manchester united Category
Manchester United football club news, Manchester United transfers, Premier League
Transfer balls: Manchester United have cool £120m for Bale who won’t laugh at Spurs
Two spots of Transfer Balls on the BBC’s clickbait football pages. First up the news that Manchester United “will offer” Real Madrid 140m euros (£121.8m) for the brilliant Gareth Bale. Oh, and the Spanish shopping trip does not end there because United are also in for Barcelona’s Spanish 29-year-old left-back Jordi Alba.
United are desperate. You realise just how needy the Red Devils are when the BBC also notes that Manchester City “believe” they can recruit Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez, 27, for a “knockdown fee of £60m – though it will still break their transfer record.” United spent more than that on Lukaku.
Over £120m for Bale is a lot of money but just one day ago the Mirror was telling us the Welshman would cost United £335m. The advice must be to give it a week and get him for around £20m. Bale’s price is falling fast.
Spanish publication AS, however, backs up the BBC’s guesswork with the story that Bale is wanted by United, Bayern Munich and – get this – Spurs. This is what the Spurs link looks like when its puts through the wonder of Google Translate:
On Tuesday, the British newspaper Independent claims that Pochettino’s Tottenham has joined the bid for the Cardiff end. According to the English publication, Tottenham plans an operation to bring back the player who sold to Madrid for 101 million euros in the summer of 2013. This operation would include a salary cut for Bale…
This contractual data would be very similar to what is currently charged by Tottenham’s flagship player, Harry Kane, so Bale would not be the highest paid player in the London team. Of course, Tottenham is confident that despite these salary cuts, the desire of the Welshman to play all the minutes he does not have in Madrid and to return to the team in which he exploded as a player would be enough to convince the Welshman.
Bale ‘could’ in the Indy
Bale must be chomping at the bit to rejoin Spurs for less money and less chance to winning anything. So why not take an even larger salary cut and return to Southampton?
Worth checking out the Independent’s story, then. The Indy is now a cickbait factory. It says Bale “could” could Spurs. Just as he could join Millwall or could eat nine shredded wheat. The Indy says Spurs “may” bid for Bale. Spurs have a chance because “United are now cool on the player”. “Sources” says Bale thinks Spurs is an option. Or as Sky puts it:
Sky ‘understands’
Gareth Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett is set to meet with Real Madrid officials to decide the Wales star’s future – but he will not be returning to Tottenham, Sky Sports news understands.
And how “cool” are United on Bale? About as cool as a wasabi enema if the tabloids are to be believed:
Utter balls, then.
And we’ve been here before. The story of Bale to Man United returns each summer:
Bale never has joined a desperate Manchester United, preferring to remain at the mighty Real and win the Champions League year after year after year…
Posted: 30th, May 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Transfer Balls: Joe Hart to Manchester United unless Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea get there first
Spare things are not as good as the first choice stuff: second homes, the assistant manager, that old spare mobile with the crack in the screen that might be useful should the lovely new iPhone break. So should the superb David Dea Ge get injured, Manchester United will call up their spare goalkeeper: Joe Hart. The 31-year-old former England goalkeeper still sat on Manchester City’s books, the anti-dandruff campaigner who plays with all the calm authority of a drunk on the night bus and is as mobile as said bus, has “emerged as a contender to join Manchester United as back-up to David de Gea” says the BBC. Jose Mourinho is “resigned to losing current reserve keeper Sergio Romero”.
The Sun agree that Hart to Man United is being considered. But fans of the club can quell the rising panic in the knowledge that neither the BBC nor the Sun come up with single fact to support their claim. After season-long loan spells at Torino and then West Ham United, Hart and his agent are scouting round for a club to take him on. A year go, the Mail told its readers that Arsenal were going to pay £15m for Hart. The Mail reported:
Arsenal are interested in Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart as they consider replacements for Petr Cech. It could lead to a tug-of-war with Liverpool, who have long been linked with the England international. The Gunners are going to look for a new goalkeeper after this season, with 34-year-old Cech to become their No 2 if he stays.
Cech stayed as Arsenal number 1. Liverpool went with Loris Karius. And Hart went to West Ham, who paid half his £130,000-a-week wages. There he spent much of the season on the bench.
Hart’s contract at City lasts until June 2019. The Star tells us: “Joe Hart not waiting forever for Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea to set up summer move.” That story is rooted in an anonymous source, who told the Sun: “Joe will do what is right for him and his young family. He long accepted his Man City career is over and values playing above everything else. There is still some chatter Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea could be interested but he’s been around long enough not to be waiting by the phone.”
If the media is to be believed, the player who was Number 2 at West Ham and Number 3 at Manchester City is wanted by Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. Five of the top 6 Premier League clubs, then, are all after Hart. And the only top six club not interested is Spurs – which, oddly enough, pay their top performers much less than Hart earns.
It’s going to be busy few weeks for Hart’s agent…
Posted: 27th, May 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United balls: Paul Pogba’s hair goes it alone
When Denmark’s football coach Åge Hareide talked about facing France in the World Cup and mentioned one of their players, Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, the Press mangled his words. Hareide was speaking with Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The paper headlined the story: “Åge Hareide designates the Danish World Cup quarterfinals as a target.” The full story is behind a paywall. But the Mirror has read it, apparently, and tells its readers:
“Man United star Paul Pogba slammed by national team boss – ‘Damn it, he cares so much about his appearance’ – Denmark boss Age Hareide has stuck the boot into the French international midfielder
The story tells us:
Paul Pogba has been mocked by Denmark’s coach before they meet in the World Cup next month. And Age Hareide claimed Didier Deschamps’ team are not “anything special” with no outstanding players… Hareide, who will face the French in Moscow on June 26, claimed the Manchester United midfielder is not a leader – and is obsessed with flashy haircuts. “He played against Manchester City with his hair dyed blue and white, maybe he’ll have it red and white to play us,” said the 64-year-old.. “Damn it, he cares so much about his appearance…”
That what he said? Not quite.
