Podcast

Manchester United's post

Published

7 months ago

May 31, 2025

It was close to 1am local time as Manchester United’s players sat on their plane waiting for take-off on the tarmac of Hong Kong International Airport, a first post-season tour of the Premier League era wrapped up in super-quick style.

Only two and a half hours earlier, they had finally got their hands on a trophy by lifting the Defining Education Challenge Cup at the Hong Kong Stadium 25 miles away, Chido Obi being given the honours after scoring twice against United’s hosts, to cheers from several thousand fans still watching, at last bringing this painful campaign to a close with at least a sliver of cheer.

United’s surgical entrance and exit to and from Asia reflected an acknowledgement by executives that there could be no excess slack to timelines. The players were — according to several sources who wished to remain anonymous to protect relationships — “fuming” to be told of a trip across the globe after a 60-game season and so a swift return to families was essential. The flight out was arranged so that players travelled from the final match at Old Trafford straight to Manchester Airport.

United had originally tried to make Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen join the travelling party, too, given both still have until the end of June on their contracts. But the pair pushed back, with Lindelof’s wife heavily pregnant and Eriksen getting married. Had they not had those personal reasons, United would have expected them to fly despite being about to enter free agency.

In that climate, the squad decided to enjoy themselves, with the drinks flowing and music blasting on the flight over, which took off around four hours after the final whistle against Aston Villa last Sunday. A club-wide night out was also organised for the Monday in Kuala Lumpur, straight after touching down, with staff joining players in dancing at a club in the city.

The players were not given a curfew. Indeed many kept fairly closely to English timekeeping, so had some early hours bedtimes. Joshua Zirkzee, accompanied by security, walked over the road from the W hotel in Kuala Lumpur to a Thai restaurant on Tuesday night after disliking the room-service options.

Amad and Alejandro Garnacho hired some scooters, with the assistance of locals, to get further around the city.

Blowing off steam away from a football environment was something Ruben Amorim said could help his players come together a few weeks ago , although the Hong Kong leg was more sedate, with no repetition of the England team’s famous “dentist chair” revelry before reaching the semi-finals of Euro 96.

Casemiro signs a Manchester United shirt worn by an ASEAN All-Stars player in Kuala Lumpur (Annice Lyn/Manchester United via Getty Images)

The tension of United’s trip appeared to be evident in a few instances of players flipping the finger to fans. Amad did so as he walked into the W hotel following the first game, later apologising on social media in two posts a day apart but saying his mother had been insulted by an “unhealthy individual”. The words used are not clear from video footage of the incident.

Separately, Amad had raised his middle finger in the direction of Garnacho during a packed elevator selfie with a couple of fans while Garnacho did the same to camera. Garnacho also showed the gesture at a signing event for supporters in the Adidas shop at the Exchange TRX mall in Kuala Lumpur — causing bemusement to the person taking the picture — and as he walked off the pitch following the game against ASEAN All-Stars, the photographer there complained.

The gesture, commonly understood to be an insult, was being used in this instance in an ironic, playful manner, sources say. Manuel Ugarte has been doing it in selfies with fans all season but club staff realised the issues, and the negative reaction, and advised players to refrain from doing so in future. There were no reports of it happening in Hong Kong and Garnacho signed several autographs before leaving the stadium.

Before Friday’s 3-1 win over Hong Kong, China, chief executive Omar Berrada posed for pictures alongside various dignitaries and exuberant Chinese dragons as red flames shot into the air at either end of the pitch.

As in Kuala Lumpur, the crowd was not a sell-out, a combination once more of high ticket prices for certain seats and the lustre of this current team not being as compelling as before. The most expensive seats cost HK$2,990 (£280) and ultimately, the 40,000-capacity was three-quarters full. In the same ground in 2013, for David Moyes’ pre-season after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the same seats were roughly £70.

Nigel Lee, branch secretary of United’s official supporters club in Hong Kong, said: “The fact that we’re doing a post-season tour right after the proper season ended speaks volumes for our financial situation. We knew the football wasn’t going to be great and later, when we saw the tickets… let’s just say we felt the pricing was very ambitious.”

United had initially been expected to play at the Kai Tak Stadium, a new state-of-the-art arena with 50,000 capacity but Singaporean popstar JJ Lin had already been booked to play a concert the weekend before and officials felt there was not sufficient time to re-lay the turf.

