Posts Tagged ‘Louis van Gaal’

Why Jose Mourinho And Manchester United Should Part Company With Wayne Rooney

Posted: July 12, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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imageAccording to Wayne Rooney he is extra motivated by the fact that Jose Mourinho is now the manager of Manchester United.

This means, by definition, that he didn’t give 100% when Louis “the loser” van Gaal was in charge. Logically “extra motivation” can only take him to a maximum of 100% as nobody has more than that to give, despite all the pundits who think some players give 150% or more!

So, if he didn’t try as hard as he might have done under van Gaal, yet he was extra motivated by being given the captaincy, where does this put his level under Moyes and, previously, under Ferguson? Again, by a process of deduction, he was only giving about 50%. (more…)

Which Positions Does Jose Mourinho Really Need To Strengthen At Manchester United?

Posted: July 9, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Let’s start at the beginning, number one. It would seem that David De Gea is among the top three or four goalkeepers in the world and, as second choice, Mourinho has the Argentina number one in Sergio Romero, so that position seems pretty safe at present.

Action required: None

Next is the right full/wing back position. It is hard to say who is the current number one for this role. Van Gaal brought in Matteo Darmian who was the first choice for Italy. He suffered a loss of form after a bright start and was replaced by Guillermo Varela, then Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and, eventually, Antonio Valencia. Varela’s defending was a little naive at times, BJ is still very young but looks a great prospect and Valencia cannot defend as he frequently proved last season, getting caught out of position on many occasions and failing to play the offside with the rest of the defence. (more…)

Now That Manchester United Have The Right Man In Charge In Jose Mourinho, What About The Players?

Posted: July 6, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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A step in the right direction was certainly taken when Manchester United sacked Louis van Gaal and appointed Jose Mourinho.

Employing a world class manager, however, is not the end of the matter. Players need to be brought in and other players need to be shipped out.

At the time of writing, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eric Bailly have been confirmed and Henrikh Mhkitaryan, whilst not yet confirmed, has also joined. Rumours are rife about other potential arrivals.

As I have stated in a previous post, Ibrahimovic appears to have been signed to generate income more than anything else. His age, failure to score any goals in the Euros and being given a one year contract all point to this as the reason for his being there. Hopefully, as he has probably been promised a starting berth next season, he will chip in with a few goals. (more…)

Jose Mourinho’s First Press Conference Tells Us Nothing We Didn’t Already Know, (But It Was Still Entertaining)

Posted: July 5, 2016 in Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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As expected by everybody, except Sky Sports News and the Great British press, Jose Mourinho’s first press conference failed to enlighten us on anything of which we were unaware.

Starting with a totally banal question by some clown from Sky Sports News about him being the “Special One”, then something else and what was he now, as if anyone was interested. The subsequent questions were predictable, not only to anyone with half a brain but even to Mourinho who probably could have listed them beforehand whether or not he had been primed.

New signings was a quickly covered topic. There would be a minimum of four. Three have already been made, (these include Mhkitaryan, who isn’t official yet but about whom everybody has known for at least a week). So one more will be made long before the end of August according to the boss, suggesting that Jose is not yet au fait with how Ed Woodward operates, leaving plenty of time for any other additions to be made as and when appropriate. (more…)

Why Should Jose Mourinho Offer Ryan Giggs A Job At Manchester United?

Posted: June 30, 2016 in Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion
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He may be Manchester United’s longest serving player. He may be perceived as part of the furniture. He may have scored some great goals over the years. He may also have slept with his brother’s wife and changed his name from Wilson to Giggs because he preferred his mother to his father.

Over the many years Giggs was turning out for United he achieved a great deal. He did lots of things, some positive and some negative. When all of this is taken into account, from where does he get the impression, (if indeed he has the impression), that he should be the next Manchester United manager, whether that was following Ferguson, Moyes or van Gaal?

Where is the experience at lower league level? In fact, where is the managerial experience at ANY level? (more…)

Why Manchester United Got It So Wrong Between Sir Alex Ferguson And Jose Mourinho

Posted: June 29, 2016 in Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion
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Who’s idea was it to employ David Moyes as a successor to Sir Alex Ferguson?

If we are to believe the press then it was Sir Alex himself. This is debatable because, although he retired at the height of his powers, it would be churlish to think that one man decides the future direction of a club the size of United. I think he may have been given the casting vote, but that is all and, in itself, shows the power he had at the time.

