The Manchester United manager shared the points with Jürgen Klopp after shutting out a Reds side who have been scoring goals at staggering rateConsidering the level of pre-match hype, this was a disappointingly flat contest lacking intensity or technical quality. But then that was precisely what José Mourinho wanted: Liverpool had created chances and scored goals at a staggering rate this season, and United blunted the home team impressively for long periods. Mourinho has been doing this in away matches at big clubs for much of the past 12 years, and while legitimate questions have been asked of his attacking blueprint, defensively he remains a fine coach. Related: José Mourinho criticises ‘cautious’ Liverpool after bore draw at Anfield Related: Manchester...
José Mourinho’s tactics drew the sting from the home side in a much-hyped Premier League encounter that neither he nor Jürgen Klopp could afford to loseIf the world was watching, as the hype would suggest, then Liverpool and Manchester United owe a lot of apologies. The biggest ticket the Premier League has to sell to a global audience did not include incident or entertainment at Anfield and Jürgen Klopp looked beyond convenient excuses to lament his team’s responsibility for the non-event.“When you are in a good moment you can play much better and it should not depend on how the opposition defends because the spaces are always similar,” he said. “Our problem was that we didn’t see them tonight.” When...
The world’s most expensive player again proved an ineffective presence as his United side held out for a point at Anfield in the Premier LeagueAs this game kicked-off Paul Pogba’s “second coming” at Manchester United stood at 10 appearances, one goal, and no show-stopping, game-winning display. There had been flashes of quality but little else to suggest the world’s most expensive footballer was living up to the billing. Nearly two months to the day since his first appearance of the season – a promising turn in the 2-0 win over Southampton – here was a perfect opponent to deliver against.To be a defining factor for United against Liverpool at Anfield is precisely the kind of performance for which £93.2m was...
The podders look back on the weekend in the Premier League and preview all the big Champions League ties, including Manchester City’s trip to Barcelona. Plus: Mauro Icardi’s own goal, and plastic pigs stop play at CharltonSubscribe and review: iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, AcastOn today’s Football Weekly, AC Jimbo is joined by Iain Macintosh, Gregg Bakowski and Paolo Bandini to gander over an entertaining weekend in the Premier League and gaze ahead to some crackers in the Champions League. Continue reading...
Theo Walcott flicks switch for Arsenal if not England, Pedro Obiang takes his chance for West Ham and Tony Pulis acquired a gem in Nacer ChadliOne of the curiosities of the last international break was the ineffectual performance of Theo Walcott for England against Malta and Slovenia. Put him back in an Arsenal shirt, however, and it was as if a switch had been flicked. The 27-year-old scored twice to set his team up for a 3-2 home win over Swansea City and it prolonged his eye-catching start to the club season. He is Arsenal’s top scorer, with seven goals in all competitions. “It’s always difficult when you go from your club to international, there’s a different transition at this...