THE CHAOS ZONE

Having thoroughly enjoyed the thud and blunder of Monday night’s tremendously entertaining draw between Manchester United and Bournemouth, Football Daily found itself stifling a yawn during the post-match discourse. Much of the chatter focused on tactical tweaks Ruben Amorim may or may not have made to his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, a debate roughly equivalent to Titanic passengers discussing the second violinist’s tempo as the ballroom tilted into the Atlantic. It was a measure of the Old Trafford chaos that pundits couldn’t decide definitively if Amorim had consciously abandoned his “non-negotiable” back three policy, or if his system simply dissolved in the evening’s chaos. Asked to clarify, United’s head coach offered cheeky obfuscation. “That is for you to discuss, not for me,” he parped. “I know you guys know that I trained this week with a back four. I don’t know how [you know], but that is a good thing for you to discuss.”

United failed to prevail at home against a team that are now winless in seven matches, lost more leads than a distracted dog-walker in a squirrel sanctuary and relied heavily on their goalkeeper to help them avoid conceding two late goals [isn’t that his job? – Football Daily Ed]. For all that, their performance was hailed by Sky Sports grandees Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher as “their best performance of the season”. Whether this is a reason to be cheerful or a reflection on just how far standards have plummeted at the Theatre of Dreams is irrelevant; such praise would inevitably buy Amorim a few days of peace without having to concern himself with the cacophony of grumbling that has soundtracked his tenure. Wouldn’t it?

“It hurts me a bit,” sighed United skipper Bruno Fernandes in a Portuguese Football Federation interview, as he lamented the United’s hierarchy’s apparent willingness to sell him to Al-Hilal during the summer. “More than hurting, it makes me sad because I’m a player who has nothing to criticise. I’m always available, I always play, good or bad. I give my all. The club wanted me to go, I have that in my head.” Adopting the tone of a man being exiled to a salt mine, rather than one being linked with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia, Bruno revealed that it was only a heart-to-heart with Amorim that convinced him to stay.

The United boss has said he would also be open to a tête-à-tête with a different disaffected midfielder, who got a rare 20 minutes on the pitch only to have his thunder stolen by his half-brother, spotted in the stands wearing a “Free Kobbie Mainoo” T-shirt. Having previously been criticised by Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and man-of-the-people Rio Ferdinand for his apparently shabby treatment of Mainoo, Amorim said he would be happy to discuss the matter with the 20-year-old. “The team comes first and I will be really pleased if Kobbie comes to talk to me about that,” he honked. One suspects the first item on the agenda may be a certain sibling’s controversial choice of matchday leisure wear.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join John Brewin at 8pm GMT for updates on Cardiff City 1-3 Chelsea in the Coca-Cola Cup quarter-finals.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Al-Qadsiah appoints European coaching giant Brendan Rodgers as head coach” – the Saudi Pro League side give the former Celtic, Leicester and Liverpool boss quite the sell on their official website.

A ‘giant’, earlier. Photograph: Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

Oh, come on, Big Website, you’re not even trying. How could you have gone with ‘Nice plunged into crisis after fans’ dissent goes too far in physical assault’ when ‘Nice not nice’ was right there staring you in the face? PS: it’s good to see that Big Sir Jim’s other team are doing about as well as you’d expect” – Noble Francis.

Could I suggest that the Celtic Park ultras pay a small royalty to football’s biggest friend, Donald Trump, and immediately order a container-load of green and white baseball caps with the slogan ‘Martin Was Right About Everything’. With nine days to go until Christmas they will fly off the shelves” – John Collins.

Re: Celtic being a shambles (yesterday’s Football Daily) – a brilliant and funny article. Many thanks” – Simon Webber (and no others).

Joining in with my fellow Americans, Tyler T and Daniel Stauss, may I offer my apology to the universe for the selection of US Soccer’s mascot for the Geopolitics World Cup. Don’t know how Banner will survive in the heat” — JJ Zucal.

