I studied Ruben Amorim as he paraded around his technical area and the usually calm man who rarely directed play from the touchline at Sporting Lisbon was burning up a lot of calories and energy as his new team struggled to contain Ipswich. By the end of the match Almorim must have had a crick in his neck because he spent most of his time staring at his feet and shaking his head and no doubt wondering how he was going to mould his inherited collection of players into a fighting force. Individuals who had been brought in to play other managers’ systems and tactics. Could he fashion them to his way of playing or would he have to get rid of many of United’s so called ‘superstars’?
The coach thought the players who lived up to his expectations were Amad, Andre Onana who was United’s best player, Noussair Mazraoui and Marcus Rashford. Those who disappointed were Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee. The rest did okay without particularly impressing Amorim. He admitted that there is a lot of pain to experience before he gets this team playing his way but to a man the players seem to respect their new coach and that is half the battle. Amorim cannot reverse the ages of Casemiro and Jonny Evans or turn Rashford into his previous goalscoring machine in three weeks. United fans might have to suffer early on but there is no doubt this coach is the real deal and United deserve that.
Salah mystified and disappointed at no contract
Mo Salah has joined the ranks of those surprised Liverpool supporters who haven’t seen the brilliant winger sign a new contract given his current one expires at the end of the season. In fact, Mo said this week, “Well, we are almost in December and I haven’t received any offers yet to stay in the club, so I’m probably more out than in….You know I have been in the club for many years. There is no club like this. But in the end it is not in my hands. As I said before, it is December and I haven’t received anything from the management yet about my future….I love the fans. The fans love me. In the end it is not in my hands or the fans’ hands. Let’s wait and see.”
When challenged recently by one of Liverpool’s coaches about his below form during a particular game, Mo replied, “But I always find a moment. I am not always very good in the game. That’s normal. We are all human but I always try to find a way to change a game. I think some players don’t accept the feeling and keep fighting it. But the most important thing is to try and stay in the game and make a difference.” Wise words indeed.
On investigating further, I am hearing astonishing news that Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka is being discussed as a possible replacement for 32-year-old Salah at Liverpool. Age it seems means a lot at Anfield.
Don’t panic, says Guardiola
Pep Guardiola insists there is nothing to panic about at the Etihad Stadium as his team attempts to stay with Premier League leaders Liverpool. Arne Slot’s team is now 8 points ahead of City who face the daunting task of meeting their rivals at Anfield on Sunday and their record away against the Reds is dismal. If City lose, Guardiola admits that an 11 point gap might be too much to make up given the way Liverpool are playing. He said, “We are a bit fragile right now, that is obvious.” City are way off their usual excellence making mistakes in defence with Josko Gvardiol even passing to Tottenham’s James Maddison which allowed him to pass the ball on to Son Heung-Min who returned it for a tap in. This is not the City we know. Bernado Silva is a shadow of himself last season and Ilkay Gundogan is not the same player who left the Etihad Stadium for Barcelona. Rico Lewis does a lot of shouting but not contributing much with his feet and John Stones looked very out of sorts against Tottenham and didn’t even make the second half. Many City fans are calling for youngsters McAtee, O’Reilly, Wright and Nunes to be brought in to replace the old guard.
Something is wrong at City; something is amiss but what exactly, we are yet to find out but five matches without a victory is new territory for Pep Guardiola and for the latter years of the Blue side of Manchester.
Caicedo proving to be Chelsea’s main man
After several seasons of underperforming, Chelsea are suddenly brisking with confidence and are probably the team no rival coach wants to play against at the moment. One player doesn’t make a team. You might argue that Rodri is vital to Manchester City and his absence explains their recent winless string of games. Or you might mention Martin Odegaard’s importance at Arsenal or Mo Salah’s goal contributions at Anfield. Now Chelsea has a player who is entering conversations when talk is of elite players who cannot be replaced at Stamford Bridge. Step forward Moises Caicedo who at 23 years-of-age is blossoming under Enzo Maresca having previously struggled during Mauricio Pochettino’s reign. His importance to the Blues is shown by his 12 starts from 12 games, his excellent captaining of a difficult side in which many stars think they are more important than the club and his goal and two assists so far this season. Most of all the players have the utmost respect for the Chelsea legend Frank Lebouef who painted a picture of Caicedo as a “masterpiece” and standout Arsenal defensive midfielder Emanuel Petit who also praised Caicedo after watching his recent performances.
Lopetegui sees light at the end of the tunnel
Julen Lopetegui could easily be compared to that legendary escape artist Harry Houdini. Under intense pressure with his club actively talking about ending his tenure at West Ham he takes his team to Eddie Howe’s home fortress at Newcastle and drives back down the M1 motorway with a 2-0 win. Under previous coach David Moyes the team played a 4-2-3-1 system and were the lowest possession team in the PL with only 40.5% of ball retention and only 22% of attacks coming through the middle of the field. Under Lopetegui, who believes in greater ball possession, this has risen to 45.3% but the Hammers are weak in the middle.
West Ham turned it all around at Newcastle’s St James’ Park much to the disappointment of the 50,000 crowd. He lasted only ten weeks at Real Madrid and nine months at Wolves and until his team beat Newcastle he was looking to pack his bags once again.
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