The former manager of Scotland, Manchester United and many others was an unconventional and outspoken characterTommy Docherty spent a lifetime breaching convention. From a loft – a “doocot” to Docherty – atop the main stand at Stamford Bridge, he could be found peering down on Chelsea. Docherty, the club’s manager from 1961 until 1967, determined he could have a better view of play from on high.If that was a footballing break from the norm, Docherty’s departure from Manchester United in the summer of 1977 because of an affair with the physiotherapist’s wife dominated Britain’s news agenda. Docherty later married Mary Brown – the pair remained together until his death aged 92 – and apparently bore no grudges at all about...
When Leicester cut down on his freedom it was clear once more that United rely on two or three key players At some level, this game happened. In a sense it was perfect fare for a bleary Boxing Day lunchtime. It was engaging enough without ever being especially demanding and if you did happen to doze off for quarter of an hour or so you wouldn’t have missed anything overly consequential. It certainly didn’t answer any questions. We still don’t know how good Leicester or Manchester United are or whether either is remotely capable of sustaining a title challenge.Both sides have had good patches this season, but neither has entirely convinced, a pattern this game distilled perfectly. No sooner had...
Stretched thinly across the pitch and playing without a back-up plan, Marcelo Bielsa’s men could only plough-on into oblivionPerhaps, when we think about some of the great Marcelo Bielsa teams, this was the sort of thing we had in mind. Feverish attacking football played at a breakneck pace, with courage and verve and runners peeling in all directions. Players seamlessly switching positions and assuming each other’s roles. The problem for Leeds United was that for most of the game they were on the receiving end.Not that you would have known it to look at them. Normally you get some sense of how a game is going from the demeanour and tactics of the two teams: the hunched shoulders and crumpled...
The number of big names to play for both sides is remarkable – but none made a bigger impact than the only player to have won titles with themManchester United versus Leeds will always be one of the most evocative fixtures in top-flight English football, even if Sunday’s game at Old Trafford will be the first league meeting for more than 16 years. Their rivalry is surprisingly intense given that Leeds won their first title in the Don Revie era in the 1960s and have spent much of their time outside the Premier League since becoming the last winners of the old First Division in 1992.Ignore anyone who tells you this has anything to do with the Wars of the...
Manchester United’s eerily featureless 0-0 draw with City will at least have eased the pressure on their manager“Football without fans is nothing,” read the banner draped across the Old Trafford seats on a lukewarm night in Manchester.Not quite nothing, perhaps. But in these Covid-19 ghost games there is a tendency, now and then, for the occasion to collapse like a deflated meringue if the start is too slow, the mood too muted. Football without fans isn’t nothing. But on nights like these it can look like 22 men running around while people in padded jackets shout at them. Related: David de Gea ensures Manchester United take point in draw with Manchester City Related: Everton v Chelsea: Premier League – live!...