Archive for the ‘Manchester City’ Category

China Takes Away Jose Mourinho And Pep Guardiola As Manchester United And City Chase The Money, (As Usual)

Posted: July 20, 2016 in Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The first Manchester derby since last season will be played in China. There will probably be some Mancunians in attendance but how many is anybody’s guess. The fact that the match is totally meaningless makes it a lot easier to bear for fans of the clubs who are from Manchester and can’t quite come to terms with their local club playing a derby in China!

As usual, it is all about money. The clubs may spout on as much as they wish about how they are rewarding their Asian fans with a visit and how pleased they are to be there but, given the choice, I am pretty sure that both managers would rather have stayed a lot closer to home.

Neither club would be anywhere near the area if they weren’t trying to attract an even bigger fanbase than they already have. Ed Woodward, as far as United are concerned, has signed a few sponsorship deals in the general area, (it’s the only thing at which he is any good!), so the trip will also keep these companies reasonably happy. (more…)

Jose Mourinho Or Pep Guardiola? Manchester United Or City? It’s Too Close To Call

Posted: July 3, 2016 in Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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There now exists, more than ever before, a two-team competition in oneupmanship in Manchester. No sooner have Manchester City appointed Pep Guardiola then Manchester United are appointing Jose Mourinho.

City sign Ilkay Gundogan and United sign Henrikh Mhkitaryan, both from Borussia Dortmund and neither of whom will have the fans singing their names for a while, certainly not if they have to learn to spell them first!

United are reportedly looking to sign Paul Pogba so City are immediately linked with Luis Suarez.

United will break the world transfer record, but only if City don’t! (more…)

Will Pep Guardiola Be A Success At Manchester City?

Posted: June 28, 2016 in Managers, Manchester City, Opinion
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The jury is out on this one!

There are obvious reasons to expect that Pep will be successful at City, not
least given that he is working with people he knows well at the club. This is an obvious advantage from when he took over at Bayern Munich where he knew nobody really well in the beginning.

He also doesn’t have to win much next season to be rated a success. Manuel Pellegrini left having won only the Capital One Cup in his final year.

At Bayern the odds were against him even replicating what Jupp Heynckes had achieved, never mind bettering it. A treble of the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champion’s League was always going to be a tall order. As it turned out he found winning the Bundesliga and German Cup relatively easy and only the Champion’s League proved elusive. (more…)

United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs & Liverpool. Normal Service Will Resume Next Season!

Posted: March 1, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Manchester United: Not too long ago I wrote an article which described how United weren’t too far away from having a team to win the title. I thought, at the time, that they were short of two, maybe three, top players.

I have since revised my opinion. Whilst playing quite well recently they have relied on injuries to force through some of the promising youngsters. This is a sad indictment on the transfer windows where adequate players were not purchased. If van Gaal sees out the final year of his contract then they will again struggle to reach the top four.

If, however, they take the logical option and appoint Mourinho, then I would make them slight favourites to win it.

Manchester City: Should be a lot closer to winning the title than where they are now. Having said that, with the bonus of the Capital One Cup win, they could very easily go on an unbeaten run that still achieves their goal! (more…)

Manchester City & Liverpool Fans Pay The Price Again For Wembly’s Shortcomings

Posted: February 28, 2016 in Capital One Cup, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Opinion
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Wembley Stadium - Pre Carling Cup Final

If a family of four, from either Manchester or Liverpool, wishes to see the Capital One Cup final at Wembley they can do so for a reasonably small fortune.

Yes folks, it is that disgraceful time of they year when the FA, for reasons known only to themselves and for a lot of money, decide that two teams and their fans, separated only by 30 miles of motorway should travel, at great expense, to London to play a game of football which could have been played a lot nearer home.

Without going into any great research I just quickly looked for match tickets and train tickets and found that for a mere £82 each return, the family can get to London. For a further £40 each, they can have a ticket to watch the match.

So, assuming that they travel to, and back from, London on the same day, eat before they leave and when they get home, thereby spending nothing more than the ticket prices, (train and match), the cost to this family will only be £488 in total.

By the time they get back to either Liverpool or Manchester they will be starving and very tired, but one of them will have seen their team lift a trophy. (more…)

Manchester United Trying To Catch Manchester City, Whatever Next?

Posted: February 25, 2016 in Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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What is happening in Manchester? United, if they are not very careful, will continue on their downward slope into total mediocrity, (in some people’s eyes, they are already there)!

