The Guardian says after Manchester United bought back Paul Pogba, the club will “continue their policy of spending vast amounts of money on players they previously had on their books” with a winter window move for Drinkwater, who only recently signed a new five-year deal at Leicester.
Sports Category
Sports news, commentary and scores with wit and added value. We compare and contrast the best and worst sports reporting in the mainstream press, blogs, TV and online. We love the English Premier League (Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United and Manchester City) and all things football but we cover cricket, rugby, the Olympics, tennis, golf, F1 and highlights of the sporting year.
Arsenal’s Wenger puts Mourinho in his place
Having piggybacked on Arsene Wenger’s 20th anniversary as Arsenal manager to promote a new book on Jose Mourinho by Rob Beasley, the Daily Mail has triggered a news flurry.
You can read how, while working at Chelsea, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho threatened Wenger – a pensioner! – and told Beasley that he would break Wenger’s face. Now the BBC reports: “Arsene Wenger: Arsenal boss ‘will not read’ book about Jose Mourinho.”
What did Wenger say? Sky Sports reports he said nothing: “Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger refuses to comment on Jose Mourinho book claims.”
Nonsense. No comment is always a comment. Wenger responded. “I talk about football – that’s all I do,” he said. “I’m not in a destructive mode, never. I’m more constructive. I am focused on Saturday’s game against Chelsea.”
The Guardian is more circumspect, telling its readers that “Arsène Wenger refuses to enter into war of words with José Mourinho”. And that’s about right. But will Mourinho like being dismissed by the man the Mail says he ‘hates’? Will his “bitterness (Times) be abated by Wenger saying Mourinho is unworthy of attention? The Times says Wenger “shrugged” off the nastiness.
“For me it was always just a big game and the personal rivalry was never a big concern,” the Arsenal manger told the Press. “I have no personal problem with anyone, I respect everyone in the game.”
No word from Mourinho yet, but the dark part of the street by Wenger’s home has bad phone reception.
PS: For those who missed it, Mourinho apparently said of Wenger: “I will find him one day outside a football pitch and I will break his face.” The spoils go to the agonist who keeps his cool. Wenger wins.
Posted: 23rd, September 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Jose Mourinho invited Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger to fight him in the street and ‘break his face’
Manchester United’s unlikeable manager Jose Mourinho says he would “break” Arsene Wenger’s face. So claims the Daily Mail, which says the Portuguese was so angered with the Arsenal manager he vowed to “break his face”.
The Daily Mail has an extract from JOSE MOURINHO: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL by Robert Beasley. The story goes:
When you publicly denounce someone as a ‘specialist in failure’ and a ‘voyeur’, it is abundantly clear you don’t like them much.
What must Jose Mourinho’s views on Arsene Wenger be like away from the cameras and microphones? Unsurprisingly, they’re even more damning and the gloves have been well and truly off whenever the matter of Monsieur Wenger has been raised. A couple of times Jose even talked about wanting to physically fight the Frenchman. That’s how bitter and basic their rivalry has become over the years.
Jose Mourinho in a physical fight? Would the opponent be allowed to see him coming?
The book continues, focusing on the managers’ tiff when the sides met on October 5, 2014.
I asked Jose what had happened and he revealed: ‘He was asking for a red card and pressing the ref in my technical area. I told him to go back to his area. He pushed me.
‘I told him, “Here you do that, you know I can’t react, but I will meet you one day in the street”.’
Just you watch it, Arsene, next time he’ll get you. If Jose ever sees you wandering about his Belgravia manor, it’ll be the worst for you.
You can call Jose sexist but he’s not ageist. He will break a pensioner’s face.
Keep up the charm offensive, Jose.
Posted: 23rd, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Manchester Untied swoop for another reject
Transfer balls: Manchester United are waiting to spend £30m on Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater in January, reports the Sun.
Manchester-born Drinkwater could be making a return to the club that sold him for a nominal fee in 2012, following loan spells with Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Watford and Barnsley.
“I’m very surprised because it often happens a month before the open of the market, not now,” said Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri. “He signed a new contract and everything is normal. “But it’s good for him, for us, when I have players who a lot of big teams want. It means we’re working very well. Sometimes I think, maybe the newspapers don’t have enough news and they write some. It’s okay. One year ago, nobody was asking about our players.”
In other United news, the BBC says The Red Devils will compete with AC Milan for Real Madrid midfielder Isco, 24.
