Posts Tagged ‘Louis van Gaal’

What Do Arsenal, Leicester, City, United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Palace & Jose Mourinho Want For The New Year?

Posted: December 31, 2015 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Arsene Wenger

A new striker because, although Giroud is doing the business, Arsene never seems to be 100% convinced. So much so that there have been games when he has preferred Walcott in the striking role. So far this season both have done reasonably well in the position but Giroud is more consistent. It is reported that Edinson Cavani of PSG is on the radar.

Danny Welbeck to get fit so he can take his place on the bench. The same wish for Jack Wilshere, but he would get on the teamsheet rather than the bench.

Finally, an injury free second half of the season and the Premier League title.

Claudio Ranieri

Maybe a new signing or two depending on how many packets of crisps have been sold!

The success and money to be able to hold onto Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez and also an injury free second half of the season which would enable Leicester to maintain a top four challenge. (more…)

United Play Well & Still Can’t Score!

Posted: December 28, 2015 in Chelsea, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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PRE-MATCH

This is it! This is the “must win” game that will mean that Louis van Gaal is really quite a good manager and didn’t mean to lose all those games. Alternatively, it is the “must win” game that will spell the end for Louis, meaning that he was never really very good and should have gone directly from Holland to the Algarve, giving Manchester a very wide berth in the process.

Which will it be? As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think he is going whatever the score, win or lose. The only remaining item on the agenda is how he departs. Does he jump or does he get pushed? We will see.

The team he has picked for this game saw recalls for Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin and Darmian giving a massive vote of no-confidence to three of the team who played against Stoke, (in fairness he could have given a massive vote of no-confidence to all of them after that game). He then proceeded to pick his top scorer out wide and the one who can’t score to save his life at centre forward. His tinpot logic also sees Ashley Young as a left winger but a right wing back, meaning that Matteo Darmian, who is a right full back, played on the left. No wonder van Gaal can’t work out what is going wrong!

From what I could see there was no reason why any of these players had to be played much out of position but, that’s van Gaal for you. (more…)

Christmas Humbug With Louis Van Gaal & Ed Woodward

Posted: December 27, 2015 in Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion
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Was this the period which was going to show us how van Gaal had managed to turn things around at Manchester United?

Or, was this the period which was going to show us what a petulant, supercilious and arrogant man he really is?

Unfortunately for him, it was the latter. He is proving, with every game that passes, how tactically naive he is nowadays. This can only be put down to one of two things. He is either getting older and the inevitable loss of talent, ability and tactical nous is affecting him, or he was underestimating the quality of the Premier League.

For me it is a mixture of the two. He has won the league in Spain and Germany. The problem in those countries is that the only real preparation required is when you play the other top teams which, in Spain and Germany was only ever one. Now he is having to prepare fully for EVERY game and is failing abysmally so to do. This demonstrates both an under-estimation of the job at hand and a failing of mental faculties for not appreciating the differences in leagues. (more…)

How Manchester United Can Still Challenge For The Title

Posted: December 22, 2015 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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If United are to turn their slight improvement from Moyes to van Gaal, domestically anyway, into a title challenging season there is still a way this can be achieved. However, a few things need to be done.

Louis van Gaal needs to go. It is fairly obvious that the players, whilst denying any problems with him, don’t like what he asks them to do on the pitch. It would be a different story if they were winning games and scoring goals, but they are not.

Playing Anthony Martial on the wing, for example, is bad enough, but ordering him to stay there, without the freedom to join the attack in the middle is ridiculous.

Continuously selecting a well below par Wayne Rooney because, “he is my captain and deserves special privileges”, has got to the stage where other teams are hoping this continues because they then play a United side already down to ten men.

These two situations alone prove to me that van Gaal should be in his villa in Portugal. (more…)

United, City: Which Manager Is Going Where?

Posted: December 20, 2015 in Football, Managers, Opinion
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Carlo Ancelotti is going to Bayern Munich where, after succeeding as usual, he will be fired as usual. He will probably win the treble but, because he is cursed, he will still be fired.

At two of his previous clubs he has a record which most managers would be proud to have. He was fired from his job as Chelsea manager having won the League and FA Cup double and, at Real Madrid, he was fired having won the Champion’s League. So he could be considered either a trifle unlucky or a loser for only winning the top trophies and none of the lesser ones.

Sympathy is not a feeling too much in evidence when it comes to highly paid football managers losing their job. Particularly when you consider that the top ones will almost certainly walk straight into another one.

So what will be the chain of events this time, I don’t hear you ask? (more…)

Manchester United Are Dismal Again

Posted: December 19, 2015 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Manchester United proved yet again that they are absolutely toothless as an attacking force.

