Manchester United
Penalty Kings Part II: The Bruno bounce
The art of penalty-taking is certainly not as easy as most people make it out to be. The fact that the xG assigned to a spot-kick is only 0.76 clearly indicates that the taker has a lot to do if they are to convert their big chance from 12 yards out. While most penalties are centred around mind-games between the shooter and goalkeeper where they both try to pre-empt the other’s move, two players have been changing this. They are Jorginho and Bruno Fernandes, who have extremely unconventional penalty-taking techniques, which involve a jump just before the ball is kicked. Jorginho was the inventor of this technique, and we analysed his penalties in the first part of this series, which you should read before getting stuck into this piece. Now, onto Bruno Fernandes’ penalty technique. The Brun...
Manchester United boss backs one-leg Europa League ties after venue change for Sociedad clash
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has called for the Europa League knockout rounds to be played over one leg after Manchester United’s away game at Real Sociedad was moved to Turin. The first of United’s two-legged tie against the Liga side has been moved to Italy due to current travel restrictions imposed by the Spanish government over Covid-19, preventing the team from flying in for the game without the need for quarantine. Real Sociedad’s director of football Roberto Olabe hit out at UEFA over the ruling which saw the Spanish side have to find an alternative venue for next week’s game, claiming Manchester United had an unfair advantage – and Solskjaer agreed, adding that he would have backed it being a one-legged occasion. Solskjaer said: “With Europe, we hope it’s going to be sustainable. Different...
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirms injury boost with Man United star back in training
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has provided a positive injury update ahead of the Premier League clash against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. The Red Devils have been inconsistent with their performances over the past few weeks, winning just two of the previous five games in all competitions. Ahead of the Baggies clash, Solskjaer provided positive news on the injury front by confirming that Eric Bailly has returned to training following a shin problem. However, the Norwegian added that neither Paul Pogba (thigh) or Phil Jones (rehabilitation after knee surgery) will be available to face Sam Allardyce’s side on the road. “We’ve had a rare opportunity to do a bit of training and recovery – Paul [Pogba] is out, but Eric has been training, which is a boost to us,” he said in t...
‘Absolutely devastated’ – 22-yr-old sends heartfelt apology to West Ham fans after cup exit
West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice has issued an apology to the club’s fans on Twitter after their defeat against Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup last night. Absolutely devastated. Really wanted to progress in this competition. Apologies for the goal, needed to be better. Proud of the lads tonight, massive effort. Focus back on the league now! We go again. ❤️⚒ @WestHam — Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) February 9, 2021 The Hammers were beaten 1-0 after extra time and Declan Rice was directly responsible for Scott McTominay’s matchwinner on the 97th minute. The England international was caught in possession and the United midfielder capitalised on his error to score the only goal of the game. Rice has been in impressive form for West Ham for over a yea...
The best and worst transfers between Premier League rivals
Title contenders often follow a golden rule in the transfer market: don’t sell to direct rivals. However, there are a fair few occasions where this rule hasn’t been followed. Sometimes the player wanted to leave; other times the club received an offer they couldn’t refuse. Some of these players went on to be superstars at their new clubs, bringing in almost instant success. Others were…well…a bit rubbish. In no particular order – here we go: Carlos Tevez (Manchester United to Manchester City, £25m) 1/2 OTD in 2009 Carlos Tevez signed for Manchester City. This ‘Welcome’ poster soon appeared close to Manchester’s city border on Deansgate- pic.twitter.com/rTPWEmDsNO — Dr Gary James (@GaryJamesWriter) July 13, 2017 After winning two titles and a Champions League at Manchester...
Arsenal and Man United to travel to Italy in tough Europa League games next week
UEFA have confirmed that Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool will play the first leg of their respective European ties at neutral venues this month. The Gunners qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League after topping their group with the perfect tally of 18 points from six matches. They are scheduled to face Benfica in the round of 32 and the away leg will be played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome instead of the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. Portugal is on the ‘red list’ of countries listed by the UK government and the requirement for a mandatory quarantine for Gunners players on return has led to the decision. Elsewhere, United won’t travel to Real Sociedad’s Anoeta stadium for the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 and the game has been relocated to Juventus...
