Echoes from Old Trafford - December 2017

NEWSPAPER POST

Volume 45- Issue 2, December 2017

“When I came here for the first day, I could feel that the people at the club help you every day if you need something and supporters are very important for this club.”

Nemanja Matić

Manchester United Supporters’ Club-Malta Founded 1959, is officially recognized by the Manchester United Football Club.

In this issue  EDITORIAL ENGLISH ...............................................................................

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 EDITORIAL MALTESE ...............................................................................

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 CLUB NEWS.............................................................................................

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 TEDDY’S CORNER...................................................................................

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 NEMANJA MATIĆ...................................................................................

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 WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE…....................

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 DAVE SAVES .........................................................................................

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 MOURINHO SUCCESSFUL TEAMS ........................................................

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 DO MANCHESTER UNITED DESERVE PL GLORY ...................................

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 WILL MARTIAL LIVE UP TO HIS POTENTIAL? .........................................

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 ARE WE READY TO CHALLENGE FOR THE TITLE ....................................

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 CAMARADRIE ......................................................................................

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 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? - PHIL NEVILLE .............................................

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 POSSIBLE JANUARY TRANSFERS ........................................................

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 A QUESTION OF STYLE .........................................................................  THE WAR YEARS ..................................................................................

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Official publication of the Manchester United Supporters’ Club Malta editorial team Clint Camilleri · Braden Galea · Michael Calleja advertising executives Antoine Portelli contributors Michael Calleja James Handyside Joseph Tedesco Jude Cauchi Roderick Psaila Alan Abela-Wadge Antoine Dalli Kenneth Abela Robert Mizzi Fr. Ferrante Stefan Attard Norbert Bugeja Silvio Scicluna Iain McCartney Karm Galea Michael Gatt

printing Progress Press patron Sir Alex Ferguson club founder ­ John Calleja club committee Joseph Tedesco Joe Catania James Handyside

President, Match Tickets Coordinator Vice President, Social Activities Coordinator Secretary, ICT Manager, Tours Coordinator

Kevin Tabone

Treasurer, PRO

Robert J. Muscat

Assistant Secretary

Braden Galea

Assistant Treasurer

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Antoine Portelli

Advertising Executive, Venue & Facilities Coordinator

Charles Cauchi

Membership Secretary, Fund Raising Coordinator

 MAJOR LEAGUE’S ROUND UP ..............................................................

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Clint Camilleri

 SEASON SO FAR ..................................................................................

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 RED MANCUNIAN PLATTER ..................................................................

Media & Publishing Coordinator

Egidio Sciberras

Souvenir Shop Manager Gozo representative ­ Joe Xerri translator Tiziana Caruana club chaplain Fr. Anthony C. Ferrante (Carmelite)

MALTA MALTA

FOUNDED 1959

Quarries Square Street, Msida MSD 1101 Malta.

Telephone: +356 21223531 E-mail: info@manutd-malta.com Website: www.manutd-malta.com

business partners

Based in Msida, Malta, we are a non-profit organization designed to bring the Manchester United experience to United fans here in Malta. We are the only Official Manchester United Supporters’ Club on the Maltese Islands. We are also the oldest Manchester United Supporters’ Club in the World.

THE VIEWS IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE NOT NECESSARILY SHARED BY THE CLUB. VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

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MALTA MALTA

FOUNDED 1959

The Echoes Editorial Board & the Committee of the Manchester United Supporters’ Club Malta would like to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Editorial

ENDURING THE UNENDURABLE

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he chilling words ‘we must endure the unendurable’ were stated by the Japanese Emperor Hirohito in August 1945 – indirectly implying that the Japanese were to accept the terms of the Allied powers and eventually endure that which they never contemplated was endurable – reformation, reconstruction and an abolishment of a previously outdated military dictatorship. In similar terms, with Manchester City setting the pace at the top of the table and seemingly untouchable, Manchester United fans might need to endure the unendurable this season and continue to back the management as they attempt to rebuild and invest in a squad which evidently still needs some tweaking and adjusting.

In fairness, United have had a positive start to the 2017-18 season but the nature of the Premier League is such that draws and defeats can have serious repercussions on any possible title charge. Defeats against Huddersfield and Chelsea have been damaging and it has seen Manchester City climb way above the chasing pack with United seemingly having to settle for second best in the league table. Football can be a painful and cruel game. Despite a blistering start, Mourinho’s men have paid the price for dropping crucial points away from home and will now have no option but to defeat City over the two games throughout the season if they would like to stand any chance of clawing back City’s points tally.

However, it has not all been doom and gloom. United are still second in the league table [a much better position than sixth!] and there has been a substantial improvement over last year’s performances. The Red Devils’ home win over Brighton was their seventh straight home league victory this season – a sign that Old Trafford might yet again

be a crucial fortress for United. Despite the sloppy and somewhat lethargic nature of the win, United kept up the pace at the top and at least ensured they gained three valuable and crucial points.

Despite recent fans’ criticism that Lukaku is not the goal-machine we all thought he would be, Mourinho himself was quick to point out the benefits of Lukaku’s play, stating that: ‘I like to see people like Romelu Lukaku playing on the right, on the left, chasing defenders, the midfield players chasing the space in the middle, so I am happy with the attitude. In the last minute [against Brighton], Lukaku was fighting and running back like he was in the first minute. The way Romelu wins the corner for the goal, the way he ended the game, making tackles in left-back positions, that’s the mentality I want. And unfortunately not every player is the same.’

Apart from Lukaku, one should certainly not overlook other crucial members of the team.

De Gea’s performances so far have been consistently brilliant, Valencia has been sturdy and resolute and Rashford’s play has been promising and encouraging. Moreover, Victor Lindelof is continuously growing in his role as a pivotal member of the United backline.

Fans must appreciate the fact that Mourinho is once again rebuilding a young but vibrant team. Miracles do not happen overnight and in a league as competitively fierce and aggressive as the Premier League, it genuinely takes time to build a side which is truly capable of greatness.

Noting key injuries to Paul Pogba, Michael Carrick, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Phil Jones and Eric Bailly, you can sense why it’s already been a hectic and tough season for

the Red Devils. At least the squad was able to navigate safely past the injury crisis and we’re still up there in the league chasing the greatest prize of them all.

One pleasing aspect of this campaign has been the fact that United are also on the verge of qualifying for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League [a feat which was last achieved during the 2013/14 season]. Yes, it does seem like an eternity since the club last managed to conjure up a decent run in the Champions League but last year’s Europa league success got the fans buzzing once again. As Gary Neville once said, there is something truly magical about Champions League nights and who knows?

United might certainly be a surprise package throughout this season’s competition. With all the emphasis so far being on Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris St. Germain, United can go about their business in a quiet and professional manner, safely knowing that once the game kicks-off, it will be all to play for. Backed by a vociferous home crowd and the mercurial Mourinho at the helm, one can only hope to dream what might be achieved!

Finally, it is worth pointing out that this magazine cannot be maintained without the continuous support of a hard-working team of individuals. The Editorial board would like to genuinely thank all those volunteers and contributors who genuinely give up their free time to ensure quality articles are submitted on a constant basis.

As is always the case, the Supporters club cannot run without the input of its loyal fans and supporters which is why the Committee would like to remind those members who can volunteer or contribute in any way possible to step forward and speak up. Every little helps so let’s make sure that our club is run in the best and most professional manner possible!

Glory Glory Man United!

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Situated on the Sliema seafront, L’Aroma restaurant is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Malta’s shopping centre.

L’Aroma prides itself in the preparation of traditional Mediterranean cuisine using recipes passed down through the generations. The menu comprises a selection of

mouth-watering fresh fish, fine meat cuts and pasta dishes all at a great value for money. One of the house specialities, the traditional rabbit dish, is regarded by many locals as the best in town.

Whether for a relaxed dinner or a lazy lunch L’Aroma is a great spot to sit down, unwind and watch the world go by.

L’Aroma, 17 Għar il-Lembi Street Sliema t. 2131 7633 e. laroma.restaurant@maltanet.net

Editorjal INSOSTNU DAK LI MA JSERVIX FIT-TUL I

l‑frażi qawwija ‘irridu insostnu dak li ma jservix fit‑tul’ kienu ntqalu mill‑Imperatur Ġappuniż Hirohito f ’Awwissu 1945 ‑ b’mod indirett kien implika li l‑Ġappuniżi kellhom jaċċettaw il‑kundizzjonijiet tal‑qawwiet Alleati u eventwalment isostnu dak li qatt ma ħasbu li seta’ iservi fit‑tul ‑ ir‑riformazzjoni, ir‑rikostruzzjoni u l‑abolizzjoni ta’ dittatura militari li kienet skadiet. F’termini simili, b’Manchester City jistabbilixxu l‑pass fil‑quċċata tal‑klassifika u donnu bla xkiel, il‑partitarji ta’ Manchester United jaf ikollhom isostnu dak li ma jservix fit‑tul dan l‑istaġun u jkomplu jappoġġaw l‑amministrazzjoni hekk kif jippruvaw jibnu mill‑ġdid u jinvestu f ’tim li evidentament għad għandu bżonn xi tibdil u arranġamenti.

Biex inkunu għidna kollox, il‑United kellu bidu pożittiv tal‑istaġun 2017‑18 iżda n‑natura tal‑Premier League hija waħda li d‑draws u t‑telfiet jista’ jkollhom riperkussjonijiet serji fuq kull ċans possibbli għat‑titlu. It‑telfiet kontra Huddersfield u Chelsea kienu ta’ ħsara u wasslu biex Manchester City jinqata’ ’il fuq sew minn dak il‑grupp ta’ timijiet jipprova jilħaq miegħu; bil‑United jidher li jkollu jikkuntenta bit‑tieni l‑aħjar fil‑klassifika tal‑kampjonat. Il‑football jaf ikun logħba kattiva u ta’ weġgħat. Minkejja bidu intensiv, il‑players ta’ Mourinho ħallsu l‑prezz għall‑punti kruċjali li tilfu barra minn darhom u issa mhux se jkollhom għażla ħlief li jirbħu lis‑City fiż‑żewġ logħbiet matul l‑istaġun jekk jixtiequ jibqgħu biċ‑ċans li jaħtfu lura l‑punti akkwistati tas‑City.

