Posts Tagged ‘Real Madrid’

Why Did Manchester United, Manchester City And Chelsea Really Change Managers? What Was Wrong With The Ones They Had?

Posted: September 4, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

image

Manchester City finished fourth last season and won the Capital One Cup. That relative failure saw them having to play a Champion’s League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest this time out, a tie they won comfortably.

To many fans of many clubs Manchester City’s season would have been considered a resounding success but, when you have the kind of players, and therefore, the kind of financial outlay that they have, success is deemed to be finishing in the top two in the Premier League and reaching the final of the Champion’s League. (more…)

Was David De Gea Right To Stay At Manchester United?

Posted: September 2, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
1

Processed with Snapseed.

Although the transfer to Real Madrid a year ago was scuppered by some dodgy faxwork, there is really no reason why, if they were that determined, Madrid shouldn’t have come back for him during this latest transfer window. Did they ever really want him? We at WSA are not so sure, and we said as much at the time.

Right from the beginning there were real problems and potential problems with this move. Firstly it was said that De Gea wanted the move because he is from Madrid. That is entirely possible but not to Real. De Gea was brought up through the academy at AtlĂ©tico, so would have been looked upon as a traitor by their fans and an intruder by the enemy. There was never any clamour from the Madridistas for him to sign. (more…)

Manchester United, Manchester City And Chelsea Are Too Close To Call

Posted: August 31, 2016 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
1

image

The battle for control of Manchester between the two clubs also looks set to be the battle for the Premier League title. At present, the only other team who may be a threat to that dominance is Chelsea, one of those teams from down South.

With newly appointed Antonio Conte in charge and having won three out of three, they are the only club going toe to toe with United and City in the early stages. (more…)

Does Jose Mourinho Need To Buy A New Centre Half For Manchester United?

Posted: August 30, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

image

On the evidence of the first three games the answer is very simple; No.

United have played Bournemouth away, Southampton at home and Hull City away and have conceded only one goal. More to the point, David De Gea has had very little to do.

This is in stark contrast to the last two seasons where the defensive statistics have been very good but only because De Gea was very good. Good enough, in fact, to win the player of the season award on both occasions. Without him the defensive statistics would have been quite poor. (more…)

Manchester City And Manchester United Should Progress In Europe With Guardiola And Mourinho In Charge

Posted: August 26, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

image

Despite the moaners and the harbingers of doom, Manchester City should be able to qualify from the group stages of the Champion’s League for the second year running.

As expected they will come up against one of Pep Guardiola’s old clubs almost immediately when they meet up with Barcelona.

As usual, and purely because Barcelona are present in the group, this is being called the “group of death”. It is the group City get every year according to all those “in the know”. (more…)

Manchester United, Paul Pogba And Sky Sports TV

Posted: August 8, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

image

(Sky Sports have now resorted to showing a plane arriving at Manchester airport with the monumental news that “Paul Pogba could be on it!”)

Isn’t it exciting? Never mind the ludicrous amount of money that it is costing Manchester United to buy a midfielder. Never mind that he was, until four years ago, a Manchester United player who was allowed to leave for Juventus for around ÂŁ800K. Never mind even that he wanted to go to Real Madrid who, having set the two previous world record transfer fees when buying Cristiano Ronaldo and then Gareth Bale, decided they couldn’t afford him.

Mino Raiola, Pogba’s Mister 15%, on hearing the news that Real Madrid wouldn’t be buying his client, immediately set about convincing Pogba that United was always the place to go and he would never have entertained Madrid anyway. (more…)

Why It Isn’t Easy For Jose Mourinho To Sell These Manchester United Players

Posted: August 4, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

image

(Jose ponders selling the entire squad and starting again!)

The real difference between Manchester United and the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona can be seen when the clubs mention that some of their players may be allowed to leave. The press immediately begin speculating which players those may be and then start linking them to different clubs around Europe.

For example, there were mutterings that Isco was surplus to requirements at Real Madrid. He was reported to be of interest to Manchester City. Then it was James Rodriquez, who is still not certain to stay. He is linked with Manchester United, amongst others. Raphael Varane has also been mentioned in the same breath as United.

Barcelona sold Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich and Pedro to Chelsea. In fact, Thiago was linked with United for a while but, by this time, Ed was in “full dithering mode” so they missed out on him. There was never any doubt that, when the availability of these players became public knowledge, they would go to big clubs. (more…)

Europe’s Top Table Is A Lot Bigger Than It Used To Be!

Posted: July 29, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

image

In the not too distant past the top clubs in Europe were the ones with the most money. This, to an extent, is still true today but the main difference is that a lot more clubs have the most money than previously.

Thinking back fifteen or twenty years ago there were the usual suspects in Real Madrid and Barcelona from Spain. Bayern Munich, at the time, were usually Germany’s sole representatives in the latter stages of any competition. Arsenal and Manchester United used to fight for the Premier League in England and the Milan clubs and Juventus usually offered Italian resistance. (more…)

Five Jose Mourinho “Targets” Who Have Impressed, (Or Not), At The Euros

Posted: June 27, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Manchester United, Opinion
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

image

Starting with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who looks pretty nailed on to arrive at Old Trafford in the very near future. His purchase will sell a lot of shirts and will certainly please some sponsors but is it a good deal? Judging by the way he has totally underwhelmed at the Euros the answer has to be “No”. Also, at 34, he is not in the age group of players a club like United should be signing.

Scoring a lot of goals in the French league is not too difficult a task for a decent striker. Defences are not even Championship level and the margin by which PSG won the title should warn any potential suitors of players that they may not be as good as the league makes them look.

Chances of being a success at United: 4/10 (more…)

When Jose Mourinho Arrives, Woodward Needs To Go!

Posted: May 22, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

image

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…)

Older Entries
Newer Entries