Manchester United’s new permanent manager has calmed nerves and brought back the spirit of 1999 but is inexperiencedBackwards, then, to a glorious future. Where change has failed, let there be continuity. After six years of churn and unconvincing change, Manchester United in appointing Ole Gunnar Solskjær on a permanent basis have turned not merely to an icon of their past but to a manager who seems determined to be a conduit for that past. Let there be progress through history. Let it always be 1999.It is a popular move and, on the face of it, a good one. Solskjær has transformed this season. Yet Ed Woodward’s track record is such that every time he takes a decision the instinct is...
Whether results are good or bad, we fixate on the idea that managers are accountable for what happens on the pitch. But how much can they really change after the whistle blows?This weekend, in keeping with most others, a much-scrutinised if seldom enlightening ritual will have been enacted once more: the post-match managerial interview. It’s a strange phenomenon, if you think about it, but coverage of a football match without quizzing the manager at the end would now seem as unnatural as the police not questioning the prime suspect in a crime.It has become an integral part of the mechanism that bestows upon managers a position somewhere between a god and a fool, depending on the result. But once a...
A dissatisfied José Mourinho clashing with a disenchanted Paul Pogba shows how much the club misses Sir Alex FergusonA new dimension to the José Mourinho-Paul Pogba saga has been provided by Dimitar Berbatov, rapidly making a name for himself in a Sybil Fawlty specialist-subject-the bleedin’-obvious kind of way as a spokesman for a gambling company. “Football should be about what happens on the pitch, not who has the biggest dick,” the former Manchester United striker said. “I’m fed up of seeing these headlines, you are all grown-ups and this sort of thing really needs to be kept in-house.” Related: No love left as José Mourinho’s scowl sums up Manchester United mood | Daniel Taylor Continue reading...
Following their last-16 defeat by Sevilla, we revisit five of Manchester United’s worst Champions League encountersManchester United’s return to the European Cup was fiercely anticipated – they had been away since 1969. After winning the Cup Winners’ Cup immediately after the return of English clubs to continental competition, in those crazy altruistic and naive days when that was what was done, they were expected to have a suitable go at the Champions League. But in place at the time was a rule limiting the number of foreigners that could be fielded by each club, and though United’s squad was largely British and Irish, the restriction applied to all who were either born outside of England, or were not considered “assimilated”....
As Frenchman prepares for 811th league game in charge to overhaul Sir Alex Ferguson it will sharpen focus on his legacy and who will eventually succeed himBehold, the age of Arsène. The past few years of Arsène Wenger’s extended Arsenal farewell have brought something new, a gradual piling up of gongs and garlands that have little to do with trophies won or goals scored but speak instead to his extreme, unyielding longevity. Longest-serving Arsenal manager. Longest-serving manager in Europe. As Wenger ticks these marks off like some stately old slugger gamely rounding the bases, tipping his cap to the bleachers, there is a feeling of end times about this.In July Wenger edged past Sir Alex Ferguson as the longest-serving manager...