Madankollu, mhux kollox kien iswed. Il‑United għadu fit‑tieni post tal‑klassifika tal‑kampjonat [pożizzjoni ferm aħjar mis‑sitt post!] u kien hemm titjib sostanzjali meta mqabbel mal‑prestazzjonijiet tas‑sena l‑oħra.

Ir‑rebħa tar‑Red Devils f ’darhom kontra Brighton kienet is‑seba’ rebħa in fila tagħhom dan l‑istaġun ‑ sinjal li Old Trafford jaf jerġa’ jkun fortizza kruċjali għall‑United. Minkejja n‑natura ta’ rebħa mqanżħa u daqsxejn patetika, il‑United żamm il‑pass fil‑quċċata u għallinqas akkwista tliet punti kruċjali li jiswew.

Minkejja l‑kritika reċenti mill‑partitarji għall‑fatt li Lukaku mhuwiex il‑magna tal‑goals li kulħadd ħaseb se jkun, Mourinho innifsu kien pront isemmi l‑benefiċċji tal‑logħob ta’ Lukaku, billi stqarr: ‘Inħobb nara nies bħal Romelu Lukaku jilagħbu fuq il‑lemin, fuq ix‑xellug, jiġru wara d‑difensuri, l‑midfielders jokkupaw l‑ispazju fin‑nofs, u allura jien kuntent bl‑attitudni. Fl‑aħħar minuta [kontra Brighton], Lukaku baqa’ jiġġieled u jiġri lura bħal fl‑ewwel minuta. Il‑mod kif Romelu jirbaħ il‑corner għall‑goal, il‑mod ta’ kif temm il‑logħba, permezz ta’ tackles fuq wara fix‑xellug, dik hija l‑mentalità li rrid. U sfortunatament mhux kull player hu l‑istess.’

Minbarra Lukaku, ċertament jeħtieġ li wieħed ma jinjorax membri oħra kruċjali tat‑tim.

Il‑prestazzjonijiet ta’ De Gea s’issa kienu brillanti b’mod konsistenti, Valencia kien sod u determinat u l‑logħob ta’ Rashford kien promettenti u ta’ kuraġġ. Aktar minn hekk, Victor Lindelof qiegħed kontinwament jimmatura fir‑rwol tiegħu bħala membru kruċjali fil‑linja tad‑difiża tal‑United.

Il‑partitarji għandhom japprezzaw il‑fatt li Mourinho qiegħed għal darb’oħra jibni mill‑ġdid tim żagħżugħ iżda vibranti. Il‑mirakli ma jseħħux mil‑lum għal għada u f ’kampjonat missielet b’mod kompetittiv u aggressiv bħalma hu l‑Premier League, jeħtieġ ġenwinament iż‑żmien biex tifforma qawwa li verament kapaċi tkun suċċess. Meta wieħed jinnota l‑injuries ewlenin ta’ Paul Pogba, Michael Carrick, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Phil Jones u Eric Bailly, tista’

tifhem għalfejn dan l‑istaġun kien diġà impenjattiv u iebes għar‑Red Devils. Għallinqas l‑iskwadra kienet kapaċi tinnaviga b’mod kawt qalb il‑kriżi ta’ injuries u għadna hemm fuq fil‑kampjonat nissieltu għall‑aqwa titlu mill‑oħrajn kollha.

Aspett pożittiv f ’dan l‑istaġun kien il‑fatt li l‑United huwa wkoll viċin li jikkwalifika mal‑aħħar 16 tal‑UEFA Champions Leauge [suċċess li nkiseb l‑aħħar tul l‑istaġun 2013/14]. Iva, qisu għaddiet eternità mindu l‑club kien irnexxielu jikkompeti b’mod deċenti fiċ‑Champions League iżda s‑suċċess fl‑Europa League tas‑sena l‑oħra wassal għall‑entużjażmu mill‑ġdid tal‑partitarji. Kif darba qal Gary Neville, hemm verament xi ħaġa maġika fil‑lejliet taċ‑Champions League u min jaf ?

Il‑United jaf ċertament ikun pakkett ta’ sorpriża tul il‑kompetizzjoni ta’ dan l‑istaġun. Bl‑enfasi kollha s’issa fuq Real Madrid, Barċellona u Paris St. Germain, il‑United jista’ jibqa’ għaddej b’xogħlu fil‑kwiet u b’mod professjonali, b’serħan il‑moħħ illi mat‑tisfira tas‑suffara, kollox ikun ikkonċentrat fuq il‑logħob. Appoġġati minn folla voċifera u persuna merkurjali bħal Mourinho fit‑tmexxija, wieħed jista’ biss jittama li joħlom b’dak li jista’ jinkiseb!

Fl‑aħħar, tajjeb wieħed jirrimarka li dan il‑magazine ma jistax ikun possibbli mingħajr l‑appoġġ kontinwu minn tim ta’ persuni li jaħdmu bla waqfien. Il‑bord editorjali jixtieq ġenwinament jirringrazzja lil dawk il‑voluntiera u kontributuri kollha li ġenwinament jiddedikaw il‑ħin liberu tagħhom biex jassiguraw li artikli ta’ kwalità jkunu sottomessi b’mod kostanti.

Kif dejjem ikun il‑każ, il‑club tal‑Partitarji ma jistax jimxi mingħajr il‑kontribut tal‑partitarji leali tiegħu u huwa għalhekk li l‑Kumitat jixtieq ifakkar lil dawk il‑membri biex jersqu ’l quddiem u jitkellmu jekk jistgħu jkunu voluntiera jew jikkontribwixxu b’kull mod possibbli. Kull ftit huwa t’għajnuna, mela ejjew niżguraw li l‑club jitmexxa bl‑aħjar mod u bl‑aktar mod professjonali possibbli! Glory Glory Man United!

2,000,000 MALTA

FOUNDED 1959

Thank you VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

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CLUBNEWS

by James Handyside

October 2017 n Friday 20th October, Robert Attard (barman) and his team organised a fenkata at the Club. The event was well-attended and some 45 people who attended thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

O

November 2017 uring the international break the Committee upgraded the internet service in the public areas of the Club house. The upgrade will allow visitors to the Club to experience a faster and more reliable internet connection.

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All Souls Day was commemorated at the Club by celebrating Mass on Sunday 5thNovember.

The mass was once again well-attended by members and their families. Please allow me to thank the Club’s Spiritual Director, Father Ferrante for celebrating the mass and Club Members, Mr. Richard Bullock and Mr. Joe Cilia for all his help in the preparation.

Club President, Joseph Tedesco and Treasurer, Kevin Tabone attended the Bi-Annual Branch Conference at Old Trafford on Friday 17th November. The event serves as an opportunity for Official Supporters’ Club branches to mingle with each other and share experiences whilst also giving them the chance to raise various concerns. The event also included a Q&A session with 3 Treble winners – Denis Irwin, Jesper Blomqvist and Ronny Johnsen. It is to be noted that our Supporters’ Club currently ranks in 29th place in the Official Membership Top 50 League table. Joseph and Kevin, also attended a number of other meetings with Old Trafford officials as the Committee commences preparations for the Club’s 60th anniversary celebrations in 2019.

All Souls day Mass.

Get Together Sunday Lunch at Tal-Laringu Clubhouse in Haz-Zebbug.

The Committee continued working on a package for a 5-day tour to Manchester for the final Premier League game of the current season against Watford in May next year. More details of this package will be included in the forthcoming Christmas circular.

At the beginning of every November the Committee begin in earnest preparations for the Christmas activities. These activities remain popular amongst our members and their families.

This year the Children’s Party will take place on Friday 15th December 2017. Tickets, which are on sale from the Club, cost €15 per child. The price includes food, drink and entertainment and Father Christmas will be dropping by to give a gift to each child.

This year the Members Party will be held on Sunday 17 th December 2017. Members, who wish to be accompanied by a guest may do so by purchasing a ticket for this event. Tickets are priced at €10 each and include 3 free drinks. They will be available for sale from the Clubs’ Souvenir Shop up to Sunday 13thDecember 2017. No tickets will be available for sale at the door on the day of the party. Entrance on the day will only be granted on presentation of a VALID Membership Card or ticket at the door. As usual

finger food will be served and each member will be entitled to 3 free drinks at the Bar. Apart from the traditional Christmas and door lotteries which are drawn during the Christmas Party, the Committee has also decided to thank our loyal members by holding a lottery for those who renew their membership by Friday 8th December. The lucky winner will walk away with a €100 voucher which can be redeemed at the Club’s souvenir shop. Monies collected through membership are the primary source of income for the Club and without these funds the Club would not be able to fulfil its financial obligations. I therefore urge you all to approach fellow Manchester United supporters and encourage them to become members of the Oldest Manchester United Supporters’ Club in the World.

Members can collect their complimentary copy of the 2018 calendar. Special thanks once again to our sponsors. Without the financial support they provide, this outstanding product, which we are all-proud of, would not be possible.

Those members who wish to obtain further copies of this calendar can do so from the Souvenir Shop, for just €6.00. The calendar will also be on sale from a number of stationaries across Malta, priced at €7.00.

On Sunday 26th November, the Committee organised a Get Together Sunday Lunch at Tal-Laringu Clubhouse in Haz-Zebbug. The food was excellent and the event proved to be a great success and also served to kick-off the Christmas Activities.

On behalf of all the Committee, I wish you and all your families a Merry Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year.

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TEDDY’S corner

have your say on info@manutd-malta.com

Dear All, The second-year-league-winning syndrome associated with Mourinho really looks threatened at the moment with the current form Manchester City are in. Nothing is cast in stone yet but December will have a huge say in the outcome of this Premier League campaign for Manchester United.