What he said was – and this through Google Traanslate:
“One day he [Pogba] is good, another bad. He played against Manchester City with his hair dyed in blue and white, maybe he’s red and white when he meets us.
Does he just think of his hairstyles?”
In other news from the Premier League football season just gone:
“Paul Pogba reveals latest haircut” – August 23 2017
“Garth Crooks took aim at Paul Pogba’s haircut” – September 11 2017
“Paul Pogba has unveiled another crazy hairstyle as he eyes a return to action” – Sep 26, 2017
“BBC pundit Garth Crooks has a weird obsession with footballers haircuts” – Nov 20, 2017
“‘Hair is burning!'” Paul Pogba shows off new outrageous hairdo” – December 15 2017
“Paul Pogba shows off striking new haircut” – February 26 2018
“Manchester United supporters slam Paul Pogba after he takes to Instagram to post picture of his new hairstyle” – March 19 2018
“Paul Pogba’s latest haircut provokes priceless reaction from Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud” – March 28 2018
‘”It’s ridiculous” – Gary Neville slams Paul Pogba for dying his hair”‘ – April 7 2018
You can read all those stories in the Daily Mirror. Damn it – they care so much about his appearance!
Posted: 25th, May 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer balls: Costa’s £39m reasons to join Manchester United
Did you know Manchester United are “willing” to splurge £79m on Douglas Costa, the Bayern Munich forward? The BBC says they are. That’s a lot of money for a player Bayern farmed out on loan to Juventus last season. When Costa joined the Italians on a season-long loan last July, terms of the deal were written across the newswires. Juventus would pay Bayern €6m (£5.3m). There was an additional €1m (£885,000) in performance-related add-ons. Crucially, there was an option to buy Costa outright for a further €40m (£35.4m).
So Costa would cost Juventus around £40m were they to sign up. But Manchester United are “willing” to pay £79m for the same player. Really?
Over in the Sun Manchester United are “ready” to pay £79million for Costa. In the insane world of football transfers – and the twilight world of football reporting – Juventus would buy Costa for £40m and the next day be able to sell him to Manchester United for double that. Agree to give Costa two signing-on fees, and the Brazilian and his agent are happy.
The Sun
The Daily Star
The tin lid is places on this absurd story when the Sun tells its readers :”Presently, the chances of Costa ending up at Old Trafford stand at 40 per cent.” Says who? Dunno. The Sun doesn’t bother to show us the maths. But it works at 1% for every million a desperate United will are ready and willing to pay over the odds to get their man.
Of course, it’s all true. And United had best move quickly. That fee for Costa rising fast. Just two days ago, United were ready and willing to pay £40m to get Costa, said the Mirror:
Of course, if you believe everything in the papers and on the BBC, Douglas Costa joined Chelsea in 2015:
Daily Star: Costa to Chelsea. It was Costa’s “dream move”. “I’ve realised a dream,:” said Costa when he signed for Bayern Munich for £21m.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 25th, May 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United fans in Mourinho Instagram time warp
Manchester United manger Jose Mourinho was so upset following his side’s defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup final that he deleted his Instagram account. Well, so say the papers. The Daily Mirror reports: “Jose Mourinho ‘deletes’ Instagram after abusive comments as Man United lose FA Cup final against Chelsea’.” The Sun says Jose “has deleted his Instagram account after copping a load of online abuse following yesterday’s FA Cup final defeat”.
And more: “Jose Mourinho deleted Instagram account after Man United’s FA Cup final defeat” – Irish Independent
Pesky fact: Jose Mourinho deleted his Instagram account on the Thursday BEFORE the Cup Final.
Posted: 21st, May 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United found and mislaid the ‘new Duncan Edwards’
When Phil Jones gave way the penalty that Eden Hzaard scored to give Chelsea 1-0 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup final, he looked both slow and clumsy. It was all so different, of course, when the hype machine hailed Jones’ £16.5m 2011 transfer from Blackburn Rovers.
The Manchester Evening News hailed Jones as the “Reds’ latest teenage wonderkid”. He was ‘the new Duncan Edwards’. The paper added that he might be a reincarnation:
In an amazing coincidence, Jones was born on February 21 – the day United legend died as a result of injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster.
How good was Edwards? Former United great Wilf McGuinness told us: “To me he was like Roy Keane, Bryan Robson and Steve Gerrard rolled into one.” That’s how good Jones was.
So who said Jones was the new Edwards? No-one. The hype came from one quote. “If you talk to Bobby Charlton,” said Paddy Crerand, Bobby Charlton’s team-mate in United’s 1968 European Cup winning team, “Phil Jones reminds him of Duncan Edwards with his power and build.” And that was it.
“Phil Jones destined for Manchester United folklore,” said the BBC.
That was then…
Posted: 20th, May 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Premier League fixes schedules to give Arsenal, Liverpool Manchester United and rest of big six easier starts
The Premier League doesn’t pull a fixture lit at random from the hat. The schedule’s fixed so that none of Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City – the so-called ‘Big Six’ – meet on the opening or final weekends of the season. This secret agenda means fans watch matches between the biggest clubs throughout the season and attendances for the final matches remain higher than if everyone was tuning in for a title decider between two heavyweights – all matches on the final weekend kick off at the same time. The season’s opening games are in the summer, when many people are on holiday. Less people tuning in means less advertising cash. As with everything in the Premier League, it’s all about the money.
