Talk of the Devils: The Athletic FC's Manchester United show

A podcast full house as we reflect on Marcus Rashford's eventful New Year's Eve. Having arrived late to a team meeting, he was dropped to the bench, but made a match-winning contribution when called on at half-time. The handling of that incident capped a flawless 2022 for Erik Ten Hag and we're optimistic he will bring success in 2023 as well... but has he seen Ariana Grande on a milk-float? Produ...

Manchester United eased into the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup, where they will play Charlton Athletic, and returned to Premier League action with a comfortable home win over Nottingham Forest. However, the big news is that it looks like long-time transfer target Cody Gakpo will sign for Liverpool in January, with United choosing not to match the bid from Anfield. Produced by Ollie Bellwood. H...

The World Cup finished two days ago and it's less than a week until Christmas, but we have two competitive fixtures to discuss! Vincent Kompany's Burnley come to Old Trafford on Wednesday night and Nottingham Forest will be the visitors on the 27th December. Meanwhile, Andy has been doing some digging into the club's January transfer targets, and there are two Avram Glazer updates from The Athleti...

The Athletic's podcast dedicated to Manchester United returns in time for Christmas with a full complement in healthy voice, ready and raring to go. Under discussion, the potential pitfalls of a sale and how it might affect the running of the club, the realistic January options to replace Ronaldo, and what Erik Ten Hag has been doing with the non-World Cup players in (massive) Spain. Produced by O...

What a day! Just when you thought things might be a bit quieter with the World Cup fully underway in Qatar we get, not one United bombshell, but two huge stories. First, news of Ronaldo's immediate release after the club and player reached a mutually exclusive agreement. Ordinarily, that would be the story of the month, but just a couple of hours later it became apparent that the Glazer family hav...

The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell starts the pod with the breaking news that Manchester United are exploring the possibility of terminating Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract after his interview with Piers Morgan. Laurie is then joined by Ian Irving, Carl Anka and Andy Mitten to get their thoughts on that Ronaldo interview. We also get the views of thousands of subscribers to The Athletic who responded to...

News broke late on Sunday that Cristiano Ronaldo has made accusations against senior figures at Manchester United in a dramatically timed interview with tabloid journalist Piers Morgan. It will dominate the headlines, no doubt about that, but many fans of the club may be suspicious of his 'revelations'. The interview somewhat overshadowed Alejandro Garnacho's late winner at Fulham in United's last...

Ian Irving is joined by The Athletic's Andy Mitten & Carl Anka to look back on a mad game at Old Trafford that saw United see off Aston Villa in the league cup with Marcus Rashford & Alejandro Garnacho shining. Is this the best version of Rashford we've seen? Has Alejandro Garnacho arrived now as a United player? There is also a discussion about the form of Jadon Sancho - who didn't make t...

Ian Irving, Carl Anka, Andy Mitten and Laurie Whitwell are on hand for live(ish) reaction to the Europa League draw which saw United paired with Barcelona in knock-out playoffs, a game they're already calling the Mitten Derby. That's something to fear/look forward to in February. In the meantime though, the gang look back on the dire 3-1 defeat at Villa Park and wonder what next for poor Donny and...

Ian Irving is joined by Andy Mitten & The Athletic's Pol Ballus in San Sebastian to reflect on United's win at Real Sociedad in the Europa League that wasn't enough for United to top the group, meaning a play-off is needed to make the play-offs. A night of mixed emotions that saw Alejandro Garnacho score the winner in the first half and ended with Harry Maguire playing upfront with Cristiano R...

Marcus Rashford's West Ham winner was his 100th goal for Manchester United and the landmark put him in reflective mood about his struggles last season and the change in "headspace" that has seen him return to form this term. It wasn't always pretty but the team looked solid at the back; David de Gea made some heroic saves and the back four all had good games. United are now unbeaten in eight and l...

A start and a goal for Ronaldo, early withdrawals for some key players, and a bright performance from young forward Alejandro Garnacho. It wasn't the most exciting game, but everything went right on the night; well, almost everything... David de Gea's contract is up this summer and, while the club have an option to extend that deal for 12 months, Athletic writer Pol Ballus isn't sure they will. An...

