Kobbie Mainoo left Ruben Amorim and Thomas Tuchel looking second best, while the handball law has again come under heavy fire and the wider confusion around Liverpool rolls on…

As always, send your mails in to the editor…

Hands of Harry Just a quick question about the game-changing incident at Old Trafford yesterday.

I have been watching and playing football for 45 years. As far as I understand it, using both hands to control the ball is handball and should mean a free-kick to the opposition. First, how did the referee fail to spot it in real time? It looked pretty obvious to me. And second, after watching the replay, which clearly showed Harry Maguire’s hands making contact with the ball, how did VAR not overturn the referee’s original decision?

The commentary team where I was watching then had to try and explain that because the ball hit a defender before going in, the goal was allowed to stand.

I’m sorry, but what the actual f**k is going on here? He handles the ball and then shoots — surely the later deflection should be irrelevant? What exactly am I missing?

Normal service resumed at Old Trafford,

Yours, in confusion, Dan Green, Cape Town

…I love this ridiculous law today, though maybe not tomorrow! If Harry Maguire had handled the ball like that in his own penalty area, it would not have been given as a penalty because his hands were in a completely natural position as he moved up to protect his face and were tucked across his chest. But as the ball smashed into his hand, whether the hand or his chest changed the ball’s path or not, the goal only counted because he was not the one who scored it — it struck a defender on the way in. How is that the explanation? It is probably the correct outcome this time because Maguire’s hands were inside his body shape and acting naturally, but what about the next time? Tony

The Problem I most heartily agree: let us sell Bruno Fernandes immediately! For what sort of dreadful footballer scores only a mere hat-trick and then has the nerve to assist another goal as well? Truly, a player of such shocking incompetence has no place at Manchester United. Send him away at once, before he weighs us down any further with his terrible habit of actually producing goals. Gaptoothfreak, Man Utd, New York (It is reassuring to know that empathy still survives somewhere in this universe and indeed inside the mailbox.)

Mainoo and one more The moment I saw Kobbie in the starting line-up, I put money on us winning.

He was not spectacular, but he kept the midfield functioning. He is always showing for the ball and creating passing angles so that our defenders can find him.

Let’s stop this chase for an alternative. Youri Tielemans is average — I genuinely do not understand the hype — and Kobbie should start ahead of him when Carlos Baleba is fit.

We will not win the league until we replace Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, but I think we have enough to compete for the Top 5 and push for a cup trophy. Manc In SA (relieved we got 3pts and can start the season now).

Tottenham is black and white Newcastle have now won more league matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium than Spurs have in 2026. They really are the gift that keeps on giving. AD NUFC

History lesson There is a lot of talk about Arsenal being overwhelming favourites for the title this season.

The last time that happened was in the 2004/2005 season, when The Invincibles were trying to win back-to-back league titles and make further progress in Europe. That season, Chelsea appointed a new Portuguese manager and Liverpool handed a certain Spaniard his chance at Anfield. We all know what happened after that. Eoin (that season is exactly why title predictions are a pointless exercise) Ireland

Liverpool pessimism I wrote this before reading the mailbox, so I realise I am a bit behind the curve, but I thought I would send it anyway.

To be honest, I thought this might be the year my interest in the Premier League finally faded. It has been a gradual decline, but season after season the money, the hype and the general enshittification, if you like, have drained the soul out of the game. And with Bezos arriving, it now feels as though the big clubs really are just playthings for the super-rich. The Premier League no longer feels like proper football. That said, I am worried about Liverpool. Bradley Barcola looks like a dream of a player, but until they sort out the midfield and the defence, they have no chance of troubling Arsenal and the rest. They look flimsy. There is no steel, no strength and, bizarrely for a side only two years removed from Jurgen Klopp, no pace.

Richard Hughes has been negligent to an extreme degree for two straight seasons, and there appears to be little or no philosophy in place. At this admittedly early point, Andoni Iraola does not seem to have the force of personality required for a club of this size; it is as if Liverpool have simply faded back into the bushes like Homer Simpson. Iraola’s style may be all very well for Bournemouth, but when you dominate possession and the opposition sit deep, you need something special. Pep Guardiola knew it, Klopp soon understood it too. You need movement, you need intricacy, and you need a wall at the halfway line.

