Yesterday, Manchester United made it through to the semi-final of the F.A Cup after defeating Brighton 7-6 on penalties. They will face their bitter rivals Manchester City in the final.
However, question marks hover over Erik Ten Hag’s side as his squad will be without some key members, such as Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, to name but a few, for this final.
Joe Molloy was joined by former Republic of Ireland player Damien Delaney on The Football Show to discuss whether United could withstand the might of Manchester City.
“I think they're a fragile team,” said Delaney. “They are a team as well that has suffered from their recruitment over a number of years, similar to Spurs. Not as bad as what Spurs are at all. But look, they're moving in the right direction. And the one thing you can say is, I agree with you, they have got the right man now.”
“And if they can sort issues out because the hardest thing is finding a manager. Just ask Spurs. They have a guy who knows what he's doing. Even just listening to him. You get a feel for managers just listening to him before and after games, pre-match press conferences, that he knows what he's talking about”
“He is the real deal, I know that. And he's probably doing the best he can with what he has. You cannot legislate for the things that happened against Sevilla. Harry Maguire doing what he does, David De Gea doing what he does, the wheels coming off against Liverpool, all those instances you talk about, but they're moving in the right direction. Definitely.”
“I'm very, very slow to use the word progress. That progress will come to a shuddering halt now until unless they get some serious players in the building and a serious squad, because I think they have some good players. They probably have a good starting eleven. If you looked at my starting eleven, though, you'd fancy it. You think that it could do starting eleven could do a job against City in the Cup Final, but take one or two and unfortunately, they've lost three or four.”
Manchester United's next match to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where they will face off against a calamitous Tottenham side.
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