City, on the other hand, can afford to throw away the FA Cup in order to be able to win in the Ukraine three days later. Many people think they could have achieved the Champion’s League win without sacrificing the other trophy but, what the heck? This is City. Who cares what the fans want?

What was particularly annoying was that they had been on a very good run in this competition with some good away wins and there was a very real possibility that a stronger City team would have beaten Chelsea.

So, at least if City win the treble, it will not include the FA Cup so wouldn’t be quite the achievement of United in 1999. (more…)

The Chinese Super League Is An Agent’s Dream

Posted: February 9, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal
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A new brothel has been brought to the attention of the football authorities in Europe, (whoever they happen to be right now). This new brothel allows it’s leading prostitutes to make more money than they could ever have dreamed of had they just continued to ply their trade in Europe where they would only become multi-millionaires. Here, at the newest footballing outpost on the planet, they can become billionaires.

China has decided to take that football game seriously. They have taken the very scientific approach of commissioning case studies to find out what the average European footballer is driven by, what motivates him to get out of his goose-and-duck-down duvet covered emperor-sized bed every morning for a couple of hours training before getting back under it shortly after lunch.

Obviously, they also need the same player to perform for his public at least once, maybe occasionally twice, per week, which means that the poor souls may have to play 180 minutes of football during a seven days period.

What could they possibly use to entice players who already have everything that money can buy? Yes, you guessed it! Even more money! (more…)

Wenger, Van Gaal, Pellegrini & Hiddink A Couple Of Years From Now!

Posted: February 5, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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In two years time in the Algarve, at the Vale de Lobo retirement complex for ex-Premier League managers, Louis van Gaal will sit down by the pool along with Manuel Pellegrini and Arsene Wenger and they will talk about the old days.

Louis will begin with how it can all go wrong. Citing the approachment of old age during his tenure at Manchester United, he will point out that, nowadays, this football management malarkey is a game for the youngsters.

Stressing that he tried to reproduce the successes he had enjoyed at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, he will point out that tactics, which were winning titles many years ago, are not even staving off relegation at some teams presently. Just look what happened to big clubs like Aston Villa, Sunderland and Newcastle United!

The problem was that, with the onset of old age, he had to rely on the players coming up with training routines and tactics and, when he did, the team became quite good. They had left it too late to finish in the top four so Jose Mourinho now occupies Louis’ old seat. If only he would have thought of it years ago, he could have saved himself a lot of headaches and Advocaat. (more…)

Who Is The Biggest Team In Manchester? United Or City?

Posted: February 4, 2016 in Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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I read a rather silly article in the Daily Mail, which you may read here, if you so wish,which claims that, because Pep Guardiola has gone to Manchester City, this immediately makes them the biggest club in Manchester and, therefore, the Premier League.

Obviously written by a deluded City supporter, this claim is based on potential, nothing more.

They are certainly the wealthiest club in the division and they now probably have the best training facilities and the best youth set-up. How does any of that elevate them to the status of “biggest in the league?”

I will agree that if, over the next thirty or so years, they build their global fanbase to a size larger than that of Manchester United, which they will only do by beginning to match the on-the-pitch success of United, then they have a chance.

Manchester United have won the First Division/Premier League title on twenty occasions, the European Cup/Champion’s League on three and the FA Cup eleven times. Their Old Trafford ground has a capacity of 75,653 and is regularly full on matchdays. They claim a global fanbase of 659 million people but I am not sure that this figure has ever been ratified. (more…)

Would Manuel Pellegrini Be A Good Fit For Chelsea Post Jose Mourinho?

Posted: February 3, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Managers, Manchester City, Opinion, Premier League
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(Roman wonders whether Guus has sorted out Chelsea’s problems and whether Manuel will bring another steadying hand to the tiller!)

I suppose if you want a quiet, charming and polite man to take over a club like Chelsea then, yes, he would be ideal. A little like Hiddink in that he prefers to do his talking on the pitch and only appears at press conferences and on TV because his contract states that he has to, it would be an almost seamless transition from one to the other.

Having decided that Jose Mourinho was no longer the man to take the club forward, Roman Abramovich now has a decision to make. He can try and tempt a man who is eight years Mourinho’s senior but is a safer pair of hands in which to leave the grenade that is Chelsea football club, or he can try to attract a younger manager with potential longevity, such as Diego Simeone.

His choice may say a lot about his own long-term plans. If, for example, he opts for Pellegrini, this would be on a two or three year contract which probably wouldn’t be renewed, irrespective of success achieved. It would be viewed as a way to get Chelsea back on an even keel without losing the ability to compete at the top of the Premier League and in the Champion’s League. (more…)

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