And the new scheduling stymies the effect of unusual results, like Leicester winning the title or Liverpool finishing 8th. Clubs are arranged over their “highest average finishing positions in the Premier League competition over the three seasons immediately preceding that season”.
Sad to think you’ll never see a thrilling finale again, like when Arsenal played Liverpool in a title decider on May 26, 1989. There will never be a winner takes all match.
I was there!
A spokesman for the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) tells us: “We are very concerned about this apparent designation of an elite group of top-six clubs. Every Premier League club should be treated equally, and we also do not agree with this push for them to receive a bigger share of television money. The AST would like the focus to be on organising fixtures and kick-off times that are convenient for fans who go to matches, rather than what best suits domestic or overseas TV viewers.”
Kevin Miles, chief executive o f The Football Supporters’ Federation, adds: “This is certainly news to us and we look forward to holding discussions with the Premier League about the pros and cons of it.”
Pros: money. Cons: treating fans like lab rats.
Posted: 8th, May 2018 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Manchester United Alex Ferguson ‘fights for life’ and privacy
The red-top tabloids agree on one thing: former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is “fighting for his life”:
The Sun on Sunday, Mirror and Star all lead on Sir Alex Ferguson’s emergency operation for a brain haemorrhage. The former Manchester United boss is in intensive care at Salford Royal Hospital.
The news is peppered with good will wishes from many, including Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s unlikely Fergie is reading them. But such public displays of support serve to pad out the single-thread news and cast a light on the tweeters and Instagramers.
Ferguson’s family have asked for privacy – which is presumably why the news media is camped outside the hospital. Sky News’ man in the car park told us this morning that Fergie is “in the best place”. You think?
Amidst much guff, credit, then to Everton manager Sam Allardyce who rather than shining a light on himself, offered instead: “I hope he’s in good hands and I hope the operation is a major success.”
Well said. And well said too, Man United’s Ashley Young: “Gutted to hear the news tonight about Sir Alex. Don’t really know what else to say other than thoughts and prayers with you and your family, boss.”
A bit less well said was is what former United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar noted: “Devastated about the news about Sir Alex and knowing all too well about the situation ourselves. Stay strong and hope together with everyone you recover.”
He is alive, Edwin.
Posted: 6th, May 2018 | In: manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Manchester United great Alex Ferguson is very ill
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has undergone emergency surgery for a brain haemorrhage. We all wish him well.
Ferguson led Manchester United to 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League and FA Cups over 26 years. When he did finally retire in 2013, he told us: “The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about. It is the right time.”
He did, of course, plan to quit in 2002. “My first run at retirement was a textbook case for how not to do it,” he wrote. “I was turning 60, which in my father’s time was a watershed age, but these days has far less significance. I could not help but think of what happened to Jock Stein and Bill Shankly after they had retired from Celtic and Liverpool, and I was determined that would not happen to me.”
When he did call it a day, Ferguson’s his wife Cathy was instrumental in making up his mind. He called it a “watershed moment” when Bridget, Cathy’s twin, died in late 2012. He wrote: “I felt that, after all those years during which Cathy had put me first, it was time that I took care of her needs.”
In his 2015 book, Leading, Ferguson told us about his new routine: “Now, after a lifetime of getting ready for work at six in the morning, I like waking up at eight, having breakfast with Cathy (which I had not done for 30 years), reading the paper, and going to have lunch in the village… For the first time in my life, I was in charge of my life in a way that I had not been since the school holidays of my childhood. It was a liberating experience and has allowed me to do things that I could never have done while at United.”
Posted: 5th, May 2018 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United should wish Fellaini a bon voyage to China
The two words Manchester United should tell Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini, 30, as he haggles over a new deal are “zài jiàn”. The Sun says Fellaini has “warned” United that unless they offer him huge money he will consider moving to China.
It comes to something when an average Premier League footballer – albeit one who makes full use of his height and reach; but lacks pace, technique and poise – is firing shots across the bows of one of the world’s biggest clubs. The question is not what United should do to please Fellaini but how he ever played for United in the first place?
The Sun says it would cost £50m to “replace” Fellaini. Which invites another question: why would you want to?
It’s also utter tosh. Fellaini joined a desperate United from Everton in 2013 for £27.5m. Since then, United have splashed out on the following talents:
Juan Mata (Chelsea) £37,100,000 – 25 Jan, 2014
Ander Herrera (Ath Bilbao) £29,000,000 – 26 Jun, 2014
Luke Shaw (Southampton) £27,000,000 – 27 Jun, 2014
Andreas Pereira (PSV Eindhoven) – 01 Aug, 2014
Marcos Rojo (Sporting) – £16,000,000 20 Aug, 2014
Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid) – £59,700,000 26 Aug, 2014
Daley Blind (Ajax) – £13,800,000 01 Sep, 2014
Victor Valdes (Barcelona) – Free 08 Jan, 2015
Memphis Depay (PSV Eindhoven) – £25,000,000 11 Jun, 2015
Matteo Darmian (Torino) £1 -2,700,000 11 Jul, 2015
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) – £14,400,000 13 Jul, 2015
Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton) – £25,000,000 13 Jul, 2015
Sergio Romero (Sampdoria) – Free 27 Jul, 2015
Anthony Martial (Monaco) – £36,000,000 01 Sep, 2015
Regan Poole (Newport Co) – £100,000 01 Sep, 2015
Eric Bailly (Villarreal) -£30,000,000 08 Jun, 2016
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Paris St-G. Free 01 Jul, 2016
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (B Dortmund) -£26,000,000 06 Jul, 2016
Paul Pogba Juventus (£89,300,000) – 08 Aug, 2016
Victor Lindelof Benfica (£31,000,000) – 14 Jun, 2017
Romelu Lukaku (Everton) – £75,000,000 10 Jul, 2017
Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) – £40,000,000 31 Jul, 2017
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) – Player plus cash – 22 Jan, 2018
And in that same period: Manchester City bought Kevin De Bruyne for £55m in 2015; Liverpool bought Mo Salah for £39m in 2017; and Spurs bought Del Elli for £5m in 2015.
