since bonding on the club’s much-maligned post-season tour of Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Matheus Cunha and Luke Shaw, hardly typical bedfellows, have struck up a strong friendship, while Diogo Dalot and Benjamin Sesko are seen spending more and more time together, Dalot helping the new arrival with his preparation and recovery, one source added.
Nationality, age demographic and role in the team simply are not important.
“The beaches? I haven’t seen it this year,” Fernandes joked when asked about feeling at home in the UK during last week’s interview with The i Paper.
“I have seen it, sorry, in Bournemouth, every time we play there. I go for a walk with [third-choice goalkeeper] Tom Heaton then.”
New leadership group
Dalot is one of five players, along with Fernandes, Heaton, Noussair Mazraoui and Lisandro Martinez, that have been key to overseeing the mood change.
They might not all even be in the team, but they have been picked by Amorim to form a leadership group, in place to ensure standards are always kept high, without the head coach having to adopt an unpopular autocratic approach himself.
Bryan Mbeumo talked after the match about how the whole team felt a weight lifted after Cunha’s superb all-action performances since arriving were finally rewarded.
‘Uncle Cas’
Nobody was happier for Cunha than Casemiro, whose days at Old Trafford seemed numbered not so long ago, a figure supporters affectionately call “Uncle Cas”. Cunha leapt into his fellow Brazilian like a girlfriend returning from university for the summer, having not seen their partner all year.
The 33-year-old had every right to down tools, take home his exorbitant wages and cruise towards retirement. Instead, the five-time Champions League winner has battled back to peak fitness, won his place back in the team and been crucial to the recent improvement.
What he does off the pitch has been equally important. Casemiro often takes time to sit with younger players to offer his guidance, making a beeline for them in the dressing room after training sessions, rather than just parking up next to another, more familiar Portuguese speaker.
Contrary to popular opinion, his English has been described as “near perfect”. That’s what happens when you create an environment where camaraderie can thrive. One pledge Ineos has followed through with, and, uncharacteristically thus far, got right.
Your next read
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/Uatl4vw
Post a Comment