Posted: 23rd, September 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment (1)
Jose Mourinho opens Manchester United’s school of science
Jose Mourinho says the world is full of football Einsteins. No, not Socrates. Einsteins. Following Manchester United’s defeat of Northampton in the League Cup, Mourinho shared with MUTV his thoughts on the brains trust who analyse his skills:
“I know that some football Einsteins – football is full of Einsteins – I know that they tried to delete 16 years of my career. They tried to delete an unbelievable history of Man United football club and to focus on a bad week with three bad results. But that’s the new football – it’s full of Einsteins.”
The obvious thought is that Mourinho is being sarcastic in calling pundits who say his United are not all that good Einsteins. But he might also be spot on, given that Albert Einstein knew nothing of Wayne Rooney. That might be, you say, because Rooney was alive after Einstein was dead, but in the space-time continuum where E=mc2, can we be certain of that, or if Rooney is worth his place anywhere in the United starting XI, relatively speaking? And that’s the Rooney who was educated at Everton, The School of Science.
Mourinho loves to snipe and attack anyone who dares who disagree with him. Last season at Chelsea he told the Press: “In football I’m ready to be criticised, even the stupid ones (sic). Private life, stupid things you bring to light, I don’t like it. So we go to a different level of professional relations.”
He has already spent a portion of this season moaning about referees, criticising his players in public and being every bit as joyless and pouty as he was during his final months at Chelsea.
Mourinho should belt up, stop blaming everyone else and realise that the buck stops with him.
Posted: 22nd, September 2016 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
When Arsenal picked Arsene Wenger the British Press mocked them
Arsène Wenger has been manger of Arsenal for 20 years. The 66-year-old manager joined the club on this day 1996.
The Sunday Mirror took the rise out of this new foreign manager, rolling it eyes and wishing the club the best of luck “persuading us that the lanky M’sieur Wenger, despite sounding like Rory Bremner auditioning for ‘Allo ‘Allo, is ‘ow you say fantastique!”. That the British media had not heard of Wenger was a sign of their parochialism. “Arsene who?” quipped the Standard, a new take on “Dr Who?”, the question asked by the Press when Aston Villa hired Dr Josef Venglos in 1990.
George Weah had explained who Wenger was one year earlier at the Fifa World Footballer of the Year award, stating: “Arsène Wenger made me not just the player I am today, but also the man I am.”
WEnger was far from unfazed. “I felt quite a lot of scepticism,” he said. “That’s normal, especially on an island. This phenomenon is more emphasised on an island because people have historically lived more isolated. They are more cautious about foreign influences.”
In Wenger’s first full season, Arsenal on The Double.
And then? Well, his Arsenal side has never finished outside the top 4. But after a decade of success, recent years have hardly been filled with glory:
And now? Well, Arsenal fans will miss him when he’s gone.
Posted: 22nd, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Paul Gascoigne becomes an anti-free speech role model
Paul Gascoigne is not in the best of health. This we know because the tabloids love to feature Gazza in various stages of trouble. He’s back in the news for the criminal offence of telling a joke. At Dudley Magistrates Court, the former England footballer’s joke was appraised. It was found wanting. Gascoigne was deemed guilty of using ‘”threatening or abusive words”. Those words also cost him a £2,000 fine.
By now you all want to know what Gascoigne said. What does a £2000 joke look like? At An Evening With Gazza at Wolverhampton Civic Hall last year, the show’s eponymous star told a black security guard, Errol Rowe: “Can you smile please, because I can’t see you?”
Anyone heading to an evening with Gascoigne, a man who seemed to run on nervous energy, is unlikely to attend expecting a night of coherent thought and incisive wit. Nonetheless, District Judge Graham Wilkinson was outraged, telling Gazza, “it is not acceptable to laugh words like this off as some form of joke… We live in the 21st century — grow up with it or keep your mouth closed.”
The 21st Century looks a a draconian place. Gascoigne’s joke was sad, weak and, worst of all, unfunny. And that’s crucial to the crime. The advice is that if you’re unsure of what is and what is not acceptable to the state, you should not speak. You should censor yourself lest you cause the State to be offended.
And take care not to be famous and unfunny. Wilkinson told Gascoigne that his punishment is a warning to us all. “A message needs to be sent that in the 21st century,” said the Beak, “such words will not be tolerated.”
Intolerance will not be tolerated. How’s that for freedom?
PS: If you want to look for racism. you can find in a pathetic joke, if you want. But what about in the judiciary? Wilkinson told Gazza: “”It is the creeping ‘low-level’ racism that society still needs to challenge.” And what about the institutional racism?
