Category: Champions League

Premier League legend and Sky Sport pundit Jamie Carragher has said that Manchester United summer marquee addition Paul Pogba is a defensive liability.

The Red Devils were gifted a clear chance to make the top four but they were lacklustre in their game against Bournemouth.

“He’s not a game changer. It was a signal of their intentions to spend £90 million on someone I would say isn’t a finished article,” Chelsea legend Frank Lampard said in his criticism of Pogba after the game.

United were forced to a 1-1 draw that would likely see them finish outside of the top four this season.

“He hasn’t quite delivered and he hasn’t been a game-changer,” Lampard added.

When Carragher had his turn to speak, he was unsparing in his criticism.

“He’s still nowhere near good enough and hasn’t got the discipline. He’s a liability defensively. What he does give you is a fantastic passing range. There’s no doubt he has a great relationship with [Zlatan] Ibra[himovic],” the Reds legend said. (more…)

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has stated that he will not prevent any player from leaving the club if he is unhappy.

He said that he has an open-door policy and that players are free to leave if they feel that they are not getting enough playing time at the moment.

He said that clubs are welcome to place bids for players that are currently not playing regularly in the squad but Manchester United reserve the rights to accept or refuse any bid.

Jose Mourinho said that he already knows his best team and that there might be changes coming during the January transfer window. He believes that there are some fringe players that might benefit from moving away from the club as he cannot guarantee whether they will get enough playing time by staying at the club. (more…)

Luke Shaw appears to have lost his place in the Manchester United first-team after missing out on the 4-0 loss against Chelsea.

However, he was recalled for the EFL Cup clash with Manchester City in the midweek. A game against City is always of massive importance, but Shaw failing to make it to the league match and then featuring in the EFL Cup game suggests that he has fallen down the pecking order at United. It is not the first time thatShaw has faced the situation since his £30 million move from Southampton in 2014.

Still only 21,Shaw has the capability to get back into Mourinho’s favour with some good performances. He certainly helped his case by being part of the defence that kept a clean sheet against City in the 1-0 win. The victory no pits Manchester United against West Ham in the last eight of the EFL Cup. (more…)

Manchester United have a great reputation for developing young players from the academy into first-team regulars.

This was especially pronounced during the era of Sir Alex Ferguson, as names like David Beckham, Gary Neville, and Paul Scholes progressed through the youth system to become great superstars. However, there is a danger of this tradition being lost with the club undergoing several managerial changes in the last three years. After experiencing more than two decades of stability under Ferguson, United have already gone through three managers since 2013.

Jose Mourinho has just arrived as the third manager and he has been given substantial amount of transfer money to improve the squad. The Portuguese is also expected to quickly bring success to Old Trafford. After managing to win the FA Cup last season, the club are now targeting at least two more trophies. Mourinho has already set the target of winning the Premier League in his first season at Old Trafford, while he would also realistically be targeting at the Europa League as well. However, he has already been criticising for this regarding youth in the chase for results. Last season’s most promising debutant – Marcus Rashford – has seen very little football, but Mourinho has promised to that the England international will be receiving game time in the future.

“Marcus will play a lot. I cannot choose competitions. I cannot say Zlatan doesn’t play one single match in the Europa League because that is not the case. I cannot say Marcus doesn’t start matches in the Premier League because that is not the case.Marcus is a young and talented player. That is why we didn’t buy more strikers. If you don’t trust him or want him to play, then you would buy other strikers. That is not the case,” said José Mourinho.

Liverpool signing Sadio Mane has confirmed that Manchester United were also interested in signing him but it was the move from Liverpool that changed the entire story.

The Southampton winger recently secured a £ 30 million move to Anfield to become one of the important forwards at the club. The injury prone forwards like Daniel Sturridge could get much less first-team opportunities in the upcoming 2016-17 season due to the presence of players likeMane. The player has admitted for the first time that Manchester United were also interested in him.

The news, though, does not come as a major surprise given that United have been looking to revamp that almost the entire squad since the arrival of Jose Mourinho. Even though the addition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic is certainly an important one, it is a very short-term signing nonetheless.Mane, though, will be different since he can contribute to the club at least for the next five years. Even though there was a lot of interest from other clubs,Mane says that the offer from Liverpool was too good to turn down since he believes he will get a lot of opportunities to improve as a player while playing at Anfield.
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It is believed that Ryan Giggs will be leaving Manchester United in the summer.

Indeed, the former Manchester United player has refused a reduced coaching role at the club and wants to move on. It is reported that Jose Mourinho wants to bring his own staff to Old Trafford and as such offered Ryan Giggs a new role at the club. But the latter has already made up his mind to leave the club.

It is reported that Ryan Giggs has been frustrated by the way Manchester United treated him. Indeed, there was an agreement in place that he will be given the Manchester job after the departure of Louis Van Gaal, but instead, the club chose to go for Jose Mourinho.

However, Ryan Giggs have yet to have a direct discussion with Jose Mourinho about his future. The Portuguese manager is due to start work with his staff on Monday, and it is believed that the Portuguese manager might make an effort to keep Giggs at the club.
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Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has said that MarouaneFellaini will have to learn to control himself on the pitch.

The Manchester United player was guilty of elbowing Robert Huth and has been banned for 3 matches.

Louis van Gaal, however, admitted that it was a human reaction as footage has shown that Huth was pulling out his hair. He conceded that Manchester United has no intentions of appealing the ban despite the fact that the ban would prevent Fellaini from missing the remaining games of the season.

The Dutch manager said it was unfortunate that the referee did not see the action properly and given that the Huth has also received a 3-match ban there was a foul in the penalty area. For him, this means that his team has been denied a penalty in the game.

However, he added that he would not want to complain too much as he respects what Leicester have achieved this season by winning the title and he congratulated them for their achievements. (more…)

AC Milan’s head coach, Sinisa Mihajlovic has come out in defense of mario Balotelli’s behaviour. He said Balotelli’s has a character rating of 10 out of 10. The 25-year-old’s career has been much talked about due to distractions off the pitch and his history of bad disposition. Since returning to San Siro on loan from Liverpool, he has stayed out of trouble and it’s incredible.

The talented forward has been on the sidelines a lot due to injury concerns. He has played 16 games scoring 3 goals for the team. After meeting him recently, Milan coach says he still has confidence in him.

Sinisa Mihajlovic told Sky Sport Italia: “I was blunt with him. I wanted to talk to him and look at him, because I’ve known Mario since Roberto Mancini gave him his Inter debut.”

Balotelli has a history of bad behavior and Inter Milan former coach, Jose mourinho tagged him “unmanageable.”

“He was a kid then. Many years have passed and he’s changed, too. I found a mature person, a man, not a boy. I wanted to look him in the eyes, and he gave me the right impression. The key thing is that he’s a good lad, and I really like him,” he continued. (more…)