So that’s it then. It’s all over until the next time and people are beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about.
At this stage it is probably worth mentioning that, in order to make sense, this article is better when read after the previous one which can be found here.
The draw was the widely predicted result and so it came as a surprise when City emerged victorious. This situation, though, is hardly critical for United at this early stage of the season. (more…)
What is the significance of a local derby game to a Premier League team? In the cases of Manchester United, City, Everton and Liverpool it is, basically, six points and bragging rights for a few days. Gone are the days when it really was a “local” derby.
With the possible exception of Marcus Rashford, who may or may not play in the upcoming game this weekend, the Manchester United player born closest to Manchester will probably be Wayne Rooney, who is a Scouser, not a fact which particularly endears him to the fans. Of the rest, it is quite possible that Luke Shaw will be the only other Englishman in the team! (more…)
In driving rain at the KC stadium in Kingston-upon-Hull, Zlatan Ibrahimović discovered, if he didn’t already know, what the Premier League is all about.
Hull City who, against all the odds, had won their opening two games at home to Leicester City and away to Swansea City gave it everything and came very close to taking a point from this game.
Ravaged by injuries, surrounded by confusion over a supposed takeover and with a caretaker manager with no previous experience in the role, they almost deserved a draw. The only reason they didn’t fully deserve it was because Manchester United deserved to win. (more…)
(“Never mind Wazza, those yanks will soon pick up the scouse lingo!”)
I have not written a piece about Wayne Rooney for a while. This is not because there has been nothing to write about, there always is with him. Whether he is holding the club to ransom, condescendingly telling the fans he has nothing to prove or just plain playing badly, there is always something.
The problem is that it becomes boring after a while and loyal readers get fed up with articles about the same person.
However, it is about time to remind the world of his existence which, unfortunately, still lies with Manchester United. (more…)
(Stats that prove the English Premier League is at least twice as hard as the French Ligue 1)
Who will score the most goals? Zlatan appears to be the less selfish of the two and has already said that it doesn’t matter who scores as long as United win. I am sure AgĂĽero shares this sentiment although he is unlikely to voice it and, in fairness, can appear to be quite greedy when anywhere close to the eighteen yard area.
To date Manchester City have scored six goals in the Premier League and five in the Champion’s League. Of these eleven goals AgĂĽero has been responsible for six of them and has even found time to miss two penalties in a game where he went on to score a hat-trick! So he has scored 55% of all his team’s goals so far. (more…)
Despite a long injury list and a manager who has only been with the club for three weeks, Sunderland were rather unfortunate not to take a point from the Etihad. It isn’t that they really deserved anything from the game, it’s just that City hardly ran away with it.
Whilst it is true that City were also without players as new signings Leroy SanĂ© and Ilkay Gundogan were both injured, it is also true to say that City have never missed these two players before, so shouldn’t do so now. They were bought to add something to the team not take something away when they don’t play! They were also without Vincent Kompany, as usual, and Nicolas Otamendi, so John Stones made his debut alongside new centre back Aleksander Kolarov. (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…)
So it has finally happened. The transfer saga of the Summer has reached it’s conclusion and Paul Pogba has returned to the club he left four years ago after being told he had to wait for his chance in the first team.
Typically, being a teenager, he thought he knew best and that Sir Alex Ferguson was wrong in his decision. He proceeded to run down his contract and eventually left for Juventus for a compensation package of around ÂŁ800,000.
He wasn’t proved right when he went to Italy, as everybody who knew him knew he was an exceptional footballer. What he did prove, unfortunately, is that most of the power nowadays lies with the player, even when he is still very young. (more…)
(Wayne Rooney finds lots of space as the opposition players know that he will give them the ball back very soon)
How much longer can this be tolerated? At present Rooney seems to be selected because he was, a few years ago, a half decent player. Nothing special, he would come up with the occasional spectacular goal and contribute a little to the team but, as I said, never anything special. He never lived up to the publicity he was given when he joined United as an eighteen-year-old.
He was made captain by Louis van Gaal who was another one who failed to cover himself in glory whilst at United. Van Gaal, apparently, wanted a leader and obviously couldn’t find one otherwise he wouldn’t have selected Rooney.
Fortunately, none of the other players follow Rooney’s example on the pitch as, if they did, they would give the ball away frequently either by poor control or mis-directed passing. (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…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 