Dame Linda Dobbs opines:
Posted: 22nd, September 2016 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Liverpool balls: ‘pyschotic coward’ Joey Barton, Xabi Alsono and the red mist
Liverpool fans will be gutted. They could have had Joey Barton and not Xabi Alonso in the side. Alsono is a terrific player. Barton has long been underrated as a result of a querulous attitude and pugnacious demeanour. This week he has been banned by his current club Glasgow Rangers following a training ground altercation with Andy Halliday, his team-mate.
He is also plugging his new autobiography. In it he notes, “My behaviour was occasionally psychotic.” And ridiculous.
Talking about his red card in Newcastle United’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool in 2009, Barton writes in his new book:
“Had things panned out differently, I could have made the obsessive debate about the mutual suitability of the Gerrard-Lampard axis redundant. From what I gathered, Steven Gerrard agitated to get Liverpool to sign me in 2004, because he felt we had the potential to forge a partnership.
“I met with Gerard Houllier at Melwood, and agreed everything verbally. A deal was close to being concluded but then he was sacked that summer. It was never revived.”
Fast forward to the match. Liverpool have Xabi Alonso in midfield:
“Xabi and I had history. He blamed me for knocking him out in what he thought was a deliberate clash of heads in one of our earliest contests, and I blamed him for stealing my move to Liverpool.”
Which he didn’t.
“All that remained to be agreed with [Manchester] City was the fee, when Rafa Benitez took over from Gerard Houllier. I was in Dubai when I was informed that he had instead decided to sign a kid from Real Sociedad who had just broken into the Spanish national team.”
A kid? Alonso was 22.
“…(In 2009) Thirteen minutes remained. Liverpool were two up, cruising and playing keep ball. The Kop conducted an incessant, infuriating chant of ‘Ole, ole, ole!’ Xabi retained the ball near the corner flag fractionally longer than was prudent. That gave me the opportunity to fly in, and disguise my malicious intent as best as I could. Alonso milked the moment with a barrel roll. I expected a yellow and was shown a red.”
You can read more of this sort of thing in Barton’s book, No Nonsense, including how in the aftermath of this foul, Alan Shearer, Newcastle’s interim manager, called Barton a “f***ing coward” and when Iain Dowie, Shearer’s assistant, stepped in to prevent things from getting out of hand, Barton quipped: “You keep it shut, boxing-glove head.”
You might not like Barton, but he is entertaining.
Posted: 21st, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Arsenal: Barcelona rewrite Bellerin’s history as they move to tap him up
Following on from yesterday’s news that Manchester City are looking to sign Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, the Sun says The Citizens are ready to shake the massive wad of cash at Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin.
And that is not all.
Bellerin joined the Gunners from Barcelona in 2011. And Barcelona fixer Jordi Mastre wants him back. He tells SPORT:
“We’ve already seen him as a Cule! He’s a great player, there’s no doubt about that. Wenger convinced him to move [in 2011] and promised him something which we couldn’t. We could not promise him that within two years he would be playing in Dani Alves’ place.”
Er, Alves (now with Juventus) played in defence for Barcelona. When at the club, Bellerin was a winger. “When I was at Barcelona I always used to play on the right wing,” he said.
Bellerin told the Standard: “When I first came to Arsenal, I didn’t know how to defend. If there was a person who I had to identify as helping me a lot, that would have to be Steve Bould. I was a winger but from the under-18s up, I remember him just showing me the basics. Even then, I remember him sometimes holding his head like, ‘What is Hector doing?’ He’s been one of the key people in my career. He’s one of the reasons I’m here now.”
Barcelona could not promise Bellerin he would be the new Dani Alves because they thought he wasn’t good enough to play in their attack.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 21st, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comments (2)
Manchester City War: Guardiola sees off Yaya Toure’s limp attack
Manchester City are at WAR. Have the club’s owners co-opted players into Middle East conflict? Is Pep Guardiola’s mastery of formations and attacks be be employed in Abu Dhabi’s invasion of Saudi Arabia? Don’t be so stupid. It’s bigger than that. It’s football.
The newspapers lead with this war, headlines rooted in Yaya Toure’s apparent declaration: “If Pep wants a war he can have one.”
Toure is upset at being left out of Manchester City first teams – a move not exactly damaging to the club who are playing great football and currently boast a 100% record in all competitions.
