Manchester United may go for jugular against Liverpool, Morgan Schneiderlin must settle quickly at Everton and Ahmed Musa has chance to shine for LeicesterManchester United were on the receiving end of heavy criticism when they shut up shop and successfully played for a 0-0 draw when they visited Liverpool in October. It was a classic exercise in parking the bus from an unapologetic José Mourinho, who reasoned that a cautious approach was necessary against a team who regularly overwhelm their opponents with blistering attacking play. But while it was possible to grudgingly respect Mourinho’s plan, there is no need for the United manager to play it safe at Old Trafford on Sunday. Although United are unlikely to veer too far...
Few of the former manager’s costly signings succeeded at Old Trafford and many, like the Everton-bound Morgan Schneiderlin, soon found their careers in limboOne has to feel a little bit sorry for Morgan Schneiderlin somewhere along the line, even if the basic reason his move to Manchester United did not work out was because he could not prove himself a better midfield option than the 35-year-old Michael Carrick.United splurging all that money on Paul Pogba did not help either, though even with the world’s most expensive player in the lineup this season Carrick has still been getting the nod over Schneiderlin and José Mourinho was being somewhat economical with the truth when he suggested on Tuesday that he had been...
Mourinho’s moan about the poor atmosphere at Old Trafford against Hull has some justification yet was designed to produce a reaction against LiverpoolOne reading of José Mourinho’s criticism of Manchester United supporters is that it is hardly going to enamour the manager to them. This is a constituency who have to hear the chant, “Fergie’s right/your fans are shite”, from their opposite numbers on most match-days at Old Trafford.Mourinho’s calling out of the faithful came after Tuesday night’s 2-0 defeat of Hull City in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg. The Portuguese’s complaint was that if the volume for Liverpool’s visit on Sunday was not higher the hope of beating United’s fiercest rival is materially reduced. Related: José Mourinho urges...
Surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton has become a distraction in addition to making the Manchester United captain too easy to mark out of the game – as Hull City demonstrated in the EFL Cup semi-final first legMarco Silva would probably prefer to be picking up league points than examining the possibilities presented by cup football in England, though perhaps the Hull City manager should view his first two games as a honeymoon period.Quite an eventful one at that. Victory at the first time of asking in the FA Cup at the weekend may have been marred by a shortage of home fans – Hull supporters were staging a protest against the club owners – but this occasion was even weirder. First...
Plymouth’s defence was classy and defiant, Ndidi excelled on Leicester debut, Batshuayi proved little and Stourbridge showed romance is alive, even in defeatThe triumphant celebrations after Plymouth Argyle’s 0-0 draw at Anfield were further confirmation that giant-equalling is the new giantkilling. In the modern world of the FA Cup, it is enough for David to draw with Goliath – especially as it means a second payday for clubs often in need of such a financial boost. For Plymouth’s players, it was about more than that. It’s easy to be sniffy about their ultra-defensive approach against the youngest team in Liverpool’s history, but most League Two teams would not have been good enough to pull it off. Plymouth defended with such...