Trying to talk people into believing Manchester United are a plucky underdog is not fooling anyone, but Mourinho is running out of arguments against why his great rival appears to be simply superior“I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like molten lead”.I tried not to write a José Mourinho column ever again. Even starting this one it feels only right to acknowledge there is no obvious excuse for talking quite so much about a football manager who is, for all his widescreen presence, a surprisingly prosaic character these days. Related: Antonio Conte says José Mourinho has memory problem in fierce attack on rival Related: Paul Pogba fills attacking gap as Everton and United...
Without the injured striker the French midfielder stylishly took on the burden of being Manchester United’s main threat against EvertonBoth these sides have lost their way a little over the festive period, though not to the extent suggested midway through the first half when Wayne Rooney looked up in search of a team-mate to pass to and proceeded to pick out Juan Mata. The Manchester United fans in the Bullens Road stand were singing one of their old songs in Rooney’s honour at the time, yet the Everton captain has been back in blue for several months now and Sam Allardyce was rather hoping his distribution would be a help rather than a hindrance.Allardyce believes Everton have become more solid...
Carvalhal needs immediate impact at Swansea, Schmeichel seeks redemption and Chelsea’s Azpilicueta-Morata combination threatens StokeThe wisdom of appointing Carlos Carvalhal as Swansea’s new manager is, to say the least, questionable: a man who was dismissed on Christmas Eve for underachieving with Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship does not inspire confidence. Still, he may prove successful: many doubted him when he arrived at Wednesday in 2015, and he started well there, reaching the play-offs in his first two seasons. But if he is to change things at the Liberty Stadium, he needs to do it immediately. After Saturday’s game at Watford, three of Swansea’s next four league games are against Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Liverpool. If they do not beat the...
The manager’s complaints over a lack of spending are amusing but there is no doubt Manchester City’s rise has made the job of bringing success back to Old Trafford more difficultIn terms of attention-grabbing headlines and photographs of Manchester United’s manager looking less than delighted with life, José Mourinho truly is the Christmas gift that keeps on giving. Yet amusing as it was to hear the erstwhile Special One complaining that his club have not yet spent enough to compete with the likes of Burnley and Leicester, it must be conceded that Mourinho has a point when he talks of a difference between big clubs and big teams.United are a big club, he suggested, but not yet a big team....
How will Arsenal cope with Liverpool’s fearsome foursome, the Mark Hughes ultimatum and whether Sam Allardyce will ever win over Everton fansIt would be a dereliction of duty if Arsène Wenger has not spent the past few days coming up with a way to stop Liverpool’s fearsome attack from running riot at the Emirates Stadium on Friday night. Arsenal’s manager cannot say that he has not been warned. He knows how much his team has suffered against these opponents since Jürgen Klopp’s arrival on Merseyside in October 2015 and nobody could say it was a surprise when Liverpool hammered Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield in August, with Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah inspired and Philippe Coutinho not even involved....