It turns out that Toure has said nothing in public. Dimitri Seluk, his agent, is talking. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, the agent said:
“If Pep Guardiola wants a war, then he can have one. Pep didn’t like my opinion? But what does he expect me to say when he does this to Yaya? I spoke out because I felt that Pep was being vindictive to Yaya. Unfortunately for Pep, we live in a world where you have the right to free speech. He has reacted to what I have said about him by punishing Yaya again. But I’m not surprised.”
What Pep said was:
“He must apologise to his team-mates, to the club. If he doesn’t, he won’t play. It was difficult to leave him out of the Champions League squad but [the] day after, his [agent] went to the media. He has not had the courage to call me. From that moment he was out. I know him, I know he’s a good guy, but it was difficult for me as well to put Aleix García out.
“I cannot imagine in my period when I was a football player, my manager going to the media and speaking against Johan Cruyff, about this and about that. If he has a problem call the club, and they can talk. Until he speaks, Yaya is not going to play.”
The issue is with the agent, who antagonised Pep by wondering aloud if Guardiola, who omitted Toure from City’s Champions’ League squad, had “the balls to say that he was wrong to humiliate a great player like Yaya” should City fail to win the Champions League.
So. It is war. And the problem is that Pep has the throne, the high ground, the money and the owners’ and fans’ support. Yaya has his agent, a hole and a big spade. He also has £220,000 per week in wages for not playing. How’s that humiliating?
At 33, and in the final year of his City contract, Yaya needs to play and his agent needs him to shine, as he can when in his pomp. How this spat helps anyone is moot.
Posted: 21st, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Manchester United balls: Jose Mourinho’s double ‘Red-olution’
It’s been a topsy-turvy season for Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho. Of course the Premier League season is just a few weeks old – but in the Sun it’s been a few weeks of shocks and revolutions.
On 6th September 2016, the paper’s Neil Curtis told us about the “RED-OLUTION” at Old Trafford. “Jose Mourinho has turned Manchester United around to become the force of old in just three months,” cooed Curtis. Mourinho has “lifted the clouds” at United. “Mourinho is trusting the players abilities, letting them breathe.”
Adding: “From the moment he arrived, the message has been positive… Nothing on philosophies or things taking time.”
The man has cracked it. He’s no Louis Van Gaal. Mourinho has made United the top club again. No he hasn’t – says the Sun, which has also reported – and these just a few of the paper’s barrage of Mourinho stories:
Sept 18 – Geoff Sweet: “LVG V MOU Fact: Louis Van Gaal was a much better Manchester United manager than Jose Mourinho”
Sept 18: Sam Peoples: “‘EMBARRASSING’ Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho has no idea what his best XI is…and Paul Pogba was very muted yet again”
Sept 19 – Neil Ashton: “The Special One’s story is already unravelling at Old Trafford”
Sept 19 – Danny Higginbotham: “ROUND POGS, SQUARE HOLES Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho’s tactics just aren’t working – but how can he fix them?
Sept 19 – Ian Wright: “LAST CHANCE SALOON Jose Mourinho: Manchester United boss could be facing last chance at a top club, says Arsenal legend Ian Wright”
Sept 20 – Neil Ashton: “MOUR MISERY Jose Mourinho win record: Manchester United manager has a worse win percentage than Slaven Bilic and Francesco Guidolin since start of last season”
Sept 2 – Alec Shilton: “MOUR MISERY Jose Mourinho win record: Manchester United manager has a worse win percentage than Slaven Bilic and Francesco Guidolin since start of last season”
It’s been a revolution – twice!
Posted: 21st, September 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer balls: Manchester City to move to Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez
Transfer balls: ‘Is Arsenal’s Alexis Sánchez heading to Manchester City,’ asks the Guardian. No. He plays for Arsenal.
But the paper says the “word on the street” is that Sanchez is reluctant to sign a new deal with Arenal because he wants to join Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. There are no named sources. But the paper adds that Pep will go for Sanchez should he fail to sign Messi or Neymar. ESPN says Sanchez wants to win the European Cup, so the former Barcelona player fancies playing for Manchester City, who have never won it.
The Express says Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger “is desperate to keep Sanchez at the Emirates Stadium”. The Chilean wants around £200,000 a week to stay at the club. That would break Arsenal’s wage structure. Mesut Ozil, who earns around £140,000 a week, is Arsenal’s top earner. But he also wants a substantial pay rise.
So it Sanchez batting his eyelids at the Etihad? No. The Express told readers: in August “Gunners forward Alexis Sanchez has told the club he wants to leave to secure a move to Serie A champions Juventus.”
