In a saner world it would be possible to decry the hawking of this institution as if it were a piece of knock-off jewelleryThe final deadline for bids to buy Manchester United passed on Friday night. Although in fairness, it feels barely more final than the first two deadlines that passed in February and March. Given the looseness with which the Glazers appear to regard deadlines, (“mufc bid proposal FINAL FINAL USE THIS.docx”) it is possible that when they finally take their leave of the club a lucrative career in column-writing awaits them.And so to the latest and hopefully the last round of a protracted charade that has come to resemble a reality television show in which viewers are sadly...
Villa can put wind up Manchester United, a City old boy runs into Haaland and Spurs have an awful history at AnfieldPeople are no longer ignoring the massive turnaround Unai Emery has performed at Villa Park. There were not many personnel changes in January; teenage striker Jhon Durán was signed from Chicago Fire, Bertrand Traoré was recalled from loan at Istanbul Basaksehir and, most importantly, Alex Moreno joined from Real Betis. Lucas Digne has been deposed from the defence and Villa have only lost twice in Moreno’s 15 appearances, with the Spaniard quickly becoming integral to the system. He is popular off the pitch too, ingratiating himself with fans with a recent interview in English, smiling throughout despite not yet...
Erik ten Hag can be satisfied with an FA Cup final place but Brighton show how fine football is possible on a limited budgetSemi-finals, famously, are not for playing but for winning. It doesn’t matter how you get to the final, just that you do so. Brighton will wonder how on earth they didn’t win a game they dominated for long periods, but it is Manchester United who will face Manchester City in the final on 3 June. They just have to hope spite and the desire to prevent City emulating their 1998-99 treble proves a better motivator than overcoming Roberto De Zerbi’s side.This was not a good United performance, nothing like one. As the Wembley PA belted out “Glory,...
The defender wasn’t the only calamitous performer in Europa League defeat, but a summer exit looks increasingly likely Manchester City (6-2 away), Liverpool (7-0 away) and now 3-0 at Sevilla: the Spanish side join the roll call of those this season to embarrass Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United seriously in a high-stakes game.José Luis Mendilibar’s team stand 13th in La Liga but were handed the initiative early on by the hapless Harry Maguire, whose annus horribilis may have reached a nadir in Andalucía. Eight minutes in and the captain’s darkest nightmare became true, unwanted real life. What unfolded seemed to begin in agonising slow-motion before speeding up to compound the pain. It was the kind of error that has made...
Manchester City are peaking at the right time, Brentford risk their season petering out and Spurs live in the land of uncertaintyAfter Manchester City’s 3-0 humbling of Bayern Munich, next up at the Etihad is the Premier League’s second-bottom team, Leicester. This will be the champions’ last league game before a seismic clash with Arsenal on 26 April. Pep Guardiola’s men are in ripe form just as the treble roves into sight, with next Wednesday’s return at Bayern in the Champions League coming three days before a Wembley trip to take on Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-finals. Erling Haaland is adding assists to his goal-gluttony, Bernardo Silva’s dancing feet are back, and Rúben Dias is a colossus in...