Stretford Enders

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho had a few fond words to say about midfielder Nemanja Matic following his debut in the pre-season friendly against Serie A side Sampdoria.

The Red Devils won the Dublin clash by a 2-1 score with goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata sealing the win. Following the clash, Mourinho spoke about the Serbian’s performance, he said: “A lonely pre-season is always a lonely pre-season – a player can be professional and work hard but football is collective and when you train alone, you train just a part of what you are as a player.

“The ay he plays, he uses his brain but of course he needs physicality to be on top of his game. So he needs time but his experience, intelligence and genius in the way he thinks about football will help him to be ready sooner rather than later.” Continue reading Jose Mourinho speaks on Nemanja Matic after his Manchester United debut

Despite spending much of the season on a see-saw of highs and lows, finishing 6th, the Red Devils luckily found a way into the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

However, Mou being Mou coupled with delusional fans, religiously suck up to thechest-beating chants of “this was a successful season!” or worst still, “we won three trophies!”

It is really hard figuring out just how the hell gray matter of such proponents sync with reality. Do they honestly lie to themselves and still sleep well at night? We may forgo the “successful season” chants no thanks to how that very word can be annoyingly relative but the “three trophies” crap they’ve got going on? Not a chance.

We are talking of a pre-season match that to qualify meant Louis van Gaal did the job of leading the club to last season’s FA Cup title and they freaking faced a Leicester team who spent the best part of last year battling relegation.

That brings us to the cheap shiny ware tagged the EFL cup whose name has been changed more times we can keep track of. This is a trophy whose very importance fans struggle to define. And let’s not even digress so much into the final that saw them clearly outplayed by Southampton. Continue reading GENUINE GROWTH CANNOT HAPPEN UNDER MOURINHO

Manchester United have been linked with additional strikers to lead the attack.

With the long term injury of star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, more and more players have been linked with a move to Old Trafford during the summer. One of which is Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata.

There are reports in England that Man United have reached out to the Spanish side for the signature of the player. In Spain, Cadenaser claims United Coach Jose Mourinho called the player and asked him to come join him in England.

Morata has not had enough chances under current manager Zinedine Zidane. With Gareth Bale, Kareem Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo being the preferred attacking players, aside the flurry of other talented stars at the Bernabeu, Morata’s chances are limited. The star was someone to reckon with while on loan to Juventus.

Real might not want to readily release him but if Morata pushes he could get a move to the Premier League, where there are other teams aside United willing to sign him. Continue reading UNITED TO FREE MARTIAL FOR MORATA

Chelsea were the victors from the clash with Manchester United in the quarter finals of the FA Cup on Monday night.

United played without their star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic – who is serving a three-game suspension for his display in the draw against Bournemouth. Marcus Rashford was the star for the night but N’Golo Kante scored the goal that sent Chelsea to the next stage against Tottenham.

Managers Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte were at each other’s neck during the game, with the fourth official in the middle. Mourinho was angered that the players of the opposition were falling to the ground too easily. The fans of the club he used to coach were against him on the night. When Paul Pogba and Eden Hazard clashed, the Belgian star fell to the ground, the fans slammed Mourinho as he protested.

David De Gea was excellent on the night to deny Chelsea goalscoring chances. He stopped Hazard’s attempt early in the game even with the ball coming off Matteo Damian. Real Madrid, who would be able to compete in the transfer market from this season, would surely have been impressed with the display. He could not stop Kante’s effort. Continue reading MANCHESTER UNITED LOSE 1-0 TO CHELSEA

A manager that has secured the UEFA Champions League title on 2 occasions is something that not many coaches have been able to do.

There even are many top tacticians that have been in charge of the best clubs in the world of football but have not been able to lift the prestigious European piece of silverware or any other highly coveted trophy.

Mourinho has won the Champions League trophy with 2 different clubs as well as a large amount of other titles. It’s because of his extensive amount of trophies that the Portuguese coach is regarded as one of the best managers in the world.

Even though Jose Mourinho already has a distinguished managerial career, the Portuguese manager has recently stated that the best is yet to come for him as he is confident that there are many other things that he is going to accomplish and this is just the start for him.

The recently elected coach of Manchester United, Jose Mourinho said: ‘’I have been in some of the biggest clubs in the world. This is like the top of my career, but it comes in the early stage of my career.Because, as a manager, I am really young, and I think I have the best years of my career to come up. Fifty-three plus 15 is 68, so I would say 14, 15, 16 more years, but I don’t see myself going home before 70.”

Manchester United has not won the Premier League title since the season of 2012-13 and their last Champions League title win was even longer ago as their last victory of the European competition was on 2008.

It’s evident that Manchester United are going through a drought of titles and for a club that is consistently spending so much in signing top players in every single season, this lack of trophies is something that has started to worry fans as well as the head chiefs of the club.

This is why Jose Mourinho was brought to the Premier League outfit as he is a proven manager that has already lifted the biggest trophies in the world of football and the Portuguese coach is eager to do it once again and the 53 year old tactician is confident that he can do it.

Zlatan has been in the news for Man United as he has been looking at helping the team to get Paul Pogba in.

Many are wondering what kind of involvement, he has in the transfer of Pogba. Indeed, there has been a lot of noise regarding this transfer. Indeed, the TV presenter Bobby Chinn announced that Pgba was at his restaurant in Los Angeles and this created a storm in the Instagram posts. In the caption for the news the TV anchor mentioned that this midfielder from Juventus would be moving to Manchester United. With Pogba in the house and the hashtags on mufc and others, there was a lot of buzz created about the move.

Chinn later on clarifying matters about having leaked the news. He stated that Pogba and Ibrahimovic were there at the restaurant with their families, having dinner and one of the other guests’ son recognized them.

That is when there was a quick photo taken and that is when the post was made and the news leaked out. It felt natural that Ibrahimovic having already signed up and Mourinho is known to be excited about Pogba, it was natural to assume that Pogba was moving to MUFC as well. Often it is this way the news is leaked and fans love the rumor and the fuss that is created. The unofficial way of rumors and news being leaked is what keeps the interests up during the off football moments when the players are gearing up for a new playing season. With transfers being ripe at this time of the year, there is more excitement that would come through, especially for clubs like Man United. Jose Mourinho’s first season with this club has all fans with their attention glued to the club’s news and rumor mills.

Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal stated that he will still be managing Manchester United next season irrespective of what happen until the end of the season.

The Dutchman claims that he still has the full backing of the club owners and that he will remain until the end of his contract.

There is news that Manchester United chief Ed Woodward has personally assured Louis van Gaal that he will be the manager next season despite the fact that many Manchester United fans want to see changes at Old Trafford. Fans argue that van Gaal is not up to the standard and that the club will not progress under his reign.

The Dutchman told reporters that he wanted only a two-year contract with the Red Devils, but it is the United board that has insisted on giving him a three-year contract. Van Gaal said that rebuilding a team take time and this is why he was given 3 years to achieve it. There is no shortcut to making a big club and fans will have to wait to see the best of Manchester United.

According to him, fans should compare the squad that he had at the start of his reign to the one now especially in terms of age rather than just judging on the results.

He said that he wants to honor the remaining part of his contract before deciding about his future and that he want to be judged at the end of the campaign.

Manchester United, who is currently fifth in the table, is pushing for a Champions League place and will want to win against Leicester City so as to keep their dream alive. They will also feature in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace later in May.