Posts Tagged ‘Real Madrid’

The North/South Football Divide Is Slowly Shrinking

Posted: January 17, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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Despite Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all doing well in the Premier League this season the spotlight remains firmly on the Northwest, helped most certainly by the arrival of both José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola in Manchester.

The area provides the most interesting football and, generally speaking over the last forty years or so, the best and most successful football.

Last weekend a collective groan was to be heard at WSA when the live games were advertised as being all-London affairs. This was not because there would be no decent football on display, although that was a possibility, no it was because the feeling of boredom when no Northern team is involved is overwhelming. (more…)

Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Manchester United And Liverpool. The Top Six Are Miles Ahead Of The Rest

Posted: January 8, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Is it a coincidence that the six richest clubs in the Premier League currently occupy the top six places in the Premier League?

I suppose it depends upon your view of Leicester City’s achievements last season. If you think, like many others, that their winning the title was a one-off, freakish, yet sensational story then the natural order of things has been restored.

If, however, you think that the Leicester story can be repeated by either themselves or another unfancied club, then the amount of money a club has available to buy players is less relevant. (more…)

JosĂ© Mourinho Has To Succeed At Manchester United, There Is Nowhere Else To Go

Posted: January 5, 2017 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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What continually drives people like JosĂ© Mourinho to succeed? It isn’t money. Alright, in the early days of their career it IS money but, after the initial successes have eliminated the need to ever work again, what becomes the motivating factor?

It is a question asked of many of the world’s richest people and, in a lot of cases, it is STILL money. The quest to be the richest in the world, the additional power that even more money brings with it. These are forces which have been known to propel the wealthy to even greater things.

Generally not, however, where top football managers are concerned. (more…)

JosĂ© Mourinho Has Rediscovered His Passion For The Game At Manchester United

Posted: December 17, 2016 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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When José Mourinho was sacked by Roman Abramovich a year ago, many people thought he had lost the plot and had reached the stage where managing a top flight football club was no longer the challenge he required.

He was well into his second coming at the club and had won the Premier League title in the previous season. So what happened?

Did he lose the players? It is an overused expression nowadays but it may have been true in this case, almost certainly with some of them. (more…)

Did Manchester United Get JosĂ© Mourinho At The Right Time Or Too Late?

Posted: November 9, 2016 in Chelsea, European Football, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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JosĂ© Mourinho appears to handle failure in the same way as he handles success. The success is well known and has been demonstrated on several occasions. It is usually a sullen look, a half smirk of “I knew we would win it” followed by a disappearing act leaving his players to enjoy the limelight while he sneaks off home to be with his family.

For failure take the same sequence but leave out the half smirk. He has yet to perfect a unique reaction to failure because it is still a relatively new experience for him. (more…)

When JosĂ© Mourinho Is Involved In The Game, Manchester United Rarely Beat Chelsea

Posted: October 24, 2016 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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In the 1960’s Chelsea, for some reason, were always better away from home than they were at home. Could it have had anything to do with the crowd being so far from the pitch, seemingly a current problem for West Ham United?

The days of Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke, Peter Bonetti, Ron and Alan Harris et al produced far superior returns on the road than any other team. In fact, if Chelsea could have corrected their home form during this period they wouldn’t have had to wait quite as long as they did to win the title. (more…)

How Far Into The Future Do Manchester United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham And Liverpool Really Plan?

Posted: October 23, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Manchester United appointed Jose Mourinho in the full knowledge that he rarely stays at any club for more than two years, whether the reason for departure is his choosing or not. He has since indicated that he would like to stay at Old Trafford for “many years“.

Manchester City did the same with Pep Guardiola. Having spent five years in charge at Barcelona, (one of them with the B team), he developed his current wanderlust and spent a further two years in charge of Bayern MĂĽnich. The impression is that, if he is successful at City, then he may be talked into staying longer. (more…)

Is The Premier League Really So Open This Season?

Posted: October 18, 2016 in Arsenal, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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(Yet again Ronald Koeman has donned his Claudio Ranieri mask in order to slip under the radar!)

If you believe everything that you read, then yes, the Premier League is very open this season. The fact of the matter is though, that it isn’t really.

What do we mean by “open” anyway? There are twenty teams in the division. For the title race to be wide open, (as in “that result has blown the title race wide open“, a frequently heard phrase), then every one of the twenty needs to be in with a chance of winning it. (more…)

JosĂ© Mourinho And Pep Guardiola Are Both Motivated By Self Indulgence

Posted: September 21, 2016 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The same may possibly be said about Antonio Conte but, as yet, we don’t know enough about him or his motives to put forward a case one way or the other.

Other older managers such as Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Robson and even, to a lesser extent, Manuel Pelligrini, Louis van Gaal and Claudio Ranieri took jobs at clubs where there was a challenge. (more…)

Manchester United V Manchester City Means Jose Mourinho V Pep Guardiola. How Do Their Records Compare?

Posted: September 6, 2016 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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For the first time in a while, the two master tacticians meet in a domestic league game. In truth though, there is little difference nowadays between meeting in the league and meeting in the Champion’s League, the latter being an impossibility until next season, at least.

People will say, ” it’s different when it’s a league game,” or “it’s not the same as in a knockout tournament.” Actually, there are many similarities. Both would want to win their home game in both competitions but would, grudgingly, take not losing as a pretty close second choice. Both would want a point, or a draw, depending upon the competition and which stage has been reached, from the away game. (more…)

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