Posts tagged Manchesterunited

2020 wrap up: Manchester United version

Football December 31, 2020

Manchester United started the season with 27 point away from the first spot and ended with 3 points away and a game in hand.

Bruno Fernandes magic? or Ole really is a tactic genius?
All i want to say is we are officially back in the title race and i would definitely start “21 is coming home” after we have won few more games. (kidding)

We were at the 5th place in the start of Jan and went further down to seventh before Bruno’s arrival (trust me I’m no “playerFC” person but he is the best thing happened to us this year)

Very few players are able to make the kind of impact Bruno have had after his arrival.

Ending the saddest year with a win has made us all excited but I would love to watch us continue this form and be consistent in Premier League.

It’s time to look at how our team has done in the calendar year.

Here are the few factors that made up our year.

Ole Gunner’s nightmare: Injuries
Start of 2020 was like living in hell as a ManUtd fan. In the first game of the new year the Reds fell against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal (lol) and questions were raised on Solskjaer’s future at the club. However, as the Red Devils gathered themselves in the absence of key players, Marcus Rashford injured his back and was ruled out for a significant part of the season while Paul Pogba was already ruled out.

It felt like the end of the career which had not even started for Ole and the start of yet another cycle which would rip the team apart. (those were the days when I felt vulnerable as a United fan) We had just gotten rid of the negativity and here we were in the same dark tunnel desperately looking for yet another hand to pull us out of it. And Bruno Fernandez entered in our lives. (getting emotional)

Signing of Bruno Fernandes

United fans were relived when the reds finally signed the Portuguese magnifico. He came as a blessing in disguise and quickly became a fan favorite the moment he arrived. Such enthusiasm, motivation to his team mates and never giving up attitude already made him a contender for captaincy.

(Man of his words) Bruno Fernandes said:
“My love of Manchester United really started when I used to watch Cristiano Ronaldo play and ever since then I have been a big fan of this great club. For me to now play for Manchester United feels incredible, I have worked hard to get to this moment and I can promise the fans that I will give everything for the badge to help bring us more success and trophies.“

Let the number speak
18 goals and 13 assists, Fernandes has been directly contributed to just over half of Manchester United’s 60 Premier League goals since he made his debut.

Those 31 Premier League goal contributions saw Fernandes break Frank Lampard’s calendar record for a midfielder of 29, set in 2009.

Since his debut, no Premier League player has more goals (12) or assists (six) away from home than the 26-year-old.

Fernandes has become the first Portuguese player to score 10 goals in a Premier League season since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008-09. (finally someone to match his stats)

Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi are the only players with more direct goal contributions in Europe’s top five leagues than Fernandes since the start of February.

If he takes this form to 2021 and be consistent, we can say that he can be the contender of the player of the season award. (I would def vote for him)

Most Goals and Assists Contribution in the Calendar Year 2020:

Lewandowski (30 Goals ⚽+ 5 Assists )
Lionel Messi (18 goals ⚽+16 Assists)
Bruno Fernandez (18 goals+14 Assists)
Cristiano Ronaldo (26 goals ⚽ + 4 Assists)

Among them Bruno is the only midfielder to feature in the list.

Semi final exits
It wasn’t all glorious for the Reds, Ole still had to get back to winning ways and that’s when the Red Devils suffered a big blow when they lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final, having lost to City in the semi final of Carabao Cup previously. And things got worse when United were knocked out of the Europa League by Sevilla (heartbreaking) Three Semi Final defeats were a lot to take in but we gulped down the humiliation and moved on.

Transfer window: Sancho drama
Jadon Sancho was Solskajer’s No.1 priority, but the laid back approach from the Man United board saw Sancho slip out of their hands and stay put at Dortmund for another season. After chasing Sancho all summer and an enquiry to Watford for winger Ismaila Sarr didn’t progress, the dead line day kept United busy. The Reds completed the signing of Donny van de Beek, with Edinson Cavani and Alex Telles, along with youngsters Facundo Pellistri and Amad Diallo all in a matter of few hours.

The lack of proper planning for the summer transfers meant that Man United started the season behind their rivals, who used the opportunity to strengthen their squads for a grueling season.

Literally all the United fans during summer transfer window.

Champions League, a dream.
The Premier League season was a night mare for the Reds how ever the the grass was green in the Champions League. Dismantling PSG again and humiliating RB Leipzig was fruitful but the tides turned quickly and the Reds crash out of the Champions League.

A horrendous defeat in Turkey followed by the PSG stealing a win at home meant that Man United needed a point from their game against RB Leipzig, but eventually fell short and returned to the Europa League. The Champions League dream crashed as quickly as it had started.