As for the German, the Sun says “Ozil has the look of a player going through the motions, already resigned to the fact that he will have to find a new club if he wants to get his hands on the European Cup.”
Problem with that is that current European Champions Real Madrid sold him. Which super-rich club will he go to? Manchester City? PSG? Manchester United – who aren’t even in Europe’s top club competition.
In other Arsenal transfer news, the Sun says Jose Mourinho will offload defender Phil Jones in January. The BBC notes that Liverpool and Arsenal both interested in the 24-year-old.
Posted: 20th, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Manchester United: Mourinho publicly slams injured Luke Shaw as fear factor returns to Old Trafford
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho continues to win hearts and minds. The Times says United defender Luke Shaw, 21, was suffering from a groin injury during his side’s defeat at Watford. He was playing through the pain.
Shaw made an error that allowed Watford to score their second goal in a 3-1 victory. Mourinho, as ever, points the finger:
“I knew I had a task. But the first Man City goal [during the 2-1 defeat last weekend] and this second goal, you can find incredible similarity. [Aleksandar] Kolarov has the ball in a difficult situation in the corner and my player instead of going up and pressing decides to give him space. Today for the second goal, [Nordin] Amrabat on the right side, our left back is 25 metres distance from him, instead of five metres.
“But even at 25 metres, then you have to jump and go press. But no, we wait. This is a tactical but also a mental attitude. In a couple of weeks, everything like this becomes perfect. That’s my job.”
The defeat was not Mourinho’s fault. Blame Shaw. But when it is “perfect”, it will be Mourinho’s doing. Got it? When United win a match, Shaw should write his manager a letter of thanks.
Of course, Shaw has history with Mourinho. In 2014, Mourinho, the then Chelsea manager, said Shaw’s excessive wage demands put him off signing the 19-year-old from Southampton. The Star added:
The Special One didn’t make a good impression with Shaw’s family and the player felt intimidated, according to The Sun.
The Sun claimed:
LUKE SHAW felt intimidated by Louis van Gaal and he will be entitled to feel apprehensive about Jose Mourinho’s arrival. The Special One did not leave a favourable impression on Shaw’s family when they met for talks during his second spell at Stamford Bridge.
Shaw, 20, a Chelsea fan as a kid, had his heart set on a move from Southampton. But he changed his mind and opted to join United after meeting with Mourinho.
Two minutes after Watford’s second went in, Shaw was substituted two minutes later by Mourinho. Did the chippy Portuguese manager know Shaw was carrying an injury when he criticised the player to the Press?
The Times recalls that Shaw has already suffered many hamstring and groin-related injuries and suffered an horrific broken leg at the start of last season. Readers learn that he has had “regular sessions with a sports psychologist after admitting to struggling with the pressure of playing for United.”
Cue Mourinho.
Former Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce is unimpressed. “He blamed Luke Shaw for the second goal [against Watford],” Pearce told Sky Sports. “You think he’s probably better off not having a pop at the youngsters. What he needs to do is probably pull [Shaw] aside, get him in front of a video and educate him on how to play the game. It’s difficult for me to tell Mourinho how to coach and educate – he’s the best in the world at it.”
He is? If he is, then expect lots of film nights at Old Trafford. United have lost their last three matches.
Movie Night with referee Michael Oliver (Defeat 3): “The referee’s and the linesman’s mistake is not under my control.”
Movie Night with referee Jesus Gil Manzano (Defeat 2): “Feyenoord you know that goal was in an offside position, we are punished by these mistakes.’
Movie Night with Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mhkhitaryan (Manchester City): Mourinho was talking about “some really poor individual performances” after their 2-1 derby defeat.
But with the right money spent and lots of hard work, United will give Mourinho reason to rejoice in his own abilities. The fear factor is back at Old Trafford – the fear of being singled out for blame.
Posted: 19th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United endorse Michael Oliver’s magic foam party
Enjoy the game, then? We watched mediocre Watford take on gilded Manchester United in hope that the hubris that pricked so many Premier League egos last season would continue. We were not disappointed. Moneyed Jose Mourinho’s ‘galaticos’ were defeated. Seeing Mourinho beaten is delectable. The ‘One’s’ ties to branded watches, executive cars, endorsed teas and official casino chains were a little loosened by Troy Deeney, a man unlikely to seduce punters to dress in his line of lingerie.
Of course, everything in the Premier League is now gold covered in more gold – the aforesaid Deeney is on £100,00 a week.
