Posts Tagged ‘Jose Mourinho’

Manchester United’s Problems Begin And End With Ed Woodward, They Just Include Van Gaal

Posted: January 24, 2016 in Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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It has reached the stage, at Old Trafford, where Ed Woodward has to put aside his pride.

Having employed David Moyes who, seven months into his reign, was deemed a failure then surely, eighteen months into his reign and with an inferior record, van Gaal must also be deemed a failure.

Up to now, van Gaal has had eleven months longer than Moyes in the job and roughly ÂŁ200 million more to spend. Yet his record is worse. Why is he still there?

It has to be an over simplification to think that Woodward’s pride has anything to do with it, yet what is the alternative? It is understandable that he does not want to sack another one of his appointments, it wouldn’t make him look good with his bosses. Yet these are the bosses who put him in charge of football matters so this is also THEIR mistake. He has to do what is right for the club, not what is right for his ego.

Ed woodward is very successful in marketing. He has brought millions into the Old Trafford bank account through sponsorship deals with many multi-national companies around the world. He was responsible for the ÂŁ750 million deal with Adidas. So his value, in that respect, should not be underestimated.

Where it started to go wrong was when the Glazers assumed, wrongly, that Woodward knew anything about the game. (more…)

Chelsea’s Credibility Battle

Posted: January 21, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Managers, Opinion, Premier League
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Guus Hiddink will not be staying at Chelsea after this season. That is not good news for Chelsea fans.

Has he been brought in to save the club from relegation? Has he been brought in to try and win a trophy? What about sorting out the players who brought about the downfall of Jose Mourinho? He must know that there is more than one bad apple in this particular barrel.

The point now is, does he really care about that side of things? Providing he keeps Chelsea in the Premier League, maybe gets into the top six, has a decent run in the Champion’s League, (even he must know they are not good enough to win it, although, they weren’t good enough to win it the year that they won it, so you never know!), and also has a good shot at the FA Cup then Guus will probably feel as though he has earned his money.

Is it really his problem that the football club contains some players, certainly led by a Fletcher Christian-type character, who wanted Mourinho out of the way and are trying to become the tail that wags the dog? No, it isn’t. It would be much easier for Hiddink to serve his time, pick up his money and disappear into the Dutch reservoirs armed only with a fishing rod and some worms. (more…)

Manchester United & Newcastle Serve Up A Treat

Posted: January 12, 2016 in Football, Louis van Gaal, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Is this one of van Gaal’s must-win games? I’ve lost track now!

Anyway, before the game starts I just want to let off a bit of steam about his ridiculous statement that he occasionally gets bored watching United. So this is to him:

Dear Louis,

Please come down off your pedestal and don’t bother with the condescending, supercilious remarks. You are being paid an absolute fortune to watch Manchester United whereas the fans are paying an absolute fortune to watch them. So for you to say that YOU get bored watching them is an insult to the supporter’s intelligence.

If you think they are boring then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! You are the coach, it is up to you to train the team, set the tactics and ensure that your instructions are being followed. If the team is boring it is because YOU ARE BORING! A team is a reflection of the manager.

If you set up the team to attack and play exciting football and they don’t follow your instructions then try GETTING OFF YOUR FAT BACKSIDE, GOING TO THE TOUCHLINE AND YELLING AT THEM UNTIL THEY GET IT RIGHT! It may not be your favourite coaching method, but it has been proven to work. If you don’t believe me just ask Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. You can walk across Manchester and speak to Manuel Pellegrini, it works for him as well. Even Mr Cool, Arsene Wenger uses this method to get instructions to his players! (more…)

Van Gaal’s United Team Is Depressing

Posted: January 9, 2016 in Louis van Gaal, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Having just watched Manchester United beat a league one team by 1-0, at Old Trafford, thanks to a penalty in the 93rd minute scored by their third choice penalty taker I was not really interested in what van Gaal had to say, but I listened anyway.

As expected he said that the important thing was to win the game, which they did. He did say that United were poor in the first half but were slightly better in the second, which I just about noticed. Saying that they were slightly better should in no way imply that they were actually good.

Certainly they looked better when Memphis Depay came on and he did show a little urgency when he was on the ball, winning the penalty for Rooney to score right at the end.

The problem is that, after reasonable displays against Swansea and Chelsea, United seem to have gone backwards again.

Van Gaal pointed to the fact that Sheffield United defended with ten men behind the ball but what did he expect? They would have been very happy with a replay at Bramhall Lane and the income generated by it so, to play on the break, as they did meant that there were two possible results they would have been happy with. Unfortunately for Nigel Adkins they got the one result that they wouldn’t be happy with. (more…)

Will Eden Hazard Still Be At Chelsea Next Season?

Posted: January 8, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The answer to the above question is looking more and more likely to be “no”.

Having, apparently, fallen out with Jose Mourinho, this feeling now appears to have spread to the rest of the club. What has happened to a player who, only last season, was being placed behind only Messi and Ronlado in the world’s best players list?

We know that under Mourinho he was sometimes played out of his favourite position. We also know that he was expected to carry out defensive duties by tracking back and not letting the opposition wing backs have a free run. What we also know is that he didn’t like that side of the game.