Humiliating 1-6 defeat
We do not need a reminder for this, It’s printed on our minds. Not even in their wildest dream Jose and his team would have thought they will get to taste such a fruitful win at OT against the team they dream to be. When Bruno Fernandez penalty in the second minute after Anthony Martial was brought down, Man Utd appeared to be on course for all three points. But it doesn’t always go as you plan. Within five minutes of taking the lead, Spurs hit back with two goals and things did not get any better for the Reds after that.

Martial’s red card was a cue we were defeated long before the FT whistle.

Manager’s performance
For the most of his time at United Ole has been questioned about his plans and tactics for the team. Weather you are Ole in or Ole out we have to accept the fact that he has handled the job pretty well till now.

If you keep the cup games aside, from having a terrible started to the league finishing the year on the 2nd place with a game in hand is indeed blissful. The fans have already declared United in the title race.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can get the first piece of glory if he manages to take his team through the Carabao Cup semi final against the noisy neighbors and go on to win the cup. Hope we lift the curse off cup semi final and get the taste of glory ourselves.

Over all it wasn’t all that bad under Ole. I would definitely give him the benefit of doubt and would love to give this unbearable cycle of manager change a rest.

Comment down your thoughts below.

Manchester United players in the PL

Goals:

Bruno Fernandes- 10
Rashford- 7
Cavani- 3
McTominnay- 2
James- 1
Greenwood- 1
De Beek- 1
Martial- 1
Pogba- 1
Lindelöf- 1
Wan-Bissaka- 1
Maguire- 1

Assists

Bruno Fernandes- 8
Rashford- 4
Martial- 3
Mata- 2
Cavani- 2
Telles- 1
Shaw- 1
McTomminay- 1
Lindelöf- 1

What’s next?

United have as many wins as Liverpool in the Premier League and are three points behind with a game in hand. We play Aston Villa next on 2nd Jan, 2021 1:30 am IST.

The deadline day transfers.

Uncategorized October 7, 2020 1 Comment

Even though the Reds could not sign Jordan Sancho they kept themselves busy on the last day of the transfer window

The red devils managed to complete the signing of Alex Telles, Edinson Cavani and Amad Diallo, as well as young centre-back Willy Kambwala and Uruguayan youngster Facundo Pellistri.

The signings that United made on the deadline day.

The total of five signings before the 11pm deadline window got shut.
But the major problem still looms, did they address all the areas they needed to strengthen?

We needed a CB, CDM, RW but we went on to strengthen every other position but these so I would say no, the problem isn’t solved and we did not fill the gaps that were needed to be filled.

The last day signings were clearly a panic buy I would say since non of these signings were properly planned.

The current mood of the fans have bubbled up after the horrendous performance against Tottenham Hotspurs.

And on top of that these signings did not make them happy either since the club failed to get in the players that were desired by the manager.

Despite a busy deadline day transfers United failed to fill the CB position, a key position which needed strengthening specially after horrific display from Maguire, Bailly and Shaw against Spurs.

The reds failed to sign a single of their top targets in every area they were looking to buy.

When Maguire thought Shaw was playing for Spurs.

But the fans knew no such thing is gonna happen when Woodward made it clear the club doesn’t wanna splash in the wake of the loss they suffered in the pandemic.

Ole’s ideal plan was to create a young team. He got rid of the dead wood in the first season itself but we went on to sign a 33 year old in the next. This could be a good signing provided he stays healthy.

I would have been jumping with joy if we would have signed Cavani 2 or 3 years ago, I have always admired that player but right now I am having mixed feelings, is he going to be another Falcao? I really hope not.

Cavani has to quarantine and won’t be available before CL games.

Our board is clearly clueless, they did not pre planned for the transfer window.
Cavani was free agent since six month and yet we chose to get him in on the last day, why? cause he wasn’t even a part of our plan.

If money was the problem why didn’t we got rid of players like Marcus Rojo,
Phil Jones, Romaro to clear out the funds for fresh players?

We needed players for completely different position, we wanted a quick fix so we can compete for the title THIS SEASON. We needed to close the 33 points gap to the leaders.

We cannot wait for our young signings to mature five years down the line till they become worthy of the first team.

If you look at other teams in the Premier League everyone including Arsenal and Everton have made remarkable signing and I won’t be surprised if they finish above us.

The manager is always the scape goat irrespective of weather they had the backing of the board.

I would only urge everyone to not stop pointing out the flaws we have at the club and to not push the manager under the knife.

What do you think about the transfers?
Comment down your views.

“All I’m thinking about is Manchester United.”- Jose Mourinho.

