Illustrious past that is impossible to replicate is undermining managers at Old Trafford as Mourinho found to his costA football journalist should never welcome the departure of a leading manager, particularly one as notable and quotable as José Mourinho.The guy has been good copy over the last decade and a bit, and remained so right up to the end. Although Manchester United trail forlornly in Manchester City’s wake in most aspects of football relating to the pitch, if you could pick up points for entertaining press conferences or providing pithy replies to questions rather than attempting to defuse them the situation could well be reversed. Related: What next for Manchester United? Sort Pogba mess and show humility United no longer...
David de Gea has been left increasingly exposed, as has José Mourinho’s reliance on Marouane Fellaini as a battering ramThere was a time when the prevailing attitude to José Mourinho was it might not be pretty but he got the job done. At Real Madrid that began to change. Why was he so obsessed by playing his “trivote”, his block of three holding midfielders, even against lesser sides? But still, the problem was at the front of the team: Mourinho sides did not concede goals. This United did: 29 in 17 league games this season, the fifth-worst record in the league. But the situation is even worse than that. David de Gea is widely considered to have surrendered his crown...
A crunch clash at Anfield, depleted Palace and Huddersfield teams, and the start of a crucial run for FulhamIt is a marker of how far Manchester United have fallen to see that when Gary Neville set about choosing his combined XI for Liverpool and Manchester United on Monday Night Football, he included just three outfield United players. The only player he picked with conviction was Anthony Martial at left wing, admitting Eric Bailly would not be in if Joe Gomez was fit and laughing that his selection of Paul Pogba alongside Naby Keïta and Gini Wijnaldum was “just an opportunity to get a United player in”. Nobody would argue that Liverpool are the better side, and have been for a...
Being relegated is now unthinkable but when they went down in 1974 the club was revitalisedThere was a good story at the start of this week’s BT Sport documentary Too Good To Go Down, a highly watchable 90-minute blockbuster about Manchester United’s relegation in the 1973-74 season. Ten minutes into the film the United winger Willie Morgan starts to talk about Wilf McGuinness, who enjoyed an uneasy succession to Matt Busby. Related: Manchester United are crumbling, so why the lack of fan fury? | Jonathan Wilson Related: Ederson leads the way as a ball-playing Premier League midfielder in gloves Related: Manchester United v Fulham: match preview Continue reading...
Chelsea are fragile before meeting Manchester City, Manchester United at home to the bottom club no longer looks a walkover and will it be same old for Saints despite a new manager?It is far too early for any “I’m Sarri I haven’t a clue” headlines but the past few weeks have given a more accurate impression of the job Chelsea’s manager faces. Their defeat by Wolves was sloppy, particularly given they looked comfortable at 1-0 up, and with an evisceration by Spurs still fresh in the memory Sarri is presented with his first real bump in the road. The odds on things improving this Saturday, when Manchester City visit Stamford Bridge, are unpromising but Sarri has always been aware this...