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.
(more…)
At Manchester City it is Txiki Begiristain, at Chelsea it is Michael Emenalo, at Liverpool it is Michael Edwards and at Arsenal it is Arséne the Omnipotent.
These are the Directors of Football or Sporting Directors or Technical Directors or whatever other fancy name they have been given to justify a very large salary. A salary nobody would begrudge them providing they serve the club and the supporters well.
The two stand-out names here are the ones at Chelsea and City who have been responsible for some excellent signings at the two clubs. They seem to have adopted the attitude that if the manager wants the player enough, then they will pay the price. (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…)
In a normal job anybody, especially somebody in a senior position, who fell below the required standard would be sacked. Their contract would not necessarily be paid off, as it is with football managers, because falling below the required level would be seen as a breach of that contract and, therefore, a sackable offence. (more…)
(Wayne Rooney looks over his shoulder only to find that the manager insists on him playing!)
Recently, one or two football players have remarked that they have “nothing to prove”. They say this as though they have reached a pinnacle and will never drop their standards below this optimum level.
Marouane Fellaini was one of the ones to speak out and that, frankly, was laughable. Now it’s the turn of Wayne Rooney again. Yes, again! It seems that Wayne likes to tell everybody how good he really is on a fairly regular basis. (more…)
(Louis explains why he is not under any pressure despite having spent £258 million and having a record worse than David Moyes)
The source of the above statement is the Daily Mirror, (so it must be true!), and it is based on figures from December, 2015. Here is the article.
So the pressure on van Gaal has eased following a, so far, unbeaten January. Why is this?
The month started with a 2-1 win over Swansea who, quite frankly, were awful until around the 80th minute. They then decided to show a little bit of spirit and, almost immediately, scored an equaliser. Once again this demonstrated that United ‘s defence is not the castle wall that van Gaal seems to think it is. Bear in mind that this game was at Old Trafford and Swansea could well be relegated this season, meaning that this result was hardly a reason for ecstasy among the United faithful.
The next game of January saw the reds welcome Sheffield United to Old Trafford. Two divisions below Manchester United, an easy win was expected and should have been delivered. As it turned out it was a struggle from start to finish and again exposed the weaknesses in van Gaal’s team, but this time in the attacking third. It took a penalty in the 93rd minute to win this one.
After the game van Gaal made no friends by coming up with excuses about the opposition defending with ten men behind the ball, etc., etc. Guess what Louis, better teams than Sheffield United have employed those tactics in the past and Mancheater United have still been able to record some comfortable wins against them! (more…)
(Louis answers truthfully when asked about his chances of keeping the United job!)
Dear Mr van Gaal,
I have some questions for you regarding your team selection and overall philosophy.
Firstly, would you please explain to me why Wayne Rooney was given the captaincy? He rarely shouts, doesn’t lead by example and is far from being United’s best player. When compared with the likes of Bryan Robson or Roy Keane, as a captain, he isn’t even on the same planet! So this is the first strange decision I would like to know the reason behind.
Secondly, on the same player. He has been, by a long way, United’s worst player this season, irrespective of whether he is played up front or in midfield. Do you still feel that, as captain, he should enjoy the special privilege of being picked for every game even though his form has been nothing short of abysmal?
You had the perfect opportunity, when he was injured, to allow him an extended rest period. Instead, as soon as he had recovered, he was back in the team and just as bad as ever. Has he donated an organ to you to deserve all this special treatment? (more…)
(Don’t shoot me! I admit it, I am the weakest link! I promise to try and improve, just don’t drop me!)
At thirty years of age, Wayne Rooney’s best days are a considerable way behind him.
At present he keeps being selected by Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal because he, rather foolishly, made him captain. Not only is Rooney a long way off being captain material, he is currently a long way off even being first team material.
Almost as soon as van Gaal decided Rooney was his captain at United, Mr Roy followed suit with England.
Now I don’t know what these two see in him on the training ground, but I do know what I see on the pitch.
Over the years Manchester United have had some great captains. The ones that stand out are the likes of Roy Keane and Bryan Robson, both of whom also captained their countries. Neither of them were shrinking violets and could be very vocal both on and off the field. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 