Like a bizarro David Beckham, anything that could go wrong for the Manchester United defender has tended to do just thatThe straw that appears to have broken the camel’s back could scarcely have been more innocuous. On the first Sunday of October 2017, Phil Jones tweeted a reply to Simon Wood, a Masterchef-winning restaurateur who had used Twitter to flag up the presence of the Manchester United defender in his premises earlier that evening. “Fantastic food,” wrote Phil, by way of acknowledgement for the shout-out. “Me and the wife will be back soon. Thank you.”It was in keeping with the kind of mundane to and fro in which Jones occasionally engaged on a social media account that seemed to be...
Romelu Lukaku returns for Chelsea, Raphaël Varane set for United bow and Burnley test Virgil van Dijk’s aerial mettleArsenal beat Chelsea twice last season, including a victory at StamfordBridge three months ago. Since then they have spent heavily on transfers including a £50m centre-back. Their fans must be super-confident as they prepare for Sunday’s Emirates clash, especially those who have blanked out last week’s fiasco at Brentford. But Thomas Tuchel is sure to bear that match in mind as he prepares his strategy for Sunday, and his pre-match pep talk is likely to begin with a good old-fashioned “get into ’em”. Ben White performed no worse than many teammates last week but the expectation on him is higher following his...
The £89m midfielder showed off his remarkable passing range in racking up four assists during a 5-1 demolition at Old TraffordIt was a chance to display new acquisitions. Manchester United led the way, parading Raphaël Varane on the pitch before kick-off, using a quadruple Champions League winner and a 2018 world champion as proof of their largesse. Leeds produced an idiosyncratic response. Enter Marcelo Bielsa, soon to perch on a new bucket.Unlike the other United, Bielsa has never been a slave to the transfer market. He believes that improvement comes from within, aided by relentless running. Luke Ayling has symbolised it. He was a right-back in the lower half of the Championship when Bielsa inherited him, and a scorer of...
Maguire, Dalot and Fernandes also score in 4-0 friendly win Rafael Benítez takes charge of first Everton game in England Manchester United’s commercial department will disagree, but the benefits of not traipsing around the globe in pre-season are paying dividends for Ole Gunnar Solskjær. The United manager is under no illusions he must deliver this season and, on the evidence of a comfortable 4-0 friendly stroll against Everton, his squad is well-prepared for the considerable challenge of closing the gap on Manchester City.Bruno Fernandes celebrated sweeping a stunning free-kick past Jordan Pickford in a manner more befitting a decisive Premier League fixture than the final warm-up game of the summer. Juan Mata and Fred gave the midfielder a standing ovation...
The former Real Madrid defender does not demand attention but his skill set is a perfect fit for the Premier LeagueIn the 10 years since Raphaël Varane joined Real Madrid, he hasn’t done much. Apart from win the Copa del Rey, three league titles and four European Cups. There’s the World Cup, too; 360 games at the biggest club of all, and 79 more for France. But that’s about it. In his first clásico, a Copa del Rey semi-final at the Camp Nou, he cleared one chance one off the line, stopped Lionel Messi taking another and scored a superb header; in the second leg he scored again, taking Madrid to the final. He was 19, and it was all...