Premier League October 22, 2018

Manchester United was set to break the record and win their first game at Stamford Bridge after 2012 but Ross Barkley’s 90+6th-minute equalizer changed everything. It was a dramatic game not only on the field but on the sidelines as well, Jose Mourinho lost his cool after Sarri’s assistant Lanni purposely celebrated in front of Jose and his team. Sarri later cleared the air and made his staff apologize for the bad behaviour.

Mourinho on this issue:

“I’m serious, I want to thank Sarri for his honesty. I want to thank Chelsea for their honest too, but I’m not happy that it’s going too far with the young boy. He doesn’t deserve that. I accepted his apologies. I don’t think he deserves to be sacked”

The Reds are now preparing to face Italian giants Juventus in Champions League which will be played on Wednesday at 12:30 (IST). Both Ronaldo and Pogba will be facing their former teams, it will be an important game for both the sides and it will be an interesting game to watch.

Jose Mourinho:

On Real Madrid return:

“No, I’m happy here, I’m happy to see out my contract and I’d like to stay after my contract runs out. All I’m thinking about is Manchester United.”

On Cristiano Ronaldo:

“I thought Cristiano is in a level where he doesn’t need questions and answers. He’s one of the best players of all time and nobody can say differently.”

On Juventus clash:

“United’s form was shown in the past two matches, the way we want to play and the way we can play.”

On Juventus being favourites to win the CL:

“Bonucci, they have Cancelo and they have Can and there are other important additions. Juventus have a lot to offer and an extra year experience with the same coach and structure.”

“They now have a special player who makes a difference. They are more than contenders to win the Champions League in my opinion.”

On Valencia absence:

“Reason was he was 10 days without training. A problem that he had very complicated surgery on his mouth. Needed time to recover.”

“Against Chelsea, everybody was happy with the collective performance but nobody was happy with the result. The players have to get the best out of those feelings.”

On Pogba development:

“I don’t like this press conference. No. I don’t want to speak about Pogba, I don’t want to speak about individuals. I don’t want to speak to Spanish journalists only interested in Real Madrid.”

On Martial’s form:

“That’s individual but I think Martial is like the team. The team is playing fine and Martial is playing fine. Anthony has been involved in two matches where the team has scored 5 goals.”

That mind-blowing comeback against Everton.

Premier League October 8, 2018

This is what United is all about, this is what we missed, team effort and never giving up attitude. The way the whole stadium celebrated when United scored said everything.

The game was good after the second half. It looked like the team was hungry and wanted to give whatever it takes to win this game.

It was necessary for the Reds to win this game after all the humiliate loses and controversies, this is for the fans and Jose Mourinho.

It’s safe to say we deserved to win, the overall team performance was decent in the second half.

Another record was broken United conceded two goals within ten minutes of the game at Old Trafford for the first time but the players did not let that affect the game.

Today’s win means that Jose Mourinho now has the best win per cent of any United manager including Ferguson

It was a roller coaster ride of emotions, after having a bad run at home there were a lot of expectations off today’s game and United going 0-2 down within ten minutes was not at all expected, the fans and media started talking about sacking Jose after first half itself. (If that was possible)

That relief when your team makes a comeback.

Mata’ brilliant free-kick gave the Reds hope to make a late comeback and soon after the first goal Marshall’s equalizer set Old Trafford on fire.

So happy for Sanchez, he got a lot of stick for not doing well and today he got own piece of cake. That 90’th minute comeback by Alexis Sanchez everything, I haven’t been so happy watching United lately.

Manchester United is eighth on the Premier League table, just 5 points away from the fourth position. Things wouldn’t have been so messed up if United would have managed to win against Brighton, West Ham and wolves at least. When the season fixtures were out I was confident United will take all three points from these games but the players had other plans.

The players did not give their 100% but the win gave the Reds time to breathe and come back with a positive mind. United play Chelsea on 13th Saturday at 5:00 IST.

Jose’s post-match interview:

It wasn’t the substitutions that won the game – it was the desire, mentality and commitment. This is not about me, this is not about the players, this is about the club, and in the second half, the players gave absolutely everything. Nothing more to give.

“I am 55 years old, I am mature, I can cope with it and live with being hunted. I think some of the boys are not coping well with it. The way they started the game was panicking (sic). I thought at some moments we could score in our own-goal. It’s not easy for them.”

When asked if players aren’t playing for him:

It’s a ridiculous talk [that the players aren’t playing for him] – they don’t play for the manager, they play for the club. It’s not about that. What I asked the players is to give absolutely everything. We had little tactical touches, of course, we risked a lot, we were trying to find the best way to play. In the end, we won the match and I think we deserved to win. I think the fans deserved to win. At 2-0 at half-time, with all the dynamic of the man-hunting, I think they behaved amazingly well for the team. This is what a football club is. “

Attack, Attack, Attack. Pogba wants his team to attack more.

