Archive for the ‘Manchester United’ Category

United Play Well & Still Can’t Score!

Posted: December 28, 2015 in Chelsea, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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PRE-MATCH

This is it! This is the “must win” game that will mean that Louis van Gaal is really quite a good manager and didn’t mean to lose all those games. Alternatively, it is the “must win” game that will spell the end for Louis, meaning that he was never really very good and should have gone directly from Holland to the Algarve, giving Manchester a very wide berth in the process.

Which will it be? As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think he is going whatever the score, win or lose. The only remaining item on the agenda is how he departs. Does he jump or does he get pushed? We will see.

The team he has picked for this game saw recalls for Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin and Darmian giving a massive vote of no-confidence to three of the team who played against Stoke, (in fairness he could have given a massive vote of no-confidence to all of them after that game). He then proceeded to pick his top scorer out wide and the one who can’t score to save his life at centre forward. His tinpot logic also sees Ashley Young as a left winger but a right wing back, meaning that Matteo Darmian, who is a right full back, played on the left. No wonder van Gaal can’t work out what is going wrong!

From what I could see there was no reason why any of these players had to be played much out of position but, that’s van Gaal for you. (more…)

Louis Van Gaal At The Last Chance Saloon?

Posted: December 28, 2015 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Louis isn’t too sure about the hangover cure given to him by Jose Mourinho!)

Rumour has it that, if Manchester United do not beat Chelsea, then Louis van Gaal will be fired. “Rumour,” of course, being a pseudonym of the press.

To put this into perspective. The team in sixth position in the Premier League is at home and need to beat the team in fifteenth position in the Premier League in order for the manager to keep his job. So if United win, van Gaal is suddenly brilliant and can stay in charge. If United lose, van Gaal is rubbish and has to do one.

What a totally ridiculous state of affairs! Is Ed Woodward trying to make it easy for van Gaal to stay, by picking a lowly placed team in a home game and telling him he has to beat that team? Or is he trying to make it easier to sack him by saying, “if you can’t beat them then there is no hope?”

I have never been a believer in heaping pressure on a manager by giving ultimatums. How can that help? Most managers will tell you they are not bothered by pressure and that they thrive on it. Well, they are and they don’t! (more…)

Christmas Humbug With Louis Van Gaal & Ed Woodward

Posted: December 27, 2015 in Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion
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Was this the period which was going to show us how van Gaal had managed to turn things around at Manchester United?

Or, was this the period which was going to show us what a petulant, supercilious and arrogant man he really is?

Unfortunately for him, it was the latter. He is proving, with every game that passes, how tactically naive he is nowadays. This can only be put down to one of two things. He is either getting older and the inevitable loss of talent, ability and tactical nous is affecting him, or he was underestimating the quality of the Premier League.

For me it is a mixture of the two. He has won the league in Spain and Germany. The problem in those countries is that the only real preparation required is when you play the other top teams which, in Spain and Germany was only ever one. Now he is having to prepare fully for EVERY game and is failing abysmally so to do. This demonstrates both an under-estimation of the job at hand and a failing of mental faculties for not appreciating the differences in leagues. (more…)

United & Van Gaal Do Nothing To Convince

Posted: December 26, 2015 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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PRE-MATCH

So Louis gets another chance against Stoke. Judging by the team he has picked he has been listening to the supporters, which he will obviously deny. A manager listening to the supporters! What is the world coming to?

It actually might not have been a bad ploy to mention that he was bowing to incessant fan requests to drop Rooney and play Herrera. At least that way, the fans are less likely to have a go at him, whatever the result.

On Soccer Saturday, the pundits couldn’t quite believe why Rooney had been dropped for what they saw as a “must win” game. Well guys, I’ll tell you. Rooney has been the standout worst United player this season. I have watched every minute of every game and, apart from the game against Bruges, where he had three goals laid on a plate for him, he has been awful. Every time he has played it has been like United started with ten men. Why is it considered such a “big decision” to leave out your worst player? I would have thought it was one of the easiest decisions of the season.

Van Gaal appears to have realised that, in a must win game, he has more chance of winning WITHOUT Rooney and WITH Herrera. Let’s hope so anyway. (more…)

Louis Van Gaal’s Family Values

Posted: December 24, 2015 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Does Louis van Gaal deserve any sympathy for his plight at Manchester United or for his treatment in the press?

Maybe, maybe not. Some of the media can be harsh, some can be petty and some can be pathetic.

I have watched interviews on Sky TV, on MUTV and on BT Sport and probably others too numerous to mention over the years. The questions never improve, they never change and they are as stupid now as they were fifty years ago. It would seem that the only qualification needed for a job as a sports interviewer on TV is an almost photographic memory for stupid questions.

Asking a manager what he needs to do to win the next game is a stupid question. His team needs to score more than the opponents, obviously. Asking a manager if injuries have forced him to make changes is a stupid question. He cannot play injured players so he will make changes, obviously.

