Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

Manchester United Need To Win The FA Cup But Does Van Gaal?

Posted: January 19, 2016 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Manchester United need to win the FA Cup. Not to keep Louis van Gaal in a job because, if United finish outside of the top four, he will leave as a failure. The reason they need to win it is for their own confidence and self-belief.

If they finish the season empty handed and, as is expected, van Gaal leaves, there will be more doubts than definites and more pessimism than optimism. No Champion’s League football next season, as with last, would not be a total disaster. It would, however, demonstrate how far United have fallen since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

United have a chance of picking up two trophies this season, (three if you count the Premier League, which they are not good enough to win). They could win the Europa League and maybe should take it seriously as it is another route into the Champion’s League. As already mentioned they should be trying all-out to win the FA Cup. The fans will forgive boring, inept performances if trophies are won, (for a short while anyway). If nothing is won and the performances are not good then expect the fans to get on the player’s backs, after the manager of course.

The problem facing United at present is that they don’t appear to have improved. They scraped into fourth position last season, meaning they had to qualify for the Champion’s League. They were then eliminated very tamely and softly from a relatively easy group, AFTER having spent £258 million on new players! (more…)

Is Wayne Rooney Back?

Posted: January 17, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(and, if so, where has he been?)

Is Wayne Rooney back to what passes as his best nowadays? Having scored a couple against Newcastle and now the winner against Liverpool, United fans could be forgiven for thinking that he is on the way back.

The truth is probably that he isn’t! At 30 years of age he has certainly lost some of the pace he never really had and watching him push the ball past players then resort to shoving them when he can’t outrun them is, frankly, quite embarrassing.

He has been tried in a deeper position at United at the expense of players who are better in the role and, with the exception of a decent range of passes, he brings little to the table in this position. The other problem with this is the fact that United already have more than enough midfielders.

He kept his place in the team for many weeks due to van Gaal’s illogical reasoning that “the captain doesn’t get dropped”. So, for quite a large part of the season, United effectively played with ten men. Yes, he was THAT bad!

Now he has found his shooting boots again he can, deservedly, be picked to play upfront, either alongside Martial in a 4-4-2 or on his own in a 4-2-3-1. (more…)

Louis Van Gaal & Manchester United Just Don’t Fit Together

Posted: January 17, 2016 in Football, Liverpool, Louis van Gaal, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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A win is a win, but don’t be fooled into thinking that this was a good performance from United. They were second best for 75% of this match and only Liverpool’s inability to finish kept the scoreline at 0-0 for so long.

Yet again van Gaal infuriated with his selection. Ashley Young, a winger, playing at wing back. Matteo Darmian, a right back, playing at left back and Daley Blind , a defensive midfielder, playing at centre back. Marouane Fellaini was selected, inexplicably , ahead of Juan Mata and he actually managed to last the ninety minutes.

If anybody wonders why this type of selection always annoys me then imagine Manchester City doing it. Jesus Navas playing at wing back, Fernandinho at centre back and Pablo Zabaleta as left back. Pellegrini would never play these players out of their natural positions which goes a long way to explaining why City are challenging for the title and United aren’t even in the top four!

United were totally disjointed and looked completely out of sorts for the vast majority of the game.

Daley Blind seemed to have his own game plan whereby he kept firing long high balls towards Wayne Rooney. As was to be expected every single one of these was easily won by either Sakho or Toure. (more…)

Louis Van Gaal & Arsene Wenger Need A Win

Posted: January 16, 2016 in Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Football, Louis van Gaal, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Louis van Gaal and Arsene Wenger need Sunday to be a good day. They need it for different reasons, but need it they do.

With Manchester City and Tottenham winning on Saturday and Leicester drawing, Arsenal will need at least a point from Stoke City at The Britannia Stadium to return to the summit.

They currently sit third, one point behind the leaders Leicester and level on points with City. Although their goal difference is inferior to City’s it is superior to Leicester’s so they would go top with a draw. Obviously it would be better from an Arsenal point of view if they could get all three points, that way they could at least put a little daylight between themselves and the pursuers.

A loss to Stoke would not be disastrous, however it would encourage Tottenham Hotspur who are currently only four points behind them in fourth place.

For Manchester United only a win will lift them above West Ham into fifth place. More importantly it would keep them within two points of Tottenham. What they certainly don’t need to be doing is allowing a gap to develop between fourth place and the rest. (more…)

Liverpool & Manchester United Rivalry

Posted: January 16, 2016 in Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Liverpool and Manchester United have, quite surprisingly, not contested many top of the table battles. It has nearly always been a case of Liverpool challenging for the title with United in mid-table, or vice versa. This time they are both out of the top four!

They have always had the local rivalry because of the history and proximity of the two cities. Certainly, in this respect, there is more at stake between Manchester United and Liverpool than between the two Manchester teams.

The Manchester derby is definitely the biggest game from a financial viewpoint when you consider the two clubs’ relative wealth but, much as some of the fans would disagree, it still isn’t regarded as the game between the two biggest rivals.

After all, what is at stake in the derby? Local pride, bragging rights down the pub for a few days? Not much else unless it is a title decider when it gains slightly more importance, but also loses a little of it’s identity as it becomes just a game between two top teams.

I have explained in earlier chronicles that I am quite unusual in my football support. I support Manchester in general. I don’t apologise for it and I don’t see anything wrong with it. What can be wrong in wanting your home city to do well? (more…)

Manchester United, David De Gea, Real Madrid & Barcelona

Posted: January 15, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Thanks to the recent transfer embargo handed out to the two Madrid teams, it seems that David De Gea may be staying at Manchester United for a while longer.

