When Nuno Espirito Santo defeated Man City he was roundly applauded. He has just done the impossible, scoring against a miserly City defense and stopping the ridiculously talented City attack from scoring. We all agreed he may just be the man to move Spurs forward. Three games and three wins into the season he set tongues wagging by winning all without conceding a goal. Those who didn't watched those games but saw the scoreline started tipping Tottenham for big things. Those…
@McKane in November 2021
As wonderful as the win against Tottenham was I chose to believe it's a one off. Winning against a team like Tottenham is no guarantee of a strong team. Tonight Man U plays Atalanta and the match will go a long way to determining what is happening or what will happen at Old Trafford. The questions running through my mind are endless - will Ole persist with the 3-4-1-2 formation or will he switch back to his favoured 4-3-3? Will he make any personnel changes? If he doesn't,…
Yesterday I got challenged when I suggested that Man U's win against Spurs isn't any reason to be happy and comfortable. Having watched them against Atalanta I hope some can see that the win against Spurs wasn't because Man U was too good; it was because Spurs were too poor. Their manager paid the price for it already. With the erratic display at Bergamo in mind, I won't be overly confident of a win against Man City this weekend.
When those dudes with Arab money bought Manchester City football was relatively easy. Asides Man U and Chelsea, very few teams in England can pay huge wages so it helped them. Even at that City were reasonable with their purchases. They went after above average players like Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Barry and not many established players. Mancini wasn't in the conversation of the top 5 managers around too. Newcastle has chosen the path of deception. They want to build a super…
. Buy Eddie Howe . Loan Phillip Coutinho If Newcastle get these two in by January they won't make the top 10 but at least they should escape relegation. Eddie Howe did wonders at Bournemouth before he overstayed his welcome. Coutinho is still a better player than who most teams in the bottom half of the EPL can parade. These two should strengthen them immensely and should give them a head start, instead of chasing around the likes of Icardi and Niklas Süle.
For some reasons known to Barcelona's board they've allowed Dembele to continually enjoy his time on the treatment table while important players were allowed to leave. Seems their is more to this Barca hierarchy's folly than they are letting out.
At a time when Greenwood just dropped off the Man U line up due to the switch of formation, Firmino has been announced to be out with a serious hamstring injury. This automatically means Jota now owns Liverpool's false nine position for the main time. A switch from Greenwood to Jota or Foden is definitely the way for now. #FPL
This weekend: Man U vs Man City Conte's first EPL match as Tottenham manager Xavi's homecoming! Another weekend to savour. I'm overly expectant already.
Congratulations to Xavi Hernandez on becoming the new Barcelona coach but I have to admit I have my reservations. I will be surprised if Xavi springs any miracle at Barca within the limit of the 2.5 years contract he has. I really don't understand why everybody thinks Xavi, who has no single experience of managing in Europe, will automatically lead Barca to the glory land an experienced manager like Koeman couldn't. I've seen comparison between him and Guardiola and the talk…
When Lukaku was announced to be injured I felt bad but not totally bad - he hasn't scored in like three games or so. When Werner got injured my face lighted up; I saw an opportunity. With both Werner and Lukaku out Havertz will surely occupy that striker role for Chelsea till either of those crooked guys return. Two games in, 10 goals scored by Chelsea and the only thing Havertz can boast of is just one assist! If he blanks against Leicester he is definitely out of my team.…
According to reliable sources, Conte waited till the last minute for Man U to move for him before agreeing to join Spurs. With normal services resumed at Old Trafford after a deceiving 3-0 win at Spurs and an undeserved draw at Atalanta the #OleOut gang will crank up the volume once again. Who is left to appoint if and when United finally grows the confidence to sack this legendary rubbish of a manager?
I will like to see the miracle whichever manager Norwich City signs will do. They sold their best player in Emi Buendia to Villa and are hoping for a Premier League status with a bunch of kids. I'm really curious to see how they will escape this relegation when they've failed to fortify the team with players of Premier League pedigree.
