Here we take a look at the transfer dealings of two London clubs, the two from Manchester and the two Merseyside teams.
CHELSEA
Chelsea have signed Antonio RĂĽdiger. He is a centre back and there was, as far as we know, no competition for his signature.
Chelsea have not signed Romelu Lukaku because they had competition from a bigger club. They may not sign Timoue Bakayoko because that same bigger club is now expressing an interest in the player. (more…)
As conspiracy theories go, it’s not up there with 9/11 or the JFK assassination, but it is still worth throwing in the water to see if it floats.
JosĂ© Mourinho left Chelsea “by mutual consent” in December, 2015. In January, 2016 it was announced by Manchester City that Pep Guardiola was to be their new manager. Those two seismic events were pretty close in the happening.
In fairness to City, this is where their connection with the conspiracy theory ends because it is highly unlikely that they even knew, let alone cared, who was to follow Louis van Gaal as Manchester United manager. (more…)
If Manchester United were to sell the seven players we have suggested they sell, the benefits would be immediate. (If you are wondering which seven we are going on about then read here, and here)
Space would be freed up in the squad to allow for three or four additions to fit seamlessly into the club.
Money would be freed up in the form of salaries saved to be able to pay more to better players.
Whilst we accept that money isn’t usually the deciding factor when a top player makes a move, it doesn’t do any harm to offer him more than any of the other suitors! (more…)
In the dim and distant past Manchester United had relatively few problems in enticing players to sign for them.
Pre-Fergie it was the lure of the name. It also helped that, in 1968, they had become the first English club to win the European Cup, although Sir Matt Busby made relatively few signings after that famous night at Wembley, a fact which was a constant source of annoyance to George Best.
Best expected the team to grow and prosper from that night on. Instead, Busby stuck with the older players and United won nothing of note again until the FA Cup defeat of Liverpool in 1977. (more…)
When he arrived at Manchester United it seemed fairly obvious where the problems lay.
After two years with Louis van Gaal in charge, the football was stale and boring. One-dimensional with the tendency to try and keep possession without actually going anywhere. The United faithful quite quickly got fed up watching their team passing sideways and backwards then, eventually, either giving the ball away or simply running out of pitch.
The United board or, more particularly, Ed Woodward finally ran out of patience and even an FA Cup win wasn’t enough to earn van Gaal a contract extension. It didn’t help him that JosĂ© Mourinho was out of work and available and, more to the point, was the popular choice of the majority of United supporters. (more…)
The current top six are unlikely to remain with their present managers for too long unless they find a way of sharing the trophies between them on an annual basis.
The Holy Grail, however, remains the Premier League title but with half an eye on winning the Champion’s League, (unless you are Arsenal, in which case just qualifying for the competition is sufficient).
If, this season for example, sees Chelsea win the title, City, United and Tottenham finish in the top four and Liverpool and Arsenal making up the remainder of the top six then little should change for next season. (more…)
For the last few seasons Manchester United have lacked passion. They have lacked passion from the manager and they have lacked passion from the players. Only now, under José Mourinho, are they starting to show a little of the old commitment and desire.
David Moyes may have been a fiery Scot but he was overawed by the players at Manchester United because they had won much more than he had and there was little, if anything, he could teach them. (more…)
In the 1960’s Chelsea, for some reason, were always better away from home than they were at home. Could it have had anything to do with the crowd being so far from the pitch, seemingly a current problem for West Ham United?
The days of Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke, Peter Bonetti, Ron and Alan Harris et al produced far superior returns on the road than any other team. In fact, if Chelsea could have corrected their home form during this period they wouldn’t have had to wait quite as long as they did to win the title. (more…)
He was blamed, initially, for the appointment of David Moyes.
The story put out by the press at the time was that Moyes was invited to the house of Alex Ferguson where, no doubt over a glass of something either red or whisky coloured, he was invited to take over as manager of Manchester United. (more…)
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…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 