Phil Foden should be central for City and England, neutrals should root for Brighton and Celtic seek a long-term planPhil Foden must start. Whether it is Manchester City’s most important matches, or for England at a European Championship, he must start. City’s win over Borussia Mönchengladbach was confirmation of this, and while his midfield mates Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gündogan took the headlines for their goals, Foden put in an imperious performance at the tip of City’s midfield, providing a sumptuous no-look assist to take his goal contributions this season to 20 (from 36 appearances). There are others that could play this position for both City and England, but on current form it would be a huge shame not...
McNeil good enough for top six, Crystal Palace set for tough run-in and Brighton’s confidence boosterMikel Arteta’s benching of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for lateness was hardly draconian. Gone are the days when Sir Alex Ferguson made David Beckham sit in the Elland Road stands after missing training to attend to a sick Brooklyn or Roy Keane commanded the Sunderland team bus to leave three players behind because they were a minute late. But as Tottenham’s rope-a-dope tactics looked to be working in the first half, the tardy captain’s demotion appeared a case of principles overriding pragmatism. When Alexandre Lacazette chose to step over rather than to shoot in the moments following Érik Lamela’s goal, Aubameyang’s incisiveness appeared an avoidable loss. So...
Luke Shaw needs England reward, Aubameyang shining at right time and Barkley’s Villa strugglesIt has been two and a half years since Luke Shaw last featured for England, in a 2-1 defeat to Spain. The left-back, however, is probably Manchester United’s most in-form player at the moment, consistently producing the goods. In defence he has looked assured all season, lifting his game since Alex Telles’ arrival from Porto in the summer finally added much-needed depth to a squad where many were sleepwalking into the side. On Sunday Shaw was again diligent against a high-on-confidence Riyad Mahrez, who struggled to make an impression for Manchester City, but things got even better with his superb run and composed finish at the other...
United cross town to City for a Manchester derby, while there’s a big old meeting of strugglers on Sunday lunchtimeIt’s been a bad week for Steve Bruce. Saturday’s draw with Wolves means Newcastle have won just two of their last 15 league games, and are now hovering just above the drop zone. Bruce’s post-match comments – “unfortunately Matty didn’t get the directions on quick enough” – appeared to blame substitute Matt Ritchie for not passing on tactical instructions shortly before Wolves’ equaliser, which led to a training-ground argument between the pair this week. Ritchie has since apologised but morale seems to be low, particularly with mounting injuries. Callum Wilson, Miguel Almirón and Allan Saint-Maximin have scored more than half of...
Sam Allardyce takes aim at Arsenal, Danny Ings could return to haunt Liverpool and José Mourinho must change tackOle Gunnar Solskjær has taken significant stick from laymen convinced their footballing expertise trumps his, but even they must concede that Manchester United are better now than at any stage in the Post-Fergie Wilderness YearsTM. Though it’s hard to envisage United winning the title, they must attack games as if they intend to, and should they fail, it will not be because they were too cautious. Solskjær’s side are too ruthful in attack and defence, but can offset these weaknesses by dominating opponents in midfield. Before their midweek win with Wolves, the Norwegian said “we need to go after them and get...