This season is already destined to be a very tough one for Dortmund. The loss of Sancho has been underplayed because it was expected but nothing could've prepared them for the loss of their man main, Haaland. Though they've relatively done well in the league with 8 wins in 11 and only sitting behind perennial Bundesliga king, Bayern, they were soundly beaten in both legs against Ajax in the Champions League. With Haaland out for the season most of the attacking burden now…
I knew this was going to happen, just didn't know when. Aston Villa have sacked manager, Dean Smith. When he won at Old Trafford he looked like the real deal. How quickly tables can turn. It would've been a big surprise if he makes it past the international break without getting sacked. And yes, Villa did invest decently into their squad this summer.
David Moyes' West Ham are now playing like David Moyes' Everton. They have a good attacking and defensive balance. They hurt you at set pieces while defending solidly. The array of attackers at his disposal makes his West Ham a team to always enjoy. They should have a shot at the top four this season. What a cracking game they played against Liverpool. The fans were wonderful also.
If anybody out there is still having a faint hope that Ham can still turn this around I think it's time to let it go. It's been Max's year and he will be a worthy champion. Mercedes and Ham should prepare for next season.
A hearty congratulations to Max. I have to admit I never really trusted him before this season because he's got some wrecking ball moment in him but he has been a different class this year; unbelievably mature and consistent. With a 19 point gap he will definitely be champion now, and it will be thoroughly deserved.
SkySports just reported that Man U is showing no indication of sacking Solksjær and he's expected to remain the manager. Well, the bumpy ride continues.
"...No excuse will be made or accepted." These words keeps ringing in my head, the words of Xavi Hernandez during his unveiling. I love Xavi and I want him to be successful but a job like that of Barca is one so many legendary managers have failed at. When time gets hard fans will stick with him. When it gets unbearable and he complains fans will remind him that he clearly said he will make no excuses. In the game of football one can never be too sure.
Dean Smith got sacked by Aston Villa during the weekend and he's already on the shortlist for a job at Norwich. Wow! The managerial merry go round can be sickening. They appoint him, he delivers; fumbles and gets sacked again. The cycle continues. The tough life of a manager. They carry the blame for their players stupidity and they get booted out for their players ineffectiveness. They are first target of our anger.
Just 11 games into the Premier League season and 5 managers have been sacked. In all honesty it should be 6 by now with Solksjær barely hanging on to his job. More managers will be sacked as the season progresses with fans demanding more from their failing team both in the stadium and on several social media platforms. The brutal side of management is getting more exposed by the day. That is why these managers put a big pay off in their clauses because they know they can get…
Gerrard's move to Aston Villa from Rangers looks easy. It was more like he had no reason to reject the offer. Rangers are the champions of Scotland and they are currently in Europe compared to Aston Villa that are just two points above the relegation zone. Why leave a possible tilt at the Europa League crown for a relegation dogfight? Why leave the possibility of winning another league title? As brutal as this may sound Scottish football has nothing on their English…
Now that Gerrard has moved to Aston Villa where next for Lampard? He has been relatively quiet since his dismissal at Chelsea. Rumours have it that Norwich are after him right now. That may just be career suicide as Norwich looks a sure bet for relegation no matter the person who manages them. A dismissal at Chelsea, a possible relegation at Norwich and Lampard may start finding good managerial jobs hard to come by.
When the Germany national football team comes for you, they take everything away from you. Lichtenstein - suffering a 9-1 battering right at home - are the new country to join the unfortunate list of countries that have been mercilessly beaten by the Germans; they won't be the last.
While checking out the Friday Gossips on BBC this morning I saw a news about Barcelona willing to take Sterling on loan by January. This doesn't really interest me as I've heard of it before. What piqued my interest was Sterling's age, 26. I was like, this dude has been popular for a long time. How come he's just 26? English press propensity to over-hype their player to world class level when they are just above average has helped these players financially, but it always…
Frank Kessie will be a free agent next season and top clubs are already circling. News have it that Barca want him as well as Man U. In the condition that Barca are in with financial difficulties it will be a shame if Man U does not move mountains to get a player that can transform their failing midfield. Every top team out there has at least one playmaker that controls the pace of the game except Man U. Man City have more than five. Man U has none. Liverpool have one in…
Well, looks like Xavi is going to be ruling with the iron fist at Barca having rolled out the rules. And yes, Ousmane Dembele has reportedly fell short of one of those and will definitely be punished for it. This ruling method worked for Guardiola when he flushed the bad boys of Rijkaard's era - Deco, Eto'o and Ronaldinho - off the team to create a team willing to listen to him. Let's see how it works for Xavi.