Pathetic questions are no excuse however, for the way some managers behave when faced by the cameras or just by a collection of ne’er-do-wells from Fleet street. (more…)

Is Jose Mourinho The Right Fit For Manchester United?

Posted: December 23, 2015 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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A lot of people, when Sir Alex Ferguson retired, were under the impression that Jose Mourinho would be the next United manager.

At that time, people involved in the decision making process would have included Ferguson, Bobby Charlton, Ed Woodward, one or more of the Glazers, another director or two and probably David Gill.

My guess is that Ferguson favoured Mourinho and he would probably have had the support of his friend, David Gill. That the vote obviously went against the “Special One” is probably due to Bobby Charlton and the other directors. This would be particularly true if any of them, like Charlton, were there during the Busby era.

Back in the seventies when Tommy Docherty had an affair with Mary Brown, the wife of United’s physiotherapist Laurie Brown, the club waited for Busby to return from holiday for a decision on Docherty. Within hours of Busby’s return, “The Doc” was fired, even though he later went on to marry her. This way of thinking, whereby nothing can be done to tarnish the image of the club, stays with Charlton, but he appears to be the last of a dying breed. (more…)

How Manchester United Can Still Challenge For The Title

Posted: December 22, 2015 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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If United are to turn their slight improvement from Moyes to van Gaal, domestically anyway, into a title challenging season there is still a way this can be achieved. However, a few things need to be done.

Louis van Gaal needs to go. It is fairly obvious that the players, whilst denying any problems with him, don’t like what he asks them to do on the pitch. It would be a different story if they were winning games and scoring goals, but they are not.

Playing Anthony Martial on the wing, for example, is bad enough, but ordering him to stay there, without the freedom to join the attack in the middle is ridiculous.

Continuously selecting a well below par Wayne Rooney because, “he is my captain and deserves special privileges”, has got to the stage where other teams are hoping this continues because they then play a United side already down to ten men.

These two situations alone prove to me that van Gaal should be in his villa in Portugal. (more…)

Open Letter To Louis Van Gaal

Posted: December 19, 2015 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Louis answers truthfully when asked about his chances of keeping the United job!)

Dear Mr van Gaal,

I have some questions for you regarding your team selection and overall philosophy.

Firstly, would you please explain to me why Wayne Rooney was given the captaincy? He rarely shouts, doesn’t lead by example and is far from being United’s best player. When compared with the likes of Bryan Robson or Roy Keane, as a captain, he isn’t even on the same planet! So this is the first strange decision I would like to know the reason behind.

Secondly, on the same player. He has been, by a long way, United’s worst player this season, irrespective of whether he is played up front or in midfield. Do you still feel that, as captain, he should enjoy the special privilege of being picked for every game even though his form has been nothing short of abysmal?

You had the perfect opportunity, when he was injured, to allow him an extended rest period. Instead, as soon as he had recovered, he was back in the team and just as bad as ever. Has he donated an organ to you to deserve all this special treatment? (more…)

Manchester United Are Dismal Again

Posted: December 19, 2015 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Manchester United proved yet again that they are absolutely toothless as an attacking force.

The return of Wayne Rooney only proved what everybody already knew, he is past his sell-by date. It was as though he had never been away. He got straight back into his stride by giving the ball away, shooting very wide and generally contributing nothing to the cause.

The scary sight for United fans was the sight of the three players furthest forward on occasions. For Messi, Neymar and Suarez read Fellaini, Smalling and Rooney. That may give you an idea of what at least one of the problems is at Old Trafford.

Of course the fact that Fellaini was playing meant that the ball was being sent wide to be crossed in. The problem was twofold. Firstly, the crosses were never of sufficient quality to cause any problems to the defence. Secondly, any headers Fellaini actually managed to connect with were never of sufficient quality to cause any problems to the defence. (more…)

United And Louis Draw Lilliput FC

Posted: December 14, 2015 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion
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(Louis is a little nervous about the welcome to Midgetland!)

Unless I have misread it, Manchester United have drawn Midgetland in the UEFA Cup, (or Europa League if you prefer the official title). This draw being a reward for their decidedly worse than average performances in the Champions League, where they were only able to take one point from the third best team in Holland, and three points from the fifth best team in Germany.

So, expect them to be knocked unconscious, have their extremities tied to the ground with ropes and stakes and then have the king come and see what all the fuss is about, while the players swarm all over them.

In all honesty, if United cannot beat a team whose average height will be in the region of six inches, over two legs then there is no hope for either them or the Iron Tulip who is currently showing signs of rusting and wilting at the same time.

The problem here is that van Gaal has got United into a no-win situation. If they go through to the next round then everyone will say, quite rightly, “Yes, but it was only Midgetland and, after all, they were never going to win.” (more…)

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