The Manchester Derby this weekend won’t actually tell us very much with regards to where the title is going to end up unless Manchester City win.
A United win would reduce City’s lead to five points, meaning that City would still need to lose another two games and United continue winning for them to overtake their neighbours.
Obviously, a draw would mean that everything stays the same and only Chelsea, providing they win, would really benefit. (more…)
Readers of our article from Friday will notice that the title of this piece isn’t; “If only hindsight were foresight”. In fact, we were only ever 50% of the way there as we were correct in half of the top six team’s results.
How, you may wonder, could we be half right about five games? Actually, it wasn’t so much about the games as the teams. We were let down, as the North-West usually is, by London, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham all failing to provide the desired results, whereas Manchester City, United and Liverpool were true to OUR word. (more…)
Just having them available again after such a long time out will be a boost to the other squad members.
Paul Pogba
United started the season very well and were neck-and-neck with City after five games. They started to slide when Pogba was injured against Basel in the Champion’s League group game.
We always find it amazing that great players can be so good without being noticed so much and that it is only when they are injured or out of the team for some other reason that we realise how important they are! (more…)
Guest Author: Ojo Olayiwola of Football Weeks
Manchester United started the season on a high note but have since gone into a decline as they have only managed to gather four points from their last four league games and need to knuckle down to revive their title race.
However, with the return of their key players from injury and the pressure of upcoming fixtures not as fierce as the previous ones, the Red Devils have reason to be optimistic.
The story is different with the Magpies, whose trip to Old Trafford marks the beginning of their run into their biggest challenges of the season with fixtures against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City coming immediately afterwards. (more…)
Back in 2003, when stubborn old man was quite a good manager, his team managed to go through an entire season without losing a single game in the Premier League.
Back in the 1880’s, when stubborn old man was just a small garçon in Strasbourg, Preston North End managed to go through an entire season without losing a single game in both the league and the cup. In doing so they were, and still are, the only one of the seven double winners to achieve the task without losing a game. They also won the cup without conceding a goal.
There is a slight chance that the Arsenal achievement could be matched by Manchester City this season. There is a much slighter chance that the Preston achievement could be matched but City’s defence probably isn’t good enough for that one. (more…)
Regular readers could be forgiven for thinking that this has to be the easiest question we have ever posed. Why? Because it has to be the Manchester City midfield based purely on the fact that they have scored more goals than anyone else, and by quite a distance.
Whilst there is an element of truth to this argument, the City midfielders are assisted by the fact that they are currently the best team in the league and also that most of the chances they are creating are being converted into goals, which is a testament to how good their strikers are. (more…)
When Mesut Özil was first recognised as a very good player he was with Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga. He was also part of the successful German national team which beat England in the game where Frank Lampard had a goal disallowed when the referee, in a moment of instant sight loss, decided that the ball, which was two feet over the line, hadn’t crossed the line!
This was in 2010 and, in that same year, Ă–zil agreed a move to Real Madrid.
There was a story at the time that Sir Alex Ferguson went down to London to try and sign him but the deal with Madrid had already been agreed. (more…)
The first thing to point out is that Paul Pogba’s injury, which may keep him out for a month or even six weeks depending upon your daily rag of choice, is not the end of the world.
Yes, he is one of the first names on the teamsheet and has been in good form recently, even scoring a couple of goals in the opening games, and yes, he will be missed.
He will probably be replaced, however, by Ander Herrera in some games and Marouane Fellaini in others and, occasionally, by both. The way the pair have been playing recently means that the loss of Pogba will not be felt quite as much as it might have been at a different time of the season. (more…)
With five of last season’s top six having already dropped points and only Manchester United with a 100% record, who can stop them going on to win their 21st title?
It may still be very early in the new season but Manchester United have already laid down a marker and it is up to the rest to catch them and stay with them.
Whilst it is true to say that they have only beaten an average West Ham United team at home and a just-as-average Swansea team away from home, it isn’t so much that they have won both of these games as the way in which they have won them. (more…)
Once again, José Mourinho is using his press conferences to try and shame Ed Woodward into action.
Obviously the two don’t speak very often or this tactic would be unnecessary.
Mourinho has expressed his desire to add at least another player, preferably two, to his squad in at least three press conferences to date.
As the CEO or MD or whatever he is nowadays, Woodward will keep an eye on the goings-on with the media so that he is up-to-date with what his manager is saying, so it is a reasonably sure-fire way of getting his attention. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 