At the Hong Kong Stadium, a small section of Hong Kong, China, ultras kept a din going throughout, and they had reason to make noise when their team took the lead against the run of play, as Tom Heaton allowed Juninho’s shot to slide through his hands. Those local fans doing the Poznan to celebrate was another surreal moment in this most bizarre season.

Another came shortly after, when Bruno Fernandes was put clear by Tyler Fredricson’s pass taking a wicked deflection only for United’s captain to try a rabona finish — he had done the same with a pass against ASEAN All-Stars, with goalkeeper Ka-Wing Tse making a good save with his legs. Rasmus Hojlund’s poor touch wasted a rebound chance, Jaydan Kamason had his effort cleared off the line and Hojlund was again unable to get a meaningful connection after Garnacho’s cross into the six-yard box.

Trailing 1-0 at half-time despite outnumbering Hong Kong, China, by 15 shots to one, summed up this United side.

Bruno Fernandes has an effort saved against Hong Kong, China (Qin Zhicheng/VCG via Getty Images)

The sporting merits of this tour came secondary to commercial needs but it would have been embarrassing if United lost to a side ranked 153 by FIFA, in between Guyana and Moldova.

On the team bus back from Kuala Lumpur’s National Stadium Bukit Jalil on Wednesday, there was gallows humour, with the gist being: “Only after the season we’ve had can we lose a post-season friendly and get booed off by our own fans.”

Luckily for United, Obi made sure there was no repeat on Friday. Arriving as a second-half substitute, he equalised with a sharp turn and finish before glancing home Mason Mount’s cross to turn the game around. Obi is raw, as some of his touches show, but his instinct for scoring at least provides some comfort after Liam Delap, United’s top striker target, chose Chelsea.

Obi wanted a hat-trick, chasing down a defender and goalkeeper in the 90th minute, and just missing Amad’s cross that was headed in by Ayden Heaven to apply a third. The two players United signed from Arsenal’s youth system last summer had ensured a satisfactory end to the trip at least.

Shea Lacey, whose appearances for United’s youth teams have been limited on his return from injury, and Sekou Kone, did well with cameos in the first half.

Lee, from the official supporters club, said: “At half-time, it looked like it could be a worse embarrassment than the game against ASEAN All-Stars. It was obvious that the first-team regulars who started the game had a long, tiring season. I am glad the team got their act together in the second half and turned it around. Chido Obi looked impressive.

“I was also surprised the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho and Casemiro played a full half. From past pre-season tours and the game in Kuala Lumpur, I thought we’d be lucky to see each of them play for 15 minutes. Robin van Persie came on for the final 10 minutes in the 2013 game here.

“It seemed like they were trying to make up for, or ‘give face’ to, the local supporters for an utterly disappointing season, and a very short stay — less than 36 hours.”

Chido Obi celebrates scoring his second goal against Hong Kong, China, on Friday (Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Manchester United via Getty Images)

The sweltering heat of Kuala Lumpur had inhibited efforts for a comeback but the climate in Hong Kong was much more forgiving. The light rain throughout invited Amorim to joke pre-match that the weather had made United feel more at home.

Open training in those conditions was kept very light, with only a small group actually doing ball work in front of a crowd of a few hundred. Amorim tried to entertain them by booting a couple of balls high into the air and into the stands. The whole squad came out to sign autographs before going back indoors for recovery work.

Lee attended the session and an event hosted by Adidas in their Mong Kok outlet on Friday a couple of hours prior to kick-off, where United sent Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu and Obi. “In both events I felt the players were a lot more generous in giving autographs and photos than expected,” he said.

Training in Kuala Lumpur gave a much better glimpse into Amorim’s methods, the main drill being a full outfield 10 passing around mannequins to score past either Andre Onana or Heaton, who is expected to sign a new one-year contract. Amorim stood in the middle encouraging his players to recycle the ball round the back and centrally, with the wing-backs advancing to cross.

It required several staff members to get the yellow inflatable mannequins onto the pitch because they were so heavy with water in their bases to weigh them down. Adelio Candido, Amorim’s assistant, managed to carry one in each hand.

Typically, United use metal mannequins which spike into the grass and are lighter, but the organisers had selected more expensive equipment in an attempt to please. When some flopped over due to not containing enough water, jokes on the sidelines inevitably compared them to some of United’s efforts this season.

Onana, Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot left Malaysia at half-time, flying to India via private jet to carry out a packed day with sponsors on Thursday rather than travelling to Hong Kong. They were excused from United duty a day earlier than the rest of their team-mates.