In recent months, I have noticed that the number of Manchester United fans I meet here and there who are not so keen on the Special One always seems to be increasing considerably. Notwithstanding the national and European trophies won in his maiden season at the Theatre of Dreams, there are still doubts from a substantial majority of United fans about his football philosophies. Philosophy may be the wrong word as it reminds me of the previous manager and his boring systems. These fans are accusing Mourinho of often adopting negative approaches in our game style, especially when playing away from home. The level of criticism towards the tactics used when we played at Anfield earlier this season stands out. The state of the current Liverpool team at the time of the game led people to believe that United should have given the Scousers a tougher run for their money. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I personally feel we gave too much respect to Klopp and his men on the day but nowadays, admitting the limitations in our squad, I prefer a draw in such stadiums rather than be too offensive with a risk of losing the match. Following the defeat at Chelsea, some were questioning whether the Portuguese should make way for his successor. Excuse me please. How many times did we go to Stamford Bridge and won in the past? Before the last win in October 2012, our last win was in April

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VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

2002! Everyone knows Chelsea away is our worst boogie team but for the sake of criticising, some fans were suddenly expecting 3 points as a must.

José is José . He’s been a winner wherever he’s been. He studies his opponents very well, is a very good tactician, he scrapes results, never give up in adversity and loves challenges. I classify him as a bad loser and sometimes his boyish reactions are a joy to watch for his rivals. But he can rub it in as well. Just ask Arsene Wenger. We hated him when he was at Chelsea because he left an impact and took a bite at our dominance in the mid 2000s. I am sure he acknowledges the fact that in terms of quality, the squad we have at the moment is still far from the quality at Manchester City.To be fair, Guardiola seems to be doing a great job at the Etihad. City’s attacking style is very similar to Pep’s ex-Barcelona teams. They still look somehow fragile at the back but their amazing goal scoring machine makes up for all their deficiencies. It will be hard to catch them but the football season is long. I honestly believe that, love him or hate him, he is the only one with the right aura to take us back where we belong. I just hope the owners back him up. I am not so sure about that.

The huge amount of money paid for Paul Pogba is slowly showing signs of dividends being

paid. His injury broke the good momentum United had captured early in the season. The arrival of Matic and his incredible work rate in the middle of the pitch gave Pogba more of a free role and we were seeing glimpses of Pogba’s glorious years at Juve. I just hope he recovers well and keep away from the physio’s room. On the other hand, with Pogba out, Matic looked less effective. Ander Herrera has so far been a disappointing figure and no wonder there is speculation going around about him going back to Athletic Bilbao. Some treat the fact that Fellaini is one of our most important players as a sign of weakness. I was one of his worst critics but even though he could never be my favourite player, I honestly feel more comfortable nowadays seeing him in the squad.

Hats off to the never aging Ashley Young. He has been so far one of our best players this season, keeping Blind, Darmian and Shaw on the bench. I just hope Lindelof wakes up from this horrible dream. I trust the manager’s judgement on players and if Mourinho signs you up for nearly 40 million pounds, you must have some quality hidden inside you, somewhere.

In the Champions League group stages, Paris Saint-Germain are flying. They look absolute favourites this season to take the coveted trophy to the French capital. Unai Emery, their coach, must surely get headaches week in, week out to choose 11 from his array of stars.

PSG are also a joy to watch but I hope they fail to be crowned European champions this season. Honours should never be on sale. Never underestimate Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid. I was particularly disappointed with Atletico Madrid and Napoli, the latter high-flying in their national league but on the day of writing on verge of being eliminated at the expense of Shakhtar Donetsk. Benfica, Dortmund and Monaco, last year’s semi-finalists, are all in a horrible state. With 4 wins from their first 4 games, United were still not mathematically qualified for the last 16 round after the last minute defeat in Basel, another boogie ground.

As we all know, over confidence is often the road to failure, but Manchester United did not underestimate their ‘weaker’ opponents and in each and every game Mourinho fielded a strong side. Some are worried about not clinching top spot in the group. Well that could help avoiding the likes of Bayern, Roma, Juventus and Real Madrid. This competition is not just quality.

Luck plays its part big time.

May I take the opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, full of happiness and good health, and why not, more United trophies.

Yours United, Teddy

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VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

Nemanja Matic

by Jude Cauchi

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he 31st July 2017 will forever be remembered as the day when Manchester United signed another Serbian class act, ironically with the same name as former United legend and captain Nemanja Vidic. So far, in his early days at the club, the Serbian seems to have given a huge boost to the midfield area and will surely prove to be an invaluable addition to José Mourinho’s side. In fact, history shows that the Serbian international has been successful in the majority of clubs that he has played for, which include Benfica and Chelsea.

Nemanja Matić was born on the 1st August 1988 in Sabac, a city in Yugoslavia. In terms of his senior football career, in 2005 he joined FC Kolubara which is a professional football club in Serbia but in 2007 he moved to Slovakia to play for Kosice. During his time with the Slovakian club, the player was used an attacking midfielder where he managed a total of 70 appearances plus 4 goals.

London proved to be his next destination given that in August 2009, Nemanja signed a 4-year contract with Chelsea FC. Having said that, his stay at Chelsea was shortlived due to a lack of appearances on the pitch and he joined Dutch club Vitesse on loan before permanently moving to FC Benfica in 2011 for a reported fee of €25 million. It is at Benfica where the Serbian started playing as a defensive midfielder.

As a Benfica player, the player gained invaluable experience especially when considering that he was involved in a Europa League final clash against Chelsea and also in a title race during the 2012/13 season.

Unfortunately for him and his club,

both the league and the Europa League proved to be a kick in the teeth given that the Portuguese club was defeated on both occasions in stoppage time. On the bright side, his excellent performances throughout that season earned him the Primeira Liga Player of the Year. Moreover, in terms of trophies, he also helped his side to win the league and cup in 2013/14 before eventually returning to Chelsea in January 2014. All in all, Matić made 56 appearances for Benfica and scored a total of 6 goals.

His second spell at Chelsea proved to be a huge success for the Serbian especially as he became one of Mourinho’s key players at the club. He made his second debut for the club as substitute in a 3-1 win against Manchester United while a few weeks later he made his full starting debut in a 0-1 away win at Manchester City. During his first half season at the club, Chelsea finished the season trophyless and third in the Premier League. The following season proved to be more successful as Chelsea reclaimed the Premier League title from Manchester City and also secured a League Cup victory against Spurs at Wembley.

The player was also included in the PFA Team of the Year at the end of the season.

On the other hand, while his second season back at Chelsea was very successful, the following season proved to be a lot more challenging. In fact, an awful start to the season led to the sacking of José Mourinho while the performances of Matić also dipped.

In fact, he was sent off against West Ham and was substituted on more than one occasion by Mourinho during the early part of the season.

On the positive side, his performances improved again under Italian manager Antonio Conte where he was mostly used as a central midfielder and was once again instrumental in helping Chelsea to win the Premier League and reach the FA Cup Final, which proved to be his last appearance for the club.

When the news broke out in summer 2017 that Manchester United had agreed a deal with Chelsea for Matić, many supporters were left surprised especially since the Red Devils had

earlier in the summer hijacked Chelsea’s deal to bring Romelu Lukaku back to the Bridge. So the question remains, how could Chelsea let one of their star players leave for a rival club?

Is Nemanja Matić the final piece in United’s jigsaw? Will he help the Red Devils to mount a title challenge for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club?

The early signs look very positive as the Reds sit in second position in the Premier League with the Serbian having produced some very encouraging performances. In fact, the Serbian international is a dominating figure and his presence in the team is a big plus for the club. In terms of his style of play, his brilliant left-foot coupled with his intelligence, tactical awareness, poise and power makes him one of the best midfielders in the Premier League. Whether he will prove to be the new Roy Keane remains to be seen but stats from previous seasons suggest that he is one of the top tacklers in the league, surpassing the quality of other midfielders such as Kante and Fernandinho. To his advantage, the Serbian has a special relationship with United boss José Mourinho because he is the type of player that Mourinho loves to have in his team.

So far this season, Matić has already made 17 first-team appearances for the Reds and was named man of the match on a couple of occasions. Furthermore, he also came close to opening his scoring account against Benfica at Old Trafford only for the goal to be recorded as a Mile Svilar own goal.

On the other hand, a bright start to the season has been overshadowed by recent results against Liverpool, Huddersfield and Chelsea where the Reds produced uninspiring performances which led to a lot of criticisms from fans and pundits. Moreover, it seems logical that given the formidable partnership that Matić formed with Paul Pogba, the Frenchman’s absence hindered both the Reds and the Serbian to retain the form that they had showed earlier in the season. Hopefully, now that the final international break is over, it will help Matić and the Reds to find some consistency and regain some ground in the title race.

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

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W

ell, the name is an anomaly. It’s called the Champions League but in practice, from February the league format is ditched and it’s a knock-out phase straight to the final. I have always maintained that over a Premier League season, the best team during those 10 months will be crowned champion. It’s different with a knock out competition. It takes only one offgame and you suddenly find yourself facing an impossible task in the return leg and you’re out.

Take PSG against Barcelona last season. In France, PSG annihilated Barca and managed to win 4-0. The return leg seemed to be a formality but the PSG players looked frightened in the Camp Nou and did not manage to play their usual game. Barca went on to win 6-1 and qualified for the following round, only to lose soon after. Arguably PSG were playing better football than Barca last season and anything could have happened but they had a bad match and got eliminated. That is what happens in a direct elimination. It is certainly more exciting but does not guarantee that the best team in Europe wins the Champions League at the end of the season.

Such a scenario increases the significance that luck has in electing a Champions League winner, and not just the luck in a particular match but even more importantly the luck of the draw during the knock out stage. Hence, to answer the question in the title, the winner would certainly need to have luck to be successful. Mourinho’s Porto are a perfect example when they were crowned champions.

Most United fans remember the dramatic fashion in which Porto eliminated United in the knock out stage, with that Scholes legitimate goal being ruled out for an inexistent offside and a goal in the last minute of the encounter.

Then they found themselves playing against a modest Monaco team in the final.

There are three other crucial ingredients in my opinion for a club to win the Champions League. The first is the capability of beating any other team on a favourable day. In this pot, I would even include Liverpool, which despite not being the best team in Europe,

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What does it take to win the UEFA Champions League and which teams are the main challengers?

by Roderick Psaila

I consider them as a team which can beat anyone on their day and if things go their way. The second is having experience in the team. Juventus come to mind, being a team that reached the final twice in the last three years and comprising several players who have extensive international experience.

