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Could this be the end for Mourinho?
As an Arsenal fan I am fully expecting us to lose at the weekend. We always lose to Manyoo away in the league right? Then __with Mourinho being the manager, that makes this even more of a certainty.
However, what if we win? I know its unlikely but you never know, we might get lucky. Would that be the final wake up call for the press to notice that Emperor Mourinho has been wearing no clothes for a while now?
Its interesting how the Wenger Mourinho thing all started because in the first match between them (Arsenal vs Chelsea), it was 2-2 and Thierry Henry missed a sitter to win it near the end. Had he scored that, we wouldn’t even be talking about that record. So perhaps what Wenger says that its about the teams not the managers has some merit.
Adonis Stevenson, AFC
Learn from Stevie, Giggsy
Firstly, I am a United fan, and as such have never really liked Steven Gerrard.
Secondly, as a United fan, I have always loved Ryan Giggs. That family business was a little unpleasant, but none the less. He is, and always will be a United legend.
However, his attitude since he left the club has left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. He is attempting to absolve himself from the Moyes/LVG eras, and as is well documented, he was either doing nothing and just putting out cones and therefore unsuitable for a top managerial role,
or was taking an active part and therefor complicit in the worst 3 seasons since I started following them (1985 – Paul McGrath was my hero).
He has then seemed to feel he is entitled to walk into a Premier League managerial position on reputation. Without doubt he felt he should have been given the reins at Old Trafford due to his illustrious playing career, or Swansea because he’s Welsh.
Which is nonsense. It’s been argued before that he should cut his teeth elsewhere, or in lower leagues, and I feel this is the right thing for him to do. It might knock the edges off him.
Now, Steven Gerrard has been linked to the MK Dons job, going as far as to say he has met them, and I have to admire him for that. He is willing to move to a club in the lower half of the Championship and on the face of it doesn’t seem to think he should be delivering Jurgens P45.
Similar situation to Patrick Viera, gone elsewhere to learn the trade. Or to some extent Gary Neville, granted that went tits up but kudos for trying.
So, for once in my life, well done Steven.
Can’t wait to hear what Robbie Savage has to say about a player coming in from foreign leagues and taking another job from Ryan Giggs.
I feel filthy.
DC, BAC
If the reports are to be believed, then Stevie G is going to be the MK Dons manager. I for one would like to applaud him. The easy route would have been to dive into a coaching role at Liverpool or go the Roy Keane route and finish in Scotland __with predictable enough winners Celtic, but the MK Dons offer a different challenge. Earlier this year, Robbie Savage bemoaned Giggs not getting the Swansea job over the vastly more qualified Bob Bradley. Carragher wrote in his column that more Football League Clubs should be offering a chance for ex pros to cut their teeth at management. Fair play to the MK Dons for taking the risk. No matter your opinion on Gerrard, I do think it’s a brave step. I hope he succeeds.
Regards,
Miguel Sanchez, LFC, Eire (Portrait of an icon, Robbie Fowler?)
Herrera is the new Keane (kind of)
A word of warning about Ander Herrera
Miguel Sanchez, Jamo and Alex are all labeling Ander Herrera a nasty b*stard on the football field, and that’s fair (Paul Murphy’s defense was blinkered, at the very least). But, I’m glad to have him as our b*stard. The last proper b*stard to boss Manchester United’s central midfield won 17 trophies and became club captain along the way. Herrera is a far different player to Roy Keane, but we’ve missed an emotionally-connected b*stard at Old Trafford and United fans will happily let Herrera take up that role.
And a word of warning to Eric Dier: yes, you’re bigger and yes, you were wronged by Little Ander but, the conniving, snide, little b*stard always wins this war. There’s also the fact that 80,000 at Old Trafford will scream far louder in protest, should you harm Ander, than those at Wembley; tiny chance you’ll get away with anything… subtle or blatant. The only way, Eric, to exact revenge on Herrera would for Tottenham to dominate United… which is as likely as it will be depressing.
Emad MUFC Boston
Hendo can do it
Please, please Herr Klopp watch the videos from the Suarez season and see how Hendo can do the job Lallana has been doing. Keep Sturridge on the bench and just move Hendo upfield a bit to high press and leave Can and Wjinaldum back. Don’t mess with the trident!
