The forward brings unpredictability to his side and offers their best chance of retrieving the deficit against Eintracht FrankfurtAs the minutes leaked away in east London, the trickle of West Ham fans heading for the exits began to swell and thicken: first dozens, then hundreds and finally thousands. By full time there were white plastic seats as far as the eye could see. Perhaps this will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever found themselves trapped in the infamous London Stadium kettle, where the queues outside Stratford station can last well over an hour and you eventually begin to wonder whether you will ever see your family again.Still, with West Ham straining every sinew in search of a...
Faced with a Villarreal-style low block Manchester United rely on individual brilliance and that is not enough at elite levelWhat if David de Gea had converted his penalty in the shootout against Villarreal? How much difference would it have made had he scored on Wednesday and Gerónimo Rulli had been the goalkeeper to miss from the spot? Was that really it, that one kick, 4.5% of a penalty shootout, was that all that determined whether this season could be considered a success or not for Manchester United? How absurd it should all come down to the capacity of one goalkeeper to beat another.Even at the best of times, De Gea has the air of a doomed llama. Having extended his...
To continue with European competitions at a time like this feels like an exercise in futility and jaw-dropping complacencyThere is a debate to be had over who is the real villain in the movie Jaws – the shark that patrols the waters off the resort of Amity devouring the appetising and unwitting, or Larry Vaughn, the wilfully myopic mayor who refuses to close the popular local beaches despite having been alerted to the predator’s presence. Following one such discussion on an episode of an American podcast, a listener felt compelled to contact the Jaws screenwriter, Carl Gottlieb, and the 82-year-old ventured the opinion that neither the maneater nor its human enabler were entirely blameless.“Well, clearly the shark is the primary...
United have a loose philosophy and style of play, based largely on their electric front five. But they entrust too much to good feelings and blind faithThis, as José Mourinho might drily observe, is football heritage.To lose one semi-final might be considered unfortunate. To lose two a coincidence. But in United’s third unsuccessful attempt to grease their season with silverware could be identified a clear pattern running through the club. It is not a problem that can be solved by signing Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish. Rather, it is something more systemic and deep-rooted, a malaise that took years to set in and may well take years to cure. Related: Luuk de Jong sinks Manchester United and puts Sevilla in...
After producing a leaner, fitter, infinitely more watchable side the manager wants to make the most of chance to beat Sevilla in the Europa League semi-finalIt was probably just the heat that prompted Ole Gunnar Solskjær to go for the controlled casual look in Manchester United’s last game against Copenhagen, though there was no mistaking that the figure sitting alone in the dugout in white shirtsleeves looked cooler and more relaxed than his more animated counterpart, Ståle Solbakken.Perhaps that is no big deal, though Solskjær at the moment can arguably do relaxed better than Jürgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola. Less than two years after returning to Manchester United as manager he is almost at the Carlo Ancelotti level of detached...