When Paul Pogba came on against Tottenham, United had their two biggest talents on the pitch together for the first time and this could prove decisive in the run-inIt was, you suspect, a move that Paul Pogba had been practising barefoot in his Cheshire front room for the last three months: tweaking, fine‑tuning, waiting impatiently for the moment when he could unleash it on some poor unwitting mug of an opponent. And here, 10 minutes from the end of a taut and enthralling game, it was Eric Dier who found himself desperately lunging at thin air, giving away the penalty from which Bruno Fernandes earned Manchester United a deserved share of the points.Pogba and Fernandes. Fernandes and Pogba. And Scott...
After a three-month hiatus, some players are in desperate need of a successful end to the seasonEven before a lockdown during which he received a stern talking to from Arsenal for standing too close to his valet and then appearing to inhale nitrous oxide from a balloon, this has been a challenging campaign for Lacazette. After entering it as Arsenal’s player of the season, an early ankle injury stripped his confidence bare. His struggles in front of goal led to a nine-game drought until February, made worse by the fact that his presence shifted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the flank. This seems like an important opportunity for him to return with a clean slate and provide Mikel Arteta with some enthusiasm...
New reality caused by pandemic means a move away is unlikely and with the arrival of Bruno Fernandes the future looks much brighter for UnitedLast summer, as Manchester United toured Japan, Paul Pogba was openly talking about seeking “a new challenge somewhere else”. Frustrated at United’s failure to qualify for the Champions League and with the general sense of drift at the club, and in the expectation of a lucrative move, it made sense for him to be considering his future. A year on, it seems increasingly probable he will stay at Old Trafford. If Pogba does stay United will, for the first time since Alex Ferguson left, have a squad that looks vaguely coherent.Nothing in football is certain –...
In their last game before lockdown, United played with the very thing we’re all lacking right now: freedomThe times they are a-changing us in ways, large and small, that we didn’t see coming. Normally, sitting on the sofa soaking up some sport, I’m a sucker for a cliffhanger. Watching cricket, which is part of my job, I’d rather see England lose by a whisker than win by an innings.With football, I’m less professional and not quite so sporting. So let’s hear it for a match nobody would pick as the best game ever, unless they are Odion Ighalo’s mum: Lask 0-5 Manchester United. Related: 'Industrial espionage': Lask Linz hit back after claims club 'torpedoed' guidelines Continue reading...
United are the most extreme debt-loaded commercial model, predicated on constant growth. What happens when it crashes?What’s your favourite bit of non-football-football so far? In my opinion the best new sub-genre to emerge is pictures of José Mourinho delivering vegetables.You don’t have to go looking for them. They just turn up on your social media feed or on the click-bar beneath a news story. Handsome, crinkly José carrying a box of lettuce across the tenement threshold. José in a surgical mask distributing radishes to elderly war heroes. José off-camera giving a secret briefing against the fucking artichoke guy who isn’t pulling his weight (premium content: subscribers only). Related: Next season's cup competitions may suffer, says United's Woodward Related: Championship makes...