Watching Manchester United currently is like a breath of fresh air compared with the dark days of Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the one-hand-tied-behind-his-back management of Ralf Ragnick.
Whilst Eric ten Hag has brought in a couple of experienced midfielders, a young left back and a centre back in the same mould as Roy Keane the major changes he has made have been those of discipline and mentality.
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There may be a new sheriff in town but, unfortunately for him, the posse he sends out to round up the wanted men is full of the same inexperience and clueless leadership as it was under the previous sheriff.
John Murtough, who is described as ‘Director of Football’, was promoted to this role based on previous experience of having coached the academies at Fulham, Everton and United which was followed by trying his hand at sports science!
Another strange promotion was that of Richard Arnold, a clone of Ed Woodward, who was put in overall charge when the hated Woodward finally fell on his sword.
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Time. A flexible little word as in ‘what time is it?’ or ‘do we have time for that?’ or ‘the time has come, (the walrus said). Time, it is said, waits for no man. In today’s politically and gender correct sorry excuse for a world, we must also assume that time waits for no woman or change the expression to ‘time waits for no-one’.
Whatever, time certainly won’t wait for Eric ten Hag at Manchester United. If he were an ex-player who had been a very reliable substitute and had scored the winning goal in a Champion’s League final then, despite the fact that he was a terrible manager winning absolutely nothing, he could expect to be given at least three years.
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The number 7 shirt at Manchester United has been worn by some great players. So what? Exactly the same can be said about almost every number throughout the team particularly back in the sensible days when the team wore the numbers 1 to 11.
The number 10 shirt has been worn by David Herd, Denis Law, George Best, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, to name but 5. The number 8 shirt has been worn by Denis Law, George Best, Wayne Rooney and now by Juan Mata.
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So Manchester United have paid the agent of Edinson Cavani €10 million to get the deal done. Granted there was no transfer fee as he was a free agent but the fact remains that if they had added that €10 million to their original offer for Jadon Sancho then he would now be a United player. So what was the thought process of Ed Woodward when making this deal?
The answer is pretty simple in that there wasn’t one. This was another panic signing to try and make it look as though the club had achieved something during this transfer window.
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Two things stand out from this first weekend of the Premier League season. Firstly, neither Manchester City nor Manchester United featured due to extended, if still shorter than intended, involvement in European competition.
Secondly, by Monday evening, three London clubs had played at home and lost and none of them were beaten by a top six team from last season!
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So Pep can’t win the Champion’s League without Lionel and Lionel, despite years of trying, just can’t seem to find a manager for his once-beloved Barcelona and has decided it is time to leave.
Where on earth could he go? Wait a minute, there will be a vacancy created at Manchester City just as soon as his old boss realises that he really means it this time. Honest injun, no joking, this time it’s for real!
Some of the reasons Manchester United score so many goals, (73 between Martial, Rashford and Greenwood this season), are because the front three are young, hungry and will shoot on sight. They all have a tendency, occasionally, to try and beat too many defenders and all can be greedy, choosing to shoot from near-impossible angles rather than try and find a better placed team mate.
Some of the reasons Manchester United don’t score as many goals as they should are because the front three are young, hungry and will shoot on sight. This “shoot on sight” attitude is fine providing there are no opposition players in the way but, again probably due to youth, the blinkers tend to go on when the goal is sighted. (more…)
Ole welcomes back an important player…..
Chris Smalling has returned to Manchester United after his loan spell at Roma ended. He was loved in the Italian capital, had apparently found his niche there and would have liked to make the move permanent.
Olé Gunnar Solskjær, still at the wheel, looked a tad embarrassed when asked about his defender’s return. He obviously wanted him out of the club as part of his “new broom” policy and was convinced that Smalling would be sold either whilst on loan or at the end of it. (more…)
Ed Woodward, as usual, is looking to sign a big name player for big money. Never mind that his dithering means it will probably require the whole of the transfer window to make that one signing! In his eyes it will improve the team and that’s all that matters.
After all look at how his other big money signings have markedly upped United’s stature as a club. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 