But for £50,m you can get another Fellaini. If you’re not careful you can, yes.
Here’s Fellaini:
“I went to see the manager last year, and said I wanted a new contract. I then had a second meeting, but I’m not going to ask ten times. Since then I have become important for the team – and it costs £50m minimum to buy a good new player.”
No. It doesn’t. As Jose Mourinho put it on May 1:
“My Player of the Year has to be Scott McTominay.”
He cost United nothing in transfer fees. He’s 21. He’s dynamic. He’s hungry. And never once has he sounded as if he was doing the club a favour.
Best of luck in China, Marouane. Close the door on the way out…
Posted: 3rd, May 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Joe Mourinho admits something is wrong with De Gea at Manchester United
How are things progressing for Manchester United with Jose Mourinho in charge? Pretty good. Second in the table, albeit a mile behind Manchester City, and in the final of the FA Cup, United are competitive. Mourinho will have been two years in the job this May 27. Has progress been made under his pragmatic methods?
This is what Jose said in January 6 2017:
“I think when a goalkeeper is a player of the season, it’s because something is wrong. Of course I would love goalkeepers to be recognised, to win the golden ball (Ballon d’Or), to be player of season in the Premier League because goalkeepers are lonely guys with a different shirt to everybody else.
“When they play phenomenal people forget, when they make a mistake, everyone remembers. That’s why I hugged David at the end of the West Ham game because no save, Antonio goal, no three points.
“Season after season the goalkeeper is player of the season, it means that something is wrong. Hopefully he’s not player of the season this season but hopefully he keeps making important saves for us like he did in last week”
And so to today’s news:
David De Gea has been crowned the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year for 2017/18. The coveted award is certainly in safe hands as the Spanish stopper has now won it more times than any other player in United’s history. It’s the fourth time in five seasons that De Gea has claimed the historic accolade.
De Gea is the only goalkeeper to have won the award. He’s won it in both season’s Mourinho has been in charge.
This is the list of all the winners to date since the award was first given in 1988:
1987–88 Brian McClair, Forward
1988–89 Bryan Robson, Midfielder
1989–90 Gary Pallister, Defender
1990–91 Mark Hughes, Forward
1991–92 Brian McClair
1992–93 Paul Ince, Midfielder
1993–94 Eric Cantona, Forward
1994–95 Andrei Kanchelskis, Midfielder
1995–96 Eric Cantona France Forward
1996–97 David Beckham, Midfielder
1997–98 Ryan Giggs, Midfielder
1998–99 Roy Keane, Midfielder
1999–2000 – Roy Keane
2000–01 Teddy Sheringham, Forward
2001–02 Ruud van Nistelrooy, Forward
2002–03 Ruud van Nistelrooy, Forward
2003–04 Cristiano Ronaldo, Midfielder
2004–05 Gabriel Heinze, Defender
2005–06 Wayne Rooney, Forward
2006–07 Cristiano Ronaldo
2007–08 Cristiano Ronaldo
2008–09 Nemanja Vidić, Defender
2009–10 Wayne Rooney
2010–11 Javier Hernández, Forward
2011–12 Antonio Valencia, Midfielder
2012–13 Robin van Persie, Forward
2013–14 David de Gea, Goalkeeper
2014–15 David de Gea
2015–16 David de Gea
2016–17 Ander Herrera, Midfielder
2017–18 David de Gea
And next year’s winner is…
Posted: 2nd, May 2018 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Biased Reporting: Jose’s ‘masterstroke’ helps Manchester United block Arsenal
Manchester United’s “never-say-die streak” saw them beat a much-weakened Arsenal side at Old Trafford – it was the Gunners’ youngest Premier League starting XI. The official Manchester United website says Jose Mourinho “outsmarted” Arsene Wenger by bringing on the very tall Marouane Fellaini late on and lobbing the ball towards his bonce. It was Jose’s “masterstroke” that Fellaini scored with his head against two young Arsenal centre backs who’d never played together before, including one making his debut.
The official Manchester United organ’s blinkered match report makes no mention of the fact that Arsenal’s goalscorer, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, used to play for the club – also not noting that Jose Mourinho shunted him out, just as he got shot of the Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah, when he thought neither of this season’s star turns for Man City and Liverpool, respectively, was good enough for his Chelsea.
But there is this on the opening goal:
It didn’t take long for United to make Wenger’s last time as Gunners boss initially uncomfortable when taking a 16th-minute lead. Pogba started and finished the move. The France midfielder stroked a pass to Romelu Lukaku and went driving on into the area. Lukaku’s cross was met with a header from Alexis Sanchez. His hopes of a dream goal against his former employers were dashed as his effort hit Hector Bellerin and came off a post, only for Pogba to volley home.
It hit Bellerin?
The Daily Telegraph saw this:
Unmarked, Sanchez’s diving header was diverted onto the post by Hector Bellerin at full-stretch only for the ball to rebound to Pogba who simply volleyed it into the unguarded net.
As for the official Arsenal website, it went like this:
Alexis looked certain to score with his head at the far post, but Hector Bellerin made a superb diving block to divert his effort onto the post. Unfortunately the ball fell straight to the waiting Pogba to tap home.
What say the papers?
The Islington Gazette adds:
…the goal itself was slightly fortuitous as Hector Bellerin’s block from Alexis Sanchez’s header diverted the ball onto David Ospina’s right hand post.
