Archive for the ‘Premier League’ Category

Who Is Eric Bailly And Was Jose Mourinho Right To Sign Him For Manchester United?

Posted: August 15, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Before joining Manchester United few people in England had heard of Eric Bailly. A 22 year old defender from the Ivory Coast, he was bought from Villarreal for a bargain €30 million. This bargain was not as impressive as the one Villarreal received when they bought him from his first club, Espanyol. They paid a mere €5.7 million and so made a profit of €24.3 million, not too shabby a deal for them!

He made his debut for the Ivory Coast national team in 2015, in a friendly against Nigeria. He then went on to represent his country at the Africa Cup of Nations where he played in all six games, culminating in winning the trophy. (more…)

Jose Mourinho And Pep Guardiola Both Register A Win As Manchester United And City Collect The Points

Posted: August 14, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Despite a long injury list and a manager who has only been with the club for three weeks, Sunderland were rather unfortunate not to take a point from the Etihad. It isn’t that they really deserved anything from the game, it’s just that City hardly ran away with it.

Whilst it is true that City were also without players as new signings Leroy SanĂ© and Ilkay Gundogan were both injured, it is also true to say that City have never missed these two players before, so shouldn’t do so now. They were bought to add something to the team not take something away when they don’t play! They were also without Vincent Kompany, as usual, and Nicolas Otamendi, so John Stones made his debut alongside new centre back Aleksander Kolarov. (more…)

Either Manchester United Or Manchester City Will Win The Title, But Which One? Jose Mourinho Or Pep Guardiola?

Posted: August 12, 2016 in Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The squad strengths are similar. The fame and reputations of the two managers are similar. In fact, there are so many similarities between the two teams this season that it is very difficult to say that one is better than the other and even more difficult to say which one that is.

Manchester City have a world class goalkeeper prone to the occasional mistake. United also have a world class goalkeeper who makes less mistakes so United have the edge here. (more…)

Why Would Jose Mourinho Sell Juan Mata Yet Keep Wayne Rooney at Manchester United?

Posted: August 11, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Mata keeps his distance while Rooney, as usual, creeps up to the boss)

This is a perfectly reasonable question and yet the answer, for some unknown reason, appears to be quite complicated.

Certainly, over the last couple of years Juan Mata has contributed much, much more to the team than has Rooney. He is not a volatile character and represents the club in a much more positive and favourable way than Rooney.

Last season, for example, Mata made 49 appearances and scored 10 goals whereas Rooney made 38 appearances and scored 15 goals. Mata was also responsible for assisting many more goals than Rooney. (more…)

After Some Good Signings Jose Mourinho Now Needs To Clear Some Of The Dead Wood From Manchester United

Posted: August 10, 2016 in European Football, Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Even if Jose Mourinho does not make another signing for Manchester United this transfer window, there should be no complaints about the business that has been concluded.

The arrivals of Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Paul Pogba have completely renewed the fan’s faith in the ability of the team to go on and win something this time out.

Ed Woodward has not been vilified and so he should also see this transfer window as a success, having managed to secure the services of each of the Mourinho requirements. It may have cost a king’s ransom but what good is the money if it just sits in a bank? Ed certainly likes spending it as much as he likes making it! (more…)

Mourinho And Guardiola Get Their Men And Both Manchester United And City Are Improved. But At What Price?

Posted: August 9, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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As of the very near future, the football population of Manchester will increase by at least two. John Stones will move the very short distance from Merseyside, assuming that he doesn’t already live in Cheshire, while Paul Pogba will re-locate from Turin in a return to his spiritual home.

There are similarities between the two but only in their situations, not in their football talents.

Stones is 22 years of age and, being English, has undoubtedly cost Manchester City a premium for this fact alone. He is not yet the finished article and was wanted by Chelsea and, reportedly, Manchester United, but he preferred to remain in the North West with City, showing a remarkable amount of common sense for one so young. (more…)

Paul Pogba Returns To Manchester United Thanks To Jose Mourinho

Posted: August 9, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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So it has finally happened. The transfer saga of the Summer has reached it’s conclusion and Paul Pogba has returned to the club he left four years ago after being told he had to wait for his chance in the first team.

Typically, being a teenager, he thought he knew best and that Sir Alex Ferguson was wrong in his decision. He proceeded to run down his contract and eventually left for Juventus for a compensation package of around ÂŁ800,000.

He wasn’t proved right when he went to Italy, as everybody who knew him knew he was an exceptional footballer. What he did prove, unfortunately, is that most of the power nowadays lies with the player, even when he is still very young. (more…)

Manchester United, Paul Pogba And Sky Sports TV

Posted: August 8, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Sky Sports have now resorted to showing a plane arriving at Manchester airport with the monumental news that “Paul Pogba could be on it!”)

Isn’t it exciting? Never mind the ludicrous amount of money that it is costing Manchester United to buy a midfielder. Never mind that he was, until four years ago, a Manchester United player who was allowed to leave for Juventus for around ÂŁ800K. Never mind even that he wanted to go to Real Madrid who, having set the two previous world record transfer fees when buying Cristiano Ronaldo and then Gareth Bale, decided they couldn’t afford him.

Mino Raiola, Pogba’s Mister 15%, on hearing the news that Real Madrid wouldn’t be buying his client, immediately set about convincing Pogba that United was always the place to go and he would never have entertained Madrid anyway. (more…)

Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United Team To Face Leicester Is Quite Predictable

Posted: August 6, 2016 in European Football, Football, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The easiest choice for Jose is the goalkeeper. My guess is that David De Gea will not only start the game, but he will finish it as well and be present during the middle bit.

Now begins the fun. At left back should be Luke Shaw, a young kid who shows all the promise in the world and should, barring injury, be around for a long time. The other full back will probably be Antonio Valencia, who has spent the last two years getting older and proving that he cannot defend so, to me, he has always been a strange choice for this position and is lucky to still be at the club.

Despite Mourinho’s dislike for playing people out of position, it is likely that Daley Blind will occupy one of the two central defensive roles, particularly if Smalling is still injured. The other will be taken by another Eric Bailly, another kid with little experience. (more…)

For That Amount Of Money Paul Pogba Has To Be The Main Man Under Jose Mourinho At Manchester United

Posted: August 5, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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He doesn’t look the shy, retiring type. Gold lamĂ© backpacks and matching trainers certainly make Paul Pogba stand out in the crowd, even in America. He is also nearly as well known for his hairstyles as his football so what can Manchester United fans expect on the pitch?

Well there will be a few who already know what to expect as he only left the club four years ago having been a youth and reserve team player there. In fact it was his perceived lack of opportunity which resulted in him leaving for Juventus when only nineteen years of age.

Now, unless he suffers a dramatic loss of form, he will be a regular and one of the first, if not the first, names on the teamsheet. He will be able to thumb his nose at Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager responsible for his leaving the club in the first place. This, however would be unlikely as Pogba appears to be bigger than that sort of behaviour. (more…)

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