I attended a fans focus group with some of the Manchester United faithful last week and Marcus Rashford was the big talking point.
We are still waiting for the old Rashford to appear but instead what we have is a mediocre player who doesn’t seem capable of taking on defenders and going around them. Many are blaming Erik Ten Hag for one of his star players lacking in confidence because that is what has happened to Marcus.
Brighton & Hove Albion defender Joel Veltman had an easy time last weekend when Rashford never went one on one with him but instead cut inside and made across the field passes. He is at his best when dribbling round opponents, driving forward and displaying energy and skill. Once he was the star of the show but these days United fans can only watch him almost hiding and afraid to lose the ball and getting rid of it too quickly.
United are famous for their wide players but Antony too has failed to impress, Sancho has been pushed away and only Alejandro Garnacho promises to remind us of the glory days of Ryan Giggs, Andrei Kanchelski, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and George Best. Ten Hag only has to look down the road at the Etihad Stadium to see how Pep Guardiola uses Doku, Savinho and Grealish…they tear defences apart down the wings in the way Rashford used to do.
Ten Hag survived June’s review by INEOS when several alternative coaches were interviewed. One condition of him staying was to re-organise his coaching staff and this has been a success. The goalkeepers are pleased with their improvement under Jelle ten Rouwelaar and the United attackers will benefit from the input of Ruud van Nistelrooy. What will be most interesting is gauging the team’s success in a more pressing style of play. Ten Hag’s decision to give Fernandes a false nine role with Mason Mount close behind him works well when pressing and forces defences into making mistakes. Mount is an intelligent player when pressing forward and Fernandes is always energetic and never work shy. Most defences hate playing against him. There will be a situation when Ten Hag starts with either Joshua Zirkzee or Rasmus Hojlund and then Fernandes will fall back slightly with Mount’s position under threat and he could be dropped. That will test the progress of Ten Hag’s new coaching team.
Bissouma shows his speed – unfortunately!
You have to smile unless you are Tottenham’s Yves Bissouma…He was caught speeding five times in six weeks in his black Mercedes and each time by the same police camera!
It was the same Yves Bissouma who stupidly posted a video on social media of himself inhaling nitrous oxide (laughing gas to you and me) which is a criminal offence in the UK.
Consequently, he was dropped from the 1-1 draw with Leicester City when coach Ange Postecoglou put club before player. Bissouma took his medicine and missed the game.
All is forgiven as he returned and opened the scoring with a 20 yard screamer which had the Spur’s fans on their feet.
In fact Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Everton was spectacular in many ways. In the dressing room after the game the players were singing for several reasons…hugely popular captain Son Heung-Min is approaching his 10th year at the club and wants to be regarded as a club legend and the players all support him. Ange Postecoglou said, “There is no set criteria for that stuff but I’ve got no doubt that whenever he’s done and dusted – and it’s hopefully a long way down the track – he will be in esteemed company at this football club. I love the fact that he’s still motivated to do more. That’s the key thing for us. He was really good. It’s the reason I put him in the middle because we know Jordan Pickford is a big part of Everton’s build-up play and they use him a lot and Sonny’s the best presser we have in front of goal, he’s unbelievable.”
The players also applauded Christian Romero who made his 100th appearance.
City welcomes back one its own
The loudest cheer this weekend was not Erling Haaland’s City hat-trick, not David Raya’s incredible sequence of saves for Arsenal and not Brighton winning against Man Utd. No, it was in fact Ilkay Gundogan walking out onto the hallowed turf of the Etihad Stadium. One of their own had come home after a year at the Nou Camp. Ilkay is not a loud, aggressive person and given his achievements is very humble and in typical fashion he said, “I am back! I hope we can continue where we stopped in the summer 2023. Thanks to everyone who made this return possible. My seven years in Manchester have been an exceptional period in my life – I grew as a person and a player, developed a special relationship with the City fans and enjoyed amazing success. To have the opportunity to return here means so much. “Come on City!”
Gundogan gives City the precious cover for Rodri they were searching for and he also brings an attacking threat moving forward.
Director of Football Txiki Begiristain added to Ilkay’s comments, “Ilkay is one of the finest professionals I have ever worked with. His dedication to football and his approach to every single training session is something special. He is an exceptional midfielder. His read of the game, his football intelligence, his technical quality and his leadership make him an excellent addition to our squad.”
Liverpool’s 92% pass completion
Trouble is brewing at Liverpool between Trent Alexander-Arnold and coach Arne Slot. Trent was annoyed that he was substituted against Brentford and didn’t join in the players’ celebration after the final whistle. Slot moved to calm down his vice-captain who it must be remembered was also substituted in the opening game against Ipswich. Slot stressed that the substitution was simply to protect Trent because he is vital in a long season…by the look of the player’s face the coach’s reasoning did not work too well.
