Scene of some of the manager’s greatest triumphs has brought devastating lows more recently and Manchester United will smell bloodDeep in football conversation a few years ago Arsène Wenger outlined a theory he had about how the way managers talk about football can get into a player’s subconscious. This was not everyday football manager‑speak. “The way you speak out is seeds in the brains of your players,” he said. “It is subconscious, it is interesting. I am very interested in the subconscious force of the memory of a team.”In a nutshell the concept is about how strongly certain messages, or raking up of past experiences, can come out in the way a team plays. Related: José Mourinho admits to regrets...
United miscalculated the Alex Ferguson succession and, as Arsène Wenger prepares to visit Old Trafford for the final time with Arsenal, his club has all that potential disruption to comeArsenal have only three away games left in the Premier League this season but happily there is still time for Arsène Wenger to return to Manchester United, the scene of many of the highs and lows in his extraordinary career.One suspects the image that will surface most often this weekend is the iconic one of Wenger banished to the stands in 2009, arms outstretched at the pettiness of it all after being told by match officials that kicking a water bottle in frustration was far too grievous an offence to be...
Harry Kane is out of sorts, Joe Hart soars before being floored, and Stoke must choose between youth and experience up frontWhile Southampton will take something from getting this far in the world’s most celebrated domestic cup competition there are other, more pressing priorities, such as making a late dash for safety in the Premier League. Can they take any hope from their performance? Not from the first half. Olivier Giroud’s goal at the beginning of the second period forced Mark Hughes to change things, however, and it was to his team’s benefit. A 3-5-2 became a 3-4-3 and suddenly Charlie Austin was getting service. Southampton will feel they could and should have had an equaliser before Chelsea settled the...
Despite FA Cup semi-final failure against Manchester United, the progress the Argentinian is making at Spurs is undeniableIt feels as though Mauricio Pochettino’s career at Tottenham has been a battle with the club’s essential nature, with the need to end the curse of Spursiness. Spurs had this game in the bag, then they did not and the result was yet another semi-final defeat.Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Pochettino’s reign is that every time he has been set a problem he has responded. Continue reading...
Manchester United midfielder recovered from a shaky start against Tottenham to showcase his silky creative gifts in the FA Cup semi-final’s pivotal momentsIt seems safe to say Paul Pogba will never please everyone. Not least when so many of those watching seem so eager to be displeased: to rail at every moment of struggle, those times where Manchester United’s most intermittently captivating midfielder refuses to do all of the many things that have been expected of him since his return to English football.United and Pogba have both sputtered and sparked this season. At times they have seemed a perfect fit in the most unwanted way, a team and a star player who are both prone to fades, moments of drift,...