Posts Tagged ‘Louis van Gaal’

Was David De Gea Right To Stay At Manchester United?

Posted: September 2, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Although the transfer to Real Madrid a year ago was scuppered by some dodgy faxwork, there is really no reason why, if they were that determined, Madrid shouldn’t have come back for him during this latest transfer window. Did they ever really want him? We at WSA are not so sure, and we said as much at the time.

Right from the beginning there were real problems and potential problems with this move. Firstly it was said that De Gea wanted the move because he is from Madrid. That is entirely possible but not to Real. De Gea was brought up through the academy at AtlĂ©tico, so would have been looked upon as a traitor by their fans and an intruder by the enemy. There was never any clamour from the Madridistas for him to sign. (more…)

The Renaissance Of Marouane Fellaini At Manchester United

Posted: August 29, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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FBL-MANCHESTER-UNITED-GALATASARAY-FRIENDLY

He has been ever-present this season, he has been consistent and is doing everything asked of him. Which one of Manchester United’s superstars are we talking about? Why, Marouane Fellaini of course.

It is probably a little unfair to use the word renaissance, as he never really became a bad player, he was just never a very good one. He is proving to be of some worth to United now though, a situation unseen by certain blinkered supporters who were never prepared to give him a chance. He has also managed to stay in the Belgian national team along with some world class players, so he’s not that bad. (more…)

Manchester City And Manchester United Should Progress In Europe With Guardiola And Mourinho In Charge

Posted: August 26, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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Despite the moaners and the harbingers of doom, Manchester City should be able to qualify from the group stages of the Champion’s League for the second year running.

As expected they will come up against one of Pep Guardiola’s old clubs almost immediately when they meet up with Barcelona.

As usual, and purely because Barcelona are present in the group, this is being called the “group of death”. It is the group City get every year according to all those “in the know”. (more…)

Manchester United And Manchester City Have Spent ÂŁÂŁÂŁMillions, But Who Has Been The Wisest Spender, Jose Mourinho Or Pep Guardiola?

Posted: August 25, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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This has been a record transfer window. The amount of money spent by clubs is likely to pass the ÂŁ1 billion mark, if it hasn’t already done so while I have been writing this article.

The two biggest spenders are, arguably, the two with the most money. They can spend obscene amounts on players without batting an eyelid. The fact that they occasionally have to sell players to “balance the books” is actually an accounting exercise and isn’t strictly a necessity, particularly now that the Financial Fair Play rules have been relaxed or binned, I’m not sure which is correct. (more…)

What Is Jose Mourinho’s “Youth Policy” At Manchester United?

Posted: August 24, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(Marcus Rashford shows Cameron Borthwick-Jackson how many fans are at the game)

Since taking the manager’s job at Old Trafford Jose Mourinho has overseen the winning of the Community Shield and two wins out of two games in the Premier League.

Players who have been conspicuous by their absence include a few of the younger members who had some game time last season because Louis van Gaal had a lot of injuries and no experienced cover.

When, for example, Luke Shaw was injured in the Champion’s League, there was no ready made experienced replacement. Wayne Rooney’s continued decline meant that Anthony Martial was given many more games than he would have been had there been an older player waiting for his chance. (more…)

Wayne Rooney Does Not Fit In At Manchester United Under Jose Mourinho

Posted: August 23, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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(“Never mind Wazza, those yanks will soon pick up the scouse lingo!”)

I have not written a piece about Wayne Rooney for a while. This is not because there has been nothing to write about, there always is with him. Whether he is holding the club to ransom, condescendingly telling the fans he has nothing to prove or just plain playing badly, there is always something.

The problem is that it becomes boring after a while and loyal readers get fed up with articles about the same person.

However, it is about time to remind the world of his existence which, unfortunately, still lies with Manchester United. (more…)

Jose Mourinho Has Quickly Turned A Negative Into A Positive At Manchester United, (With A Little Help From Pogba, Bailly, Mhkitaryan And Ibrahimović)

Posted: August 21, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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When David Moyes was appointed Manchester United manager to follow in the footsteps of the great Sir Alex Ferguson, everybody at Old Trafford, including the most important people, the fans, were prepared to give him a chance.

He was christened “The Chosen One” because, in a deed which seemed very unlikely, it was said that Fergie had chosen him as his successor. The reason it was unlikely is that a club like Manchester United does not allow one man to make decisions which affect the whole future of the club and it’s employees. (more…)

Do Manchester United And Manchester City Treat Their Unwanted Players Unfairly?

Posted: August 20, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Another question which may be asked in lieu of the title is; does anybody care? After all these are very highly paid individuals, they will be sold to another club at some stage and they will remain very highly paid individuals.

Maybe it is more a question of pride and respect or the lack of it when it comes to a manager’s treatment of his players, in which case the money is not an issue.

Last season it was Victor Valdes at Manchester United who was ostracised for his behaviour. In his case Louis van Gaal had decided that Valdes had acted against his and the club’s interest by not wanting to turn out for the reserves. This was never fully cleared up as Valdes always said that he had never refused to play for them. Whatever the truth of the matter the result was that Valdes spent almost two seasons on the naughty step and was banned from being anywhere near the first team before running down his contract and moving to Middlesbrough. (more…)

Jose Mourinho Has Strengthened Manchester United In All The Key Positions

Posted: August 19, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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In contrast Louis van Gaal strengthened the midfield by finalising the purchase of Ander Herrera and buying Daley Blind, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin. These players were to add to Michael Carrick, Jesse Lingard, Adnan Januzaj, Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata and anybody else I may have missed.

He also bought a full back, Matteo Darmian who, at the time, seemed a good acquisition as he was the Italian national team’s full back, a teenager called Anthony Martial who will probably turn out to be the best buy of the van Gaal era, Marcos Rojo and he rubber stamped the purchase of Luke Shaw although it is likely that any incoming manager would have done the same. (more…)

Has Ed Woodward Finally Come Of Age At Manchester United? Or Is It The Jose Mourinho Factor?

Posted: August 13, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion
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(Ed struggles to convince Mino Raiola that his scarf wasn’t part of the Pogba deal!)

David Gill is a tall man who casts a very large shadow. For the last three years, if you looked very closely underneath this shadow, you would have seen a little man from Chelmsford called Ed Woodward.

Although he had long left his role as CEO at United, the fact that Gill had managed to carry out his functions with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of proficiency, meant that he was always going to be a hard act to follow. (more…)

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