Slot is on record as saying he wants the style of his play to be the bonding agent between him and the fans not a random celebration after a goal. It seems to be working and the crowd are already singing his name.
Luis Diaz’s goal after a breakaway by Diogo Jota was straight out of Jurgen Klopp’s text book however it was Liverpool’s sublime passing, weaving a clever pattern of play moving forward which delighted the Liverpool faithful. Pass completion was an impressive 92% which is the best since this kind of data started being recorded and shows the players have bought into Slot’s brand of football.
The fact that Liverpool were not prominent in the transfer market this summer is because Slot was tasked with improving the squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp.
City about to be judged over 115 charges
In case any of you are still not aware of exactly what is happening…Manchester City is charged with breaching the FA’s financial rules and their trial is due to start in September with a verdict expected before the end of the season. A three man panel will sit in judgement during a closed hearing.
The Premier League have accused City of breaking the financial rules from 2009 to 2018 but the club deny any wrongdoing. The big talking point is that if City are found guilty they could suffer a deduction in points or even relegation.
Everton fans boo Dyche tactics
You have to hand it to Everton coach Sean Dyche. Things have not started well for the Toffees, despite a confident midweek Carabao Cup win, but Dyche boldy gave 19-year-old Roman Dixon a debut and he did pretty well. Everton have been struggling on the right side of their defence and fans were dismayed that he overlooked Mason Holgate, who has 137 Premier League appearances on his cv. Instead he favoured a rookie. They certainly let the coach know how they feel about their current bottom of the table position. Everton, they claim, need more Premier League experience given two heavy defeats and now is not the time to start a player who had not played one minute of top tier football. Everton have good forwards who are capable of scoring goals but Dyche is concentrating on digging in deep, playing a style which has kept Everton in the PL but is not attractive on the eye…many Toffees fans left well before the end at Brighton. Those tactics worked last year but now Dyche has two significant upgrades at his disposal: Jesper Lindstrom and Iliman Ndiaye. In those two players you have a Europa league winner and a standout Championship player from last season. Ndiaye gave Everton energy and pace which helped them overcome Roma and inspired their Carabao win.
Based on the theory that attack is the best form of defence, fans are calling for a bolder approach from their coach and not just playing with caution. Tweaking the attack and giving new centre back Jake O’Brien a chance could well be positive for the match this weekend against Bournemouth.
Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich all struggle
The newly promoted clubs are finding out just what it takes to survive in the Premier League. All three, Ipswich, Southampton and Leicester lost at the weekend and all three sit near to or at the bottom of the table. Okay, we have only played two games so far but the writing is on the wall if these teams do not step up to the Premier League standard. The gulf between the Championship and the top tier is huge. Southampton had to watch 23 shots aimed at their goal against Nottingham Forest and it is a miracle the score ended in only 1-0. Southampton have simply not the quality to play out from the back and defence is paramount in this league. Coach Russell Martin was tearing his hair out as the Saints conceded to a poor set piece.
No one expected Ipswich to win away at Man City but again it was a lack of defensive and midfield quality that let them down. Maximo Luongo and Luke Woolfenden struggled all afternoon and the 3-1 result was never in doubt. Playing footballers who earned their wages in League One two years ago and then expecting them to stop the likes of Erling Haaland will only ever have one result.
Leicester have perhaps the best record so far despite having won only a single point but newly installed coach Steve Cooper says he believes in his players and they will do well to hold a mid-table position.
Gibbs-White shows why Forest bought him
Morgan Gibbs-White played a captain’s role in Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 victory over Southampton last weekend. Coach Nuno Espirito Santo promoted him to captain and players such as Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi say he is inspirational and drives from the front and is the “perfect leader.” Nuno rarely praises players but he used the opportunity to pat Gibbs-White on the back and tell his other players that they have to raise their game to match his energy and ambition. He said, “I want to see goals from everybody. It doesn’t matter who scores, that has to be the spirit we show. It is something we insist upon, that it doesn’t matter who scores. Ipswich, Bournemouth and Forest have the least recognised stars in their ranks and therefore the coaches say everytime they play it has to be a collective effort and not just relying on one player.
Elanga, Hudson-Odoi, midfielder Elliot Anderson and defender Nikola Milenkovic have given Forest a solid base and all four are playing well. Elanga said, “We bought players early in the summer transfer window so they are already bringing their quality and we can now control games because we have solid options at the back and the skill to hit teams on the counter.”
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