Niall, Denver
More games to watch this weekend
Tottenham – West Ham. Slaven Bilic got everything right the last time these teams met, when his side harassed Spurs all over the pitch, held them to 73% passing, and won 1-0. But that was at Upton Park, Spurs were missing Danny Rose and Kyle Walker, and the Hammers were playing much better football then. Still, as Bournemouth showed, the best way to play Spurs is to attack them, so it should be once more unto the breach. But the current 3-4-3 might leave West Ham light in central midfield — last year’s win came with three in the middle. Tottenham are by some distance the most left-oriented attacking team in the league, so if it’s three at the back, Cheikhou Kouyaté, one of West Ham’s best performers, will be under pressure. Other than a healthier squad, not sure what the answer is for Spurs’ scoring troubles. But Hammers fans are hoping it’s not Adrian, who has been well below his best this season.
Stat: Of regular penalty takers in Europe’s top leagues, Mark Noble is the most successful at sending the keeper the wrong way, at 87% of the time. (That someone is keeping track of this is a triumph for humanity.)
Sunderland – Hull City. Don’t miss this one, folks. By my count, Hull have only one fit and eligible striker, Dieumerci Mbokani, so we might see the 4-5-1 from the second half against Southampton. But Mike Phelan has preferred three at the back lately, and a 3-4-2-1 could really flummox the hosts, who will probably stay with the 4-4-2 which worked at Bournemouth, Victor Anichebe playing a bit behind and to the left of Jermain Defoe. A sign of the change from Allardyce to Moyes is that Patrick Van Aanholt has been getting almost twice as many crosses in, and Ahmed Elmohamady can be vulnerable on that side. Duncan Watmore will tend to cut inside from the right, which will probably suit Sam Clucas’ defensive style. John O’Shea looks fit again and will probably start, but remember that Lamine Koné and Papy Djilobodji are much better in the air, which is where Mbokani can hurt you. Please, Mr. Phelan, press just a little bit?
Stat: Hull City are dead last at preventing pass completions in their defensive third. They’re also dead last in preventing pass completions in the neutral zone. And in their attacking third as well.
Southampton – Liverpool. Possession play meets gegenpressing in the tactical battle of the week. Southampton’s system tends to leave Oriol Romeu isolated in front of the back four, which could be disastrous given Liverpool’s style of attack, even with Lallana and Coutinho missing. Maybe sit Jordy Clasie deep as well? Virgil van Dijk has excelled this season, but his greatest strength is in the air, where Liverpool rarely go. A the other end, although the Reds have at times been susceptible to quick breaks through the gegenpress, the Saints are short on pace, which is exactly why they failed to create more chances against Manchester City. If you’re wondering about corners, given Liverpool’s kinda sorta weakness there (but don’t mention it to Jürgen), Southampton rank fifth in quality of chances created from corners. And while we’re statting, a look at the numbers below suggests the Saints are due for some luck.
Stat: Southampton are dead last in saving opponents’ shots on target (57.1%) and also in scoring their own shots on target (20.0%).
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA
Sky ruining football?
Ever since Sky have taken over the TV rights to the Premiership, many fans have moaned that Sky has ruined football by making it too expensive for the average fan. Looking at spiralling ticket prices since 1992, it’s hard to argue. But to me football clubs themselves escape criticism far too easily and the latest study on ticket prices, showing for the first time attending Premiership matches will be cheaper, has only reinforced my feeling as it so long overdue!
Put it this way – if your favourite beer manufacturer suddenly started making record profits overnight so they decided to put their prices UP, would you still buy the beer? And that’s my point, the amount of money clubs make from TV, now more so than ever, vastly outweighs what they earn from ticket sales. They could pass massive savings onto fans without a drastic change to total profits. But they choose not too, as enough is never enough.
Taking Everton as an example. Let’s assume 30,000 season tickets at £450 a pop generating a revenue of £13.5m. Let’s also assume that they finish in 10th position next season meaning they will earn from TV rights alone around £120m. So why not charge £200 a season ticket? Make £6m from ticket sales, dropping profits a mere 5% – though this would even less if other sources of income were taken into account, like sponsorships. Stock BS phrases like, if you want your team to be competitive on the pitch you need to pay, get rolled out and swallowed. I’ll take my team being 5% s**ter to save the clubs FANS millions thanks very much. Additionally, cheap ticket prices don’t do any harm to big clubs across the continent that make a fraction of the money English teams do.
Now I understand that clubs won’t drop prices if people are willing to pay the money. That’s fair enough. But don’t go moaning at Sky when the price goes up. Moan at your club for not passing the saving onto you and being a greedy b**tard. Unfortunately, being from Scotland I’ll need to continue to pay over the odds to watch dross football, as no company is going to be stupid enough to give the SPL a billion pound mega deal!
Rory (Glasgow)
Outfield keepers
My mind is a bit fuzzy this morning, so apologies for any embellishment of the story.
