Manchester United pay homage to Old Trafford with 2025-26 home kit
With a fresh start comes a fresh kit for Manchester United, who have been quick to reveal their new home strip for the 2025-26 season.
After suffering a disastrous campaign last time out, that included the club's worst-ever Premier League finish (15th) -- so bad that coach Ruben Amorim felt the need to publicly apologise on the pitch after the final home game -- coupled with a galling defeat to fellow stragglers Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the Europa League, United have sought to draw a line under 2024-25 and move on.
As such, United have unveiled their new home kit with the main source of inspiration being their Old Trafford stadium, which has played host to all of the club's various ups and downs since 1910.
With the venerable ground set to be replaced by a shiny new 100,000-capacity venue, it could well be that United are saying their goodbyes to the Theatre of Dreams in the same fell swoop.
The shirt is fairly straightforward and traditional with a solid red base and minimal black-and-white trim.
The patterns in the fabric on the torso and sleeves are oddly inspired by the quiet, eerie majesty of Old Trafford on non-match days, with circular dots and tonal stripes supposedly reflecting the shape of the pitch markings, the dugouts and the stands.
The full V-neck returns for the first time since 2018-19 and the final nod to Old Trafford can be found on the reverse, with "Theatre of Dreams" printed in white script across the back of the collar.
Sadly, the 2025-26 jersey is not a patch on United's finest kit-based salute to their home turf and pales in comparison to the club's rather excellent 1994-96 home shirt by Umbro, which featured a full, isometric image of Old Trafford infused into the material.
Still, it's certainly smart enough to cut the mustard. Whether the first-team under Amorim will fare any better while wearing it next season remains to be seen.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has said he understands criticism of Jude Bellingham after the midfielder's emotions boiled over during the shock defeat to Senegal on Tuesday, adding that the coach's own mother can find his behaviour "repulsive."
Bellingham passionately argued with officials over his disallowed equaliser due to a handball that would have levelled the scores at 2-2. Instead, England fell to a 3-1 defeat at the City Ground, their first loss ever against an African nation.
In an interview with TalkSport on Wednesday, Tuchel defended Bellingham but said he can see why some fans turn against him.
"I think he has a certain something," Tuchel said. "I think he brings an edge, which we welcome and which is needed if we want to achieve big things. It needs to be channelled. The edge needs to be channelled toward the opponent, towards our goal and not to intimidate teammates, or to be over aggressive to teammates or referees.
"But [channel it] towards opponents, yes, and always towards the solution, meaning towards winning. We are on that, yes. He has the fire. I don't want to dim this down. He should play with this kind of fire, that's his strength. But the fire comes also with some attributes that can intimidate you, maybe even as a teammate."
"You see sometimes the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game, so if he can channel this in the right way, and we can help him in this, then for sure he has the something that we need. He has a certain edge that is hard to find."
Bellingham has already provided some magic moments for England in his young international career -- notably scoring an overhead kick against Slovakia to save the Three Lions from being knocked out at the round-of-16 stage of Euro 2024.
When asked if England would be better off without Bellingham, Tuchel said: "I struggle to see that. I think it has to be the other way around: How we can have the best version of him and the best acceptance and that people understand what he's bringing to us and that he's bringing a certain edge?
"But I see that it can create mixed emotions. I see this with my parents, with my mum that she sometimes cannot see the nice and well-educated and well-behaved guy that I see and the smile.
"If he smiles, he wins everyone, but sometimes you see the rage, the hunger and the fire and it comes out in a way that can be a bit repulsive. For example, for my mother, when she sits in front of the TV, I see that, but in general we are very happy to have him, he's a special boy."
Meanwhile, Tuchel suggested he is tempted to seek a contract extension as England manager beyond the 2026 World Cup up to the 2028 European Championship, despite his team drawing criticism for recent poor performances.
Tuchel, whose contract runs through the end of the World Cup, said: "I will always be tempted to stay because I love the group and the opportunity, it's an honour to be England coach. I can tell you that even after the disappointment yesterday.
"If you ask me today, yes. I am enjoying it, I feel the support, trust and respect of people in the FA. I wanted a new challenge and environment."
