You might not know it listening to José Mourinho but United are having a great season while Antonio Conte does not even seem to know his best teamTo correct a misleading impression that has been slowly building up over the last few weeks, largely because a certain resident of the Lowry hotel has been busy expressing dissatisfaction at every available opportunity, Manchester United are having a really good season.They are practically through to the knockout stages of the Champions League already, having won four games out of four. They are second in the Premier League and are unbeaten at Old Trafford, where Burton Albion remain the only team to have scored a goal against them all season. They have the...
In Spain the Portuguese’s Real Madrid twice outscored his rival’s Barcelona but the Manchester United manager’s big-match caution comes at a price while City are dazzlingIt can feel like a trick of the imagination sometimes to remember there was once a time when José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were comrades. Not friends, perhaps, but certainly allies and close enough that Guardiola saved his future bete noire from a tight spot back in the days before Mourinho, as Real Madrid manager, started referring to Barcelona only as ellos (them).It’s a great story given what we know now. Barcelona were playing Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés and at full-time Luis Fernández, the home team’s manager, appeared ready to throttle the newly appointed...
The Manchester United manager continued his needless bickering with a section of the home support in his programme notes but his reasons remain unclearEnjoy the game is a phrase every football fan reads every week if they buy a match programme and bother with the manager’s notes. It is a standard greeting, an anodyne pleasantry, so of course José Mourinho, who did not get where he is today by being standard or anodyne, chose to subvert it.“I hope you enjoy the game more than some of you did against Tottenham,” was how the Manchester United manager addressed his public, continuing the needless bickering with the club’s supporters he began after the narrow league victory on Saturday.Chelsea (Nov 2014) Related: Manchester...
Liverpool’s search for a penalty-taker goes on, Mauricio Pochettino appeared unruffled after defeat at Old Trafford and Manchester City don’t look invincibleNext Sunday, Manchester City host Arsenal at 1.30pm and Manchester United play Chelsea at 4pm; it really is amazing just how often the fixture list throws up these coincidences! And whatever happens in the first game, the pressure will be on those playing in the second, because if City win, those teams will be fighting to stay in touch; if they do not, they will be fighting to take advantage of a rare City slip. So how do Arsenal make that happen? Well, their attacking trident of Mesut Özil, Alexis Sánchez and Alexandre Lacazette are good enough to give...
It is early days but managerial stability is powering an upsurge in results which suggests the Premier League sides can threaten Europe’s bestThe Champions League group stage is now at its halfway point, each team having played three matches with three more to come, and before anything happens to spoil the effect it might be worth pressing the pause button for a moment to take in the unexpectedly fine view.Not only does the Premier League boast the impressive total of five entrants this time, thanks to Manchester United’s dogged perseverance in last season’s Europa League, but all five English clubs at present top their groups. The competition is still young, yet even though Tottenham have visited the Bernabéu and Chelsea...