We are also expected to believe that Moyes was chosen over Jose Mourinho. This is pushing the realms of fantasy a little too far as well. David Moyes, with his record of winning absolutely nothing, was given the United job before the most successful manager, after Fergie, who had won titles in three different countries.

Either Ed Woodward is even more incompetent than people think he is or the stories simply aren’t true. Perish the thought that the great British press may have been telling a few porkies. (more…)

Is Zlatan Ibrahimovic A Good Signing For Jose Mourinho?

Posted: June 26, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Manchester United, Opinion
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I am not so sure that this is a good move. The only possible losers in this deal are United. Ibrahimovic signs a one year deal, gets paid even more money that he doesn’t need and performs or not depending on his mood at the time. Is he another Falcao? Or is he another Sheringham? United fans would prefer the latter but, again, I am not so sure.

Ed Woodward’s almost paranoid desire to sign a big name has already backfired on the two occasions he has done it.

Falcao proved one of two things. Either that he is past it or that he was never really good enough for the Premier League. I think that his subsequent move to Chelsea actually proved that both are true.

Angel Di Maria proved something I have always thought, he is a decent player, nothing more, who, again, doesn’t have the right attributes or mentality for the Premier League. (more…)

Fanpower Sacks Van Gaal And Appoints Mourinho. Or Does It?

Posted: May 23, 2016 in Managers, Manchester United, Opinion
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Louis van Gaal is finally gone. After two years of boring, monotonous, sideways-backwards and sleep inducing football, he has finally been invited to do one to his villa in Portugal where he can send his family to sleep with tales of his tactical brilliance whilst managing to win one trophy during his time at Old Trafford.

Has fanpower finally managed to dethrone the king? It is highly unlikely that this was the main reason, although it will have come into the thought process. In fairness, if the fans had managed to get their way then van Gaal would have been gone before Christmas.

United have made exactly the same mistake with van Gaal as they did with Moyes which was leaving him in charge until it was mathematically impossible to qualify for the Champion’s League. In both instances a replacement should have been given the opportunity much earlier.

It is hard to understand why both managers were given as long as they were when both tenures ended in relative failure and that outcome was an obvious one from very early in both campaigns. (more…)

When Jose Mourinho Arrives, Woodward Needs To Go!

Posted: May 22, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Challenging at the sharp end of the Champion’s League. Challenging for the Premier League title. Mounting serious attempts at both the FA Cup and Capital One Cup.

These are all answers to the question, “Where would you expect Manchester United to be this season?”

These answers would probably have been a lot closer to the truth had Ed Woodward had the courage to sack Louis van Gaal when it became apparent, to everybody except Woodward, that United’s season was actually going nowhere and that a replacement was required.

This became the case reasonably early in the season. United were out of the Capital One Cup almost as soon as entering it and the Premier League challenge was faltering virtually from day one. Elimination from the Champion’s League at the group stage just heaped more humiliation on a once great club.

Now was the time for Ed Woodward to stand up and be counted. To be a hero in the eyes of the United fans he needed to get rid of van Gaal. What he didn’t need to do was dither. Ed had proven himself remarkably good at dithering. (more…)

Manchester United Should Recruit Leicester’s Recruiter!

Posted: May 1, 2016 in Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The last time I was present at a Manchester United versus Leicester City game at Old Trafford was on March 18th, 1967. I have been to Old Trafford many, many times before and since but only ever once when they played Leicester. The game sticks in the mind for two reasons. The first is David Herd scoring the first goal and breaking his leg in the process when falling over Gordon Banks whilst in the act of shooting. The second is the scoreline of 5-2 to United.

Back then, Leicester didn’t have a bad team, it just wasn’t very good. Now the situations have been completely reversed. At the moment United don’t have a bad team, it just isn’t very good. An example of how far down in the estimation of even ex-players the club has gone was typified recently by Denis Law. He was asked if he thought his team of the sixties would beat the current one. He thought for a moment and replied, “yes, I think so, 1-0.” When the interviewer wondered why such a low score Law replied, “well, we’re all in our seventies now!”

The difficulty for the majority of the United fans, particularly those who comment on popular social networking sites, is that they do not possess a sense of humour. It is also true that many of them have never even been to Old Trafford.   (more…)

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