In Hong Kong, Amorim could not suppress a chuckle at a pre-game question directed to Amad on whether Garnacho’s duties for United were coming to an end. Garnacho was United’s brightest player in the first half, raising the atmosphere with his dribbling and crossing.

Amorim was more forthright over Fernandes, insisting he feels his best player will stay amid serious interest from Al Hilal. Fernandes left the ground in the manner he had conducted himself this whole trip, with dignity and courtesy, signing autographs and posing for pictures.

“It would be so much fun to come here with titles,” Amorim said. “The people are really lovely and respectful. We are grateful for everybody. We want to return with better results, with more people watching the game.”

As for his message now to his players? “I was a player, you can disconnect,” he said. “They know we underperformed badly this season. The important thing is that we have to be ready. We have to use every minute in every week of pre-season. We need to arrive in shape. We had meetings about that. That is the only way to take action.

“Everybody knows next season will be massive for everybody. I have been sending messages every week. They know next year, it is clear, we need to be so much better.”

The translator communicated Amorim’s words into Cantonese and then, in English, said: “Thank you for coming to Hong Kong.”

Amorim, who has taken on so much more media responsibilities than when in charge of Sporting CP, addressed the four English journalists who had travelled to cover this tour. “Two months without you guys; I will miss you every day,” he said with a large dollop of sarcasm. “See you in two months.”

(Top photo: Qin Zhicheng/VCG via Getty Images)

Podcast

Better rookie season

Published

4 months ago

September 4, 2025

Your Sports Nation

As the clock wound down in a recent contest, the Golden State Valkyries’ Veronica Burton and Kaila Charles swarmed Paige Bueckers on the perimeter to deny the Dallas Wings rookie from even getting off a shot. The 3.2 remaining seconds ticked away, and the ball remained in Bueckers’ hands as the buzzer sounded.

That type of attention has become common for Bueckers in her debut WNBA season, especially as the firepower in the Wings rotation has thinned because of injury — eight of 12 players on the opening-night roster have missed seven or more games — putting more offensive burden on her. Bueckers has also proven increasingly capable of dissecting single coverage and has demanded star-level defense.

“She lets the game come to her, and she takes what the defense is giving her all over the floor,” Wings coach Chris Koclanes said. “She doesn’t get sped up, and it’s really impressive for a rookie in this league to be able to maintain her own speed and tempo.”

But the game was already in hand when the Valkyries corralled Bueckers at the 3-point line. Golden State led by nine and the heightened defense wasn’t because the game was in balance; it was because Bueckers needed one more point to reach double digits, as she had done in every prior game of her rookie year.

With Dallas long since removed from postseason contention and playing out the string over the second half of the season, these are the stakes for Bueckers. She hasn’t been put in position to chase wins; she can only pursue individual accolades while the Wings build for the future. Nevertheless, despite a constantly changing supporting cast, Bueckers has thrived, putting herself in conversation for one of the best debuts in league history.

Bueckers has been the leading rookie scorer every month of the 2025 season, and her average of 18.9 points is seventh in WNBA history among rookies. With three games left, a late surge could move Bueckers past her teammate Arike Ogunbowale, who is sixth on the list at 19.1.

Paige Bueckers in August:

🪽 20.3 PPG | 3.7 RPG | 5.0 APG
🪽 44-point performance: highest by any W player this season
🪽 @Kia Rookie of the Month#KiaROTM | #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/Cx09czcFhi

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 3, 2025

As was the case during her college career that culminated in a national championship at UConn, Bueckers has been efficient in the process of scoring at a high volume. Among rookies who have averaged at least 17 points per game, Bueckers is sixth in field-goal percentage at 46.7. The only two guards in front of her are Chennedy Carter, whose first season came in the friendly offensive environment of the WNBA bubble, and Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, who was a 34-year-old rookie during the league’s inaugural season.

Bueckers has been an elite playmaker as well. She is on pace to finish the season as one of 12 rookies to ever average five assists per game, and one of two to pair that with 15 points, joining Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.

Clark became the standard-bearer for rookie guards during her historic 2024 season, and her production is the only realistic point of comparison for Bueckers. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi were also first-year All-Stars, but neither displayed the same combination of elite scoring and creation as Clark and Bueckers. The new generation of rookies has the advantage of playing in a more offensive-minded league. Still, their numbers relative to the rest of the league stand out.