The third ingredient is the form of the team between February and May. Take Real Madrid this year. I would not bet on them to win the Champions League in May, the way they are playing now. They are ten points behind Barca in the Primera and were relegated to second place in the Champions League group

by Tottenham. Nonetheless, if they were to recover their injured players and recover form as from February 2018, suddenly I’m sure that they would become one of the favourites.

The second question in the title is unfair on me, simply because of the latter point. Most teams can have a change in form between now and February. However, on current form, my three favourites are PSG, Man City and United in that order.

When you have the luxury to choose just six players for midfield and attack from a pool of Neymar, Mbappe, Cavani, Draxler, Di Maria, Lucas, Motta, Verratti, Rabiot and Pastore, then you have to be considered as a favourite. Their form at the moment is outstanding and if they

can remain consistent throughout the season, they would be hard to beat. The acquisition of Alves has added invaluable experience to a team comprising Thiago Motta, Thiago Silva, Di Maria and Cavani. I expect them to wrap up the French title quite early, which could mean getting to the final stage of the season in a situation where they could rest important players and preserve freshness for the Champions League. Their Achilles heel could be the possibility of having a couple of injuries in defence for a crucial knock out match against a solid team such as Juventus or United. I can see them suffer in that situation.

Man City are my second favourites, once again if they can take their current form to the final part of the season. The way City are playing in these first months of the season, they have shown that they can open up even the most resolute of defences. They are quick round the box and they have the ability to find the net with ease. They are still a bit vulnerable at the back, particularly with Kompany who always seems to be one tackle away from an injury layoff. They are also not the most experienced group of players and that could be detrimental when the going gets tough. I still rate the noisy neighbours highly as a team and their flair and strength in depth can take them far.

Third favourite – also because I strongly favour

an English team to win the Champions league this year, PSG permitting – are United. You might suspect that it’s more a call dictated by the heart than by the head. Wrong. It’s true that I’m generally heavily biased in United’s favour, but not when I’m writing, at least I hope not. United have a good chance of winning something this season, I mean the Premiership or the Champions League. At the time of writing, Sterling has just bundled over a rebound against Huddersfield and earn his team all three points and keep them eight clear of United. There are still many points to be lost and won, but if United can’t beat City convincingly on December 10th and dent their confidence, they are going to struggle to make lost ground. I sincerely feel that Mourinho has not found United’s best formation and when he does, United will be one of the best in Europe.

We are already a very difficult team to beat and to score against, and over two legs, that characteristic will prove decisive. Mourinho’s ability to win trophies and reach objectives, as highlighted by the Europa League win last year is a massive advantage. Also, I am still hoping that United manage to buy Griezman in January and if Atletico are out of the Champions League and he is able to play in the knock out stages, then we are in with a shout.

Send me an email on roderickps@gmail.com with your comments.

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

13

Is

David De Gea the

B

eing a lifelong Man Utd fan I might be a bit biased. I will answer to that question that Man Utd has always had a strong keeper whenever they had a successful team. Just look at the last two decades and you’ll find that whenever United had Peter Schmeichel and Edwin Van Der Sar on top of their game, United were simply unstoppable. Regarding De Gea however, is he currently the world’s best goalkeeper?

world’s best goalkeeper

by Alan Abela-Wadge

?

In order to answer that we need to first and foremost assess what qualities would make someone the world’s best goalkeeper? After that we need to see the competition and only then we can start discussing this title.

Let’s start with the qualities and values of what makes a top keeper. In my humble opinion, a great goalkeeper needs to be a great communicator, possess good handling, good passing and ball distribution, excellent reflexes, be brave and commands respect. Those are just some of the qualities that a goalkeeper needs in order to have a successful career.

Communication – When De Gea joined United back in 2011 he was a frail looking teenager.

You might think that he was still going through puberty! Yet the great Sir Alex trusted this kid and threw him immediately in the first eleven.

It might have been the language barrier, but at first De Gea couldn’t communicate well with his defence. Within a few months, he established a great telepathic communication with Vidic and Rio and over the years De Gea continued to improve his communications with the ever-changing backline.

Handling & Reflexes – What’s a goalkeeper if he can’t handle a ball? Who can doubt that De Gea is today one of the world’s best ball handlers? His gravity defying saves are world class and he can win points on his won.

Definitely, De Gea is up there on the merits of his handling and reflexes.

Good with his feet – De Gea’s skills with his feet are second to none. Some of his best saves have been with his feet and he’s also known for his great ball distribution sometimes converting a save into a counter attack within one pass. De Gea’s distribution has improved over the years and today he’s surely up there with anyone else in the world!

Respect and bravery – Everyone respects De Gea, even more so his opponents! When you’re such a good goalkeeper, everyone will look up to you with awe and you’ll command respect. De Gea is also very brave and it’s not the first time that he put his body in harm’s way in order to prevent a goal.

As we can see from here, De Gea ticks all the right boxes for a top goalkeeper. One might also want to look at his passage of time with United. As I said earlier, he joined as a young goalkeeper and he had his difficult moments.

Ironically enough, it was Mata’s last minute free kick for Chelsea in 2012 during United’s 3-3 draw that changed De Gea forever and propelled him to new heights. You could see it in De Gea’s face, he expelled his demons with that save and ever since that super save, De Gea never looked back.

Going back to the list of contestants for this prestigious title, who else can be considered as the world’s best goalkeeper?

In my opinion we need need to mention the following at the very least; Manuel Neuer, Gianluigi Buffon, Jan Oblak, Samir Handanovic, Thibaut Courtois and Hugo Lloris.

All of the above mentioned can claim their case to be the world’s best. However, if we had to do a final shortlist I would say that it must be between De Gea, Buffon and Neuer.

Manuel Neuer: Manuel Neuer has been exceptional for club and country for many years. As Bayern Munich and Germany’s No. 1 goalkeeper, he’s been an inescapable presence in football even for the most casual of football fans.

It’s also impossible to not notice him on the pitch, as his unorthodox style of play has assisted in changing the way we view the entire position.

He’s a consistent winner; you have to go back to 2010 to find a year in which he did not win a trophy for either club or country.

His sweeper-keeper style revolutionised Bayern’s game under both Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola, and his brilliance with the ball at his feet has inspired (or resurrected)

an entirely new coaching style with No. 1s.

Gianluigi Buffon: At the ripe age of 39, Gianluigi Buffon is still a top-five goalkeeper in world football.

He’s stood the test of time and then some, performing superbly in every season since debuting back in 1995.

As far as commanders go, Buffon is the No. 1. He’s been blessed with some remarkable defensive lines during the course of his career, but he still whips them into shape and isn’t afraid to tell the likes of Giorgio Chiellini they’re in the wrong.

His mobility and reaction times have faded just a tinge; the latter stages of last year’s Champions League campaign proved that.

But it’s a measure of how good Buffon is that, even in slight decline, he’s still better than the large majority of the field.

In conclusion, I don’t believe that it’s fair to try and choose between these three giants. Buffon has been one of the world’s best goalkeeper for almost two decades, Manuel Neuer won every single trophy available to men in a very short period of time and De Gea has won an uncountable amount of points for Man Utd. I believe that we’re very lucky to be witnessing these great men playing the beautiful game.

We’ll do well if we treasure these moments because one day very soon, we will have football without the likes of Buffon, Neuer and De Gea. In fact, Buffon already said that this is his last season and since Italy won’t be playing in the World Cup, Buffon won’t have his World Cup swansong either.

Neuer and De Gea still have at least 10 more years ahead of them. Till then, we can enjoy some very memorable moments from both of them. Hopefully, we’ll get to enjoy De Gea’s moments with Man Utd for the remainder of his career.

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

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Focus on José Mourinho’s successful teams, but...

Is Mourinho the ‘special one’ after all?

by Antoine Dalli

T

hrowback 2 June 2004, a then 41-year-old José Mourinho had just put pen to paper on a lucrative three-year contract with West London club Chelsea after a £1.7M compensation package was agreed with Portuguese champions Porto. In a packed press conference upon joining Chelsea, the shrewd Portuguese manager went on to famously claim “Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one”. This statement contributed to Mourinho famously being acclaimed by the media as “The Special One”.

Before taking over a finely-assembled team, bankrolled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Mourinho had just led Porto to back-to-back Primeira Liga triumphs in Portugal in seasons 2002/03 and 2003/04. Moreover, in the same two seasons Porto had also left their mark on the continent after lifting the 2002/03 Europa League (then still known as the UEFA Cup) at the expense of Celtic and the Champions League the following season after hammering three past toothless Monaco in the 26 May 2004 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Thus, back in 2004 Mourinho was already widely viewed as a coach with a big reputation and this was the chief reason why Abramovich had the audacity to sack Claudio Ranieri, then popularly known as the Tinkerman, and instead appoint the ambitious Mourinho in 2004.

With Chelsea, Mourinho went on to win three English Premier League titles (2004/05,

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2005/06 and 2014/15) in two stints as a manager there. Perhaps, his biggest success came in the first season when he helped Chelsea lift their first domestic league title since in 50 years, setting a string of English football records in the process, including the most points ever achieved in the English Premier League (95) and the fewest goals conceded (15). This was seen as the perfect way for Chelsea to interrupt Man United’s and Arsenal’s dominance in the English Premier League. In no way a small feat for a young coach who was still a novice to the English Premier League.

In the same season, Chelsea went on to lift the League Cup at the expense of Liverpool (3-2 AET) in Cardiff. However, the Reds avenged themselves for that defeat by knocking out Chelsea from the Champions League semifinals thanks to a controversial Luis Garcia goal.

In the following season, Chelsea retained the title and also won the season’s curtain-raiser Community Shield against Arsenal 2-1.

Things started to take the wrong twist for Mourinho at Stamford Bridge in season 2006/07. There was growing media speculation that the telations with club owner Abramovich had hit an all-time low especially after Chelsea signed Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko in the summer of 2006 for a club record fee. The 2004 Golden Ball winner was a complete flop at Chelsea, especially when compared with his striking partner Didier Drogba.

In season 2006/07, Chelsea lifted the League Cup at the expense of Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium and the FA Cup final against Man United, the first final to be played in a rebuilt Wembley Stadium. By adding the 2007 FA Cup to his illustrious CV, Mourinho had won every domestic trophy available to a Premier League manager in just three seasons. Man United, then led by a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, went on to win the English Premier League – their first league title since season 2002/03 – which implied that this was the first time in five years that Mourinho did not win the league title!