The Ham & High needs a lesson in human anatomy:
Excellent block from Alexis Sanchez’s header deserved better than for it to hit the post and rebound back for Pogba to head home.
And the Manchester Evening News shoves Bellerin down the memory hole:
Great counter attack by United. Pogba out to Sanchez on his right who floats in a great cross, Sanchez header at the far post comes off the post and Pogba’s there to finish it and put United 1-0 up.
They say “volley”. You say “tap”. They say “hit. You say “superb diving block”.
One thing the Arsenal website fails to mention is the dire fact that Arsenal have now lost six successive away fixtures in the league for the first time since Billy Wright was their manager in 1966. But, yep, Jose’s the master.
Wenger OUT!
Posted: 29th, April 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Manchester United Transfers: Paul Pogba touted to Manchester City and, well, anyone
Paul Pogba was going to be the world’s greatest midfielder when he re-signed for Manchester United. He’d become the pulsating heart of United’s post-Ferguson return to the top. Former United star Rio Ferdinand told us Pogba was “on the right track ” to becoming the best player on the planet.
“This is the right club for me to achieve everything I hope to,” said Pogba in 2016. Pogba, who left United for free in 2012 – joining Juventus, where he won four league titles – was coming ‘home’. United manager Jose Mourinho told us Pogba could be “the heart of the club for the next decade and beyond”.
The money was huge. Pogba was recruited for £89m. The Times heard that Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, was taking £41million from the deal. The same paper claimed Pogba was being paid an initial £165,588 a week by United, with an additional payment of £2.87 million for image rights. Reportedly, this season his salary was enlarged with a “loyalty bonus” of £3.46 million.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 18th, April 2018 | In: manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Manchester United: The Sun buries the hatchet in Marcus Rashford’s Cane Corso
PHEW! For a while it looked as if Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United striker, was going to be given time to develop as a top-flight England footballer. But the Sun has reached for the hatchet, just as it did in 2017, when apropos of nothing it told readers about the “£30,000-plus Rashford spends annually on car insurance” and how he “splashed out £14,500 on a Rolex Santos wristwatch for his mother Melanie’s birthday”.
One year on and in “Manchester United star Marcus Rashford needs a reality check… he has the car, the gold and even the dog but is still just a substitute”, we get more spite.
The story begins: “NO wonder Marcus Rashford is confused.” No, he’s not confused because he thought making a career from a leisure pursuit was living the dream. This is all about the marketing, the hype machine that has turned footballers into ‘legends’, ‘icons’ and – dread phrase – ‘role models’. So wrapped about a few photos and a video of Rashford advertising Nike tat, the Sun constructs the story of a man in moral decline:
They dunked the kid in gold paint, dangling a pair of their latest boots around his neck as part of another extravagant advertising campaign to promote their glamorous range.
Rashford’s presented as a slack-jawed, mentally negligible clothes horse. And he’s guilty. He’s guilty of not being the best footballer in the world and playing for Real Madrid:
This is not Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored in his 11th successive Champions League match with Real Madrid’s last-minute penalty against Juventus at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
No. It’s Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford wearing “glamorous” man-made fibres.
When Rashford returned to the day job at Old Trafford, he was still a Manchester United substitute. He is living in a bubble, a cosseted world that will seem pretty cool to a kid who grew up in Wythenshawe… Nike are taking full advantage of that innocence.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 16th, April 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Clickbait Balls: Manchester Untied fans are not wild about Depay
Clickbait time now, as we read in the Manchester Evening News about Memphis Depay, the Dutch footballer who joined Manchester United for €35,000,000 in June 2015 and on January 20 2017 moved to Olympique Lyonnais for €18.5million. News is that Memphis has been on the phone, a happening retold in the MEN story: “Manchester United fans sent wild after Memphis Depay’s cryptic Instagram post.”
Wild! Well, he is the new Paul Pogba:
Eager to avoid a Pogba-like scenario, when a young talent goes on to flourish elsewhere, United included a buy-back clause in the £22m deal that took Memphis to Lyon in January, 2017.
Why United wold want him is moot. Depay plays on the left of a front three or as a central striker. Where would he play at United? And talk of his United return is astonishing guesswork. The entire story is based around an Instagram post. Memphis is seen walking by a plane. He is on the phone. He writes: “Touch down in….? on the phone with…?”
Is the answer, Syria and Vladimir Putin? Or how about, Orlando and Mickey Mouse? Or how about the guess by ‘Georgeshap’, who noted: “Back in Manchester to get things back on track with United.”
And from that the MEN has its story.
And is buy-back clause is not as the MEN described it when he left for Lyons. Back then the paper told its readers:
It will mean a loss for the Reds who paid PSV Eindhoven £26.3m to take him to Old Trafford in 2015. Because of that United have insisted on a first-refusal buy-back clause and a sell-on clause should they choose to let him go elsewhere.
It’s not him United want. It’s a chance to mitigate the financial loss.
Posted: 13th, April 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Zlatan Ibrahimovich hails his move from Manchester United to LA Galaxy with full-page ad in LA Times newspaper
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has paid for a full-page advert in today’s LA Times newspaper to hail his arrival in the US of A. Earlier this week, Manchester United ripped up Zlatan’s contract, allowing him to sign a two-year deal with LA Galaxy. He’s still’s full of swagger, but is the 36-year-old Ibra worth it?
He might well be. With 33 top trophies in his cabinet, Ibrahimovic has aged well. Since his 30th birthday, Zlatan has scored – get his – 251 goals. Didier Drogba scored 141. Teddy Sheringham scored 124. Before turning 30, he scored 232. Ibrahimovic has scored ten or more league goals in every season from 2006/07 to 2016/17.
