Tag: Manchester United
-
If it plays like a flop chances are it is a flop
Manchester United… 1 Arsenal… 3 How the mighty have fallen. And continue to fall. Make no mistake about it, they are still falling. Another transfer window, another episode of Manchester United being outfoxed and outwitted by their contemporaries. What do Matt Le Tissier, Alan Shearer, James Maddison, Cody Gakpo, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Ryan…
-
Magpies draw short straw on return to Champions League
Eddie Howe and Newcastle United were left to rue the Champions League draw living up to the club’s nickname (The Magpies) after the black and white stripes were dealt the short end of the stick on their return to European football’s top competition. The Geordies have been pitched into Group F, wherein they are domiciled…
-
Holders will have to storm the Palace as title defence begins
When you graduate from hunter to hunted, with a target affixed to your back, you need a different approach to things. For the current group of Manchester United players, doing so will be a new experience. And challenge. One which will be tested to the full when they confront Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace at the…
-
Set football aside and there could only be one outcome
In the end, it wasn’t so much a decision as an instinctive reaction. What was done couldn’t be undone. The seen couldn’t be unseen. The heard cannot be dubbed over. Manchester United had no choice but to terminate their association with Mason Greenwood. Yes, if looking at it from a purely football perspective, there may…
-
Decent, but no more than that
Manchester United… 1 Wolves… 0 It’ll do. On the first night of any competition, all anybody wants to do is get a result. To that end, Erik ten Hag et al will be happy enough. But if this performance was a sandwich, Manchester United fans would be going home hungry. The off season and build…
-
Signs they might be about to Mount a genuine challenge again
For as long as I have been properly atuned to goings on in soccer – in England in particular – Manchester United have been linked to whoever the top talent in football happens to be at a given time. Now read on… From Alan Shearer to Paolo Maldini, Roberto Baggio, Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and…
-
Europa League Last 16 Draw
Both Arsenal and Manchester United recently learned who their next opponents on the continent will be after the draw was completed for the Round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League. Mikel Arteta’s side have a trip to Portugal on their agenda having been paired away to Sporting while Erik ten Hag’s newly crowned league…
-
A case for belief
Manchester United… 2 Newcastle United… 0 It doesn’t happen too often, but when a gut feeling turns out to be right it adds another layer of glow to any success which may accrue from what the hunch was. The arrival and impact of Casemiro at Old Trafford fits snugly into the above bracket. It will…
-
Right said Fred let’s settle this St Antony
Manchester United… 2 Barcelona… 1 (United win 4-3 on aggregate) Fred, I owe you a profuse apology. It’s not all that long ago it was opined in this space that it was felt Fred The Red – the Manchester United mascot – would be more useful in central midfield than his Brazilian namesake. So how’d…
-
He’ll make sure we keep talking about him
The prospect of Eamon Dunphy, John Giles and even, Lord help us, the most boring man alive, Liam Brady, in conversation is always worth a listen. Though it will never be quite the same without Bill in the chair. Now read on… Recently, the latest edition of Dunphy’s excellent podcast, The Stand was happened upon…