The beginning of the following season was the mark Mourinho’s end of his first reign at Stamford Bridge. On the opening day of the season, the Blues beat Birmingham City 3-2 to set a new record of 64 straight home league matches without defeat. Eventually, Chelsea went on to surpass the record set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1981. Nonetheless, the start of the 2007/08 season was less successful than the previous ones and on 20 September 2007, the self-acclaimed Special One left Chelsea by mutual consent.

At that point, Mourinho left as the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history, having won six trophies for the club in three years. He was also undefeated in all home league games.

Next in line was Inter. Mourinho continued on the solid foundations laid by his predecessor

Roberto Mancini and won the Scudetto in backto-back seasons in 2008/09 and 2009/10. Then club owner Massimo Moratti had parted company and hired Mourinho in a bid to end the club’s long-await to lift the coveted Champions League. In his first season at the helm of the Nerazzurri, Inter did not leave their mark in UEFA’s premier club competition as they were knocked out by Man United in the first knockout stages of the competition. In the Coppa Italia, Inter were knocked out

by Sampdoria 1-3 on aggregate by Sampdoria.

Wholesale changes were in store for Inter in the summer of 2009 as Mourinho signed six players who would eventually help Inter make a quantum leap in quality, a leap which was also enough to complete a historic treble!

Brazil captain Lucio, Genoa duo Diego Milito and Thiago Motta, Wesley Sneijder all signed for Inter. But perhaps Mourinho’s shrewdest move was in swapping Zlatan Ibrahimovich for the more effective Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o plus obtaining £35M in cash. Inter started firing on all cylinders from the word go. In January, Inter secured the services of utility player Goran Pandev as a free agent.

This signing helped Mourinho to deploy a more attack-minded formation, a move which eventually bore its fruits.

Eventually, in the February-March period Inter stepped up several gears and knocked out more quoted clubs like Chelsea and Barcelona to reach their first Champions League final since 1972 (0-2 vs. Ajax in Rotterdam), thus becoming the first Italian team to reach the Champions League final since Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan won the competition against Liverpool in Athens in 2007.

In the 22 May 2010 final, which was the first Champions League final to be played on a Saturday night, gave Inter their third European Cup title – their first since 1965 (1-0 vs. Benfica in Milan).

In the aftermath of Inter’s 2-0 success against

Bayern Munich at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Mourinho claimed that he was “sad, as almost for sure it’s my last game with Inter”.

He then added that “if you don’t coach Real Madrid then you will always have a gap in your career”. Back then, Mourinho knew only too well that Inter had reached unprecedented heights, which were very difficult to maintain and after days of negotiation between Real Madrid and Inter, the Spanish giants agreed to pay a £8M compensation to Inter to get their new manager.

At Real Madrid, Mourinho, to his own admittance, was not as successful as his name tag may suggest. On 20 April 2011, the Portuguese mentor won his first trophy in Spanish football as Real Madrid defeated arch-rivals Barcelona 1–0 in the Copa del Rey final held at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, thus ending Real Madrid’s 18-year-long Copa del Rey drought. This Copa del Rey success was also Real’s first trophy since their 2007/08 La Liga title.

The following season, Mourinho led Real Madrid to their first La Liga title in four years thanks to a superb 3-0 win vs. Athletic Bilbao on 2 May 2012.

Beyond doubt, season 2011/12 was Mourinho’s most successful one during his three-year stint with Real Madrid. On 13 May 2012, Los Blancos defeated Mallorca 4–1 in their last La Liga match of the season, which set records for most games won in the Spanish top division season (32), most away wins (16), most points obtained in any of the top European leagues (100), thus improving the most goals scored record they already had set earlier (121) and finishing the season with the highest goal difference (+89). Most importantly, Real Madrid topped the league nine points clear of nearest pursuers and bitter rivals Barcelona.

Success in the 2012 Supercopa de España (vs.

Barcelona 4-4 on aggregate, Real Madrid won thanks to the away goals rule) was the prelude of a disappointing campaign for Mourinho and for Real Madrid as it was reported in the media that Mourinho had fallen out with some of the most senior players in the dressing room, most notably Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos.

Later on that season, Real Madrid reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the third consecutive year under Mourinho’s management. This time around, it was Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund who ousted Real Madrid to set the first ever all-German final against Bayern Munich in Wembley Stadium.

Following the 2013 Copa del Rey final loss to Atlético Madrid on 17 May 2013, Mourinho called the 2012/13 season “the worst of my career”. Three days later, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez announced that the Portuguese coach would leave the club at the end of the season by “mutual agreement”, a year after signing a contract extension to 2016.

On 3 June 2013, Mourinho made a headlinegrabbing return to Chelsea in the English Premier League. Mourinho told Chelsea TV: “In my career I’ve had two great passions – Inter and Chelsea – and Chelsea is more than important for me.” “It was very, very hard to play against Chelsea, and I did it only twice which was not so bad.” “Now I promise exactly the same things I promised in 2004 with this difference to add: I’m one of you”.

In his second stint with Chelsea, Mourinho reached his peak in his second season in charging leading the Blues to the English Premier League title (losing just three matches all season) and success in the League Cup at the expense of Tottenham. On 7 August 2015, Mourinho signed a new four-year contract with Chelsea, keeping him at Stamford Bridge until 2019. But that was the beginning of the end for Mourinho’s second stint with Chelsea as the West London club lost nine of 16 Premier League matches, on 17 December 2015 he left Chelsea by mutual consent. Player power was believed to be the main reason why Mourinho turned hero to zero in the space of a few months.

On 27 May 2016, Mourinho signed a threeyear contract with Manchester United, with an option to stay at the club until at least 2020. Mourinho had long been vying the hot Man United seat but the indications are that his stint with the Red Devils may be cut short if the current rumours linking Mourinho with cash-rich Paris SG materialise in the coming months.

With Man United, Mourinho lifted three trophies in his first season, namely the Community Shield at the expense of then English champions Leicester, the League Cup vs. Southampton 3-2, the Europa League against Ajax 2-0. This success over fallen giants Ajax enabled Mourinho to maintain his 100 per cent record of winning every major European Cup final as a manager.

Mourinho has often declared that his biggest his biggest success was leading Inter to victory in the 2010 Champions League final against Bayern Munich and in so doing the Nerazzurri ended their long draught in the European Cup and also became the first Italian club to complete the treble.

Mourinho is notorious for being a short-term manager, he takes over the reigns of a team, he wins and leaves immediately on a high.

Although he has often tried to dismiss such a claim, facts prove otherwise. Moreover, Mourinho has sometimes claimed that he prepares clubs for success, citing what Real Madrid went on to achieve under Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane in recent years.

But what about the huge void he left in 2010 at Inter?

Analysing Mourinho from whatever angle is daunting but one thing is for sure... he remains the Special One!

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

17

Do Manchester United deserve Premier League glory in 2017-18?

by Julian Tabone

All in all, it has been a pretty good season so far – 10 wins out of 14 matches is not a bad return – and some of the football shown has been very pleasing to watch indeed.

In all competitions, United have so far already scored 4 goals in one match, 8 times which is pretty impressive. Old Trafford is gradually recapturing its fortress status once again – 7 wins out of 7 games; 20 goals scored and just 1 conceded. Those stats are so much welcome especially following last season’s dropped points at home and a series of boring 0-0s.

The team has also been showing different qualities – being clinical in front of goal, being resolute, dropping off when needs be and looking defensively solid on the whole. Those attributes are all positive signs if we want to get back to winning Premiership Titles.

There have been disappointments too – particularly the defeat at Huddersfield and the sheer lack of initiative and submissiveness shown at Stamford Bridge.

The tame goalless draw at Anfield was also an anti-climax considering Liverpool were all there for the taking.

Injuries, as always, did not help the cause. But we should be better than that and we should not use it as an excuse.

Every new season, brings fresh enthusiasm and renewed hopes as it is only natural.

Of course, expectations differ but at United these are always high.

This year – being Mourinho’s second season in charge – people and pundits rushed to conclusions and were quick to predict that this would be United’s year.

In a sense it remains so – but that does not necessarily mean that United will finish top. And it may not turn out to be so much of a bad thing too.

Manchester United remain very much a work-in-progress and may need one or two more transfer windows to get the whole act together.

It is clear, the foundations are being laid. The team is shaping up pretty well.

You can see a backbone being formed – something very much synonymous of some of Mourinho’s strongest and most successful sides.

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De Gea remains the best goalkeeper in the world. Jones and Bailly (when not injured) are gelling. Matic has freed up Pogba and brought steel back into our midfield. Upfront Rashford, Martial and Lukaku have got potential.

In the meantime, it happens there is a little hurdle across town. Pep Guardiola – we have to admit – has transformed Manchester City into a formidable side very much reminiscent of some of the very best sides he has managedin his glittering managerial career. City are seriously risking running away with the league.

This has raised the bar even higher but it should not intimidate us.

On the contrary, it should spur us on.

Football has evolved and nowadays it is hard to see any team dominating the Premier League as it used to be the case a few years back. The Premiership is not the Serie A. It is not the French or the Scottish League either.

So, as things stand after one-third of the league gone by, the answer to the question is No, Manchester United do not deserve Premier League glory just yet.

But, with a few tweaks and little bit of luck, I am very confident we could be witnessing again a revitalised side, ready to make its mark once again. And that is what mostly counts.

Watching Manchester United play football should be one of the best sights in life and it looks like we are on the right track again.

There are positives everywhere you look now.

The situation is promising!

WILL ANTHONY MARTIAL LIVE UP TO HIS POTENTIAL?

by Kenneth Abela

‘At the moment I’m happy, even if I could have done more, scored more goals and made more decisive passes. But I’m happy……..things are going pretty well.

I’m achieving my objectives and I hope to score a lot more by the end of the season.’

So Anthony Martial recently told MUT V. The 21-year-old, who is valued at £31.5m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has scored six times and provided six assists in 15 appearances for United this term.

