If Jose Mourinho’s quest while in charge of Manchester United is to continue with the style and selection so detested under Louis van Gaal, then he is going the right way about it. Unfortunately, his tenure will have a similar ending if he carries on in this vein.
With  Ibrahimovich on the bench, Pogba and Bailly rested, and Mhkitaryan injured this even had the look of a van Gaal team! (more…)
When I tuned in to watch this game I had missed all the build up so had to work out the team by identifying the players on the pitch.
Firstly, I was amazed to see Chris “Bambi” Smalling. What had Daley Blind done to deserve losing his place and what on earth had Smalling done to deserve being selected? (more…)
The first thing we learnt was that José Mourinho, by his own admission, started with the wrong selection of at least two players.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan had been sent home from the Armenian squad due to an injury picked up in their first game. It was patently obvious that the derby game against Manchester City was too soon after the injury and that he hadn’t recovered sufficiently to be effective. This was shown in his sluggish first half performance which resulted in him being replaced for the second half. (more…)
So that’s it then. It’s all over until the next time and people are beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about.
At this stage it is probably worth mentioning that, in order to make sense, this article is better when read after the previous one which can be found here.
The draw was the widely predicted result and so it came as a surprise when City emerged victorious. This situation, though, is hardly critical for United at this early stage of the season. (more…)
What is the significance of a local derby game to a Premier League team? In the cases of Manchester United, City, Everton and Liverpool it is, basically, six points and bragging rights for a few days. Gone are the days when it really was a “local” derby.
With the possible exception of Marcus Rashford, who may or may not play in the upcoming game this weekend, the Manchester United player born closest to Manchester will probably be Wayne Rooney, who is a Scouser, not a fact which particularly endears him to the fans. Of the rest, it is quite possible that Luke Shaw will be the only other Englishman in the team! (more…)
In driving rain at the KC stadium in Kingston-upon-Hull, Zlatan Ibrahimović discovered, if he didn’t already know, what the Premier League is all about.
Hull City who, against all the odds, had won their opening two games at home to Leicester City and away to Swansea City gave it everything and came very close to taking a point from this game.
Ravaged by injuries, surrounded by confusion over a supposed takeover and with a caretaker manager with no previous experience in the role, they almost deserved a draw. The only reason they didn’t fully deserve it was because Manchester United deserved to win. (more…)
(Mata keeps his distance while Rooney, as usual, creeps up to the boss)
This is a perfectly reasonable question and yet the answer, for some unknown reason, appears to be quite complicated.
Certainly, over the last couple of years Juan Mata has contributed much, much more to the team than has Rooney. He is not a volatile character and represents the club in a much more positive and favourable way than Rooney.
Last season, for example, Mata made 49 appearances and scored 10 goals whereas Rooney made 38 appearances and scored 15 goals. Mata was also responsible for assisting many more goals than Rooney. (more…)
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…)
Well that was a nice surprise! Arsenal were favourites to win at Old Trafford for the first time in ages and never looked as though they would actually manage it throughout the game.
After the game Graeme Souness, Thierry Henry and David Platt all questioned the commitment and desire of the Arsenal eleven. Arsene Wenger saw nothing wrong with the commitment and desire of the Arsenal eleven, and THAT is the problem!
Wenger thought United had kept breaking up the game with petty fouls although, given that all the experience was with his team you would think that they could have coped. United won this game with an overall possession of 39%.
Arsenal, yet again, proved susceptible to the counter-attack, which was how United had to play due to injury and no adequate replacements ever being bought. In Marcus Rashford though, they seem to have inadvertently found a star for now, never mind the future. His two goals were taken very well and now bring his tally to four in two games. (more…)
To be honest, this was a very decent performance by Manchester United. Despite going a goal down in the first half and missing a penalty they played with enough purpose and resolve to score five good goals.
To add to the reasons for slight celebration, two of the goals were scored by Marcus Rashford, making his debut after Anthony Martial had decided that David De Gea shouldn’t have the monopoly on pulling up with an injury just before kick-off. What further added to the feel-good factor was the fact that Memphis Depay was the man-of-the-match.
To continue with the honesty, though, this was always a game that a Manchester United team should expect to win. They are in the Europa League playing teams who weren’t good enough for the Champion’s League. The fact that they have now fallen into this category is their own fault, but they should still be good enough to win it, even though they probably won’t.
Staying with “honesty is the best policy”, the young lads who won the game tonight were not playing because van Gaal gives young lads a chance, no, they were playing because injuries give young lads a chance. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 