The last two No. 1 picks both delivered individual historic moments. Bueckers tied a rookie record last month with 44 points against the Los Angeles Sparks, on a night when she started alongside two players who were signed midseason to hardship contracts. Clark set the single-game assist record of 19 about midway through last season.

But Bueckers trails Clark in most of the counting stats: 18.9 to 19.2 in points, 3.7 to 5.7 in rebounds, and 5.3 to 8.4 in assists. Other than points, those differences cannot be explained by the extra two minutes Clark averaged as a rookie. The major advantage Bueckers possesses is in turnovers, where her 2.1 per game is significantly better than Clark’s 2.8.

Bueckers has a better overall field-goal percentage, but since so many of Clark’s shots came from 3-point range, the Fever guard’s effective field-goal percentage (which weights the point value of each field goal) of 52.2 percent bests Bueckers’ mark of 50.4. Clark also shot better from 3-point range (34.4 percent to 33 percent) despite attempting them three times as frequently.

Those box-score numbers don’t fully account for the surrounding situation of each rookie. Clark’s assists, for example, were easier to come by with All-Star Aliyah Boston in the middle of the floor; the 2023 No. 1 pick was the recipient of 105 of Clark’s helpers, or 2.6 per game. Both Clark and Bueckers had an All-Star guard sharing the backcourt in Kelsey Mitchell and Ogunbowale and a relatively similar level of talent on the rest of the roster, at least to start the season, but Dallas didn’t have anyone resembling Boston.

Another feat for PB5 🙌

Paige Bueckers joins Caitlin Clark as the second rookie in WNBA history to record 500+ PTS, 150+ AST, 100+ REB, and 50+ STL in a season. #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/G1rooMRgLo

— WNBA (@WNBA) August 23, 2025

Although Bueckers had a worse net rating than Clark (minus-5.0 compared to minus-2.4), her on-off differential has been better in her rookie season. The Wings are 8.1 points per 100 possessions better with Bueckers on the court, demonstrating her impact, even if it hasn’t translated to victories. Win shares favor Bueckers as well, and she can build on her 3.5-3.0 lead in the final three games.

However one chooses to assess the statistical impact of Bueckers and Clark in their first years, there is one point of comparison that works in Clark’s favor. Bueckers’ production has come in the context of a largely meaningless season, as Dallas hasn’t even spent one day in playoff position. Clark and the Fever, on the other hand, rallied from a 2-9 start to pursue a postseason berth.

That is the next frontier for Bueckers: not be a spoiler, but to play in games of real consequence. Clark’s rookie season ended with a big chasing her on the perimeter as she launched a 3-pointer because a playoff win was on the line. Bueckers’ rookie season could be lost to history if Dallas doesn’t put her in that position sooner than later.

(Photo of Paige Bueckers: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)

NIL

Christian Gonzalez misses Patriots practice, 'working' to return from injury

Published

4 months ago

September 3, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Christian Gonzalez misses Patriots practice, 'working' to return from injury

FOXBORO — Christian Gonzalez quietly folded and put away some of the clothing in his locker at Gillette Stadium.

While his Patriots teammates prepared for a fully-padded practice just four days before their season opener, the third-year corner did not. He understood the plan for him on Wednesday was to do some conditioning work on the side and not much more.

“I’m working,” he said softly.

Gonzalez is inarguably his team’s best player. He was named a Second-Team All-Pro last season after routinely matching up with and shutting down opposing No. 1 receivers. He was expected to be one of the linchpins of Mike Vrabel’s defense in 2025, allowing for extensive man-to-man looks and aggressive calls for pressure because of his lock-down coverage skills.

But after Gonzalez missed Wednesday’s practice, his status for Sunday’s game is in doubt, despite Vrabel not ruling him out. Gonzalez hasn’t practiced since injuring his hamstring on July 28.

“He’s continuing to work,” Vrabel said prior to the practice, “and he’ll do some stuff on the side, but I’m not going to rule anybody out. … We’ll continue to work and treat and make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to help him, and he’s doing everything he can to get back out on the field. That’s the only update I have right now.”

Gonzalez rode a stationary air bike on the upper fields behind Gillette Stadium while his teammates practiced on the lower field. He pedaled under the watchful eye of assistant strength and conditioning coach Brian McDonough before pausing and watching the action on the fields below.

