Mason Greenwood’s goal at Brentford came straight from the Rangnick playbook of swift turnovers and direct runningWith 62 minutes gone at the Brentford Community Stadium something startling happened.Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United – this collection of jumbled limbs, soldered and bolted together on its gurney – sprung unexpectedly to its feet, arms raised towards the light. Continue reading...
Potential upsets, Premier League clubs needing to take it seriously and old foes meeting after taking diverging pathsSwindon and Manchester City were regular combatants in the 1990s, meeting in the second tier and during Swindon’s one season in the Premier League, 1993-94. Friday’s visit to the County Ground will be a first meeting in 20 years. On 5 January 2002, former Swindon man Kevin Horlock scored the second in a 2-0 home win at Maine Road. The years since have seen the clubs move in radically different trajectories, and they now operate on different planets. Swindon arrested a slump with a 5-2 defeat of Northampton on New Year’s Day, and lie in the League Two play-off positions. The club have...
Arsenal should stay positive, Potter shows Benítez a trick and VAR makes refereeing harderOn the first Sunday of 2021, a first-half Chelsea capitulation against Manchester City hastened Frank Lampard’s exit and deepened a despondent mood. Twelve months on, Liverpool’s two early goals at Stamford Bridge could have induced Groundhog Day feelings. Instead, Thomas Tuchel’s side roared back and showed that, whatever other problems have recently beset the Chelsea manager on and off the field, this is a team that plays for him. Though they did so in a rather un-Tuchel-like manner. The intense atmosphere generated by the Premier League debut of safe standing was met with the kind of front-foot, high-tempo performance more associated with a Jürgen Klopp side. Chelsea...
Confusion over the interim manager’s consultancy will not help the technocrat assess how to shape an underachieving squadA scruffy draw at Newcastle was not the beginning of the end of the Ralf Rangnick era and neither was a disjointed win over Burnley its glorious rebirth. Games against sides in the bottom quarter of the Premier League are not really how Manchester United should be judging themselves – not unless they’re losing them 4-1, in which case it really probably is time for a change.Optimists, though, perhaps could see signs of progress on Thursday: in Scott McTominay’s energy and drive, in Edinson Cavani’s continued sharpness, in the way Jadon Sancho swooped in from the flank for the second goal and the...
The new interim manager has quickly realised he has a job on his hands to turn things around at Old TraffordThe festive programme in the Premier League is fabled for its surprises, but for Manchester United this was an unwelcome dose of déjà vu. From the start at St James’ Park, this game called to mind the early days of Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s reign, with this exact fixture his fourth game in charge – and fourth win – three years ago and precisely two weeks into his tenure at Old Trafford.On that occasion at least club and fans were still basking in their escape from the José Mourinho psychodrama, and a sense of goodwill towards Solskjær was clear. The Norwegian...