There are serious questions to be asked. It was obvious throughout last season that Jeremie Frimpong is not good enough for a team with serious ambitions, and the same applies to Milos Kerkez. Florian Wirtz? I honestly thought he would arrive at the World Cup and show everyone what he can do, but instead he just fizzles out like a damp firework. And Alexander Isak? I honestly do not know. That whole ‘I’m not going to train until you let me leave’ vibe before he left Newcastle did not sit right with me. What elite sportsman allows himself to get to the point where he is not fit for the start of a season? What club is happy to sign a player who can down tools like that? Would Cristiano Ronaldo have done it?

It has been said many times that the wheels were already coming off at the end of the title-winning season, so why has that not been addressed? We have been talking about Barcola since last season ended, so why was he not integrated into the team before the new campaign began? Liverpool clearly have money, and they are spending it, but the team is going backwards. Tom

…Reading Clive LFC’s mail on Liverpool’s current situation, I would say it is the minority of supporters making all the negative noise. It does seem these days that a few empty vessels make the loudest sound, especially on social media, which I do not use — call me a dinosaur if you want.

The Liverpool fans I know are generally quite pragmatic about the fact that Iraola will probably resemble early-era Klopp this season and maybe even into the next. Does anyone remember that 2-2 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion, or the Norwich 4 Liverpool 5 game? Or the many other matches like that — high-scoring chaos and entertainment at every turn? In Klopp’s first full season, Liverpool finished 4th on the final day.

I do understand that the transfer fees paid naturally raise expectations, especially in attack. Liverpool now have Barcola for £120m, Isak for £125m, Wirtz for £116m and, by the end of the window, possibly another addition worth £75/80m. Incredible sums of money.

I also feel Wirtz and Isak have become the scapegoats for the poor performances because of their price tags, but let’s actually break it down:

Isak — he looks a long way from the player he was at Newcastle, but our system under Arne Slot was never going to help him thrive: no space, no quick combinations, no opportunity for the instinctive finishing we all know he is capable of. Perhaps that will improve as Iraola’s style is implemented, but there was a pass map published at half-time yesterday that showed, well… no passes into the striker at all. So I feel he has been set up to fail by the transfer fee and by our obsession as fans with finding the next Roberto Firmino (legend), mixed with Darwin Nunez’s energy — a player I would have brought back on a free for squad depth.

Wirtz — he drifts in and out of matches, which is to be expected from a lighter player signed from abroad, but look at the key moments. Against Nottingham Forest: the disallowed goal showed his composure, the saved header was one he had no right to win, the pass to Cody Gakpo in the move leading to Isak’s goal, and the assist for Munoz. So in that game alone he had four key moments, two of which led to goals. Again, perhaps the price tag means we expect much more. If Frimpong had stayed onside, Wirtz would have had a goal, an assist and the line-breaking contribution for Gakpo as well.

That is not to deny that Gakpo and Munoz then produced quality with their turns, crosses and finishes respectively, but you cannot deny Wirtz was central to all of it.

As for the issue in defensive midfield, I am not sure whether Iraola has said he does not want one or whether he sees it as a matter of tactical discipline, but I do view that as a major weakness. Not having a Fabinho-type player is a huge problem. In the peak Klopp years, when Liverpool and Manchester City were dominant, success was built around Fabinho for Liverpool and Rodri for Manchester City. That tells you something. Adam Wharton and Alex Scott are probably the best two options I would suggest, particularly as our homegrown numbers are dangerously low.

Lastly, I do think there is a genuine concern that the club has become farcical. It used to be so well run in the transfer market, even keeping deals quiet and getting them done quickly, but now everything is public and turns into a drawn-out saga. In the space of 24 hours this week, bids for Ismaila Sarr and Yankuba Minteh just felt a bit underwhelming, as though there is no plan.

Klopp always said he wanted control over those matters and everyone praised the board, but since he left, the transfer strategy and policy have looked directionless. So I cannot help thinking Klopp was doing far more behind the scenes in running the club as well.

Bring him back as director of football while still letting him manage the German national team???!!!