Youngsters today are not as ready for first-team action as they used to be. However José Mourinho should treat those who do break through, such as Marcus Rashford, with more respectThere’s been a lot of debate this week about the difference between young players today compared to 10 years ago after José Mourinho referred to them as “spoiled kids”. It’s interesting because I do think things have changed significantly in terms of their level of readiness.Young players have always found it hard to break into the first team but those who did in the past such as Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen were much more ready to make that step than those who are coming through now. You...
The Manchester United manager’s latest antics have again seen him dominate the fallout from Tuesday night’s game and it feels like we have all been here beforeJosé Mourinho is in trouble again, as you might have heard. What has he done this time? Well, just from Manchester United’s game against Young Boys on Tuesday night the charges are as follows:1: Suggesting some of his players might prefer to watch on television if they are unable to handle the Old Trafford pressure. 2: Selecting the most expensive bench in United history, with big-money buys Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku among the substitutes and top earner Alexis Sánchez not even in the squad. 3: Turning his back and shaking his head at...
All Mourinho’s instincts will be to kill the game but going for broke represents his best chance of another famous winWhen people said they wanted José Mourinho to make Manchester United more like Alex Ferguson’s treble winners, this, presumably, isn’t quite what they meant. The capacity to fight back, to score late goals and to win games that have seemed lost is undoubtedly a useful one, but it does raise major questions about how Mourinho should approach Sunday’s Manchester derby.Wednesday’s victory at Juventus was the third time in the last six games that United have found a winner in the final five minutes, but it was also the fifth time in those six matches that they had conceded the opening...
United’s Champions League thriller at Juventus was memorable and not just for another Cristiano Ronaldo specialA definite perk of living in Turin and playing for Juventus is being able to go and watch games at the Allianz Stadium. Champions League nights are extra special with the Champions League music and heightened atmosphere among the fans. Attending the Juventus against Manchester United game on Wednesday certainly lived up to a great night.I was expecting a Juventus win, with the team in very good form. Manchester United have had their problems this season but their surprise victory was the kind of performance you used to associate them with in the Champions League in terms of not playing very well but winning in...
The gap between the two Manchester clubs appears to be growing but that may be more down to City having a clear plan for the future rather than who is in the dugoutIf it is the Manchester derby on Sunday then it must be time to wheel out the arguments about which is the better squad, who would get into a composite team of the city and so on, except as there are several excellent players at the Etihad finding it hard to get into the Manchester City first XI that particular exercise may turn out a little one-sided.In its place comes a debate about the differing qualities and approaches of the two old rivals managing the Manchester squads. Would...