And what, then, of Michael Oliver, the match referee, a budding personality surely desirous of the now traditional post-match career as a media expert employed to run the rule over working refs? No referee has secured a job as front-line pundit sat by an illuminated coffee table on the main TV panel, but it can only be a matter of time before one does.
Signs are that Oliver is positioning himself as the fun one, the bubbly Ian Wright figure to Mark Clattenburg’s egotistical Gary Neville and Graham Poll’s hyperbolic Robbie Savage. As Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his way into the United wall, Oliver, doubtless realising he was in the presence of the TV cameraman’s go-to figure, squirted the vanishing foam into his own face.
Brilliant. The Gillette contract is his to own, as is a role as the official face of the Ibiza Foam Party industry:
Posted: 19th, September 2016 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Media Balls: Arsenal reject Jack Wilshere was 100% awful
Max Miller has news for Arsenal fans looking to see how Jack Wilshere is getting on during his loan spell at AFC Bournemouth. Well, Bournemouth were thrashed 4-0 by a vibrant Manchester City. Miller tells his Metro readers:
The Arsenal loanee gave the ball away on several occasions, and was caught out numerous times by the speed and creativity of his opponents
Wilshere did not play well. But, then, Bournemouth were overrun in midfield. But that part telling us Wilshere “gave the ball away on several occasions” is odd. Eddie How, the Bournemouth manager, said:
“It was difficult for Jack in the first half, because he’s at his best when he has the ball, and we didn’t have too much of it.”
But he lost it on “several occasions”, right? Wrong. He lost the ball twice. We found another report that tells us:
Wilshere was the only player to complete 100% of his passes…
And where did we read that? Yep, in The Metro.
Posted: 19th, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
How Chelsea’s Conte and Manchester United’s Mourinho manage failure
Following Chelsea’s home defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League, the BBC says Blues’ manager Antonio Conte “subjected his players to an angry dressing-down”. Conte “accused his players of failing to play as a team.”
The Times says Conte read the “riot act to his players after the Liverpool loss”. He and the team took part in “an animated post-match exchange in the dressing room”.
But Conte is no Jose Mourinho, the former Chelsea coach who explained his Manchester Untied’s 3-1 defeat to Watford by blaming the players publicly. “Some individuals probably feel the pressure and responsibility too much,” said Mourinho. We started the season very well… I was completely aware that we were not perfect, with lots of players who are not end products and can make their own mistakes.”
And after Manchester United lost to Manchester City, Mourinho was pointing the finger:
“I had two or three players in the first half that, if I know what is going to happen, I don’t play them. This is football, though, and sometimes players disappoint managers.”
Compare and contrast to Conte who told the Chelsea FC website:
“I’m guilty because I’m the coach and it means I have to work more. We must feel the danger in every single moment of the game if we want to win and think like a great team. We must pay attention and be focused.”
Is it better to criticise your team in public or in private?
Matthew Syed notes:
“When pilots experience a near-miss with another aircraft, or have been flying at the wrong altitude, they file a report. Providing that it is submitted within 10 days, they enjoy immunity…Openness and learning rather than blaming is the instinctive response – and system safety has been the greatest beneficiary.”
Conte the pilot?
“Contrast that with the healthcare scene, in which mistakes are very threatening to surgeons who have big egos, and the culture is very litigious – preventable medical error is now the third-biggest killer in western countries.”
Mourinho the surgeon?
Syed concludes:
“We love to think of ourselves as smart people, so we find mistakes, failure and sub-optimal outcomes challenging to our egos.”
We love to look around for someone else to blame. But the smart listen to advice, look at the data and learn not to repeat mistakes.
Posted: 19th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, Key Posts, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Dele Alli signs new Spurs deal as Real Madrid go cold
Daily Express readers will be shocked to learn that Spurs and England player Dele Alli has signed a new deal at the London club. Alli’s new contract keeps him at Spurs until 2022.
This is at odds with the Express‘ reports of May 2016: “Real Madrid: Spanish giants plot summer swoop for Alli.”
One month earlier, the Sun told its readers: “Tottenham news: Dele Alli in sights of Real Madrid as transfer process begins.” The Sun said Madrid “mouthpiece” Marca had created “momentum which results in the club getting their man.”
Madrid never did bid for Alli,
Posted: 19th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs, Tabloids | Comment
Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin is the fastest man on Earth?
“Who is faster – Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin or Usain Bolt?’
Goal.com. readers are told, “Arsene Wenger has the answer.”
So do we. It’s the Olympic Champion.
