Strike partnerships: Is the Premier League entering a new era of famous front twos? March 10, 2019 Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke; Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright; Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton – aka the SAS. Some of the Premier League’s best teams have been propelled by brilliant strike partnerships. As those names indicate, however, the heyday of the front two came in the mid to late 1990s. Recent years have instead [...]
Paris Saint-Germain 1-3 Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leads youthful side to Champions League history March 7, 2019 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can do no wrong. The man with the golden touch has turned his gift to just about everything since taking over in December, but even by his standards this was special. When he said “it’s never mission impossible” before the game you’d be forgiven for thinking it was just bluster. But he [...]
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given Manchester United a new-found resolve ahead of Paris Saint-Germain clash March 5, 2019 When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suffered his first – and so far only – defeat as Manchester United caretaker manager against Paris Saint-Germain last month, it prompted doubts as to whether the rich vein of form his side had discovered was about to unravel. A lacklustre performance in the first leg of the last-16 Champions League tie [...]
Jurgen Klopp blames windy conditions after Liverpool blow chance to regain Premier League lead March 3, 2019 A prickly Jurgen Klopp preferred to focus on the blustery conditions inside Goodison Park after his team drew 0-0 with Everton on Sunday but there is no escaping the conclusion that the Premier League title that Liverpool so crave is slipping from their grasp. Having fuelled hope of a first top-flight crown since 1990 by [...]
Has Liverpool’s new-found solidity turned Jurgen Klopp’s heavy metal football into pedestrian dad-rock? February 24, 2019 When Jurgen Klopp fine-tuned his Liverpool team in preparation for this season, he focused on making them more robust. Following the January 2018 signing of Virgil van Dijk, last summer saw the arrival at Anfield of an elite level goalkeeper in Alisson and an accomplished defensive midfielder in Fabinho. Until then devastating in attack but [...]
Premier League title-chasing Liverpool face moment of truth in Manchester United clash February 21, 2019 For a team locked in a battle for a first top-flight title for 29 years every league game has huge significance. But for Liverpool, Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford to play Manchester United is a match which has ascended to even greater levels of importance: it’s a derby against a buoyant and bitter rival and [...]
Our cup runneth over: Five reasons why the FA Cup has been a treat this season February 17, 2019 If unpredictability is at the heart of the FA Cup’s appeal then there is much to love about how this season’s competition is unfolding and the composition of the last eight. For the first time in five years – and only the second time in a decade – there will be just two teams from [...]
Go away, Jose: Mourinho and his team receive £19.6m pay off from Manchester United February 14, 2019 Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and his coaching team received a £19.6m payoff after getting sacked from the club, its accounts reveal. The club’s quarterly accounts list the £19.6m payment under exceptional items describing it as “compensation to the former manager and certain members of the coaching staff for loss of office”. Mourinho was [...]
Manchester United v Paris Saint-Germain: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces decisive period in bid to prove he’s more than a managerial super-sub February 11, 2019 Timely interventions were his calling card as a player, so perhaps it should be no surprise that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the manager has lived up to his old super-sub billing at Manchester United. Since replacing Jose Mourinho mid-season, Solskjaer has overseen an almost flawless spell utterly at odds with the joyless months of foreboding that [...]
Never mind the Big Six, it’s all about the Premier League’s Big Three as Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham underline gulf in quality February 10, 2019 We all know about the Big Six, the Premier League’s half a dozen richest clubs who monopolise the top places in the table, effectively creating a two-tier division of haves and have-nots. It’s plain to see in the current rankings, with the biggest gap between positions anywhere in the top flight being the 12 points [...]