Posts Tagged ‘Champions League’

Manchester United And Manchester City Need To Give JosĂ© Mourinho And Pep Guardiola Plenty Of Time

Posted: January 21, 2017 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Pep Guardiola, Premier League
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Manchester City and Manchester United are probably the two richest clubs in the Premier League. They have the two most successful and, arguably, best managers. They have the best squads and some of the world’s most expensive players.

The only club which comes anywhere near them in these respects is Chelsea, also with great wealth, a big squad and expensive players. Their manager, however, is an unknown quantity at this level. I suppose it could be argued that Pep Guardiola is in the same situation, but he has won far more domestic honours than Antonio Conte. (more…)

Another Battle Of Manchester With Little At Stake For Either JosĂ© Mourinho Or Pep Guardiola

Posted: October 26, 2016 in European Football, Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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Well here we are, dear readers, preparing for the second Manchester derby of the season and we’re only in October!

Regular followers of this irregular missive will have noticed that I have, on occasion, seen fit to bemoan the way that cup draws seem to bring the Manchester clubs together, before the final, on a fairly consistent basis. They seem destined never to get to the altar, always having to have a sordid little affair long before the big day ever dawns which then, invariably, belongs to somebody else. (more…)

Manchester United Under JosĂ© Mourinho, New Era Or False Dawn?

Posted: September 30, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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How consistent is José Mourinho? More to the point, how consistent can he become?

The general impression is that manager of Manchester United is one of the jobs he has always wanted. Depending upon which is your rag of choice, when he was overlooked by United in favour of David Moyes, he either cried, along with a few million fans, or he wasn’t bothered because he had already decided to go back to Chelsea. (more…)

Another Poor Performance From JosĂ© Mourinho’s Manchester United

Posted: September 15, 2016 in Europa League, European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion
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Although José Mourinho was disappointed to lose to Feyenoord in Rotterdam, it was quite difficult to detect it in his post-match interview.

Stating that the team played better in the second half and that a few of the players were tasting their first minutes of football this season didn’t really tell us anything that we didn’t already know.

The conclusions drawn from the team selection and, consequently, the result is that, despite what he says to the press, JosĂ© Mourinho doesn’t really care about this competition. (more…)

Why Did Manchester United, Manchester City And Chelsea Really Change Managers? What Was Wrong With The Ones They Had?

Posted: September 4, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Manchester City finished fourth last season and won the Capital One Cup. That relative failure saw them having to play a Champion’s League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest this time out, a tie they won comfortably.

To many fans of many clubs Manchester City’s season would have been considered a resounding success but, when you have the kind of players, and therefore, the kind of financial outlay that they have, success is deemed to be finishing in the top two in the Premier League and reaching the final of the Champion’s League. (more…)

Manchester City And Manchester United Should Progress In Europe With Guardiola And Mourinho In Charge

Posted: August 26, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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Despite the moaners and the harbingers of doom, Manchester City should be able to qualify from the group stages of the Champion’s League for the second year running.

As expected they will come up against one of Pep Guardiola’s old clubs almost immediately when they meet up with Barcelona.

As usual, and purely because Barcelona are present in the group, this is being called the “group of death”. It is the group City get every year according to all those “in the know”. (more…)

Manchester United And Manchester City Have Spent ÂŁÂŁÂŁMillions, But Who Has Been The Wisest Spender, Jose Mourinho Or Pep Guardiola?

Posted: August 25, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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This has been a record transfer window. The amount of money spent by clubs is likely to pass the ÂŁ1 billion mark, if it hasn’t already done so while I have been writing this article.

The two biggest spenders are, arguably, the two with the most money. They can spend obscene amounts on players without batting an eyelid. The fact that they occasionally have to sell players to “balance the books” is actually an accounting exercise and isn’t strictly a necessity, particularly now that the Financial Fair Play rules have been relaxed or binned, I’m not sure which is correct. (more…)

What Is Jose Mourinho’s “Youth Policy” At Manchester United?

Posted: August 24, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Marcus Rashford shows Cameron Borthwick-Jackson how many fans are at the game)

Since taking the manager’s job at Old Trafford Jose Mourinho has overseen the winning of the Community Shield and two wins out of two games in the Premier League.

Players who have been conspicuous by their absence include a few of the younger members who had some game time last season because Louis van Gaal had a lot of injuries and no experienced cover.

When, for example, Luke Shaw was injured in the Champion’s League, there was no ready made experienced replacement. Wayne Rooney’s continued decline meant that Anthony Martial was given many more games than he would have been had there been an older player waiting for his chance. (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…)

Is Paul Pogba Really THAT Expensive Nowadays, Especially For Manchester United?

Posted: August 3, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The straightforward, down-to-earth answer to the above question is: Yes, he is ridiculously expensive and nobody should be spending that amount of money on one player. As JĂĽrgen Klopp mentioned, at least three top class players could be brought in to strengthen a team for that sort of money. Also, the knock-on effect for other clubs is frightening, particularly the smaller clubs.

The true answer is: No, United will recover the money in a relatively short space of time, effectively meaning that he will have cost nothing. In fact, I read a short while ago that advance orders for Pogba shirts totalled somewhere in the region of ÂŁ72 million, so not much more is required to achieve a complete refund! (more…)

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