Although if the distance over which speed is measured is reduced from Bolt’s favoured 100m to 20 yards, Arsenal’s Bellerin wins. If that distance is further reduced to say, 3 yards – the average distance your writer lurches whenever a wasp catches the corner of the eye as I recline in a deckchair with an ice-cream – I’m in with a shout.
But some say I’d be not as fast as the speed at which Hillary Clinton’s team can issue a denial, the time it takes for Donald Trump to jerk his knee following a shooting or the speed at which Keith Vaz can delete his internet browsing history when his wife knocks on the bedroom door.
Posted: 18th, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Liverpool chase the Manchester United supporting Borussia Dortmund ‘wonderkid’
Transfer balls: the BBC says Liverpool are on course to sign 17-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder Christian Pulisic. They’re not.
The Bleacher Report says Liverpool tried and failed to bring Pulisic – the “wonderkid” – to Anfield over the summer with an £11m bid. They are looking to bid again next summer.
The Mirror says the 17-year-old is “one of the most highly-rated prospects in world football”. With such a billing, is £11m a cheeky offer? The Mail says Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea have “followed his emergence in recent months”. You can add any number of other clubs to the list.
ESPN FC says Dortmund “are not willing to sell him due to his potential”.
Other clubs had their chance to sign him. 442 reports:
He played for the PA Classics, a U.S. Soccer Development Academy program which has produced several MLS players. And although Pulisic enjoyed training stints at Barcelona, Chelsea, Porto, PSV Eindhoven and Villarreal while playing with the PA Classics, he chose to continue to play close to home – for a while, anyway.
Pulisic is under contract at Dortmund until 2018.
Does he want to leave? His father told Bild in August: “Christian has no interest in leaving the club. He had a good half year last season, and wants to continue to break through.”
How good is he? USA Today says:
Pulisic has a ways to go. He isn’t Lionel Messi, not even close. But he’s young, confident, he’s still growing, and he has an attacking spark and creativity that American players aren’t supposed to have, if you believe the accepted soccer wisdom
And finally know that Pulisic supports Manchester United, “loves” Wayne Rooney and says his favourite player at dortmund was Henrik Mkhitaryan.
Pulisic to United it is, then.
Posted: 16th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Manchester City balls: Sergio Aguero’s Champions’ League ‘vow’
Big news: Sergio Aguero, 28, has signed a one-year contract extension at Manchester City, says the BBC.
The Daily Mirror ups that with more amazing news: “Aguero has vowed to remain at City until they are crowned kings of Europe”.
Very good of him to make a solemn promise. But at 28, would City want, says, a 38-year-old playing up front for them? We know age is just a number (see: Zlatan Ibrahimovich) but would City’s owners not fancy a younger striker in the next decade?
Of course, should City not win the Champions’ League by 2020, when Aguero’s deal ends, they might not want to renew it. But Aguero has made a “vow”. He’ll be there for as long as it takes.
Of course, Aguero is no fool. He made no vow. What he said was:
“I still have four years more here,. I hope to achieve it at some point as it’s really important for any player. Obviously the Champions League is not easy; there are a lot of other fantastic teams. But my idea and club’s idea is the same, to try to win this competition… we are ready to reach a Champions League final. I don’t know if it’s going to be this year, but we will try.”
Vows made: none.
Posted: 16th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer balls: Arsenal want Sanchez, Wilshere stays and Ozil confuses the experts
Transfer Balls: The BBC says Arsenal’s Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, 27, will sign a new deal at the club – if he gets a wage increase.
The Daily Mirror adds that he also wants a new contract to feature a buyout clause. Why? For his ego? Those things are not worth a dime. When Arsenal offered Liverpool £40million plus £1 for Luis Suarez – so triggering his release, as per contract – Liverpool asked the Gunners ‘what they were smoking’ and refused to honour it.
The Daily Mail says Sanchez and German midfielder Mesut Ozil, 27, will extend their stays at Arsenal. But is unsure what next for Jack Wilshere, 24, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 23, and 26-year-old Kieran Gibbs.
Their stock at Arsenal is boosted by the Premier League’s home-grown rule, which states clubs must include eight home-grown players out of a squad of 25.
A home-grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21).
Gibbs is no world beater. Oxlade-Chamberlain doesn’t improve. And Wilshere, well, the Bleacher Report said last week: “Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he wants Bournemouth loanee Jack Wilshere to stay at Arsenal his entire career.”
Which is little odd, given that he now plays for Bournemouth, albeit on loan.
