Archive for the ‘Premier League’ Category

Jose Mourinho’s First Press Conference Tells Us Nothing We Didn’t Already Know, (But It Was Still Entertaining)

Posted: July 5, 2016 in Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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As expected by everybody, except Sky Sports News and the Great British press, Jose Mourinho’s first press conference failed to enlighten us on anything of which we were unaware.

Starting with a totally banal question by some clown from Sky Sports News about him being the “Special One”, then something else and what was he now, as if anyone was interested. The subsequent questions were predictable, not only to anyone with half a brain but even to Mourinho who probably could have listed them beforehand whether or not he had been primed.

New signings was a quickly covered topic. There would be a minimum of four. Three have already been made, (these include Mhkitaryan, who isn’t official yet but about whom everybody has known for at least a week). So one more will be made long before the end of August according to the boss, suggesting that Jose is not yet au fait with how Ed Woodward operates, leaving plenty of time for any other additions to be made as and when appropriate. (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 Jose Mourinho Sweep All Before Him Next Season?

Posted: July 2, 2016 in Football, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The short answer is no, not at the moment. One or two further additions to the squad, however, may change things around somewhat.

The full back positions do not need urgent surgery as, with a fully fit Luke Shaw along with Darmian and Varela, there should be sufficient cover although Jose does not seem totally convinced about Darmian so don’t be too surprised to see a replacement brought in. I can’t see Mourinho persisting with Antonio Valencia at full back as he has proven, on a few occasions, that he can’t play the position and Ashley Young is nothing short of a joke at full back.

At present Mourinho has addressed one of the centre back positions by bringing in Eric Bailly. I assume this will mean that United will be listening to offers for Marcus Rojo, who hasn’t convinced at either centre back or left back. This does not solve the problem of the other centre back. (more…)

Jose Mourinho Has More Money To Spend Than Donald Trump!

Posted: June 25, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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He must have, you only need to read the amount of players he is going to buy and look at the total cost.

All this talk of United giving him a kitty of £250 million to spend on transfers is obviously a smokescreen so that clubs are not aware of how much is really available.

Ed seems to have learnt his lesson! Gone are the days when he would brag that United could afford any player in the world because money is no object. Maybe he realised, shortly after making his stupid statement, that any player in whom United expressed an interest suddenly experienced a sharp hike in price. When you add that to the fact that, thanks to Ed’s propensity for dithering, they also paid £4 million more for Fellaini than they needed to, then it is understandable that their budget is being kept a closely guarded secret and that a completely false figure has been circulated. Only the really intrepid football journalists have figured out the truth.

So, following the arrival of Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will come riding into town on his white horse. (more…)

When Jose Mourinho Arrives, Woodward Needs To Go!

Posted: May 22, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Challenging at the sharp end of the Champion’s League. Challenging for the Premier League title. Mounting serious attempts at both the FA Cup and Capital One Cup.

These are all answers to the question, “Where would you expect Manchester United to be this season?”

These answers would probably have been a lot closer to the truth had Ed Woodward had the courage to sack Louis van Gaal when it became apparent, to everybody except Woodward, that United’s season was actually going nowhere and that a replacement was required.

This became the case reasonably early in the season. United were out of the Capital One Cup almost as soon as entering it and the Premier League challenge was faltering virtually from day one. Elimination from the Champion’s League at the group stage just heaped more humiliation on a once great club.

Now was the time for Ed Woodward to stand up and be counted. To be a hero in the eyes of the United fans he needed to get rid of van Gaal. What he didn’t need to do was dither. Ed had proven himself remarkably good at dithering. (more…)

Manchester United Should Recruit Leicester’s Recruiter!

Posted: May 1, 2016 in Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The last time I was present at a Manchester United versus Leicester City game at Old Trafford was on March 18th, 1967. I have been to Old Trafford many, many times before and since but only ever once when they played Leicester. The game sticks in the mind for two reasons. The first is David Herd scoring the first goal and breaking his leg in the process when falling over Gordon Banks whilst in the act of shooting. The second is the scoreline of 5-2 to United.

Back then, Leicester didn’t have a bad team, it just wasn’t very good. Now the situations have been completely reversed. At the moment United don’t have a bad team, it just isn’t very good. An example of how far down in the estimation of even ex-players the club has gone was typified recently by Denis Law. He was asked if he thought his team of the sixties would beat the current one. He thought for a moment and replied, “yes, I think so, 1-0.” When the interviewer wondered why such a low score Law replied, “well, we’re all in our seventies now!”

The difficulty for the majority of the United fans, particularly those who comment on popular social networking sites, is that they do not possess a sense of humour. It is also true that many of them have never even been to Old Trafford.   (more…)

How Can Manchester United Even Contemplate Keeping Louis Van Gaal When Jose Mourinho Is Available?

Posted: March 6, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Recently I have been reading that the last three results have turned Louis van Gaal into such a good manager that Manchester United couldn’t bear to see him leave at the end of the season and would like him to stay on for his contracted final year.

The last three results have been the Europa League win over FC Midtjylland, who would just about survive the first division in England, followed by a good 3-2 win over Arsenal, who were abysmal and ending in a very fortuitous 1-0 win over Watford, a game in which they were lucky Watford didn’t score three.

With the exception of the Arsenal game, the other two again papered over the cracks and certainly made van Gaal look a lot better than he really is. The problem when this happens is that some people actually believe he is good, only for a short while, but long enough for the damage to be done.

Louis van Gaal has, basically, had his day. He cannot live with the modern game, particularly in the Premier League where he has never managed before. He is far too arrogant to admit it and prefers to rely completely on excuses when his team loses. (more…)

Normal Rubbish Has Been Resumed By Van Gaal And Manchester United

Posted: March 6, 2016 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Well, after this result at the Hawthorns, we have learnt something more about Louis van Gaal or, should I say, a previous theory has been confirmed.

When he has a lot of injuries and selection is not a very complicated process the team have been getting results. He hasn’t had the luxury of being able to mess around with formations or philosophies etc. He has had to pick whatever has been available and run with it. This had proven to be quite successful recently.

So, now a couple of the more experienced players are back from injury, why would you change a winning formula? I certainly don’t know, it is a question for the arrogant Dutchman to answer.

Of course, there was no way of knowing that a normally reasonably intelligent player like Juan Mata would decide to become stupid for a ten minute period during which he managed to collect two yellow cards. This was obviously never going to help the cause. He was, however, not one of the returning injured and had played throughout the good spell, so his dismissal, while stupid should not have been terminal. (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…)

Same Old Arsenal Under Wenger, Different Manchester United Under Van Gaal

Posted: February 28, 2016 in Arsenal, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Well that was a nice surprise! Arsenal were favourites to win at Old Trafford for the first time in ages and never looked as though they would actually manage it throughout the game.

After the game Graeme Souness, Thierry Henry and David Platt all questioned the commitment and desire of the Arsenal eleven. Arsene Wenger saw nothing wrong with the commitment and desire of the Arsenal eleven, and THAT is the problem!

Wenger thought United had kept breaking up the game with petty fouls although, given that all the experience was with his team you would think that they could have coped. United won this game with an overall possession of 39%.

Arsenal, yet again, proved susceptible to the counter-attack, which was how United had to play due to injury and no adequate replacements ever being bought. In Marcus Rashford though, they seem to have inadvertently found a star for now, never mind the future. His two goals were taken very well and now bring his tally to four in two games. (more…)

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