All hail, Zlatan, then.
Posted: 23rd, March 2018 | In: manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Liverpool will sell Salah for a fortune and Chelsea are the biggest losers
Spare a thought for Chelsea fans forced to look on as club rejects Kevin Bruyne and Mohamed Salah light up the Premier League for Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively. Both players sold under Jose Mourinho’s regime are shining. Given Mourinho’s narcissism, he’s most likely try to pass his errors off as part of a cunning ploy to leave his former employer’s pained. But if he had foresight, Mourinho would have sold them to Manchester United, pushing Old Trafford towards investment in the coming force rather than selfish Alexis Sanchez – made to look better than he was by playing for a palsied Arsenal team – and the vastly overrated Paul Pogba.
News across the media is that Real Madrid rather like Salah. Those Spanish talent spotters have noted that the Egyptian scores lots of goals and looks a joy to be around. So excited are they by their discovery in the Premier League backwaters that Real will invest up to £200m in Salah. But news from Anfield is that Liverpool will spurn any moves for their star turn. They won’t, of course. Every player has a price. And £200m for Salah is an absurd sum for a £34million summer signing from Roma.
The problem for Liverpool is that Salah is the star of a team which will probably win nothing.
Posted: 21st, March 2018 | In: Chelsea, Manchester City, manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Manchester United are not getting rid of 10 players this summer
Fancy making a guess at how many players are heading out of Manchester United this summer? The BBC says it’s ’10’. the source for the Beeb’s news of this mass exodus of talent is the ever-trusty Daily Express. The Express, of course, is riding high on the back of its scoop that this winter would feature cold weather and snow. Sure enough, the UK was gipped by the ‘Beast from the East’. Yes, the paper forecasts bad weather on its front page around twice a week but this time it was right. It might well be right again – Madeleine McCann will be found; dementia will be cured with rhubarb; the summer will bring a heatwave; and ten footballers will leave Old Trafford at the end of the season.
The Express lists the players heading to the exit: Luke Shaw, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It then tells us that the ten will be replaced with just five: Gareth Bale, Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose, Willian and Fred. Will that happen? Reason says no. But we did have that snow…
Of course, in the clickbait world of online journalism, pretty much any claim, however outlandish, can be countered by another outlandish claim, So here’s the Metro to tell us that Fred has already agreed to join Manchester City:
And if you don’t believe the Metro, well, you know who else told us Fred is on his way to City? Yep. The Express:
Daily Express, Feb 9 1018
The Express offers no source for its story of ten players leaving United. But over in the Sun, we read: “Manchester United reportedly set for summer clear out with Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Chris Smalling and Anthony Martial among NINE facing axe’”. The Sun does cite a source: the Daily Mail. And it reports:
Luke Shaw may as well start planning a joint leaving-do with Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind this summer…
Ander Herrera, Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Chris Smalling are among those who cannot guarantee they will be at Old Trafford beyond this summer, when United will also have to replace Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick.
And from that the Express got its scoop of ten players leaving Manchester United.
Now… anyone know if it’s going to be sunny this July?
Posted: 19th, March 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, News, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Luke Shaw attack splits Manchester United dressing room
Jose Mourinho says he wants to build a legacy at Manchester United. Nothing about his past suggests that he will. Mourinho leaves clubs spent and exhausted. He’s never lasted more than three years in one place.
One player tired of the tiresome manager is full-back Luke Shaw. Mourinho thought it right once again to criticise Shaw in public following United’s FA Cup win over Brighton on Saturday.
A fit Shaw was substituted at half-time. Mourinho says Shaw and fellow full-back Antonio Valencia failed to follow his tactical instructions. “I could have changed both of them at half-time.,” said Mourinho. “…I had to change one and I chose Luke because at least Antonio defensively was capable of good positioning. Luke, in the first half, every time they came in his corridor, the cross came in and a dangerous situation was coming. I was not happy with his performance.”
Reports suggest United players think Shaw is being “bullied” by his pouting manager. Mourinho says only Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku – the goalscorers against Brighton – would escape his anger. The rest possessed “a lack of personality, lack of class and lack of desire”. When you get schooled in class by Mourinho, you give Dr Eva Carneiro the side eye and check your finger for bits of eyeball.
“I didn’t have many managers in my life but he is special because he wants to win always,” says Matic, in full teacher’s pet mode. “You can see when we lose a game he cannot accept that. Probably that’s why he won more than 20 trophies in his life. It is very difficult to work with him because he always wants more and more. Even if you win the league he wants to win again next season. He is like this and the players need to be ready for that. Because at this high level, at Manchester United and where I used to play Chelsea, the players need to be ready for that because the pressure is big. Everyone expects you to win every game. Obviously it is not possible, but supporters always expect. It doesn’t matter if you are tired or not, supporters want high quality football. It is normal.”
He had us up to ‘high quality’. Mourinho’s win at all costs approach is anathema to the so-called Manchester United way. At Chelsea and Inter Milan, success-starved clubs with no adherence to a style, Mourinho delivering silverware was the be all. Does grinding out a result work at United?
Alex Ferguson used to give under-performing players a blast of the ‘hairdryer’. But always in private. Mourinho makes it all about him. In reviewing Mourinho’s turgid 12-minute speech delivered after United’s defeat to Sevilla in the Champions League, Oliver Holt spoke for many:
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address lasted two minutes. Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech lasted 17 minutes. John F Kennedy’s Inauguration Speech lasted 14 minutes. Winston Churchill’s ‘Fight on the Beaches’ speech lasted 34 minutes.