Walkies! Photograph: USMNT

The last line from yesterday’s mail (full email edition) will no doubt set people of a certain age humming to themselves, being the penultimate line of the Wedding Present’s sterling single ‘You Should Always Keep in Touch With Your Friends’. This being the Weddoes’ 40th anniversary year, I was due to see them in September, only to be derailed by a positive Covid test (a bitter irony, considering the song title). Meanwhile, the reference to Manchester United and Bournemouth, in Memory Lane, brought to mind one of my earliest exposures to FA Cup shocks, as ‘Arry’s Third Division Cherries saw off United in the third round in 1984. The prospect of Bournemouth one day finishing above United in the top flight was as ridiculous then as, well, sending emails about it over 40 years later. Why, yes, I am a middle-aged man, what makes you ask?” – Mike Slattery.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Mike Slattery. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.

TOP 100

Our countdown to the best male player for 2025 begins, with Arda Güler, new Sunderland hero Nick Woltemade and Raphael Leão among the batch between 100 and 71. Check it out now.

Here we go! Illustration: Guardian DesignRECOMMENDED LISTENING

Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the Football Weekly pod squad as they chew over the best game of the Premier League season so far and the latest in the EFL. And here’s Women’s Football Weekly on another thrilling game involving Manchester United and Bunny Shaw’s brilliance.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

You can also watch Football Weekly in all its visual glory. And not football but worth your viewing time – Jonathan Liew at the darts.

RECOMMENDED LOOKING

It’s David Squires on … GWC supply-and-demand ticket ultras, plus an Anfield truce.

Zing! Illustration: David Squires/The GuardianNEWS, BITS AND BOBS

A former Royal Marine has been jailed for more than 21 years for driving his car into fans at Liverpool’s title parade “in a moment of rage” and hitting 134 people in two minutes.

A Paris court has ruled PSG must pay more than €60m to Kylian Mbappé in a dispute over unpaid wages and bonuses linked to the end of his contract before he hotfooted it to Real Madrid in 2024.

Copa Gianni winners Chelsea experienced a 44% increase in knack between June and October compared with the previous season, according to a report that also found that assorted-gah has cost European clubs £3bn in the past five years.

As mentioned above, Bruno Fernandes says they tried to make him go to Riyadh but he said, no, no, no.

Hannah Hampton and Gianluigi Donnarumma have safely gathered up the goalkeeper gongs at Fifa’s The Best awards show.

Safe hands Hampton, earlier. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Pep Guardiola may be dusting off his boots after saying he will field a “father figure” among a much-changed Manchester City side for the Milk Cup game against Brentford to avoid repeating the error of the defeat against Leverkusen.

Bristol Rovers have appointed Steve Evans as their new boss, with the hope he can keep them in the Football League. “Steve brings a wealth of experience at this level … and a proven ability to get the best out of his players,” trilled a club suit.

And Milan are preparing to rescue Niclas Füllkrug on loan from wherever West Ham are hiding the burly striker these days.

MOVING THE GOALPOSTS

The latest edition of our sister email is here with a review of the WSL season at the halfway stage.

STILL WANT MORE?

Fitness, camaraderie and aggression: how Sean Dyche found Nottingham Forest’s missing mojo. By Will Unwin.

And by not explaining his “worst 48 hours” Enzo Maresca has put himself at even greater risk, writes Jacob Steinberg.

MEMORY LANE

Fans cram into Ninian Park, climbing stanchions and stands, to watch Second Division Cardiff take on Chelsea of the top flight in their 1921 FA Cup quarter-final. They’d have wanted to get in early as Cardiff took the lead on five minutes through their prolific forward Arthur Cashmore. It proved to be the only goal as the Bluebirds hung on to pull off a shock in front of a 45,000 crowd, becoming the first Welsh side to reach the semi-finals. They lost to Wolves on that occasion but went on to earn promotion to the First Division at the end of the campaign, and would win the FA Cup for the first and only time six years later. Cardiff and Chelsea are meeting once again on Tuesday evening, when facilities will be a lot more salubrious and less cramped than 104 years ago.

Photograph: AR Coster/Getty ImagesONE MORE SLEEP TILL THE CHRISTMAS AWARDS