In September Anthony was voted Manchester United’s Player of the Month by fans after a series of dazzling displays. Martial was the overwhelming winner with 41 per cent, ahead of second-placed Lukaku on 31 per cent. It is the third time the 21-year-old has won our Player of the Month award, after scooping it twice during his debut season in December 2015 and May 2016.

Martial started his career at Lyon before moving to Monaco, where his undoubted talent shone through during his two-year stay.

But he believes United’s loyal and global fan base can be much more encouraging than the spectators in his home country.

Martial has always been hugely popular. The Frenchman immediately endeared himself to the Old Trafford faithful with a stunning solo goal against fierce rivals Liverpool in front of the Stretford End on his debut in September 2015 and remains a firm favourite among the Reds’ passionate patrons. Yet the current buzz surrounding the forward has been ratcheted up to a whole new level. José Mourinho’s men have been thrilling to watch but there is a sense that Martial is on the brink of taking his game to the next level.

Notwithstanding, the France international has found his first team opportunities to be somewhat limited this season under José Mourinho. But he has made a solid impact when coming on as a substitute. Anthony Martial has vowed to do all he can to win a regular starting spot in the first team at Manchester United.

Martial made his 100th appearance for United against Crystal Palace last September and marked the milestone by setting up Lukaku for the final goal in the Reds’ rampant 4-0 victory.

More notably, Martial also came off the bench to score the winner in Manchester United’s 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on the 28th October. His performance earned him the Man of the Match award on Twitter. The Frenchman claimed 53 per cent of the votes to edge out the impressive Ashley Young (40 per cent). ‘Great win and thanks to the fans. You were amazing’ was Anthony Marshall’s reaction on his Facebook Page.

Martial was also the standout performer in the 4-1 wins over Burton Albion and CSKA Moscow in the Carabao Cup and UEFA Champions League, scoring in each game and winning the Man of the Match awards on both occasions.

The France international also netted in the 4-0 Premier League success over Everton.

As well as his goals, Anthony proved himself to be a devastating creative force in the first months of this new season and his work on the left wing contributed to four assists for team-mates. Amazingly, across the month, he was involved in a United goal every 41 minutes during his six appearances. That’s quite a statistic!

Also impressive statistics are Martial’s 18 goals and 12 assists in 62 games, compared to Chelsea’s Eden Hazard’s 20 goals and 8 assist in 71 games.

Mourinho has tended to rotate between Martial and England forward Marcus Rashford as his left-sided attacker, with the duo’s only two starts together coming in Carabao Cup wins against Burton and Swansea. Martial has three starts and seven substitute appearances to his name in the league until mid-November, while he has been in the starting XI for three of United’s four Champions League games.

In an exclusive interview with Tuesday’s United Review, Martial reveals his psychological approach. “I do try to create doubts for my

opponents and take away their confidence,” he explains. “I try to cause problems by taking the player on and making him feel uneasy and unsure of what he should do next.”

Jesse Lingard, a fellow forward and youngster, also believes his good friend is set for an excellent campaign. The Academy graduate told MUTV: “When Anthony is running at you, your defenders are on the back foot. If he continues to do that throughout the season then he’ll be a force.”

On the 22nd September, José Mourinho heaped praise on Martial’s attitude and suggested the former AS Monaco starlet is enjoying his football more. “I see a great improvement in the person,” he said. “I see it in his mood, his face, his body language.

If you want one word: happiness. I am very pleased with his attitude overall, which means it’s easier for him to play well. He’s a happy guy, he’s working extremely well. If he starts matches he tries to do well and if he goes on from the bench, even if it is for just 10 minutes, he tries to enjoy it and to give something extra in his time on the pitch.”

Fifty million down the drain? Fifty million’s a bargain.

The fans certainly think so. Whether it be on the street, on social media or during a match day, Martial has received unwavering support from United fans, who have even adopted their own chant “Tony Martial came from France” which is sung from the terraces to give their vocal backing to the forward.

While struggling to establish himself at United following manager José Mourinho’s arrival at Old Trafford in 2016, Martial had dropped out of his country’s senior squad, playing his last international in October 2016.

Anthony Martial has now been rewarded with a recall to the France squad following his excellent form this season with Manchester United, and this when Real Madrid’s striker Karim Benzema remains excluded by national team coach Didier Deschamps.

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

19

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Alencia Jewellers Triq il-Htajriet, Mosta:

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20% discount on Silver Jewellery, silverware, pearls, crystal 30% discount on yellow gold and white gold No discounts given on brand watches.

K-Optics

10% Discount (does not apply to contact lenses and solutions and also to discounted /sale items) Tel: 7984 3204 5% Discount for purchases over € 50 10% Discount for purchases over € 100 .

Tal-Familja Restaurant

10% Discount (excluding Saturday dinner and Sunday lunch)

10% Discount on presentation of membership card

Old Trafford Stationery

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451 & 453, Fleur de Lys Road, Birkirkara 156A, The Strand Gzira 30% discount on engagement rings 10% discount on silver jewellery 10-20% discount on silver ornaments Also various discounts on gold jewellery

12% Discount on over €50 spent (Terms and conditions apply)

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15% Discount on all small electric home appliances 10% Discount on all white goods

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Tal-Barklor Restaurant 5% Discount on total bill (Excluding Public Holidays)

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These offers are not to be benefited from in conjunction with any other that the shop may have from time to time.

Therefore if a particular establishment has an offer on already on a particular product or service, the Discount Scheme shall not apply to that product or service.

22 VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

Are we ready to challenge for the title?

by Robert Mizzi

A

fter a great start to the season, our beloved Reds have started stuttering and we have lost a bit of ground to the runaway leaders who play in blue. I believe I will be echoing the voice of many supporters around the world if I say that some of our recent form has been poor, especially away from Old Trafford.

A quick look at the statistics: our home form in the EPL so far has been impeccable, winning all 6 matches played so far in the EPL (at the time of writing), scoring 19 and conceding only 1 - and long may this continue. In the Champions League, we have also started brightly, winning the first 4 matches and practically sealing a place in the next round (despite the loss to Basel).

It is our away form which seems to be an issue this season. Based on our away form up till the time of penning this article, we would be lying 6th in the table with only 8 points gathered from a possible 18. What is possibly even more frustrating is the way in which these 10 points have been lost. Losing away to Chelsea may be acceptable in some way or another and an away draw at Liverpool is not a disgrace. The points dropped at Stoke and Huddersfield are more difficult to accept but it is the beauty of football I hear all you neutrals say. So why it that most of us supporters still feel that we are not yet at the desired level?

I am not a football guru and I do not pretend to have the answers to the issues I pointed out in the above paragraphs. In fact I think that the situation is so complex that there is no clear answer and no definite solution. I will however try to point out a couple of points that may perhaps make sense...or maybe not.

Commentators have been saying that so far United have the best defence in the EPL. This may be statistically correct but the feeling I get watching United play is that our defence is still at times shaky and Mourinho has not yet decided the best central defence pairing.

The return of Rojo is no doubt important as it provides the manager with more options.

But let us say that hypothetically, all of Jones, Smalling, Bailly, Rojo and Lindelof are fit.

Can we point out the 2 established central defenders that would start whenever fit?

My gut feeling is that not even Mourinho has decided and that is not good news. It could very well be that a Lindelof – Bailly partnership was hoped for but as things worked out so far, Lindelof still seems like a rabbit caught in the headlights when he puts on the United shirt. Jones had a good start but is a player who I describe as ‘permanently in danger of breaking down’. Smalling has had some good performances but is not entirely convincing as

well. In my opinion Bailly should always start when fit but it does seem that we are lacking an established central defence despite the stats.

I also believe that Mourinho knows this and he is trying to compensate for this by being too defensive away from OT. I may be completely wrong of course, but our away performances have been generally poor in terms of attack as Mourinho is very much concerned with protecting his as yet unstable defence.

Some may also argue that Lukaku is having a poor run at the moment and I will agree to that.

His hold up play has been poor of lately and that is so important especially when playing away. To his defence, however, he has been given very little service from the other players around him. Could it be that this is happening because the surrounding players who should be getting creative with the ball and/or taking on opponents are too busy with their defensive duties, duties which have been prescribed in order to protect our defence?

I am sure that some readers will say that what I wrote above is complete gibberish and that Mourinho’s tactics have always been defensive and his tendency to park the proverbial bus is part of his DNA. It may very well be, but rarely have I seen Mourinho’s teams struggling so

3. See the likes of Mata and Mkhitaryan playing closer behind our striker.

4. See more of Martial and Rashford on the pitch together – even away from OT. 5. See Zlatan return to full form and being able to fill in when Lukaku is out of form or needs a rest.

6. Pogba to stay injury free – we need him on the pitch.

7. See the never-say-die attitude again and more blood and guts on the pitch.

We are so easily bullied in away matches these days.

8. Continue our great home form. We need OT to become a fortress once again.

It is highly unlikely that Santa is going to be so generous and grant all of the above. So I am going to end this article on a positive note by saying that if we manage to get at least half of the above right, we could very well be up there challenging for the top spot come May. Wishing all of you readers a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

much to create scoring opportunities away from their home ground. All his teams seemed capable of hitting opponents on the counter and we have tasted that medicine as United supporters when his teams came to OT! This leads to my attempt to answer the title of the article. Are we good enough to challenge for the title? My humble opinion is that we should challenge for the title but on current form and results, it is going to be very difficult. Apart from the fact that our ‘noisy neighbours’ seem to be firing on all cylinders at the moment, we seriously need to improve our away form to have any realistic chance of getting close to winning the league. I doubt very much that Mourinho will splash out in the January transfer market so here is my Christmas wish-list for our beloved Red Devils.

1. Have an established central defence.

2. Be more enterprising when playing away from OT (also thanks to point 1 above) even against the ‘big’ teams.

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

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CAMARADERIE

by Fr. Anthony C. Ferrante

Camaradrie

may be better understood in synonyms such as fellowship, brotherhood and companionship. It is derived from the French camarade, which in Middle French was used to mean roommate or companion.

