N’Golo Kanté’s impact at Chelsea has been phenomenal but he has not carried his team in the way the brilliant Swede has carried José Mourinho’s UnitedIf all the friends of Wayne Rooney quoted anonymously in the media are to be believed, the striker has not been making much of a secret of the fact that he is unhappy with his present position in the pecking order at Manchester United. It is not difficult to see why. While losing one’s place in the starting line-up is an occupational hazard for a goalscorer in his 30s, it must be galling to lose it to a player who is four years his senior.Yet Rooney can have no real complaint. José Mourinho kept him...
Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford are quick off the starting blocks in FA Cup tie at Ewood ParkThe sight of Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford lining up surely thrilled the Manchester United purist. This fifth-round tie was the first time José Mourinho fielded a quartet that could claim to be English football’s fleetest. Factor in the rawness of Martial, Rashford and Lingard, plus Mkhitaryan’s street-wise football brain, and this was a cocktail to quicken pulses by offering a glimpse of United’s future.Lingard threw down a first marker by motoring along the right, leaving Craig Conway a spectator, and finding Mkhitarayan who in turn fed Rashford. He and Lingard were in the XI...
After his side snatch a 21-16 win over Wales, England’s coach admits adopting Spanish practices used by Portuguese manager in bid to catch up All BlacksThis year’s Six Nations has yet to reach the halfway mark but already the old tournament has a renewed sense of verve. When a game matches the occasion in Cardiff there is no finer place in the world to watch rugby union, even if the lurching late twist in England’s favour made it a bittersweet Welsh symphony.Carry on like this and rugby will migrate from the back pages to the front as it did a decade and a half ago, scooping up numerous agnostics en route. Great sport played out before a glorious backdrop still has...
Manchester United’s options continue to evolve with their record £89m signing offering a less flamboyant, more responsible presence in the win over WatfordSometimes when José Mourinho crowbars a comment into an answer it is because he can seem an incorrigible mischief-maker, forever ready to take a sly dig at a rival. At others, he is less provocative, but more instructive. So it was when he was asked about Manchester United’s fourth consecutive clean sheet.After praising his defence, he took a detour to cite Paul Pogba’s influence. “He is playing with great balance in these last two games: he is playing with his brain, he is recovering a lot of balls, he is very good in his positional play,” Mourinho said....
Liverpool’s narrow system allowed space down the flanks which José Mourinho’s team exploited with regular switches of play, sapping the energy of the visitorsFor the first time in the 25 seasons of the Premier League, the two league meetings between Manchester United and Liverpool both ended in a draw. This, however, was a much more exciting contest than the dreadful 0-0 in October. Jürgen Klopp sprung a tactical surprise from the outset by deploying a diamond midfield, a considerably different shape to Liverpool’s regular 4-3-3. This involved Adam Lallana playing as a No10, allowing Roberto Firmino and Divock Origi to make dangerous runs across the opposition defence from out to in.The main outcome was Liverpool making life very difficult for...