It may be that, having signed a new deal at Old Trafford, he decided that he didn’t want to leave anyway. At the time there was no encouragement from the Real Madrid fans, (mainly because he used to play for Atletico), nor was there much forthcoming from the management. It appeared that the chief procrastinator in all this drama was, as usual, Florentino Perez. It was he who wanted De Gea.

The story goes that when he realised how against the move the fans were and how much they liked Keylor Navas, he conveniently messed up the paperwork which saved him from an embarrassing u-turn on the matter. Whatever the truth is, De Gea remains in Manchester with two of his three amigos.

Given Florentino Perez’ penchant for wanting everything HIS WAY because, as far as he is concerned, HIS WAY is what is best for Real Madrid irrespective of what anybody else may think, it is no surprise that they have fallen foul of some rule about wresting kids from the arms of their parents at a very young age. (more…)

Wenger, Van Gaal & 3-3 Draws

Posted: January 14, 2016 in Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Louis van Gaal, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Arsene and Louis both see three points magically transformed into one by last-gasp equalisers against their teams)

Part One

So, fresh from drawing 3-3 with Newcastle, where Manchester United threw away a 2-3 lead with only a few minutes left, the question now is, do we prefer boring 1-0 wins against first division strugglers at Old Trafford? Or would we rather hightail it up the A1(M) to Newcastle to watch exciting score draws? Answers on a postcard to the usual address!

Seriously though, van Gaal is now, rightly, having a go at his players for firstly, conceding a two goal lead, then secondly, conceding the equaliser in the dying minutes.

In the previous game against Sheffield United he defended them by pointing out to the watching world that, “they won the game”. Yes they did Louis, nobody is disputing that, not even Sheffield United fans. The problem you appear to overlook with this glib summary is that, in more than fifty years of watching United, that is one of the most boring games I have ever seen , if not the most boring!

Does he stick or twist? Does he continue trying to fix the bonnet and leaving the boot open, or does he close the boot while it rains on the engine? Van Gaal can’t seem to find a way to close both the bonnet and the boot at the same time. The other onfield problem of course, to continue with the metaphors, is that the car doesn’t have a driver. (more…)

Chelsea Have A Good One, Why Don’t Arsenal, United & City?

Posted: January 13, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(A captain, of course. What did you think I meant?)

Of the old top four only Chelsea have what I would consider to be a captain in the true sense of the word and this is possibly going to be his last season.

Vincent Kompany, at Manchester City is also topnotch, but misses too many games to be considered a great captain. His deputy is usually Yaya Toure and we all know how temperamental he can be. Sometimes a good example, sometimes a very bad one, he is more likely to shout at the referee than at his teammates.

The captaincy at Manchester United and Arsenal is a joke. Arsenal have Mikel Arteta, who can’t even get in the team and may leave soon. His deputy, the BFG Per Mertesacker, who has worn the armband for most of the season, is only inspiring in size, nothing else.

United, of course, have Wayne Rooney, who never was captaincy material. A lot of United fans are baffled as to why he is still there, never mind captain. Two goals against Newcastle do not excuse his woeful performances in general over the last couple of seasons.

So what is required of a captain? Does he need, for example, to be an ambassador for the club off the pitch? Yes, he does, but so do the rest of the players so this is not uniquely a captain’s requirement. (more…)

Liverpool Against Arsenal Without Leaders

Posted: January 13, 2016 in Arsenal, Football, Liverpool, Opinion, Premier League
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As advertised, tonight sees the meeting of the minds. Arsene Wenger’s classical music team take on Jurgen Klopp’s heavy metal side. It would make for a good episode of University Challenge, although how many of these player’s went to university is debatable not to mention how many of the Arsenal team would know anything about classical music! (Maybe Mesut Ozil does, he looks as though he might be a fan of Ludwig van Beethoven)

So it is probably just as well that this challenge is being played out on the football pitch without the assistance, (interference?), of Jeremy Paxman. Whilst on the subject of sanctimonious, annoying prats, I guess Piers Morgan WILL be there.

During the course of a season there will always be decisive games and these two clubs have been involved in their fair share of them. Not always against each other but, when they have met, even if the prize at stake has only been pride, they have managed to produce some memorable games.

Unlike everybody else, I am not going to list all of the recent meetings with goalscorers and results as, I am sure, the true Liverpool and Arsenal fans could recite that list without any idiot boards provided by myself. (more…)

Manchester United & Newcastle Serve Up A Treat

Posted: January 12, 2016 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Is this one of van Gaal’s must-win games? I’ve lost track now!

Anyway, before the game starts I just want to let off a bit of steam about his ridiculous statement that he occasionally gets bored watching United. So this is to him:

Dear Louis,

Please come down off your pedestal and don’t bother with the condescending, supercilious remarks. You are being paid an absolute fortune to watch Manchester United whereas the fans are paying an absolute fortune to watch them. So for you to say that YOU get bored watching them is an insult to the supporter’s intelligence.

If you think they are boring then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! You are the coach, it is up to you to train the team, set the tactics and ensure that your instructions are being followed. If the team is boring it is because YOU ARE BORING! A team is a reflection of the manager.

If you set up the team to attack and play exciting football and they don’t follow your instructions then try GETTING OFF YOUR FAT BACKSIDE, GOING TO THE TOUCHLINE AND YELLING AT THEM UNTIL THEY GET IT RIGHT! It may not be your favourite coaching method, but it has been proven to work. If you don’t believe me just ask Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. You can walk across Manchester and speak to Manuel Pellegrini, it works for him as well. Even Mr Cool, Arsene Wenger uses this method to get instructions to his players! (more…)

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