Manchester United’s manager has spent the season mixing traditional gripes with inventive new ones but the whining should be coming from his playersThe whining noise coming from the direction of Old Trafford has become steadily more audible in recent weeks, with José Mourinho mixing traditional gripes about exhaustion and fixture overload with some inventive new ones that would not occur to many other managers, such as complaining that his injured players seem to lack the will or competitive drive to return more quickly.By rights it should be a member of Manchester United’s much put-upon back line doing all the moaning. Luke Shaw has been treated with something between mistrust and outright dissatisfaction all season, and could not get any sympathy...
A moment of magic from Marcus Rashford covered for the fact that United’s strikers have struggled all season – backing up José Mourinho’s regular gripesFeyenoord, Fenerbahce, Zorya, St-Étienne, Rostov, Anderlecht and now Celta Vigo. Against their seventh different opponent from a seventh country Manchester United’s challenge was to finally produce the signature display that had eluded them on their travels.Do so in this Europa League semi-final first leg and José Mourinho’s side would make themselves firm favourites to reach the final at Solna’s Friends Arena in Stockholm later in May. Related: Marcus Rashford gives Manchester United crucial away win over Celta Vigo Related: Celta Vigo v Manchester United: Europa League semi-final first leg – as it happened Continue reading...
Latest derby was a stark reminder that the big beasts of the north-west are currently fighting over scraps while the London clubs watch from aboveAll those complaining that Thursday’s Manchester derby was not a patch on the previous week’s el clásico completely miss the point. In terms of quality the Manchester derby is currently no better than the Merseyside version and it is rapidly becoming as irrelevant. If the Premier League does have a derby to stand comparison with the best Spain can offer, at the moment it would have to be the London rivalry between Chelsea and Spurs, whose FA Cup semi-final was both an entertaining game and, as Antonio Conte said, a great advert for English football. Related:...
The derby proved a fine night for the Manchester sides in the race for the Champions League, but it is also abundantly clear where both teams need to reinforce before next seasonThis draw suits Manchester City and Manchester United as it moved them a point closer to Liverpool and will allow each to overtake Jürgen Klopp’s side in the race for a Champions League berth if they win their game in hand. José Mourinho had said: “Our mentality now is to try to forget what is waiting for us and concentrate on this game. I don’t deny the Europa League is our main target but we have to forget about it.” This was a reference to the fact that winning...
A derby draw could suit both teams but Mourinho is unbeaten in the league since October and would clearly love to make life even more miserable for GuardiolaThe race is not always to the swift, according to Ecclesiastes, although as Damon Runyon and thousands of others subsequently pointed out, that is never the way to bet.Picking the winners and losers in this season’s title and top-four race has been an unusually fraught business, mainly because Chelsea dropped so far out of the running last time out. Related: Pep Guardiola needs time to prove naysayers wrong at Manchester City | Jacob Steinberg Related: Wayne Rooney at risk of going out at Old Trafford with a whimper | Daniel Taylor Continue reading...