I'm definitely not a fan of the second coming; it rarely end well in most cases. Scholes, Henry, Lehmann and a couple others have returned but underwhelmed. For some it ended in shame. This is why I'm not impressed with the return of Dani Alves to Barca. This dude has been away from European football for a while. And if he is still top notch Brazilian clubs should be moving mountains to get him. Acquiring a player of Dani's experience is crucial for a young squad - he is a…
Ham was wonderful today but the story for me is Max increasing his lead to 21 points. It's now a matter of when, and not if Max will be crowned champion.
While I was busy throwing expletives at Man U board for not tying up the deal with Conte before he moved to Spurs Daily Star was busy gathering info about why the deal fell through. They are now reporting that Conte demanded a whooping £250M transfer kitty for next season. That simply means he's going to completely overhaul the team. And yes, we will be back to square one yet again. Getting the inside info before throwing tantrums can be important.
Lingard at West Ham was a terror. He was simply dominant and unplayable. Then he chose to come back to a place where he isn't wanted. I really don't understand how Ole convinced him to stay. If the club wanted to prize Lingard out of a move with an astronomical fee he could literally go to war with Man U and win. We all love him and were happy when he was playing well at West Ham but we also know he won't start if he comes back. No singular Man U fan will hate Lingard if he…
Lewis is driving like someone possessed here. Max has been wonderful all season but with the amount of laps left to race it will be very hard for him to keep a raging Lewis away. This race is on a knife edge.
It's been a wonderful race to watch and this channel added more excitement and spice. Let the next race come quickly. This season is unfolding to one of the best seasons in a very long time.
For some reasons Portugal chose to blow away a straightforward chance at qualifying for next year's World Cup. I wouldn't have imagined Portugal labouring to a draw against Northern Ireland not to talk of losing at home to Serbia. Now they have to do it the hard way. I will definitely fancy a playoff between Portugal and Sweden. It will be wonderful for neutrals.
Since Dean Smith got appointed by Norwich I've been asking myself series of questions. Why would someone be so eager to tarnish his struggling reputation the more? He had a far better squad at Aston Villa but struggled. What made him believe he can do better with a limited squad at Norwich? If Norwich got relegated he will have two consecutive blots on his CV in the same season - he got sacked by one club and led the other to relegation. I understand wanting to bounce back…
England are hammering San Marino right now, 6-0 in the first half with Kane scoring four of those. These qualifiers can be boring.
Harry Kane is now on 48 international goals for England. Rooney holds the record with 53. If Harry avoids injury next year he will most likely surpass Rooney as the player with the highest amount of goals for England. Harry Kane has been a revelation since he burst into limelight at Spurs. He has been world class. Even though he will surpass Rooney's tally he is nowhere near as good as Wayne Rooney. As a matter of fact there are very few strikers of the modern era who can…
Internationals are done. Players will be back in their clubs for the next round of matches. For FPL managers check your team if some of your players are out. We have over 8 million managers this year. If you want to finish in a respectable position you have to work consistently on your team. And if you're still holding on to that precious wildcard, you may want to start now with the plans to activate it (already blew mine in GW3).
Bitcoin was on a rampage just few days ago. The crypto world was in frenzy when it crossed the $65,000 mark and the question on people's lips was will it cross the $100,000 mark before January, 2022. Now back at a little under $60,000 I have to admit the next move of the biggest cryptocurrency in the land is relatively unknown to me. It may surge and cross the $100,000 mark by January. And yes, it may regress and stay where it is now. The joy of cryptocurrency is in not…
Another manager and yet another trash being discharged all in the name of press conference. Why does these guys try to impress at all cost? Steven Gerrard is a Premier League great and his return to England is a welcome development. I don't fancy his first press conference though. Gerrard really did somehow said Villa can be participating in Europe again. Dude, you were appointed to stop them from relegating. Don't hang a noose around your neck by talking about European…
Our dear Ole gambled against Tottenham and it paid off somehow. Well, it all crumbled against Atalanta before Man City nailed it. If reports are anything to believe Ole wants to roll the dice once again by starting either Van de Beek, Sancho or Lingard against Watford. Yes, Watford. When you see a coach of a supposedly top class football club scurrying about in search of solutions against a team like Watford that may relegate just know all is definitely not well.