One of the most underrated players of our day, Phil Jagielka was playing for one of the Sheffield teams ages ago. He started the match in midfield, and scored a hattrick (ok, I think he might have scored one). There was an injury to one of the centre-backs or possibly even a red card, so Jags was moved back to take over in defence. He played like a boss of course, before an injury to the keeper gave the manager a decision to make.
His go-to guy, Jags, took the gloves. The commentators mentioned something about Phil having played as a goalie earlier in his career, but they say that about everyone, right? with most of the second half or so on the clock, Jags defended his sticks resolutely and made some fantastic saves – genuinely!
I’m not sure if that was the start of the manager no longer having a substitute goalie on the bench, but it was definitely the boost that Jags needed to get his big move to…. Everton. His decision making has improved since!
Bobby (Fletcher’s comments on Rooney are spot on!) SAFC, Foster-Westgarth
In response to Oisin, NZ’s request for nominations for the best performance in nets by an outfield player, I give you not one but four. Defender Steve ‘Invincible’ Brown kept goal for Charlton Athletic on four occasions and never conceded a single goal. If I have to choose a favourite then the 4-3 defeat of Aston Villa at Villa Park after regular keeper Andy Petterson had been sent off would be the one.
Andrew F., Hove (CAFC)
Football crushes
Not sure if these count but I always absolutely adored Didi Hamann (still do, come to that) when he was at Liverpool. I will also forever have a massive, unerring crush on Xabi Alonso (though I doubt I am alone on that one). Perhaps a more obscure one is Lucas Leiva. I always loved him. I loved him even when he had that goofy long-hair and seemed to perpetually foul some opposing player in our penalty area for no reason.
When I was a much younger fella, I had a rather bizarre obsession with Faustino Asprilla. Perhaps it was the gloves or just his general craziness. I also will forever adore Fabrizzio Ravanelli. I used to celebrate all my goals in the Ravanelli fashion (putting my shitrt over my head and arms out wide, for you young people). That celebration probably should have meant some big b*stard on the other team giving me one and breaking my leg. Didn’t happen, though… Perhaps because I never scored many goals. So danger averted, then.
Nick V. (I fully admit this email is mind-numbingly dull) Idaho, USA
Surely I’m not the only one who had a huge crush on Morten Gamst Pedersen at Blackburn Rovers? Every goal he scored was a cracker, he was very comfortable on his weaker right foot, and he exuded lazy class like the best left footed midfielders somehow always do.
He scored a few against United in the halcyon Mark Hughes days at Blackburn, when Rovers were a top half side and David Bentley(!) used to join Pedersen in banging in a screamer every now and then.
I was delighted when the rumour came out that United had put in a small bid for him. But I have a feeling perhaps he wasn’t as good as I thought he was and it may not have worked out. I’d never have heard the end of it from my friends… Maybe he was a looker and it really was a crush.
Still, search for Pedersen goals or Pedersen compilation on YouTube and thank me later.
Zinedine (“Pedersen is the best Norwegian midfielder of his generation”) Zidane, MUFC
From Japan, with love
So it’s come to this. 41 games played, one game remaining. Zweigen Kanazawa find themselves bottom of J2, level on points with the team directly above them in the relegation playoff spot and two points from guaranteed safety. They have the the worst attack in the league, and the second worst goal difference. Their leading scorer has 7 goals, a statistic worthy of 2015-16 Crystal Palace, and the striker they signed mid-season and who looked most likely to score the goals that might save their season got injured a few weeks ago. They’ve missed two penalties in the last three games (both ended as goalless draws); the other game was a 2-1 loss at home when they were leading and playing well for the first 70 minutes.
Their opponents for the final game? Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo away. The league leaders, three points clear of second and third, not yet assured of automatic promotion because of a couple of shaky results, but who got a come-from-behind win on Sunday, complete with 95th-minute winner. They strolled (almost literally) to a 1-0 win in Kanazawa in May.
Things have changed since then. Imperceptibly, if you look at the table, but Zweigen’s performances have generally improved, just with little to show for it. I suppose that’s the familiar lament of a team staring into the relegation abyss.
If I were an optimist, I’d say there’s still a chance, that three weeks ago Zweigen were a few points clear in 20th, that at that point they were in the midst of their best run of results all season. I’m not an optimist though; I’ve spent much of my life following Palace and Atalanta. Nevertheless, come Sunday afternoon I’ll be at my laptop, watching the J League website automatically refresh every minute like a slightly modernised version of Ceefax, getting tense and hoping for a miracle.
Regards,
James T, Kanazawa, Japan