It denotes a certain spirit of familiarity and trust that builds up between friends. Hence, it is that sort of feeling that fosters mutual friendliness and trust between two or more persons who spend a lot of time together, be it by sharing some experiences or by working together.

of particular identity, admiration in pushing for harder work and mutual respect which enhances humanity. In these circumstances, the players pertaining to a football club may form a strong social support network, personally as well as professionally for each other. Rooting for each other on choices made, consoling each other on mistakes made, giving advice, or providing support even in personal situations, constitute that sort of comradeship that boosts spirit

Fostering friendships improves engagement at work. So called “old fashioned friendships” come to mind: chit-chatting, hanging out, sharing jokes, and having some fun with co -wor kers. T hese values include embracing and fostering change, creating fun and maybe a pinch of weirdness, to pursue grow th and lear ning, and building a positive family and team spirit. Such camaraderie makes a job more fun, enjoyable, worthwhile and satisfying. It creates a common sense of purpose and the mentality of “being in it together”.

This ought to be the case in a football team. The majority of supporters may think of “the players” simply as winners or losers, forgetting that players are doing a job: they are workers. They do it in a team relying on each other to share both the good as well as the bad in triumph or misfortunes. That is what principally promotes group loyalty that results in discipline and a shared commitment to their job. That would obviously result in a sense

whilst providing much needed assistance.

All this does not imply that there may be no hitches! Happily, professional jealousy, negative cliques, split loyalties, and broken friendships are all manageable and the benefits of positive relationships outweigh any negative outcomes.

Managers, on the other hand, need to foster collaboration, trust, personal relationships, support and whatever in order to foster a camaraderie that produces proactive effort.

A manager should be extremely deliberate about who he chooses to bring onto his team. Successful managers didn’t win on talent alone. Fostering teamwork among any group of individuals is not an easy job. They knew and understood every individual on their team while challenging them in the right ways, setting up consistent performance and motivation, at the same time not shirking risks to support players in them being developed into better athletes.

Meanwhile, it is paramount for the organization to offer products and services (maybe even charitable) around which the players will feel proud, while appreciating and letting ideas to be brought forward.

I think that Anthony Martial summed this all up in a recent interview: “At the beginning, we didn’t know each other too well but over time, we have gotten to know each other better. He ( José Mourinho) knows my strengths and he knows my weaknesses, such as they are, but the outcome is that we are learning to give everything in the right way.” The incident involving Victor Lindelof suppor ting Matteo Darmian during the recent play-off between Sweden and Italy aptly witnesses the existent camaraderie at Manchester United: rivals but not enemies!

Every human being, every person, ought to be treated with kindness, respect and love.

All of this brings to mind Thomas Merton’s: “No man is an island”.

Join us on MALTA

FOUNDED 1959

www.twitter.com/manutd_malta VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW

Phil Neville

by Norbert Bugeja

B

efore a game against Arsenal, Ferguson gave Phil Neville one instruction: not to have dinner so he could eat Vieira during the game. What came out of that match was one of the most brilliant games when a world class midfielder was lost and later found in Phil Neville’s pocket.

Phil Neville was not one of the most skilful footballers we have ever had and in fact for most of his career he was not even a first team player due to Denis Irwin rightfully claiming the left-back spot, but he was another player whose determination and hard work was admirable.

His hard work is shown by the statistic that his tackle success percentage is 74%, but unfortunately for him, one of the unsuccessful tackles was made in a Euro round group game against Romania. What happened after that?

Score was 2-2, Romania got the penalty and the score was 3-2. Romania went through and Phil Neville was made a scapegoat for England

getting knocked out. It was something various Manchester United players experienced. When England get knocked out, a Manchester United player is to blame.

Though not a regular player, he managed to play 263 times for United and scored 5 goals.

Something which Phil offered the team was his versatility. He could play as left-back and also as a holding midfielder, something which Vieira remembers all too well.

After 10 years at United and winning 6 Premierships, 3 FA Cups, 3 Community Shields, 1 Champions League and 1 Intercontinental Cup, he moved to Everton. Despite wanting to move abroad, the offer of Everton, who had just qualified for the UEFA Champions League, was too good to refuse, even though subsequently Everton got hammered by Valencia in the preliminary groups and ended up playing in the UEFA Europa League.

At Everton, he added no more silverware and retired in 2013. What did he do after?

In 2014 he made his debut with BBC as a football commentator for the World Cup 2014 game England vs Italy and in the same year together with the rest of the famous Class of ‘92 purchased Salford City. He is also ambassador of Bliss which is a charity association which helps babies which are born prematurely or sick. In 2014, Phil Neville became a vegetarian allowing the meat lovers to have more food (Thanks Phil! J).

When it comes to management, Phil was first team coach with United during the Moyes era, caretaker manager at Salford City and after that he was assistant manager with Valencia in Spain. After that he moved to Sky as a pundit.

Whatever the future holds for Phil Neville, we would like to wish him all the best for the future.

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

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Possible January Transfers - Major Ins

by Stefan Attard

T

he January transfer window is fast approaching and, as always, the media will start throwing a whole list of players to join the Reds. Last year José Mourinho largely used the window to sell some of the dead wood he was bequeathed by his previous predecessors with Depay and Schneiderlin leaving to pastures new. United have been very quiet in the last January transfer windows with the last bigname signing being Victor Valdes who joined on a free transfer. It is likely that this trend will continue as Mourinho is said to be sticking to the current squad which he painstakingly shaped over the last two summer transfer windows. Although United may look short in some areas, it is highly unlikely that a good quality player will be available in January. One feels that the current United side are perhaps a superstar or two away from a lasting liftoff. History shows that if the boss was to enter the market it will be for a veteran player who can plug a gap for the final run-in of the season. Probably this time around this signing is already in the squad and has the name Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

In my opinion the most important area that needs strengthening is the full back positions -both sides. Earlier in his Manchester United days, Mourinho made it clear that he wants specialists in every area of the United team.

Currently the only specialists at the full back positions are Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw with the latter unable to force his way into the squad.

Major ins: Antoine Griezmann - Atletico Madrid Antoine Griezmann remains a dream signing as he is blessed with the skills that Mourinho wants in forwards – goals, assists and commitment off the ball. Atletico’s imminent elimination from the Champions League and

28 VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

the signing of Diego Costa might just make the January move possible. The Frenchman would have probably joined United during the previous summer window, however due to the transfer ban imposed on Atletico the transfer was blocked by the Spanish club.

Carlos Soler - Valencia Recently various media reported that Carlos Soler was being scouted by Manchester United and a January move for the Valencia player is anticipated. The absence of Paul Pogba coincided with United’s struggles especially in the Premier League. The absence of the French star due to a hamstring problem forced United to play a much less expansive game without his passing and creativity which left Mourinho with few alternative options in midfield.

Soler has meanwhile greatly impressed the United staff in the 11 months since making his debut for Valencia in December. Even though he is just 20, the Spanish Under-21 international has shown many qualities that United lack as well as maturity. Soler is likely to come with the hefty price tag of around £40m.

It is said that United have also considered the possibility of offering Andreas Pereira - who is currently thriving on loan at Valencia - plus cash for Soler.

Valencia are enjoying something of a revival on the sporting side, second in the league and thriving under new coach Marcelino but the club is still in a financial hole. This year they recorded a €26m deficit, their third consecutive annual loss. Those losses stack up to around €70m and despite their lofty league position, there is an understanding that it would be financially disastrous if they cannot find a way to return to the Champions League.

Sources inside the Spanish club insist that

Soler, an academy product, is way down the list of players that they want to sell but, equally, concede that a big offer from United would force the hand of a club still struggling to balance the books.

Andreas Pereira - Valencia (on loan from Manchester United) José Mourinho might not have agreed with it, but Andreas Pereira’s loan is paying dividends.

Nine wins from 13 matches and no defeats saw Valencia being the only real club who could challenge Barcelona for the Spanish domestic title. Marcelino – the Valencia head coach, managed to assemble a set of players who are young and hungry after a 16-player clear-out in the summer transfer window.

Andreas Pereira moved on a season-long loan to Los Che on transfer deadline day.

José Mourinho admitted that he was not happy with Pereira’s decision to go on loan and even claimed that it was not the right decision for the youngster. The boss hinted that had Pereira stayed in Manchester, he would have challenged to get opportunities with the first team. The Brazilian confessed that it was a difficult decision but ultimately, he chose Valencia where he believed he would get more game time with the Spanish club. His decision appears to be the right one as he flourished during his 10 appearances, scoring one goal and assisting three.

As it stands, United have an option to recall the Brazilian from his loan on January 1st although the youngster made it clear that he wants to stay with the Spanish side for the remainder of the season. Interestingly, Perreira has at times kept Carlos Soler out of the starting line-up. If Perreira continues to improve as he has this season, then he can certainly have a bright future.

Pochettino’s management during his time at Southampton. Back then, Shaw was one of the best full backs in the Premier League and perhaps one of the world’s most expensive teenagers. Unfortunately, his Manchester United career never set off after the horrific injury which kept him out for the remainder of the season. Moreover, he does not seem in favour under Mourinho and his departure from United is a question of when rather than if especially after spending all season playing second fiddle to Blind, Darmian, Young and Rojo. Interestingly, Manchester United may look to swap for the England left-back Danny Rose who himself stated that he wants to move up north during the summer transfer window.

This deal would be a very good move by United.

Watch this space!

Major Outs: Luke Shaw Tottenham’s manager Mauricio Pochettino is said to be a keen admirer of Manchester United’s left back Luke Shaw. Of course, before joining the Red Devils, Shaw worked under

Marouane Fellaini A season or two ago almost all United fans would have leapt with joy to the news of Marouane Fellaini leaving the club. Indeed the 30-year old has endured a difficult relationship with United supporters. When Mourinho was appointed manager of Manchester United, he immediately made it clear that the big Belgian was very much an integral member of the United squad. After the first half of the season under Mourinho, us fans would perhaps have retained our opinion that Marouane was not United quality. Fast forward a season and a half and after encouraging performances, it is sad

to read that our midfielder is slowly reaching the end of his contract and is free to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season. Mourinho himself expressed his concern with contract talks continuing to drag on and many top European clubs trying to lure our big Belgian. Credit to the Belgian, Fellaini has become much more of an influential player in our team.