Premier League September 24, 2018

The Worldcup star Paul Pogba insists his team should score more goals and attack in home matches.

After winning three-game back to back United were held 1-1 at home by the Wolves. It was a frustrating game for the viewers as the Reds couldn’t make a comeback after Nuno’s men equalized in the second half. United are now sitting at 7th position on the Premier League table, 8 points away from the arch-rivals Liverpool.

Criticising the way United have played their home game Pogba demanded his team to play attacking football.

“We should have played much better against Wolves,” he said. “When we are at home we should attack, attack, attack”

“That’s Old Trafford. We are here to attack. I think teams are scared when they see Manchester United attacking and attacking.”

“Maybe that’s the attitude should be better and we should play better because, again, we are at Old Trafford and we should just attack and press as we did against Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal last season. When we play like this it’s easier for us.”

When asked about the playing style of his boss and why the Reds are unable to make an impact this season as well he said: “I can’t tell you because I’m a player, it’s not me.” “I’m not the manager, I cannot say that, but obviously we should show more options of player, but I cannot say that because I’m a player, That’s my way of thinking, we should move better, we should move more.”

“We have played six games in the Premier League, it’s not that we should get worried, but we should obviously get closer, get closer and closer. It’s better for us if we get close.”

Jose showed frustration regarding the attitude of the team:

Jose wants his team to learn from the display of the attitude by the Wolves.

The frustration was clearly seen on his face as he spoke “Not a good performance, not a good result.” he said “A fair result.”

“I think Wolves, by the way, they faced the game, they deserve because they play like I like to play, which is like the World Cup final.”

“That’s the attitude that I like my teams to have every match and we didn’t have that. They had, we didn’t.”

“The attitude made the difference. They were in the game since the first minute, they played every ball, every second in the maximum of their intensity, their desire and we didn’t.”

United play their next game in the League Cup against Derby County on 26th Wed. 12:30 IST. Hope we do better in the next game.

CSK Moscow trailed by four goals to one against Red Devils.

Champions League February 11, 2018

United manager Jose Mourinho thinks his side is almost there in the knockout stages after the 1-4 hammering in Russia.

Lukaku scored 10^th goal in nine appearances in all competition for United which makes him the first United player to score in his opening two Champions League matches.

There is no stopping! Lukaku strikes early for Manchester United scoring 10 goals in 9 games in all competition since joining United from Everton in the summer. United looking calm passing the ball patiently in front of the CSKA defence, working it out to Blind on the left.

A beautiful opportunity for Jose Mourinho’s side as blind’s cross met Henrikh Mkhitaryan who couldn’t convert it into a goal. Penalty for Manchester United after Schennikov clumsily goes to ground in a desperate attempt to win the ball but only succeeds in getting the Armenian down conceding the penalty, an effortless goal from martial who takes the penalty

United went 3 up in less than 30’ mins lukaku scoring his second past Akinfeev, Lukaku very close to hattrick but his efforts was brilliantly saved by the Moscow keeper. Best chance for CSKA but DDG disallows yet another good attempt.CSKA show signs of frustration against the dominant United side.

Breathtaking first 45 mins for Manchester United, having 3 goal lead in the first half itself. CSK now have a mountain to climb to get back in the game.

CSK makes an early effort on goal in the second half but Ashley was caught out wide. So close to hattrick Lukaku couldn’t get through the CSK Moscow goalkeeper who saves his effort quickly. United keeping the pressure on by creating chance after chance to grab their fourth goal of the game. Pontus earns a yellow card for the ugly foul on Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

It was Henrikh Mkhitaryan who had the opportunity to extend United’s lead on his 50th appearance, it could have been martial but the attempt got deflected which gave Henrikh Mkhitaryan a chance to have his name on the score sheet.

Jesse who came on for Henrikh gets one on one with the Moscow goal keeper who handles it well. The 19 year old Kuchev who came on as substitute finds the net for CSK Moscow as consolation which means no clean sheet for United. CSK have another threatening attack and keep pressing in till the FT whistle was blown.

“The important thing is two matches, six points and a good position in the Champions League,” said Mourinho

“I think we surprised them with our attitude and we were really strong, and we killed the game. They did not look as good as they are but I think that was because of us.”

“I have to admit he is scoring really important goals almost every game,” said Mourinho.

“We know that he is a very good player, he can score lots of goals, and playing in a team surrounded by quality players it is even easier to do that.”