“I mean, I do like where he’s at from an engagement standpoint,” Vrabel said. “We’ve been through this with other players, and I like where he’s at from that standpoint. In the meetings, locked in, following along at practice, which is difficult. To think that a player that’s not in there can follow along, I’ve been through that as a player and a coach, and I think he’s done a nice job of being able to do that.”

While Vrabel surely would like to have Gonzalez for Week 1 against a Raiders offense that features second-year standout tight end Brock Bowers and former Patriots wideout Jakobi Meyers, he didn’t indicate that he would be rushing Gonzalez back onto the field, either.

When asked if it was important for him to allow players to get back to “100 percent” before returning to the field, Vrabel shed some light on his thought process.

“I mean, I don’t use percentages,” Vrabel said, “but, again, I’ll remind you what we talked about as far as, when I try to make decisions about players and returning, one, can they make it worse? Can they, two, protect themselves?

“We can all say what we want about this game, but it’s violent, and can you protect yourself? And can you do your job up to the standard that we expect and that the player is used to? So, those are the things that I’ve tried to use when making decisions. Maybe I’ll add some to that, but that’s what I’ve tried to use in my other experience in this position.”

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Podcast

Steve Smith Moves His Podcast, 'The 89 Show,' to Blue Wire

Published

4 months ago

September 2, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Steve Smith Moves His Podcast, 'The 89 Show,' to Blue Wire

Steve Smith Moves His Podcast to Blue Wire

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Podcast

Andy Roddick returns to tennis on own terms with successful 'Served' podcast

Published

4 months ago

September 1, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Andy Roddick returns to tennis on own terms with successful 'Served' podcast

Andy Roddick’s journey back to tennis began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Tennis Channel asked him to remotely appear on studio programming while the sports world was shut down.

“I didn’t really play. I would come [to the U.S. Open] to do corporate work once a year, and that was it,” Roddick recently told Sports Business Journal. “Tennis Channel was great because I could do it from home. My one thing was, I never wanted the game to control my geography ever again.”

Five years later — and 13 after announcing his retirement from play on his 30th birthday — Roddick has established a pillar of the tennis media ecosystem on his own terms with his “Served” podcast.

Launched in January 2024 with veteran producer Mike Hayden and journalist Jon Wertheim, the show began with ambitions as simple as “a fun side project that I thought no one would listen to,” in Roddick’s words. But since its debut, the show has garnered more than 150,000 YouTube subscribers, 185,000 social media followers and 3.5 million audio downloads while attracting marquee sponsors such as Amazon Prime (2025 French Open, U.S. Open), Mercury Financial (2025 Wimbledon) and ServiceNow (live shows at the upcoming Laver Cup) for events. It also joined Vox Media’s network of sports podcasts last year.

As it’s grown, “Served” has earned bona fides with tennis diehards for long-form interviews with Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi; laid-back but incisive analysis of tennis’ entire calendar of events (not just the Grand Slams); and the versatility to dig deep into topics such as, in an early sitdown with longtime IMG Tennis agent/executive Max Eisenbud, the economics of tennis player development.

“What makes him special, specific to his podcast, is his ability to transcend the deep tennis insiders, but also the casual tennis fans,” said Eric Butorac, a former doubles player on the ATP Tour and the USTA’s senior director of player relations and business development.

“He’s [Roddick] exactly like he was on tour. You walk into the locker room, and you just hope he’s sitting there, because he’s going to be jabbering away, super engaged, super competitive. … It’s the same way when I turn on ‘Served.’”

Served Media — the media company atop “Served” co-founded by Roddick and Hayden — is now a seven-figure revenue business. Since the debut of its eponymous podcast, it has launched a women’s tennis-focused show hosted by Kim Clijsters, daily recap program hosted by Hayden, active social and newsletter channels, and a merchandise line, with yet-to-be disclosed plans for further content expansion.

“We thought there would be a lane for it for, like, super nerds,” Roddick said. “But I don’t know that we thought it would grow like this.”

NIL

Postgame Podcast

Published

4 months ago

August 29, 2025

Your Sports Nation

RALEIGH, N.C. — NC State needed a fourth-down stop in the red zone to survive, but came away with a 24-17 win over ECU to start the season. The Wolfpack (1-0) finished with 423 total yards behind CJ Bailey’s 318 yards passing with one touchdown through the air and one on the ground.

Cory Smith and Michael Clark share their thoughts after the game, including Bailey’s performance, Wesley Grimes’ career night, Hollywood Smothers’ solid outing, and the defense’s up-and-down night. Get all of that and more on the latest Postgame Podcast.

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