Acclaimed as football’s answer to all of them, Jose Mourinho’s self-serving, self-aggrandising, self-regarding, self-pitying, melodramatic, hard-luck claptrap that passed for his attempt at oratory on Friday afternoon lasted 12 minutes. His only theme was Jose Mourinho. He used his moment on the stage to deliver a homage to himself.
Ask not what Mourinho can do for Manchester United but what Manchester United can do for him. His was a dystopian vision of a great football club as a vehicle for a narcissist. His was a speech that denigrated United so that he could vindicate himself. Some managers subjugate themselves to their clubs. Mourinho asks that the club subjugates itself to him.
Holt’s a United fan. They want better.
Posted: 19th, March 2018 | In: manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
FA Cup fail: BBC announce Manchester United to play Chelsea and Spurs
And to the live draw for the FA Cup semi-final. Lynsey Hipgrave is the designated BBC blonde sports presenter tasked with announcing the matches. The balls are pulled from U-bend beneath the FA Cup plug hole by Gianfranco Zola and Petr Cech.
The numbers in the hat are – and if anyone knows the method behind the numbering, do tell:
1 – Tottenham
2 – Manchester United
3 – Chelsea
4 – Southampton
They come out in order: 2, 1, 3, 4.
It’s Manchester United v Tottenham. It’s Chelsea v Southampton. Or as Hipgrave puts it: it’s Spurs v Southampton. It’s Man United v Chelsea.
It’s a fix! @lynseyhipgrave1 reads out Spurs vs Southampton and Chelsea vs Man Utd as FA Cup semis. Balls were oddly numbered, not alphabetical. This goes right to the top! #facupdraw pic.twitter.com/j7jP6zBGmF
— Jme (@jmewhyte) March 18, 2018
You had one job.
Posted: 18th, March 2018 | In: Chelsea, manchester united, News, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Talking balls: Manchester United and Manchester City fans duped by Owen on de Bruyne and Scholes
Kevin de Bruyne is a terrific player. Watching the Chelsea reject play so well at Manchester City is Michael Owen, the former Manchester United and Liverpool striker, and sometime pilot. The Manchester Evening News picks up his thoughts and thunders: “Kevin de Bruyne has surpassed Manchester United greats, insists Michael Owen.”
Better than Best, Edwards, Law and Giggs? De Bruyne’s good, but is he that good? The story continues:
Michael Owen insists Kevin de Bruyne has surpassed Manchester United legends Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham.
He insists. He will not be swayed.
One day on and the MEN has a follow-up scoop, thundering: “Manchester United fans blast Michael Owen over Paul Scholes claims.”
Paul Scholes is hailed by many as the best passer there has ever been.
Barcelona legend Xavi described him as the finest central midfielder he had ever seen – and many a former teammate has praised his pinpoint accuracy. But, Michael Owen has other ideas.
United’s former No.7 claims Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is a level above the United great.
Controversial stuff – and it would have been had Owen said it. Over on the Premier League’s official website, Owen says de Bruyne is not the best passer but the best at “assists”. The MEN’s story is utter bunkum.
Posted: 16th, February 2018 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Real Madrid move for Manchester United’s Paul Pogba
Doubltess inspired by Paul Pogba’s ability on the ball, match-winning performances and the remorseless marketing campaign that turned a Manchester United reject dreaming of a lucrative return ‘home’ to the club that recruited him from Le Havre in 2009 into the world’s greatest midfielder, Real Madrid are going to try to sign the Frenchman in the summer.
Well, so says the Sun, which says Pogba is part of the Real “plan” to rescue Pogba from the “field of broken dreams”. When Pogba signed for Juventus in 2012, the then Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson told MUTV: “I don’t think he showed us any respect at all so, to be honest, I’m quite happy.”
A more desperate less assured United were later “happy” to spunk £89m on the player they thought not worth the £30,000-a-week he was seeking in a new United contract in 2012. In any case, United say they have “no intention” of selling their priciest player – although the Sun says £120m should seal the deal. And the Mirror leads with news that Pogba is at “war” with the club.
Why would Real Madrid pay a fortune for a player whose not performed all that well? And what of all that guff Pogba spouted when he signed his new super-lucrative deal.
“I came here because I have targets, it’s a big challenge for me,” Pogba said. “I could have also gone to Real Madrid or Barcelona, they were interested. I chose to return, because I had that in my heart. It was my feeling that brought me here. I want to win with Manchester United, I’ve never won with them. I had always said that I would return – I didn’t know when – because it’s a club that I like a lot. I hadn’t finished, I left because I wanted to play. I hadn’t done what I had wanted to do here. I want United to become the great United again. That’s my challenge here.”
The feeling is that United will only flog Pogba should his marketing powers wane. Manchester United are a voracious money-making machine. According to Sports Direct, the three biggest selling shirts this year are: Alexis Sanchez – Manchester United; Paul Pogba – Manchester United; Harry Kane – Tottenham. Pogba leaving only work is United can replace him with bigger star. And you’ve got to wonder Harry Kane would chose to leave Spurs to join Jose Mourinho’s underwhelming United…
Posted: 16th, February 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United’s Sanchez accepts a 16-month suspended jail sentence for tax fraud
How’s Alexis Sanchez fitting in at Manchester United? Pretty good. The new Manchester United striker has accepted a 16-month suspended jail sentence for alleged tax fraud. This means he’ll avoid a trial. He will repay the full amount plus interest.
The BBC:
The ex-Barcelona player faced going to trial in Spain over unpaid taxes amounting to around 1m euro (£886,000). The unpaid taxes derive from image rights deals in 2012 and 2013. When Sanchez, 29, was first accused in 2016, his agent said the Chile forward had “fully obeyed” laws and his image rights income “has been declared”.
Sanchez now earns £14m a year after tax. United pay his tax bill so any future alleged miscalculations might be best avoided.