The return of Wayne Rooney only proved what everybody already knew, he is past his sell-by date. It was as though he had never been away. He got straight back into his stride by giving the ball away, shooting very wide and generally contributing nothing to the cause.

The scary sight for United fans was the sight of the three players furthest forward on occasions. For Messi, Neymar and Suarez read Fellaini, Smalling and Rooney. That may give you an idea of what at least one of the problems is at Old Trafford.

Of course the fact that Fellaini was playing meant that the ball was being sent wide to be crossed in. The problem was twofold. Firstly, the crosses were never of sufficient quality to cause any problems to the defence. Secondly, any headers Fellaini actually managed to connect with were never of sufficient quality to cause any problems to the defence. (more…)

Arsenal’s Waiting Game

Posted: December 16, 2015 in Arsenal, Football, Opinion, Premier League
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Arsenal sit near the top of the Premier League waiting. Waiting for other teams. Waiting and watching to see if the other teams will do something positive or negative, or will things stay as they are until the end of the season?

The first thing that they need to happen is for Leicester City to start flagging. To sell a player or two in January, and pick up an injury or two anytime. The fact that Leicester don’t have a big squad full of quality players could be their undoing. If it is, Arsenal are ready and waiting.

Another positive for Arsenal would be Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany remaining injured. That isn’t going to happen as they are both nearing fitness, but that is a state of affairs which is usually very temporary. It would also appear that City will have more Champions League games to manoeuvre as they should expect to beat Dynamo Kyiv. Arsenal will surely be free of any European hindrances after two games against Barcelona.

So, from these two clubs who would be seen as direct competitors, Arsenal are looking for some failings and, in the case of Leicester, a loss of form. City just need to carry on being inconsistent. If they do, Arsenal are waiting. (more…)

Pellegrini Needs Luck, Van Gaal Needs To Go

Posted: December 12, 2015 in Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Manchester City laboured to a first half lead courtesy of a goal by Wlifried Bony, whose marker Ashley Williams, obviously thought they still both played for the same team when he left him alone in the penalty area to head the opener.

City were missing Vincent Kompany, as usual, Sir Joe Aguero, as usual along with Nasri, Zabaleta and Fernando. Rather than play Kolarov, Pellegrini opted for Sagna on the right and my least favourite player, Gael Clichy, on the left. Clichy cemented his position in my mind as an average player by giving the ball away on at least two occasions and doing absolutely nothing else. Jesus Navas was picked so that Kevin De Bruyne could be reminded of his time at Chelsea. Navas, as is his wont at present, was also very ineffectual.

Swansea were restricted to a couple of first half chances, one of which they should certainly have scored from, but didn’t. So 1-0 to City at half-time.

The second half saw Fabian Delph enter the fray in place of Raheem Sterling. Clichy continued to give the ball away. City chased what appeared to be a much needed second goal as Swansea always looked like they might score. (more…)

Arsenal & Chelsea Get The Job Done

Posted: December 9, 2015 in Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Champions League, Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Opinion
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Jose Mourinho didn’t need to win this game. He didn’t even need to draw this game. He can be eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage, knocked out of the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge by the Wheeltappers and Shunters social club second eleven, and be relegated to the Championship and it won’t bother him a jot. Why? Because he has what nobody else in Britain has had since Lord Ferg retired. He has job security!

He knows Roman Abramovich so well that he knows the innermost thoughts of the Chelsea owner without being told what they are.

Convinced as he is that he has a job for life that still didn’t stop him urging, cajoling and pushing his team hard for the victory which keeps him in the competition if not important in keeping him in a job.

Chelsea were not their last-season-excellent selves, they were just efficient and did a good job when that was what was required. A 2-0 win sees them stagger into the knockout stage where they will lose to either Benfica, PSG or Juventus. (more…)

Manchester United & City Hope For The Best

Posted: December 8, 2015 in Champions League, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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Manchester City hoped that Sevilla would do them a favour. They weren’t asking for much, just that a team who were already out of the competition should have enough pride and desire to please their fans and beat Juventus, in the process denying them top spot and a marginally easier opponent in the first knockout round.

City’s deal in all this was to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach, thereby enabling them to finish top and get the marginally easier opponent in the first knockout round.

Manchester United hoped that CSKA Moscow would do them a favour. They also weren’t asking for much, just that a team who were already out of the competition should have enough pride and desire to please their fans and beat PSV Eindhoven, in the process denying them qualification to the first knockout round and allowing United to qualify even if they could only manage a draw or even a defeat against Wolfsburg.

What United were hoping for was a safety net in case they couldn’t beat Wolfsburg which, as it turned out, they couldn’t. (more…)

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