Mauricio Pochettino faces a difficult task after taking charge of Man United: turning the team’s fortunes around. The Argentine has signed a 2-and-a-half-year contract, and his 1st priority is to breathe new life into a side that has struggled for results this season.
When Pochettino took charge, Man United were already winless in 8 consecutive Premier League matches and sat in a worrying 18th place in the table.
After this disastrous run, his successor will clearly expect more from the players.
As Old Trafford begins another chapter, Man United supporter and TikTok commentator Callum Fowler has ranked all 23 players in this season’s 1st-team squad.
In his 1st video, Fowler placed every player into 1 of 5 tiers: elite, promising, average, last chance and find a new club.
He pulled no punches in his verdicts. Here’s how he ranked each Man United player by tier…
Elite
Having made the worst start to a season in the club’s history and now sitting in the relegation zone, Man United were unlikely to earn much praise.
Therefore, in Fowler’s view, no one in the squad deserves to be considered “elite”, even with last season’s PFA Player of the Year, Bruno Fernandes, in their ranks.
This Red Devils fan said, “‘Elite’ tier? Give me a break.”
“There’s nobody in that team who comes anywhere near that level. They’re miles off.”
Now, let’s look at the next tier…
Has potential.
Among the players giving fans cause for hope, Fowler placed Matheus Cunha, Benjamin Šeško and Youri Tielemans in the “promising” category.
Matheus Cunha has scored just 1 Premier League goal this season, but his winner in Man United’s stunning Champions League comeback against Roma provided 1 of the campaign’s highlights.
Meanwhile, Tielemans has been a regular starter since joining for £35M this summer, despite some external criticism of his performances.
Despite being sidelined with an injury since September, Benjamin Šeško has earned high praise from Fowler, and Man United are clearly missing his goals.
Speaking about the player who finished as the team’s joint-top scorer last season, Fowler said: “I think Šeško is one of Man United’s best players, and I mean that seriously.”
“Would I still describe him as lightning-fast and exceptional? Obviously not, but that’s where Man United are these days!”
He continued: “I think Benjamin Šeško, Youri Tielemans and especially Matheus Cunha have been unlucky because they’ve spent most of their time playing alongside a bunch of stakes. This team isn’t that bad.”
“We all saw what Cunha did at Wolves, and he still looks in good enough form to reproduce those performances here. It was only 6 months ago that we saw what Tielemans could do at Aston Villa.”
“When Benjamin Šeško has played, I think he’s looked pretty good too, but he’s had virtually no support from the team.”
19-year-old Shea Lacey is also considered a promising prospect, with strong performances in several substitute appearances bolstering his case for a starting spot.
Solid but unspectacular
Fowler has named 5 Man United players who have neither impressed nor disappointed this season, a category that may not sound particularly flattering.
1st is Baleba, the £70M summer signing. This Man United fan said his decision to join after a poor season at Brighton was “hard to understand,” but stopped short of writing him off, given that injuries disrupted the start of his time in red.
Fowler said: “Honestly, I really don’t know why they bought him in the 1st place. He was absolutely terrible at Brighton last year. If they signed him based on his performances last year, or even the year before, the move made no sense.”
Young defender Ayden Heaven has also been labelled “ordinary”, while Fowler insists that playing for a struggling Man United is holding him back.
Discussing the possibility of a loan move abroad, Fowler said: “He might actually look quite good there. It could give him some confidence, and when he comes back, he’ll be a different player.”
“He’s been playing too much. He clearly isn’t ready yet, and that’s terrible for his mental well-being.”
“He’s in a terrible environment. Send him to a team that wins most of its games.”
A few other Man United players have also been underwhelming, including summer signing Andrey Santos, highly rated Frenchman Leny Yoro and Bryan Mbeumo, who scored 11 league goals last season.
Last chance.
According to Fowler, Amad Diallo, Marcus Rashford and Senne Lammens are the 3 players fighting to save their Man United careers.
Marcus Rashford has failed to score or register an assist in 8 appearances since his hoped-for move to Barcelona fell through.
Fowler said: “Look at the quality of Man United’s squad. It’s never been this bad—absolutely dreadful.”
“So while Marcus Rashford may no longer be good enough to stay at Man United, the club have far bigger problems to address right now. Rashford is still a decent player, at least.”
However, Fowler maintained that goalkeeper Senne Lammens had been let down by mistakes and poor defending in front of him.
He said: “Think about it: any decent goalkeeper would struggle with that shambles in front of him, wouldn’t he? So this is something of a last chance for him, but I don’t blame him entirely for the team conceding so many goals.”
In terms of Amad, Fowler adds:"I believe his time is about to over, at least he worked very hard. For his performance on the pitch, he is still not excellent enough".
Looking for a new club
What is surprising is that Fowler insists at least 11 players in Man United's 23-man squad must leave, starting with captain Bruno Fernandes.
Despite his record-breaking performances last season, Bruno Fernandes has been unable to make the same impact this season. His future is now uncertain after he rejected Man United's 2nd contract offer.
Fowler insisted: “This guy has no brain. He runs around like a headless chicken 24 hours a day.”
“After the kind of performances he delivered last season, when the discussion was more about Bruno Fernandes than Man United and he also broke the assist record, there was really little left for Bruno Fernandes to achieve at Man United.”
“He won’t set any more records for himself. He’ll never win another trophy at this club, either.”
Fowler concluded: “He’s letting the team down. He never looks up. The whole game was Bruno Fernandes’s personal show. This guy is absolutely rubbish, man. Go to another club. He’s useless.”
Man United's poor start to the season has prompted another call for Diogo Dalot to leave the club, with the full-back urged to move on in a scathing assessment.
Speaking about the full-back, Fowler said: “Diogo Dalot is one of the worst players I’ve ever seen, yet he continues to wear the Man United shirt.”
Fowler was equally blunt in his assessment of the defensive partnership between Matthijs De Ligt and Lisandro Martínez, the latter of whom has also attracted controversy.
“Could Matthijs De Ligt get a chance at Brighton?” Fowler continued. “Absolutely not.”
“This guy is rubbish. By the standards of a halfway decent Premier League club, he should be playing for Sevilla or somewhere like that. He’s simply not good enough to play for a club like this.”
“As for Martínez,” he added later, “I don’t care if people say he might be a decent player for Argentina. I really can’t stand the guy. I think he’s awful.”
For Fowler, the defense is the team's main problem area. He also urged Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Noussair Mazraoui to find new clubs.
Fowler concluded: “I’m talking about Man United. This club needs a complete clean-out from top to bottom.”
“He’s no longer good enough to play for Man United. He really isn’t. Let’s be honest about it.”