Posts Tagged ‘Vincent Kompany’

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Nothing is happening. It’s as if somebody has pressed the global pause button. The World Cup has ground to a halt, even if only for two days. The transfer window is in danger of becoming even more boring than that game between France and Denmark.

What is going on and where is the news?

It got so bad that poor old Jim White on Sky Sports News had to resort to reporting the “incredible” news that a man had seen a bear in the woods in Montana and a shark had been spotted in the sea off the Australian coast! Truly incredible stuff!

Not to worry, avid readers, if there is any football-related news we will find it. Even if we have to actually read some other rags to do so. As far as the World Cup goes, this is what we think we know. (more…)

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Image Source: theguardian.com

Written by: Guest author

Heading into the tournament, the predictions on the World Cup winners sites suggested that Belgium were considered outside favourites to win the trophy. However after their impressive opening game performance against Panama, and the less impressive displays of the other nations so far, Belgium have the potential to make it very far in this World Cup tournament.

The European nation are currently in the middle of their ‘golden generation’ and with the majority of their players playing at the highest level in the game, they will need to win a piece of silverware in the next couple of tournament to ensure that their best crop of players live up to their potential. (more…)

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At last! The Premier League is getting a winter break! Starting in 2019 there will be a ten day hiatus in proceedings in February.

The idea is that this break will help England to better compete in future World Cups and European Championships, (better players would be a much bigger help).

Without wishing to be killjoys on this subject we recently noted that the English players in Russia for this World Cup will have spent less minutes on a football pitch than ANY other nation, including the ones who had a break! (more…)

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(Raheem works on the theory that, if he goes down BEFORE he is tackled, he will reduce the chances of injury!)

Having had a downwards pointing gun tattooed on his leg which, understandably, raised some questions about his sanity, especially before he gave his reasons, Raheem Sterling then proceeded to shoot himself, metaphorically, in the foot.

The gun, he explained, was in memory of his father who had been shot dead when Raheem was just a child. Now we may be missing something here or it may be that Sterling, as he has intimated, hasn’t yet finished his memorial to his late father but, to our way of thinking, a tattoo of his late parent might have made more sense than one of a gun which is the weapon which killed him. Still, each to his own. (more…)

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A strange statement, you may think, considering the two Manchester teams sit first and second in the Premier League and have conceded the least number of goals in the division.

They have both had 20 scored against them and the big difference between the two is really at the other end of the pitch and the number of goals scored whereby City have 79 and United a mere 53.

This of course, as everybody knows, has contributed greatly to City now having an almost unassailable lead of 13 points whilst still having a game in hand.

So how good are the two defences which are, according to statistics, the best in the top flight? (more…)

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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…)

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Maybe the manager’s expectations weren’t too high. Maybe the fan’s expectations WERE too high. Either way, for Pep Guardiola or José Mourinho, if the season was to end now, then it hasn’t been that bad.

City would qualify for the Champion’s League through their Premier League position and United would qualify for the Europa League because of their EFL Cup triumph and their position in the Premier League. This may not be exactly how the supporters envisaged it at the start of the campaign but it would still represent a decent season for the two. (more…)

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José Mourinho is not known as a nice guy. He has fallen out with owners and club presidents, he has fallen out with players and fellow managers. He has fallen out with physiotherapists and club doctors. There are probably not many positions within the world of professional football with whom the Special One has not fallen out at one time or another!

He is, however, finding out that he has a nice side now that he is manager of Manchester United. He hasn’t turned into a serial smiler just yet, but there are signs that his disposition is somewhat mellower than it used to be. (more…)

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If anybody was wondering which of the two managers placed the most importance on this game then it became obvious as soon as the teams were announced.

José Mourinho went with a strong line up which was only really missing Eric Bailly from what would be considered a first-choice eleven.

Pep Guardiola, on the other hand, went with a team which could best be described as mainly second choice. (more…)

 

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Looking at the genuine first team choices available to the two managers it is Manchester United who need the likes of Raphael Varane, John Stones or Leonardo Bonucci, more than Manchester City.

Pep can boast the services of Vincent Kompany, Eliaquim Mangala, Nicolas Otamendi and Jason Denayer, all of whom are current picks for their national squads. These, if no further signings are made, would probably be the four centre backs in the squad for next season.

Unfortunately, for City and Kompany, he is very injury prone and unless he can overcome this problem then a new signing will have to be made.

Mangala has never really found the form that convinced City to buy him and has been inconsistent to say the least. He did, however, seem to be coming into a bit of form towards the end of last season. (more…)