Three games into the season and Arteta already looks odd on to be the first manager to get sacked. Bullied by Ivan Toney and Lukaku there was no end in sight for the amount of torture the supposedly fragile Arsenal team will suffer. Arteta has been grossly underrated since he got this Arsenal job. People believed he was riding the wave of Pep Guardiola's brilliance. He has proved himself to be a wonderful manager this season. Liverpool are scary going forward but they've…
Excuses can be made for losses to Liverpool and Man City - they are superior. There is no amount of excuse that will suffice if Watford -a team that has already sacked one manager - wins Man U. No amount of goodwill will justify Solksjær's continuation as manager if he loses this one. By the way, Watford 1 - 0 Man U.
Perez has made Red Bull's job a lot harder this weekend. WTF happened to this dude? 11th? Max is in for a very rough ride tomorrow sandwiched between the Mercedes cars. And a win for Lewis here definitely blows the title race wide open with just two races to go. This is going to be interesting.
Finally, the Man U board should've run out of reasons and excuses now. Ole simply can't motivate these bunch of players. He has tried 4-3-3. He shifted to 3-4-1-2. He moved to 3-4-3 and back to 4-3-3. He has changed personnel too. In all, the result has been strikingly the same. When a manager can't get performance from his players no matter the pattern, formation or opponent then time is up.
You can devise tactics to stop attackers like Salah and Mane but it's extremely hard to stop a defender that plays like an attacking midfielder. Once again Arnold was imperious today and capped his display with two assists. Liverpool's right axis of Salah and Arnold is ridiculously talented. They toy with opponents and create goals. Arsenal put up the fight but they were overwhelmed. I would've reserved some sympathy for Arsenal supporters out there but sounding over…
Is their a secret pact between Ousmane Dembele and Man U? Is Dembele paying someone to spread rumours about an imminent agreement between him and Man U? This is getting confusing and annoying. Why would a player as crooked as Dembele be linked to Man U every single week? Man U has 10 players who can play in the forward position. Why would they want another forward, not less a nearly useless and always injured one?
Is Verstappen cracking under pressure? Have I ruled Lewis out of title contention way too early? Max has been imperious all season but suddenly he looks scared. If Hamilton cuts his lead to single figures (which is highly possible now) then he will be in all sort of problems.
A relatively easy one for Ham. He has somehow revived a nearly dead title race.
I just can't get my head around it. Each person involved in the appointment of Ole should be criminally investigated. I sincerely don't know the criteria they used in deciding he is the right person to lead Man U after Mourinho's debacle. Moyes was wonderful at Everton; Van Gaal is a proven manager, so also Mourinho. Solksjær's venture into management ended with relegation at Cardiff and a good time with Mölde. How that CV is good enough to land someone arguably the biggest…
At half time Tottenham looked dead and buried. Completely dominated, a goal behind with only two shots off target - none from their forwards - the die was cast. Immediately after restart they looked different. Harry Kane rattled a shot on target in just three minutes of the restart. That was his first shot of the game. Spurs clicked immediately. When the game ended, Spurs won 2-1 and had 13 shots. They only had two shots in the whole of first half. Every metrics showed that…
Even with the sacking of Solksjær Man U is still far away from redemption. One of the problems in the team has been the lack of imagination in training. Sources have it that some players complained that the training is "too British." Solksjær has been sacked now but the British core of Carrick, McKenna, Phelan and some others are still very much in the team. No singular backroom staff was relieved of his duties. A proper beat down at Chelsea will probably remind us all that…
Manchester United will reportedly pay Solksjær around £7M for sacking him. If they press ahead with their plans to sign Pochettino they will pay PSG £8.4M. That's a combined amount of £15M just to fire and hire a manager for the team. These mistakes are becoming increasingly expensive.
