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…)
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…)
(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…)
The easiest choice for Jose is the goalkeeper. My guess is that David De Gea will not only start the game, but he will finish it as well and be present during the middle bit.
Now begins the fun. At left back should be Luke Shaw, a young kid who shows all the promise in the world and should, barring injury, be around for a long time. The other full back will probably be Antonio Valencia, who has spent the last two years getting older and proving that he cannot defend so, to me, he has always been a strange choice for this position and is lucky to still be at the club.
Despite Mourinho’s dislike for playing people out of position, it is likely that Daley Blind will occupy one of the two central defensive roles, particularly if Smalling is still injured. The other will be taken by another Eric Bailly, another kid with little experience. (more…)
He doesn’t look the shy, retiring type. Gold lamĂ© backpacks and matching trainers certainly make Paul Pogba stand out in the crowd, even in America. He is also nearly as well known for his hairstyles as his football so what can Manchester United fans expect on the pitch?
Well there will be a few who already know what to expect as he only left the club four years ago having been a youth and reserve team player there. In fact it was his perceived lack of opportunity which resulted in him leaving for Juventus when only nineteen years of age.
Now, unless he suffers a dramatic loss of form, he will be a regular and one of the first, if not the first, names on the teamsheet. He will be able to thumb his nose at Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager responsible for his leaving the club in the first place. This, however would be unlikely as Pogba appears to be bigger than that sort of behaviour. (more…)
Manchester United were so pathetic against Midtjylland that the fans who paid ÂŁ71 for their tickets only proved that the team, currently, are not worth the money. Their protests should be directed at Louis van Gaal for producing amateur football for which the fans have to pay professional prices for the very dubious “privilege” of being able to watch. Not to mention flying to Denmark and, probably, staying in a rip-off hotel overnight!
Before the game David De Gea pulled up with an injury which ruled him out and he was replaced by Sergio Romero. This brought United’s injury list up to 14 according to van Gaal. De Gea actually wasn’t missed as Romero had a very good game.
After the game van Gaal blamed Murphy’s law for losing a game they should have won. As we all know only too well van Gaal will blame anything or anybody rather than himself.
The bottom line here is that van Gaal, thanks to his disastrous transfer window, doesn’t have sufficient cover in various important positions and the players he is currently using are not good enough. Quoting the loss of Rooney for six weeks as a shock is an example of the lunacy currently presiding at Old Trafford. Only a matter of weeks ago the vast majority of fans wanted him dropped from the team. How come it suddenly makes such a difference when he is injured? He may have scored a couple of goals recently but he still wasn’t playing THAT well. (more…)
(Ryan Giggs points out that playing De Gea as a striker doesn’t seem to be working)
So van Gaal has enough strikers at Manchester United. Did he actually say that, or am I remembering it differently?
In the August transfer window everybody pointed out that he needed a full back, which he bought, (Matteo Darmian, lest ye forget), a centre back, which he left off his own personal list, although reports say that he tried to get Mats Hummels. A world renowned top class striker, so he bought Anthony Martial. He might not have been world renowned but his price was. He looks, in fairness, as though he is going to be worth it. He was also a little short in midfield, so he went supermarket shopping and bought thirty new midfielders as a job lot.
Now anybody who has read any of my ramblings before will know my feelings about meaningless international friendlies. Nothing gets learnt, players get injured. (more…)
Loyal followers of these chronicles will be aware that, in the very recent past, I wrote about the folly of meaningless international friendly matches, particularly at a time when the Premier League table is starting to take on a meaningful shape.
For any loyal followers who just happened to miss the first part, here it is.
I also wrote about it back in August of 2014, for Pundit Arena, if anyone is interested, here that is as well.
My doubt about these games is focused on what purpose they actually serve. Other than teaching uninformed coaches things about their team blatantly obvious to everybody else, and running the risk of injuring players who may be vital to their club’s title challenge, what is the aim? (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 