Posts Tagged ‘Jose Mourinho’

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Apparently, Henrikh Mkhitaryan not only holds the key to the Alexis Sánchez transfer, he IS the key.

Without his agreement to go in the opposite direction and turn out for Stubborn Old Man for the next eighteen months or so the deal could collapse.

As reported in The Guardian, the Armenian doesn’t see himself as a makeweight in this saga, but as a very important ingredient and, as he is not agitating for a move and is quite happy to remain at Old Trafford, he is carefully weighing up his options. (more…)

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Today we continue our look at what the short term future holds for the top six managers.

Yesterday we concluded that JĂĽrgen Klopp will stay at Liverpool beyond this season, Antonio Conte will leave at the end of this season and Stubborn Old Man will, (probably), stubbornly carry on in his role as captain of the Titanic which is how he is viewed by many football followers, not just those of his own club.

The difference being that, if he were to abandon ship, then it probably wouldn’t sink and may even rise, submarine-like, with a new man in charge.

So to the other three and we start with:

Pep Guardiola (more…)

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It would appear that Alexis Sánchez will have a choice of two clubs to join when he finally gets his wish to leave Arsenal.

He would actually have a choice of several clubs if he were prepared to move away from England but, to give him credit, he wants to stay in the Premier League rather than take the easy money on offer in a warmer climate with less competition and fewer games.

So a return to Spain has been ruled out and he managed to politely price himself out of a move to Bayern MĂĽnich by demanding wages he knew would never be offered. PSG would also probably be an option but, as we said, he has decided that the Premier League is where he wants to be. (more…)

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Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is jealous of the success Antonio Conte has had at his former club Chelsea, says pundit Tony Gale.

“I think he feels a little bit jealous of Conte and what he’s achieved at Chelsea,” Gale said on Sky Sports. “He shouldn’t be because he achieved so much himself.

It kind of takes the little edge and pressure off of what’s happening at Manchester United, that probably isn’t good enough.

The football they’re playing isn’t quite good enough at the moment.” (more…)

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So Alexis Sánchez may move to Manchester City. Then again, he may not. It all really depends on what mood Pep Guardiola is in at the time.

There was a short period when it seemed that City no longer had any interest in the Chilean but then Gabriel Jesus went and got himself injured and this, it appears, has reignited that interest. City would expect to get him for around ÂŁ20 million.

If this money is offered to Stubborn Old Man then he would be well advised to take it as the alternative is to let the player go for free in summer. To City it doesn’t make a lot of difference. They either pay the money now, and to Arsenal, or they wait and pay the money in summer but to Sánchez as a signing-on fee. (more…)

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The row between José Mourinho and Antonio Conte has now escalated to the point where pistols at dawn could replace the current handbags at teatime.

How has it reached this? How has a simple comment from Mourinho been blown up out of all proportion whereby all past histrionics and bad behaviour are now being quoted on both sides of the argument?

The answer is simple; the media is to blame 100%

Why is the media to blame? Because they are the ones who report, to use a Trumpism, “fake news”. (more…)

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Pep Guardiola

Hands up those who believe that a quadruple is impossible for this Manchester City team!

Facing the all-conquering Bristol City in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, Basel in the next round of the Champion’s League and with a fifteen points lead in the Premier League, only the FA Cup is an unknown quantity as far as opponents go, but there is nobody to fear in that competition.

What’s impossible about that? Guardiola’s Barcelona team once won six trophies in a season so how can the quadruple for City be “impossible”. As they say, as long as they are in it, they can win it! (more…)

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Going into 2018 and Arsenal fans are now roughly a quarter of the way through their sentence of having to put up with Stubborn Old Man for two years longer than they had hoped.

His resolutions however, should be music to their ears. He WILL try and win Big Vase despite his reluctance to accept promotion to Big Cup if he does so. He will also try and finish in the top four, (just in case plan A fails), and have a go at winning the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. (more…)

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Managing a top six club in the English Premier League is a job with a lot of pressure accompanying it.

The rewards for the success of the club and, therefore, the manager, are vast. The price of failure is usually the sack for the manager and a severe loss of revenue for the club.

So how do the different managers cope with the pressures of the job? We looked at the top six as usual. and gave each of them a barometer reading from 0-10 whereby 10 means that they couldn’t handle the pressure any better. (more…)

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Manchester United need to buy players, that much is evident. The supporters think so, (don’t they always)? José Mourinho thinks so and all we now need is for the Glazers and their little puppet, Ed Woodward, to think so as well.

Buying players however, whether spending the ÂŁ300 million Mourinho believes is required or less, will not enable Manchester United to catch Manchester City this season. What it should do, if the correct signings are made, is consolidate second place and increase the gap between United and the rest.

This season City have been, and still are, by far the best team in the Premier League and, assuming they don’t take their foot off the gas, will win the title with ease and games to spare. (more…)