West Ham star unlikely to figure, Tottenham face tough test
The FA Cup continues apace this week, with the fifth round line-up featuring some intriguing ties over the next three days. We’ll update this story with reports, results and highlights as the games take place. Manchester United booked their place in the next FA Cup draw with a 1-0 home victory over West Ham United – Scott McTominay bagged the winner in extra-time. Burnley crashed out of the competition as they were beaten 2-0 by Bournemouth at Turf Moor – Sam Surridge and Junior Stanislas got the goals. There are four games on Wednesday, with Swansea City versus Manchester City kicking things off at 5.30 pm. Leicester City versus Brighton & Hove Albion and Sheffield United versus Bristol City are next on the agenda and both home teams look good bets to make progress. The final fixture ...
Van de Beek and Martial start, Predicted Manchester United line-up (4-2-3-1) vs West Ham
Manchester United are scheduled to host West Ham United in tonight’s FA Cup fifth round tie. The Red Devils have made it to the last eight of the cup competition in the past seven seasons and they will be aiming to extend the run by beating the Hammers. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may consider making some changes to the starting XI, considering the club have five games in different competitions over the next 18 days. Formation: 4-2-3-1 Predicted Line-up: Dean Henderson has the Red Devils’ cup goalkeeper and he is likely to replace David de Gea, who had a poor showing against Everton in the Premier League last weekend. Henderson can boost his starting prospects in the league with a solid performance against the Hammers. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof are likely to continue in the central defenc...
Three Things: Liverpool get cold feet, Arsenal going nowhere, big call needed on De Gea
It has been a while since we ran our ‘Three Things’ column on a Monday morning, but we couldn’t resist given events in the Premier League over the weekend. Manchester City’s stunning 4-1 victory at Liverpool was the standout result and left Reds fans everywhere bemoaning the rapid demise of the reigning champions. Without further ado, we offer our take on three of the key talking points from the latest round of Premier League fixtures. ‘Bad champions’ get cold feet Man City’s demolition job on Liverpool at Anfield sparked plenty of debate, with Roy Keane’s epic rant on Sky Sports perhaps the best of the bunch. 🗣 “They are making a lot of excuses, to me they’ve been bad champions.” Roy Keane has not been impressed with Liverpool’s mentality this season pic.twitter.com/jjxyCdnhwM — F...
The worst title defences in Premier League history
Liverpool’s title defence hasn’t exactly gone to plan. Following a severe injury crisis in defence which saw Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, the Reds find themselves ten points off the summit. Sunday’s 4-1 home defeat to leaders Manchester City compounded their misery further, leaving them with 40 points – 27 fewer than they had at this stage last season. This is statistically the biggest drop off from a title winner in the history of the English top flight. 27 – After 23 games this season, Liverpool (40) now have 27 fewer points than they did at the same stage last season (67), the biggest drop by any reigning champion at this stage of a campaign in English top-flight history. Molehill. #LIVMCI pic.twitter.com/lrwiL8Ndko — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 7, 2021 However, maybe it’s...
Report: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirms three Man United stars will miss West Ham clash
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has provided an injury update ahead of the club’s FA Cup fifth round tie against West Ham United tomorrow. The Red Devils have recently lost momentum in the league with just one win from four games, but they will be eager to make progress to the last eight of the cup competition. Ahead of the game, Solskjaer has provided an update to MUTV where he has revealed that as many as three players will miss the Hammers clash. Pogba suffered a thigh problem during the first half of the 3-3 Premier League draw against Everton last weekend and he is set for a spell on the sidelines. “It’s an injury that will take a few weeks to heal,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s official website earlier today. “He’s just started his recovery, working with the m...
‘Had a shocker’, ‘Terrible’ – Some Man Utd fans are unhappy with 30-yr-old’s display last night
Manchester United dropped two valuable points against Everton in the Premier League last night. Despite having a comfortable lead in the first half, the Old Trafford outfit managed to end up drawing the game and it could have a big impact on their title aspirations. United had a great chance of going level on points with league leaders Manchester City with a win last night. City face Liverpool in the Premier League later today and it could be a vital game in this season’s title race. Meanwhile, United will feel that they could have easily won the game if not for a mediocre performance from goalkeeper David de Gea. The 30-year-old Spaniard has not been at his best for a while now and he was responsible for a couple of goals the conceded by the home side. The Spaniard should have done better...
