Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

Manchester United turned up at Old Trafford prepared for a stroll in the rain. There was a crowd of more than 75,000 and an air of expectancy that this was a game United could use to reduce the goal difference amassed by Manchester City when they played Palace last week.

After five minutes it looked like they would get their wish as Juan Mata put them in front but in actual fact, the scoreline of 4-0 was a touch flattering and better teams than Palace would certainly have scored a couple of goals against this United side. (more…)

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Born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1993, Romelu Menama Lukaku Bolingoli has come a long way in just a few short years, particularly since coming to the Premier League.

In 2011 he signed for Chelsea and, more or less immediately, went on loan to West Bromwich Albion. The following season saw him continue on loan but this time at Everton, the club he eventually signed for in 2014 for what was then the record fee paid by The Toffees of £28 million.

He became one of only five players to score 50 Premier League goals before his 23rd birthday and is only the fourth player to score 80 goals before his 24th. (He is actually the first foreign player to achieve the feat). (more…)

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José Mourinho, if asked what he needed would probably say; two things. One would be an injury-free run of games with the best players being available and where points could continue to be collected.

The second would be the fourth signing Ed Woodward failed to secure in the Summer transfer window.

Having signed Romelu Lukaku, Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matić, Mourinho wanted one more player. (more…)

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Tuesday night saw Manchester City face Shakhtar Donetsk, Liverpool played Spartak Moscow and Tottenham Hotspur were in Cyprus playing Apoel Nicosia.

At The Etihad City made relatively hard work of beating Shakhtar who were always threatening on the break. However, a second half goal from Kevin De Bruyne settled the nerves eventually and Raheem Sterling followed this up with a second which he tried his hardest to put over the bar, just failing as it went in off the underside.

That is now two games and two wins with six goals scored and none conceded and is the first time that the club has ever won it’s first two games in the competition. (more…)

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Manchester City 

Judging by his plea for Manchester City fans to turn up in their thousands for the Champion’s League game against Shakhtar Donetsk, Pep Guardiola is taking the competition very seriously. He has also asked that the Etihad crowd stop booing the Champion’s League music, an act which goes back to when City were fined for contravening FFP regulations, and a plea which may very well fall on deaf ears.

The fans thought the punishment was excessive and a clear case of victimisation which, considering that only City and PSG were fined, and that they were only fined once, is probably true. Here’s the full story if you’re interested. (more…)

It would appear that the top four by the end of this season could very well be made up of the four clubs represented by these players.

Having researched this a little, with the emphasis on “little“, the evidence suggests that, in the main, the teams with regular twenty-plus goalscorers in their ranks are the ones which finish the highest.

Now it could very well be that Sadio Mané of Liverpool and Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal also score twenty or more goals this season, but we think they will fall short of the other four. (more…)

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Having recently retired as the “undisputed prediction king – failed abysmally“, (for the time being anyway), our thoughts now turn to new, (or at least re-worked old), ways of filling the column inches.

The first subject which springs to mind is the return of the Champion’s League. You know, that tournament which, according to stubborn old man at Arsenal, has lost some of it’s sparkle. This is what he said. (more…)

Well, avid readers, so far it has been a very mixed weekend in prediction land, which is where WSA has been living for the last 24 hours.

The first prediction we made was that Manchester United may play in grey and would win 3-1.
Wrong! On both counts. They played in black and white which was almost as dull and boring as their performance. (more…)

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(“They’re behind you!” Antonio Valencia tries in vain to find his team mates, who have become invisible thanks to that magical grey kit)

Manchester United will have an opportunity to wear their new grey third kit when they play Southampton at St.Mary’s on Saturday. If they do, then it will be the first time they have worn it in the top flight since they wore it in a 3-1 defeat at yes, you guessed it, Southampton.

On that day, back in 1996, Ferguson ordered the team to change their kit at half-time, blaming it for the players having become invisible whilst wearing it and being unable to see each other on the pitch. (more…)

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Manchester United began their defence of the Carabao Cup in some style. Whilst they have never actually won the cup under it’s current sponsorship, they did win it last time when it was the plain old EFL Cup.

An easy 4-1 win at Old Trafford over a poor Burton Albion side meant that José Mourinho and his team progress and will now meet Swansea City in Wales in the next round. (more…)