You might wonder if the Mail knows anything? It would appear not:
Such are the facts.
Posted: 15th, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: rubbish Mustafi is the Gunners’ top passer
Arsenal balls: A quick look at reporting on Arsenal’s Champions’ League match again PSG. The focus is on Arsenal’s new boy Shkodran Mustafi. How did he do?
Rubbish!
“…gave the ball away cheaply and put Arsenal’s midfielders under pressure. He does not look like the big-hearted leader Arsenal need at the back. Is he worth £35m? Not on this showing” – Neil Ashton, The Sun.
2/10 – L’Equipe
Confused!
“Cavani had planted his header emphatically into the corner from Aurier’s glorious cross on the charge with Shkodran Mustafi apparently distracted by the presence of a second ball on the pitch, albeit on the distant touchline.” – The Guardian
Pretty good!
“…was solid enough throughout” – Sami Mokbel, Daily Mail
“Mustafi was competitive and strong. Has the makings of a good signing” – John Cross, Daily Mirror.
Awesome!
“Mustafi continues to show he’s a pass master against PSG – Mustafi stood out once again with his passing ability” – Daily Cannon (Arsenal fan blog)
Such are the facts.
Posted: 14th, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment (1)
Transfer balls: Eric Dier’s new contract at Spurs and Bayern Munich’s dossier
Transfer Balls: In June, the Express told readers that Spurs and England player Eric Dier was being watch. “Carlo Ancelotti eyes Tottenham swoop,” thundered the headline. News was that the new Bayern Munich manager wanted Dier. “Bayern will have to mount a fight to prise Dier away from Spurs,” continued the story.
The Indy agreed: “Tottenham Hotspur braced for move for England midfielder this summer.”
The Sunday People said the German champions are putting together a dossier on Dier.
The Sun went further. “BAYERN WANT NEW BECKS,” it declared.
Tottenham midfielder has the nickname Becks and the attention of the German giants after his stunning free-kick
And so to today’s news: “Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier has signed a new five-year contract, which runs until 2021.”
Number of bids made for Dier over the summer: nil.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 13th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Media balls: Injured Spurs player named man of the match
Football journalism finds its nadir in the Metro, which when not writing hundreds of clickbait articles every week, is making up its Team of the Week. This week’s team features Tottenham’s Danny Rose.
Spurs tonked Stoke last Saturday. And anyone who saw the match will have spotted Danny Rose… sat in the cheap seats nursing his injured hamstring.
The Metro’s analytical expert appraised his every move:
Tottenham are back! Or so it seems after a convincing 4-0 win over Stoke.
Rose was one of the many Spurs stars to finally hit their straps after a steady start to the campaign, contributing at both ends of the pitch to ensure the north Londoners came away with all three points.
Ben Davies was at left back.
Posted: 13th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment (1)
Is failed manager Gary Neville waiting for the Manchester United job?
Former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville is moaning. Sacked by the La Liga club Valencia in March after less than four months in charge, Neville also lost his job as England assistant manager after their dismal showing at Euro 2016.
He tells Sky Sports, for whom he works as a pundit:
“The FA invested in me for four years. I’m the most experienced I’ve ever been yet you get chucked overboard. I’m only 41 years of age and you’re regarded as a failure and the reality of it is the investment has to come through defeat and victory.
“I’ve been to eight tournaments as a player, three as a coach, I’m probably the only English coach that’s managed in La Liga at a top four club in the last 15 to 20 years, even if it’s only for four months.”
Of course, Gary, having managed unsuccessfully at Valencia, a club owned by his mate – he left with the worst win percentage of any coach in the club’s La Liga history – and been part of a management team that turned out a poor England side – England 1, Iceland 2 – Neville could step down a league or two and hone his skills at a smaller club with ambition.
Or is he waiting for the United job to restore his credibility?
Posted: 13th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports | Comment
Manchester United earned £515.3m in 2015-16
Ker-ching! Manchester United earned £515.3m in 2015-16. They are the only British club to break half a billion quid.
On the other side of the accounts, there is net debt of £260.9m.
As an aside, Louis van Gaal and his coaching staff were paid a fortune to leave the place – £8.4m in compensation.
The club also wrote off £6.7m because Schweinsteiger is no longer a first team player.
Profit: £36m
@JakeFCohen looks at the band: “Football still comparatively small business – Manchester United’s annual earnings amounts to 8 days of Nike earnings.”
Posted: 12th, September 2016 | In: manchester united, Money, Sports | Comment
