For the last few seasons Manchester United have lacked passion. They have lacked passion from the manager and they have lacked passion from the players. Only now, under José Mourinho, are they starting to show a little of the old commitment and desire.
David Moyes may have been a fiery Scot but he was overawed by the players at Manchester United because they had won much more than he had and there was little, if anything, he could teach them. (more…)
Is it a coincidence that the six richest clubs in the Premier League currently occupy the top six places in the Premier League?
I suppose it depends upon your view of Leicester City’s achievements last season. If you think, like many others, that their winning the title was a one-off, freakish, yet sensational story then the natural order of things has been restored.
If, however, you think that the Leicester story can be repeated by either themselves or another unfancied club, then the amount of money a club has available to buy players is less relevant. (more…)
At the beginning of the season there was belief. Belief that Manchester United were on the way back to being good at football.
They started off like an express train and were unstoppable until they were stopped. Unfortunately they were stopped by another unstoppable team at the time when Manchester City beat them at Old Trafford. City were to go on being unstoppable until they were stopped by Tottenham Hotspur who, whilst not being unstoppable, haven’t really been stopped by anybody yet, (unless you count a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford as stopping them). (more…)
What continually drives people like José Mourinho to succeed? It isn’t money. Alright, in the early days of their career it IS money but, after the initial successes have eliminated the need to ever work again, what becomes the motivating factor?
It is a question asked of many of the world’s richest people and, in a lot of cases, it is STILL money. The quest to be the richest in the world, the additional power that even more money brings with it. These are forces which have been known to propel the wealthy to even greater things.
Generally not, however, where top football managers are concerned. (more…)
The Premier League is beginning to take shape. The top six are starting to pull away from the rest and all that remains now is to see in which order they finish.
This is all a little better than in previous years when the top four has usually consisted of Manchester United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal, not necessarily in that order.
Other than last season when Leicester City gatecrashed the party there is a familiar look to four of the top six but two new arrivals are threatening the natural order of things. (more…)
When José Mourinho was sacked by Roman Abramovich a year ago, many people thought he had lost the plot and had reached the stage where managing a top flight football club was no longer the challenge he required.
He was well into his second coming at the club and had won the Premier League title in the previous season. So what happened?
Did he lose the players? It is an overused expression nowadays but it may have been true in this case, almost certainly with some of them. (more…)
Premier League manager’s are paid millions every season to ensure, in varying degrees, success or survival. The very top managers are paid to compete for the title.
José Mourinho would come under the heading of the very top managers, so here is my question:
If I, sat in my armchair watching the game, can say to my wife that if Fellaini comes on he will give away the free-kick from which Everton will equalise, how come Mourinho can’t work it out? It was rank bad management and, in fact, it was the manager who cost United the two points with that decision. (more…)
Wayne Rooney, depending upon which newspaper you choose to believe, is paid anything form £200k – £300k per week.
He is proud of his achievements in the game. That is fine, but what has he actually achieved that nobody else has?
He is captain of Manchester United because there was nobody else at the time but, most people would agree, he should not be captain of United.
He is captain of England because he is captain of Manchester United and, again, most people would agree, it is not a position he should be holding. (more…)
Like a chain smoker reaching the airport exit after an eight hour flight, like a shopaholic after a particularly long bank holiday weekend during which all of the shops have been closed, like a fish returning to water after almost too long out of it, these are all experiences which are accompanied, at some stage, with a massive sigh of relief. To return to normal having been out of the comfort zone for so long is a blessing. Just ask the fish! If speech were possible it would surely mop it’s brow, say “phew” and thank it’s lucky stars that it were still around to tell the tale. (more…)
José Mourinho appears to handle failure in the same way as he handles success. The success is well known and has been demonstrated on several occasions. It is usually a sullen look, a half smirk of “I knew we would win it” followed by a disappearing act leaving his players to enjoy the limelight while he sneaks off home to be with his family.
For failure take the same sequence but leave out the half smirk. He has yet to perfect a unique reaction to failure because it is still a relatively new experience for him. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 