According to reports in the popular press, (does that mean the Sun and the Star?), José Mourinho has been so impressed with whoever plays in defence that he no longer feels the need to splash the cash on a new defender.
JosĂ© Fonte may have asked for a transfer from Southampton in the vain hope that it would result in a move to Old Trafford but it isn’t going to happen. He may still get to play for a club with more to offer than the Saints, but it won’t be United. (more…)
(JosĂ© Mourinho has a few things to think about before Sunday’s game with Swansea)
Manchester United have gone from being challengers to strugglers in a few short weeks.
Whether it is more surprising that they actually played well at the start of the season, or that they returned to their abject selves after a very short while is debatable.
What seems to have been missed by Moyes, van Gaal and now Mourinho, is that the United players appear to find it virtually impossible to pass the ball to each other. The amount of times a pass goes straight to an opposition player is now too numerous to be put down to bad luck or just erratic passing. (more…)
Jesse Lingard back in the United team at the expense of Ashley Young. Talk about bitter sweet. On the one hand, Young being dropped is good news but, on the other, Lingard playing is not good news.
Having finally managed to make the Manchester United management see the error of their ways when continually selecting Wayne Rooney, it is now time for them to see who is Manchester United quality and who isn’t. Neither Young nor Lingard would get into a fully fit Manchester United team and it would not be too disappointing if they were both sold in January. (more…)
So United’s starting eleven included Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini for the first time in a while. In fact, in Young’s case, it was the first time since last January when he played against? That’s right, Liverpool at Anfield!
The idea was that Young would provide more accurate crosses for the likes of Ibrahimović and Fellaini. In order to do so he would have to improve on his normal performances which, I seem to remember, involved one out of every four crosses being reasonably good whilst the other three went miles out of play! (more…)
In the last three transfer windows Manchester United have spent in the region of £410 million. Louis van Gaal was responsible for around £260 million whilst José Mourinho has spent about £150 million. This is not accounting for the paltry £65 million spent by David Moyes in being no worse than van Gaal although, admittedly, not winning anything.
To answer this question in an honest manner it is necessary to understand the pressures under which the manager of a top Premier League club operates.
The first thing to appreciate is that JosĂ© Mourinho will be judged on what he wins, not who he brings through from the youth team. This means that, in order to stay in the job long enough to blood potential first team players, he needs to be filling the trophy cabinet on a reasonably regular basis. (more…)
The biggest hurdle standing between José Mourinho and a first Premier League title with Manchester United is the quality of his squad. Despite the additions of Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mikhitaryan and old man Ibrahimović there are still far too many players who would not get into some of the other top teams.
Starting at the back and the addition of Eric Bailly does not make the United defence watertight. Shaw is fine and will improve with age whereas the other full back position is a problem. (more…)
When I tuned in to watch this game I had missed all the build up so had to work out the team by identifying the players on the pitch.
Firstly, I was amazed to see Chris “Bambi” Smalling. What had Daley Blind done to deserve losing his place and what on earth had Smalling done to deserve being selected? (more…)
The operative word here is “inherited” as any player can be deemed surplus to requirements by a new coach and, as long as he is new, he will be forgiven virtually anything he does with the team.
A perfect example is Pep Guardiola and his decisions at Manchester City. He has, no doubt, ruffled a few feathers. That is no surprise, Guardiola always ruffles feathers.
Joe Hart has gone out on loan to Torino having been replaced by a shorter Chilean version who, according to Pep, can play football. (more…)
On the evidence of the first three games the answer is very simple; No.
United have played Bournemouth away, Southampton at home and Hull City away and have conceded only one goal. More to the point, David De Gea has had very little to do.
This is in stark contrast to the last two seasons where the defensive statistics have been very good but only because De Gea was very good. Good enough, in fact, to win the player of the season award on both occasions. Without him the defensive statistics would have been quite poor. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 