Paul Merson made a bold claim in his latest column that the acquisition of Ronaldo destabilized Solksjær's plan leading to his eventual sacking. This sounds rude and uncomfortable but he has made a valid point. When this season started most United fans were expecting a proper title challenge this time. It was glaring the team needed a right winger and a commanding central defender and every resources was placed into signing Sancho and Varane. Cavani, who wanted a return to…
Even though Pochettino distanced himself from the vacant position at Old Trafford several news outlets are reporting Poch' has a serious interest in the job. Why would a manager have the likes of Messi, Mbappe, Neymar, Ramos and couple other superstars and still wish to move on? All is not well at the Parc des Princes and Leonardo is becoming notoriously known for being bullish.
Looks like Valverde is the favourite for the caretaker role at Man U so far. Initial talks has been held as regards him taking over till the end of season. Valverde has a track record of delivering in short space of time and his pattern depends a lot on individual brilliance.
Well, Newcastle are it again with their despicable behaviour of getting linked to top class footballers out there. I thought they finally changed their ways when they were absent from the news but old habits die hard. Newcastle wants to buy Mbappe. Yes, Kylian Mbappe. They are overreaching, right? If they don't work reasonably without unnecessary fanfare they will still be struggling five years from now.
When Paul Scholes took aim at Michael Carrick, Kieran McKenna and Fletcher for staying at the club despite being a part of the failed Solksjær regime I felt he was wrong. Ryan Giggs was part of the failed Moyes regime yet we celebrated him when he took over after Moyes' sacking. As much as we act as if we know everything the fact remains that we only know what the club wants us to know. Daily Mirror reported this morning that Solksjær frequently clashed with coaching staff…
Now that Sebastian Haller has activated beast mode in the Champions League scoring 9 goals in 5 games is it time for him to make another big career move? At Frankfurt he looked the real deal with 24 goal contributions in 29 games before his move to West Ham. He definitely struggled at West Ham before securing a move to Ajax. Back amongst the goals and scoring explosively in the biggest club competition in the world, the big clubs will be glancing at him. His advancing age -…
World Cup Play-Off Draw One of Portugal or Italy will not make the World Cup. They are both placed in Path C. This is indeed very saddening. Scotland and Wales both in Path A means one or both of them will miss the World Cup
Reading BBC's tribute to Gary Speed whose passing is a decade old today, I can't help but wipe the tears off once again. He was a wonderful footballer and person. I saw a lot of him when he played for Bolton and he endeared himself to us all. A sincerely lovable footballer and manager. It's been ten years but his death was so saddening and unbelievable that it looked like it was just yesterday. As he is remembered across England and Wales today I pray his family and friends…
The Portuguese FA should be ashamed of themselves for forcing Belenenses to play against Benfica yesterday despite having most of their playing staff down with COVID. Nine players started this game for Belenenses, with a goalkeeper playing in the midfield. The game was eventually abandoned when the number was reduced to six with two more players not returning for the second half and another getting injured. This is absolutely stunning. Those who sanctioned this game to go…
One of the strengths of Ferguson's successful managerial career was knowing and respecting the strength of his opponent. He knew how to defend on away grounds and always cherished valuable points gained on direct rivals soil. Carrick won't be Man U's manager for the foreseeable future but on the strength of what he has done with his game plan against Chelsea he should be a good manager anywhere he heads to. Starting three defensive midfielders against Chelsea looks ugly, but…
From all indications Lionel Messi will win his 7th Balon d'Or tonight. Does he deserves to win it? The answer is a complete YES. If I was to preside over it would I have chosen him? The answer is a serious NO.
There are some things in sports I've struggled to explain but just could not. Lewis Hamilton has won 7 Formula One championships and may still win the eight this year, but Schumacher is believed to be Formula 1 all time great. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal has 20 grand slam titles, same as Roger Federer but I still believe Djokovic and Nadal aren't as good as Federer despite having more wins against him. Lionel Messi has won 7 Balon d'Or and is unbelievably good but I…
For Fantasy Premier League managers here, deadline for GameWeek 14 is in 20 minutes (19:00). Make those reasonable changes now as we are approaching the busiest period of the season.