Scholes Versus Van Gaal, Round One

Posted: October 30, 2015 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion
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Paul Scholes wants the best for Manchester United, the fans, himself and probably even Louis van Gaal.

He virtually said as much when praising the quality of coaching which has enabled United to have one of the best defences in the Premier League, without necessarily having many of the best defenders in the Premier League.

What he also said was that he wouldn’t like to play in this particular formation, which is fair comment. Whilst it is set up to retain possession, it often does nothing with it so that at some time, inevitably, the ball either goes back to the opposition or out of play.

Scholes played in United teams that were all about going forward at every available opportunity. He himself was renowned for arriving late into the penalty area to score some crucial goals over the years. That was the football loved by the United fans. It was what won them all the titles, some FA Cups and a couple of Champions League titles. Read the rest of this entry »

Fanpower, Where Has It Gone?

Posted: October 30, 2015 in Fans, Football, Opinion
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‘I always say the same – if the footballing world doesn’t think of the fans, it’s going to lose the passion and the love. So I was impressed but I was very happy because the fans come first here.
They travel around the world, they spend the money, they spend the time so I think we have to be very, very thankful.’

A nice quote from a rich Premier League football player. Is he English? No. Is he even British? No. Of course not, there aren’t any British footballers left in the UK according to all the harbingers of doom.

This is a quote from Manchester United’s Ander Herrera, who can’t yet consider himself a first team regular, although he should be able to.

Having only spent a relatively short time in England he has quickly grasped what makes football what it is. Read the rest of this entry »

The Capital None Cup

Posted: October 28, 2015 in Capital One Cup, Football, Opinion
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(So we reach the quarter final stage of the competition without any London clubs. The only representative from the south of Staffordshire being Southampton. Quite an unusual turn of events).

In stark contrast to the young team Arsenal fielded in their game against Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester United put out a vastly more experienced team in their tie with Middlesbrough. That’s not to say they were a lot older, United’s team contained Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira, James Wilson and Memphis Depay. All young players but with more first team experience than the Arsenal youngsters.

I would like to think that this was to show the opposition, the competition and the fans some respect but I doubt that was the reason. As anyone who read my article after the Arsenal game will be aware, I was critical of the lack of respect I thought was shown by Arsene Wenger to the three aforementioned bodies, but I did include the other top managers as well, as they can be just as disrespectful when they think it necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Where Is The Respect?

Posted: October 27, 2015 in Capital One Cup, Football, Opinion
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When Arsene Wenger fielded a weakened team in the Capital One Cup against Sheffield Wednesday, he got exactly what he deserved. The 3-0 scoreline did not flatter the Owls and they could have won by more.

My question to Wenger, Pellegrini, van Gaal, Mourinho and Ferguson in the past is, do you actually realise how the disrespect is apportioned in this competition?

The first object of disdain is your own fans. They blindly follow where you go, spending hard earned money on tickets, travel and occasionally hotels in order to see their heroes try to win a game of football. The Arsenal fans who travelled up the M1 to Sheffield were cheering the team on and pledging their undying love even when they were 3-0 down. Read the rest of this entry »

Club Versus Country

Posted: October 27, 2015 in Football, International Football, Opinion
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There seems to be more international football matches nowadays than ever before. To me it is an irritant rather than something to look forward to. Here is what I thought about it a just over a year ago.

The football season just starts and we need a break for internationals. We get a month or so further down the line and we need another break for internationals. Some of them are qualifiers, meaningless or otherwise, some of them are just friendlies, meaningless friendlies. Read the rest of this entry »

The Manager’s Turn

Posted: October 26, 2015 in Football, Managers, Opinion
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What next for the Special One?

Jose Mourinho has proved before that he isn’t untouchable at Chelsea. After a while in the job, the brand new suit of armour he always brings with him begins to show signs of rust, before completely crumbling to dust, (or should that be iron filings?)

After short spells at clubs, where he has invariably been successful, he has tended to move on to a different challenge. Having won the Champions League in two different countries his main ambition now is to win a third. He would prefer that to be with Chelsea but, should that not be possible, don’t be surprised to see him at another English club.

He seems to crave longevity now, probably as he gets older the wanderlust isn’t as strong as it once was. Also he has achieved lot of what he set out to achieve, so the idea of actually settling down somewhere for a while must be quite appealing. Read the rest of this entry »

The Truth About The Manchester Derby

Posted: October 23, 2015 in Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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As anybody who has read the mini-bio on the “About the Author” page will know I am from Manchester and have been a supporter of Manchester United for more than 50 years. During my formative years, in the sixties, I was taken to Old Trafford one week then Maine Road the next for many years. In fact, I was chaperoned until I was deemed old enough to go unaccompanied by an adult. At this stage I stopped going to Maine Road because I was actually a United fan and wanted to watch Law, Best and Charlton all the time. It didn’t help that City were in the old second division in those days, so that also influenced my decision somewhat.

Given this upbringing, I like to think that I am entitled to an opinion, borne of experience, on the importance of the derby game nowadays. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost Time For The Annual Moan

Posted: October 23, 2015 in Football, Opinion
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As Christmas approaches there will be the inevitable cries from some of the Premier League managers, (for it is only them, the lower league managers just get on with it), for a Winter break from the gruelling schedule that can see a top player sometimes having to don his playing boots twice in three days.

You have to feel for the poor souls. Having to survive on a mere pittance of a salary, play on pitches resembling the finest Persian carpets, stay in five star hotels the night before a game, (which now seems to be the norm even for a home game) and then , to add insult to injury, go and kick a ball around for 180 minutes over a period of three days.

As you will no doubt be aware, this scenario is only available at Christmas and the New Year. Thankfully, the poor, vulnerable little waifs and strays will only be asked to run around in circles twice per week at other times of the year, so they don’t feel quite as shattered. Read the rest of this entry »

Commentators – The Football Fan’s Nightmare

Posted: October 21, 2015 in Commentators, Football, Opinion
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Are they really necessary? Assuming that blind people don’t watch television, what is the point of a commentator?

I can go back as far as Kenneth Wolstenholme commentating on the 1966 World Cup final and his now immortal lines, “some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over……………it is now!” All said to the accompaniment of Geoff Hurst booting the ball past a startled Hans Tilkowski for England’s fourth goal. The thing was, Wolstenholme didn’t actually tell us anything we didn’t already know. We were sat watching the game on TV.

Ever since the inception of televised football, the TV companies have thought it necessary to treat their audience as bumbling, infantile idiots. Where else do we accept the notion that, while we are actually watching something we know inside out, we need somebody to tell us what is happening Read the rest of this entry »

USA! USA! USA!

Posted: October 19, 2015 in Football, International Football, Opinion, USA
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A United States fan shows his support before the first half of the Gold Cup semifinals against Honduras at Cowboys Stadium, Wednesday, July 24, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

After all these years trying, the Americans seem to have finally got the hang of that there Soccer game.

Alright, so they had to rename it in order to not get confused with the armoured Rugby they call Football, which consists of, in the main, carrying or throwing the ball with their hands.

They also have a very popular sport called Baseball. In the UK it is called Rounders and is played, almost exclusively, by very strong schoolgirls.

So it was about time that a real sport was introduced that will eventually become more popular than either of the aforementioned, as it has in virtually every other country in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

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