Ideally, Hazard would play for a team whereby he was told to stick himself around the halfway line and wait until the hard working defenders managed to get the ball to him. Then he would be able to do what he does best, whether that be run at the defence through the middle, or on either wing.

It is unlikely that he will get his wish under Hiddink, who is also a bit of a taskmaster and expects his players to work hard for the ball. Whether or not Hazard sticks around to see if there will be a change of manager in the Summer is anybody’s guess but, at the moment, he is not of that mind. (more…)

Arsenal First, City Second, United & Chelsea Nowhere

Posted: January 6, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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It is certainly a possibility!

With Manchester United under-achieving, Chelsea under the halfway line of the Premier League table and Manchester City under target for the season, it seems for once, that Arsene Wenger has seized the opportunity and that Arsenal could, if they are not very careful, win the Premier League title.

Usually, Arsenal are well off the pace by this stage of the season and have to rely on a very consistent second half to sneak into fourth or third place, thus qualifying for the Champion’s League every year. This time out, they are in danger of qualifying early by actually winning the league. They appear to be the only ones, along with Leicester City, despite one or two dodgy results. The rest seem to be trying their best NOT to win it.

Manchester United, having spent a fortune in the Summer, are not really anywhere near where they need to be. Out of the Champion’s League after the group stage and out of the qualifying positions for next year’s Champion’s League. This situation needs addressing sooner rather than later. Whether that be by buying during this transfer window or, as is rumoured, a change in playing style remains to be seen but something needs to happen at United and quickly. (more…)

Where Next For Pep Guardiola?

Posted: January 5, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Pep responds with a well-known gesture when asked why he would want to coach Manchester City!)

The leading candidates, in no particular order, are:

Chelsea – Guus Hiddink

Having fired Jose Mourinho for being unable to get the same players to do the same things for two years running, Roman Abramovich has appointed Guus Hiddink until the end of the season.

Now, it could be that Guus does very well and gets Chelsea into the top four, wins the FA Cup, the Champions League and becomes fluent in Russian so he can tell Roman all about it. It will matter not a jot should Guardiola decide that his future lies in West London. This being the case, Hiddink will be jettisoned quicker than a human cannonball, allowing him to retire and spend his days fishing in the flatness of Holland.

Guardiola will not, however, decide that his future lies in West London.

Arsenal – Arsene Wenger

Now in his twentieth year at Arsenal, there will be some gooners who are secretly hoping that it is his last. They want him booted upstairs in some kind of director role and they would absolutely love it, Kevin Keegan-style, if he was replaced by Pep Guardiola. (more…)

What Has Happened To The Traditional Top Four?

Posted: January 3, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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To supporters of other clubs, what I mean by the “traditional top four” is the four clubs who have finished in those positions the most times in the recent past.

To try and appear unbiased I will take them in alphabetical order:

Arsenal

They have obviously decided that they need to reverse the usual pattern of their season. This was only evident when they lost their first home game. Arsene quickly realised that the season would be the same as any other if he didn’t do something.

So they started winning regularly, something the Gooners fans don’t normally experience until after the Christmas period. By this time, Arsenal have usually left it too late to win the title.

This has proven so successful that Arsenal currently sit top of the Premier League, two points ahead of Leicester City in second. They are still in the Champion’s League, just, thanks to an epic display against Olympiacos in the final group game. (more…)

Will Guus Hiddink Steady The Ship At Chelsea?

Posted: January 3, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Managers, Opinion, Premier League
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The first impression is that he will. Already Jon Obi Mikel has spoken of a more united dressing room since Mourinho went. There are rumours that Eden Hazard is also happier although he actually improved considerably when Jose first returned. Still, that relationship also seemed to have turned sour.

Michael Emenalo, Chelsea’s technical director cited “palpable discord” between the players and Mourinho as the main reason for his sacking but then rather contradicted this by saying that the players had followed instructions, given by Mourinho,to the letter.

This was clearly an attempt to absolve any of the players of any blame in the same way as a military officer will be blamed for the failings of his troops and morale will be increased, (hopefully).

The problem with this is that outside observers point out that the players followed his instructions to the letter last season and won the title. So, either Jose got it completely wrong by changing his instructions to the team this season, or it is a little more smoke blown over the situation. One has to assume that, had the players been following his instructions to the letter, then Chelsea would not be in the mess they are in at present. (more…)

Manchester United Flatter To Deceive

Posted: January 2, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The transfer window has been open for two whole days and Manchester United still haven’t bought a striker! Is it not obvious to van Gaal that goals win games and decent strikers score goals?

So to the home game against Swansea where Laborious Louis had the chance to improve upon the Chelsea performance by winning.

Yet again United’s team selection was a sign of things to come.

Inexplicably, Wayne Rooney had been named as the man-of-the-match in the previous game against Chelsea. He hadn’t scored, as usual, so I guess he got it because he managed to raise his game from rubbish to average.

Van Gaal must have been sufficiently impressed because he decided his misfiring captain should remain at centre forward despite lacking the obvious requirement of goals.

As is the norm nowadays, van Gaal put his top scorer on the wing thereby limiting any chances he would have of increasing his tally. He played Ashley Young as a wing back, again. He played Daley Blind as a wing back, again. I get the impression that, if he got the chance to manage Barcelona again, he would play Messi, Neymar and Suarez as the back three. (more…)

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