Casemiro's last-gasp header showed the player's fierce desire has not waned after his transfer from Real Madrid, and it summed up the team spirit shown at Stamford Bridge. United had dominated the early part of the game, but having conceded to Jorginho's penalty with just minutes left, it feel like a "winning draw". It all happened without Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, and his future will become c...

A win against Spurs this season was always going to be impressive, but the manner of that victory had the podcast team purring. From midfield dominance, to cutting edge in attack, with fullbacks linking seamlessly, it was described as "one of the best performances in years and years". We look at what it means for Ten Hag, the players not involved (including that one), and the trip to Chelsea on Sa...

Newcastle have one win from their last 40 visits to Old Trafford, but that statistic will bring little relief to fans frustrated by a scratchy Sunday stalemate. Ronaldo, Sancho, and Antony started but couldn't find the net, and Marcus Rashford missed a golden chance with a late header. The last home win during the month of October was in 2019 and that wait could be extended with a strong Tottenham...

In the 93rd minute, Scott McTominay did what his teammates had failed to do with more than thirty previous efforts; he beat Omonia Nicosia's back-up goalkeeper, and big Manchester United fan, Francis Uzoho. The Europa League win brings nothing but relief for Erik Ten Hag and his squad: while topping the group is still possible, they had to work very hard for the result with a very busy schedule co...

Manchester United put their derby despair behind them with a win at Goodison Park thanks to a goal from Antony and another from Cristiano Ronaldo, the latter's 700th in club competition. Ronaldo's former Real Madrid teammate, Casemiro, provided the assist and it was an eventful evening for the Brazilian midfielder on his first Premier League start. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...

Manchester United beat Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus but not before, with his side 1-0 down, Erik Ten Hag made two half-time substitutions and demanded more running from his team. Goals from Marcus Rashford (x 2) and Anthony Martial did give United the win but it was much closer than it should have been and Ten Hag has plenty of question marks going into a tough October schedule. Hosted on Acast. See a...

Instant reaction from Ian and Laurie at the Etihad Stadium, and Andy with the Chicago Reds, after another convincing win for City in the Manchester derby. While the first half was miserable, and the result was never in doubt, this one didn't feel as bleak as some recent derby results. However, facing a depleted defence and no Rodri, it still threw up some serious questions for Ten Hag. Hosted on A...

The club's financial results were published late last week but, despite it being an international break, we haven't had a chance to discuss them until now. Nor did we want to really, given how gloomy they appear to be. On the pitch, things are going a little better but this week brings the toughest challenge of the season so far: a trip across the city, to play City. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

The Athletic's Adam Crafton has delivered his second huge exclusive in as many weeks and his conversation with Eric Cantona not only delivered the goods, but also inspired some remarkable stories from our team. Get listening for tales of double denim, Boothstown, and why Eric isn't the President of Football (at Manchester United). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Manchester United haven't played a match since our last podcast and it's the international break next week so we're very lucky that our Athletic colleague Adam Crafton landed an exclusive interview with Bruno Fernandes! It was a fascinating, revealing discussion so the Talk of the Devils team picked out some key sections and we talk through his answers. So, does he really play better without Ronal...

Ian Irving is joined by The Athletic's & Andy Mitten live from Moldova reacting to United's win against Sheriff Tiraspol. As we as the match we also discuss goalscorer Jadon Sancho's omission from the England squad despite a decent start to the season. Plus with the return of the WSL this weekend, we look at the challenges faced by United's women's team - featuring some European champions of c...

Ian Irving is joined by The Athletic's Carl Anka & Andy Mitten to pick the bones out of a disappointing result against Real Sociedad & look ahead to the mission to FC Sheriff. Also, after Anthony Martial criticises former United managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho - was he right to do so and is he still misunderstood after all these years? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Ian Irving hosts The Athletic's podcast dedicated to Manchester United with regular contributor Andy Mitten, club correspondent Laurie Whitwell, and football writer Carl Anka. We recorded post-match at Old Trafford again after table-topping Arsenal lost their 100% record to a ruthless performance from Ten Hag's men. And there's a final look at the business done in the transfer window. Utd got thei...