You wonder how playing a man with such a record impacts on Manchester United’s brand values. We looked up what those values are. On the always entertaining Red Cafe, a conversation headlined “What are Manchester United’s ‘values’?” tells us:
Personally for me it’s hard to look at the modern iteration of United without seeing commercialism written all over it. They must be the only club in the world with an “official noodle partner” for Christ’s sake.
This idea of United being “different” is a bit pretentious for me given they are probably the most commercial football club in the world and commercialism is seen by many as the biggest issue in football behind corruption.
…
Agree with the OP that the club is entirely about profit and it will remain that way I’m afraid.
…
We are different because of our history. From Munich to the Busby Babes, to the 70s and 80s of the club. Then the 26 years of SAF. We are a unique club. We have done things differently with our attacking football, our breading of youth, which has continued with the call up of Lingard into the squad. We do have ethical values. We won’t sack LVG if we feel he is doing a good job just because a shiny new manager (Ancelotti/ Pep in this case) has come along. We really tried with Moyes even though after just a few months we all knew he was out his depth. That season could have been saved but we stuck to our guns and kept faith in him.
Now we have coaching staff with Giggs and Butt in it. We have ambassadors such as Charlton, SAF, Robson, Cole. We have kept with traditions and have tried to maintain the culture throughout the club.
It’s what makes me proud to be United.
That was then. But it’s something to hold on to next time the ‘keeper bypasses the defence and smacks it long to the front players. For many people, football’s all about the money. Now pass the official prawn sandwiches round…
Posted: 7th, February 2018 | In: manchester united, Money, Sports | Comment
Why Sanchez gets kicked at Manchester United but not at Arsenal
Jamie Redknapp tells his Daily Mail readers that Alexis Sanchez “was born to play for Manchester United”. After that kind of guff, you know you’re in for a cavalcade of nonsense. And in “kicking little devil Sachez is the only way to stop him!” we get it in spades.
Sanchez is, you will recall, the player so good that he was let got by Barcelona, joining Arsenal, where he thrived, earning plaudits for his dynamism and skill. Now aged 29 and apparently reborn three matches into his new career at Man United, Redknapp is seeking signs of messianic homecoming.
Redknapp says Sanchez has been fouled “15 times” during his United career. That, we’re told, is a foul every 17 minutes. “Against Huddersfield alone he was fouled seven times, the most for a single player in a Premier League game this season.”
Or as the ,er, Daily Mail note in January:
Seven against Crystal Palace, four against West Brom, then three against Chelsea – Jack Wilshere knows how to draw a foul.
But never mind the facts because Redknapp has a to-deadline point to make, asking:
“Are opponents deliberately targeting the Premier League’s best-paid player?”
No, not Wilshere. He’s talking about Sanchez.
Figures have been updated, and Sanchez is now the PL’s fourth most-fouled player (56 times fouled), one ahead of Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace; £60,00-a-week) and behind Watford’s Richarlison (Watford; 1st place; £22,000-a-week), Dele Alli (2nd place: Spurs; £50,000-a-week); and Jordan Ayew (3rd place; Swansea City; £50,000-a-week).
Redknapp then gets tautological:
“Players are not going out to kick Sanchez because he earns £350,000 a week. It is simply because nobody can get near enough to get the ball off him!”
But they do get near him. You have to be very near a player to foul someone (unless you’re Dele Alli).
And foul’s only occur when Sanchez isn’t being fairly dispossessed:
32 – Alexis Sanchez has lost possession of the ball more often today than any Manchester United player has in any Premier League game this season. Loose.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 3, 2018
Redknapp’s not finished:
“It is no coincidence that Sanchez was fouled just four times in his last three games for Arsenal. His head was turned by the prospect of a move and he lacked the desire to get on the ball”
Arsenal’s farewell performance came as a 66th minute substitute (Chelsea away). The two matches before that he played the full 90 minutes in each (West Brom away and Chelsea at home). Did he lack desire? Sky, which also employs Redknapp, says he was Arsenal’s most vibrant and best player during the Chelsea game. The Mirror says Sanchez “looked dangerous” throughout when Arsenal took on West Brom.
Other highlights from Redknapp’s insightful column: Arsenal need to “build a team who can deliver these wonderful performances every week.” You think?
“Eddie Howe ticks every box” for “any owner” of a top 6 side looking for a manager. Although the boxes marked ‘Big Cups Won” and “Availability” do look a little empty.
Posted: 5th, February 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comments (4)
Manchester United balls: Marouane Fellaini ’embarrassed’ by injury and ‘bizarre’ Mourinho as Spurs get lucky
When Manchester United lost 2-0 at Spurs to an offside goal and an own-goal, Marouane Fellaini came on as a substitute only to be substituted after just seven minutes playing time. Why? Well, the obvious guess would be injury to the big Belgian. “He came off because he had something in his knee,” Jose Mourinho told media after the match. “Unlucky for him and unlucky for me. He came on with enthusiasm, but he has an injury in his ligament.”
But the media loves sensation. And Fellaini’s knee is not newsy enough in the race of clicks.
“Fellaini appeared angry as he took off his shirt as he made his way to the bench,” says the Mail beneath the headline: “Horror show for Mourinho as Eriksen scores after 11 SECONDS to spark easy victory for Spurs that blows top-four race wide open; From super sub to super snub! Fellaini hauled off just SEVEN MINUTES after being sent on to rescue United at Wembley.”
The Sun has a dig at both “bizarre” Mourinho and Fellaini, who was “embarrassed ” by getting injured:
Get well soon, Fellaini.
Posted: 1st, February 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, News, Sports, Spurs, Tabloids | Comment
