Club’s compassionate approach recognises that lockdown life ‘leaves a big hole’ for children ripped from their usual routinesLast Friday I had a good old-fashioned nosy at Ryan Giggs’s kitchen, close enough to check out his fancy light fittings – if only virtually. Like much of the past month, it was a surreal experience, this one conjured up by the youth development team at Manchester United.When, one Saturday morning in 2014, a man in a padded jacket slid along the touchline to hand me his number on a scrap of paper, I looked at him blankly. He said he was a scout for United and would like to get my son down to the development centre to take a closer look....
Focus on securing noodle and mattress partners has brought derision but it puts club in a good position to weather stormOle Gunnar Solskjær broke cover a few days ago, appearing on Sky Sports to tell his pal Gary Neville that once the pandemic is over Manchester United are hoping to be able to exploit any unexpected transfer market opportunities caused by clubs being forced into financial difficulties through lack of income during the long layoff.That was how the conversation was reported in most newspapers, anyway. The United manager did not choose the word exploit, and though Neville subsequently conceded his question might have been more diplomatically phrased, it is a little late now to be sparing the feelings of clubs...
West Ham’s win was all the more memorable because their talented group of youngsters were soon to be broken upThey moved the ball quickly and gracefully, the three kids at the heart of West Ham’s midfield. There was no hint of any fear, no sign of Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard shrinking.They took the ball in difficult areas and it was impossible not to admire how they determined they were to seize the moment against Manchester United, who would exit the FA Cup after Fabien Barthez’s foolhardy decision to impersonate a man hailing a cab allowed Paolo Di Canio to steal a famous win. Related: Di Canio - Barthez didn't confuse my brain Continue reading...
Tottenham and Manchester City are among the clubs who would probably make very different decisions if they could reset the Premier League as if it were Football ManagerThe season must be completed. The season must be abandoned now. As the arguments gabble on, only occasionally acknowledging their own hypothetical nature given how little we know about how the virus will proceed, how long the lockdown may last and whether there may be a second wave of infections when it is lifted, it’s tempting t o dip into another hypothetical. What if this were like a game of Football Manager? What if we could quit without saving and go back and start again last summer? What would Premier League clubs, given...
With no live football on in most countries, we have asked our writers to pick a game they will never forgetMuch as the internet wills it otherwise, football inhabits the grey areas: everything is subjective, nothing is absolute, and it is no more deviant to change your mind than it is fraudulent to say you don’t know.However, certain truths are elemental, and here’s one: the 1996-2005 rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester United is the greatest the English game has seen, with – cue Arsène Wenger internal voice – quality, intensity and animosity beyond compare. And, though 2004’s “I’ll see you out there” encounter comes close, its zenith – and therefore English football’s zenith too – was the 1999 FA Cup...