Posts Tagged ‘Jose Mourinho’

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…)

Paul Pogba Returns To Manchester United Thanks To Jose Mourinho

Posted: August 9, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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So it has finally happened. The transfer saga of the Summer has reached it’s conclusion and Paul Pogba has returned to the club he left four years ago after being told he had to wait for his chance in the first team.

Typically, being a teenager, he thought he knew best and that Sir Alex Ferguson was wrong in his decision. He proceeded to run down his contract and eventually left for Juventus for a compensation package of around ÂŁ800,000.

He wasn’t proved right when he went to Italy, as everybody who knew him knew he was an exceptional footballer. What he did prove, unfortunately, is that most of the power nowadays lies with the player, even when he is still very young. (more…)

Manchester United, Paul Pogba And Sky Sports TV

Posted: August 8, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Sky Sports have now resorted to showing a plane arriving at Manchester airport with the monumental news that “Paul Pogba could be on it!”)

Isn’t it exciting? Never mind the ludicrous amount of money that it is costing Manchester United to buy a midfielder. Never mind that he was, until four years ago, a Manchester United player who was allowed to leave for Juventus for around ÂŁ800K. Never mind even that he wanted to go to Real Madrid who, having set the two previous world record transfer fees when buying Cristiano Ronaldo and then Gareth Bale, decided they couldn’t afford him.

Mino Raiola, Pogba’s Mister 15%, on hearing the news that Real Madrid wouldn’t be buying his client, immediately set about convincing Pogba that United was always the place to go and he would never have entertained Madrid anyway. (more…)

Wayne Rooney Is The Weakest Link YET AGAIN For Manchester United

Posted: August 7, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion
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(Wayne Rooney finds lots of space as the opposition players know that he will give them the ball back very soon)

How much longer can this be tolerated? At present Rooney seems to be selected because he was, a few years ago, a half decent player. Nothing special, he would come up with the occasional spectacular goal and contribute a little to the team but, as I said, never anything special. He never lived up to the publicity he was given when he joined United as an eighteen-year-old.

He was made captain by Louis van Gaal who was another one who failed to cover himself in glory whilst at United. Van Gaal, apparently, wanted a leader and obviously couldn’t find one otherwise he wouldn’t have selected Rooney.

Fortunately, none of the other players follow Rooney’s example on the pitch as, if they did, they would give the ball away frequently either by poor control or mis-directed passing. (more…)

For That Amount Of Money Paul Pogba Has To Be The Main Man Under Jose Mourinho At Manchester United

Posted: August 5, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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He doesn’t look the shy, retiring type. Gold lamĂ© backpacks and matching trainers certainly make Paul Pogba stand out in the crowd, even in America. He is also nearly as well known for his hairstyles as his football so what can Manchester United fans expect on the pitch?

Well there will be a few who already know what to expect as he only left the club four years ago having been a youth and reserve team player there. In fact it was his perceived lack of opportunity which resulted in him leaving for Juventus when only nineteen years of age.

Now, unless he suffers a dramatic loss of form, he will be a regular and one of the first, if not the first, names on the teamsheet. He will be able to thumb his nose at Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager responsible for his leaving the club in the first place. This, however would be unlikely as Pogba appears to be bigger than that sort of behaviour. (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…)

Jose Mourinho Is Already A Changed Man Since Joining Manchester United

Posted: August 2, 2016 in European Football, Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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He has already said it. If we concentrate solely on each other in this league, then somebody else will win it. It was OK in Spain as there were only usually two clubs competing for the title, so it was good to have some mind games. These are the words, more or less, of Jose Mourinho shortly after taking over at Manchester United.

Who he is trying to convince is rather a mystery. Is it the fans? I doubt it. Most fans will tell you that they love a few mind games. United supporters were always in their element when Fergie was giving it large about some manager or another.

Also, in the not too distant past, Jose himself was known for having a slight dig at opposing managers. Spats with Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez readily come to mind. (more…)

Manchester United, Manchester City And Five Others Who Think They Can Win The Premier League

Posted: August 1, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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The Guardian calls them the “Magnificent Seven”, (that’s quite original for the Guardian!). These are the seven teams they reckon have a realistic chance of winning the Premier League title. They even have a natty little video to demonstrate which teams they are referring to. Have a look here, it’s quite good.

Now, even more realistically, which of the following managers will lift the trophy next May?

Arsene Wenger:

There isn’t much to say about Wenger that hasn’t already been said in his long time at Arsenal. There does seem to be some truth in the rumour that he is happy to finish in the top three, top four at a push, so that qualification for the Champion’s League is assured each year. This keeps the board happy but leaves the fans frustrated. Because this attitude seems to prevail at the Emirates, they will not win the title and may even struggle for top four this time out. (more…)

Jose Mourinho Sees Defensive Frailties Again As Manchester United Win In Sweden

Posted: July 31, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The result may have been a resounding 5-2 victory for United but Jose Mourinho should be more concerned about the two than he should be happy about the five.

Both the Galatasaray goals came in the first half when the two central defenders were Eric Bailly and Daley Blind. Both goals were very preventable, one coming from a set piece which resulted in a free header from five yards out while the second was well worked although the defensive tackles were conspicuous by their absence, allowing Bruma a free shot from the edge of the area.

However, in fairness to the first half defensive partnership, the fact that United did not concede in the second half, with a different pairing, was more down to their consistent attacks and greater possession than to any good defensive work. (more…)

Europe’s Top Table Is A Lot Bigger Than It Used To Be!

Posted: July 29, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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In the not too distant past the top clubs in Europe were the ones with the most money. This, to an extent, is still true today but the main difference is that a lot more clubs have the most money than previously.

Thinking back fifteen or twenty years ago there were the usual suspects in Real Madrid and Barcelona from Spain. Bayern Munich, at the time, were usually Germany’s sole representatives in the latter stages of any competition. Arsenal and Manchester United used to fight for the Premier League in England and the Milan clubs and Juventus usually offered Italian resistance. (more…)

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