United triggered the one-year extension in Fellaini’s contract at the start of the year, but agreeing a deal beyond the summer is proving difficult. Recently Mourinho himself admitted that he is worried about the possibility of Fellaini leaving the club. The manager also explained that he himself can do very little to ensure the midfielder stays at United as he is not involved in contract talks. With the boss revealing that he respects Fellaini’s decision on his future, it perhaps indicates that the Belgian has perhaps decided on leaving the club at the end of the season. Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray have all been linked with a move for Fellaini, with Paris St Germain also reported to hold an interest in the Belgian international.

Although the January transfer window has not led to major signings for the club in recent history, José Mourinho must enter the market to try and bridge the gap between the Red and Blue of Manchester with the latter seemingly being unstoppable in the Premiership.

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29

A QUESTION OF STYLE

by Silvio Scicluna

I

am writing this article during the latest international break just a few days after the disappointing defeat at Chelsea.

Coincidentally, since the last international break in October, after which we had the 0-0 draw at Anfield, the common theme of discussion amongst one and all was the style of football of Manchester United, the narrative being that against Liverpool, United sacrificed entertaining football for the sake of getting a result. More fuel was added to the fire after the Chelsea match where the accusation was that United should have attacked more than they did since our opponents were there for the taking after a chastening defeat in Europe that midweek. As it happened, United did open up more at Stamford Bridge. So much so that the goal conceded came from a Chelsea counterattack with our defence wide open. And yet, the general feeling was that the football played on the day, against another direct opponent, was not enterprising enough.

I’m sure the majority of us have lately read and heard with interest various articles and discussions, both on social media as well as the written press and TV about this perceived lack of entertaining football being played

by United ever since that game at Anfield.

And most of the flak has been aimed at José Mourinho. It is a well known fact that our boss has a reputation of resorting to what pundits call “parking the bus” especially away from home in big matches, both domestically against the so-called top six opponents as well as in big European away games. In my opinion, this is unfair criticism since more often than not, he would be alternating tactics at different periods within matches with the aim of getting the best possible result if, for whatever reason the match can’t be won. There could also be mitigating circumstances like a depleted squad for instance as was the case at Anfield when the central midfield options were limited to just Matić and Herrera who were up against a flooded Liverpool midfield and no specialised midfielder was available on the bench to give a helping hand when fatigue crept in. And even at all his previous clubs like Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter, I seem to recall that he balanced entertaining football with good solid defending and his trophy haul more than justified his means.

But as often happens, some journalist, one fine day, came up with this ‘parking the bus’ headline after a particular match and it seems to have stuck like some kind of stereotype.

Despite the fact that a draw at Anfield is always a very good result in my opinion, many pundits chose to criticise United and Mourinho in particular for a perceived lack of ambition by arguing that a team like Manchester United should always strive to play open, attacking, entertaining football with the aim of winning every match.

Granted, one cannot but agree with such a statement. Who wouldn’t want to watch United play swashbuckling football in every minute of every match? But whoever reasons this way is seeing

things with rose-tinted spectacles. The romantic notion that United’s style of play is of open attacking football comes from days of yesteryear when Sir Matt Busby was in charge.

There is in fact a chant that is regularly sung by the United faithful, the ‘Twenty Times’ chant, in which reference is made of playing football in ‘the Busby way’. Some would also add that even Sir Alex Ferguson had his teams play constant attacking football. And most of the time that was the case, with the emphasis being made on wing play and putting crosses in to the forwards. But many a time, this would come from counterattacking play after periods of necessary defending in matches when, whether you like it or not opponents, will put you under the cosh. In fact, Rio Ferdinand went on record recently to state that very often he played in games under Sir Alex where United had to grind out results when the need arose. On the other side of the coin, we had the style of play attributed to our previous manager Louis van Gaal. This was usually pigeonholed as being boring, unimaginative football because the onus was mostly on having possession, passing the ball around neatly and arriving in the attacking third in a controlled manner. But even under van Gaal, United played some attractive football and won many an exciting game.

The irony is that a few weeks earlier, United and Mourinho in particular were lauded for the terrific start made to this campaign when winning matches 4-0 was a regular occurrence and the football being played was very entertaining. Many, including Mourinho himself, pointed out the fact that the calibre of opponents in those early games was not yet the toughest and that the midfield injury curse (especially Pogba’s long term injury) had not yet kicked in at that junction. And that is precisely the point. It’s called ‘horses for courses’. This means that everything fluctuates according to circumstances. A top manager will always vary formations, tactics and player selections according to the strength of the opponent, whether it’s home or away and depending on player availability. And a top manager will always seek to get the best possible result for his team, even if that means playing for a draw or seeing out a result at times. A coach who plays only attacking football in today’s world just for the sake of keeping up with a perceived mantra is naïve. It’s all about results at the end of the day. Football managers the world over nowadays know the pressure they are under from the media and the mostly foreign owners at the top clubs. They have to deliver. And ultimately if you were to ask the fans what they would like at the end of each season, they would all prefer to see silverware being paraded rather than memories of fancy football. It’s not a question of style.

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

31

REMEMBERING THAT FIRST TIME MANCHESTER UNITED’S FIRST FA CUP SUCCESS IN 1909

by Iain McCartney Part 3

B

oth the Midland and Great Central Railway Companies were stretched to their limit and the officials at Manchester’s London Road, Central and Victoria Stations admitted that even during the peak holiday seasons they had never catered for so many people at one time, with one official stating – “The record exodus of football enthusiasts which was achieved when Manchester City played Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-final round at Everton in the year they won the English Cup (1904) was easily eclipsed.’ Thankfully, the United players, who had been training at Cuddington had kept their departure time a secret.

There had been much complaining in and around Sheffield prior to the match due to the admission price being one shilling instead of a more affordable six old pennies, but this certainly did not deter many of the travelling support of both semi-finalists, with a crowd of 40,116 paying a sum of £3,590 in gate receipts.

Having won the toss, Newcastle, who were favourites to win and they actually claimed that they were, man for man, superior to any other side in the country, played with the sun and a brisk breeze on their backs, but the sun soon disappeared and along with it, the rather slow start to the semi-final, as the players of both sides soon found their momentum and both goals came under threat.

In his report of the game for ‘The Umpire’, C. E. Sutcliffe wrote: “Both teams received a rare welcome from the crowd, which did not need reminding that the contestants were respectively League champions and prospective League Champions. No amount of personal feeling or rival jealousy can deprive Manchester united of their claim to greatness.

Since the advent of their new management, they have won honours and distinction.”

In the opening five minutes, Newcastle came close on a couple of occasions to opening the scoring, whilst keeping United on the defensive, their left wing in particular, causing United numerous problems. From a Wilson centre, Higgins drove the ball a few inches wide of Moger’s post and then Stewart evaded the United defence, but wasted the opportunity that had befallen him. Offside by both teams also failed to help the flow of the game.

United, however, slowly began to find their

32 VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

feet and rhythm by the twentieth minute had shown enough to make Newcastle aware that the result was far from a foregone conclusion.

Wall shot over after getting the better of McCracken, while at the opposite end, Moger fumbled a shot from Duncan, which was fortunately cleared as Shepperd moved in.

from Meredith and Wall tested Lawrence in the Newcastle goal. The ‘keeper, however, dealing comfortably with both. Several “scrimmages” around the Newcastle goal kept the huge crowd on their toes, but neither side were playing anything like the football that their supporters and the neutrals were usually accustomed to.

Slowly, as the game progressed, United began to gain confidence and a couple of long drives

Just before the interval, Newcastle lost the services of centre-forward Shepperd with an

injury - a blow to the face if you read one report or a sprained ankle if you read another. No matter what the injury actually was, when he returned following the break, he was moved to the left wing where he was totally ineffective. United, however, could not make the advantage of the extra man tell in those closing stages of the first half.

Southampton at home, before progressing with a 2-0 victory on the south coast. Paired with Bury in Round Two, once again they were held at home, 2-2 on this occasion, with a solitary goal in the replay enough to secure victory. It was third time lucky at home against Norwich City in the Third Round, as the tie was decided after ninety minutes, the

Newcastle returned to full strength after the interval, but it was their opponents who made the early running. But despite their advantage, they seldom caused Lawrence much in the way of trouble. It soon became obvious to the Newcastle support, that despite being back to full strength, Sheppard was limping badly and could be considered little more than a passenger. They did, however, continue to cause the United rear-guard problems and a pass to Wilson saw Hayes having to be alert to clear the danger

Canaries beaten 2-0. A 0-0 draw at Glossop followed in Round Four, but as in the previous round, their home form held up and a 1-0 victory gave them a place in the semi-finals. If their previous cup-ties were anything to go by, then this was going to be yet another closely fought encounter and following the 1-1 draw at Chelsea, the replay at St Andrews, Birmingham was indeed settled by a solitary goal.

Roberts headed against the Newcastle bar, then Sandy Turnbull limped off for treatment and when he returned, moved to the wing.

Stewart was only inches wide with a fine effort.

As could be expected, interest in the final was high and on the Friday evening prior to the big day, the Manchester Railway stations, London Road, Victoria and Exchange, were a hive of activity, excursions to the capital having been advertised at eleven shillings for a day return.

platforms began to fill, but when another contingent of around 800 suppor ters appeared, the area was at bursting point.

Reports of the time tell of the supporters having “every conceivable kind of musical instrument that could possibly be carried”, with the noise making it extremely difficult for the station staff to tell the crowds what platform they should be making their way to.

For one party of boisterous supporters, panic set in. No, they had not left their precious tickets at home, they had left their ‘refreshments’ on the ’wagonette’ that had brought them to the station. Thankfully, due to the crowds outside, it had not moved and it was with much relief that the bottled beer, numerous cases of whisky and of lesser importance, some sandwiches and pies were secured for the journey ahead.

It was estimated that around 30,000 left Manchester on that Friday night and in the early hours of the Saturday morning.

With twenty-five minutes of the second half gone, United’s superiority finally told. Wall, having along with Jimmy Tunbull missed a chance, moved down the left before centring the ball and as a red and a black and white striped shirt tussled for the ball, Halse nipped in and gained possession, driving the ball hard past the helpless Lawerence.

As the afternoon wore on, the pitch became rather slippy and as the light began to fade, playing conditions were far from ideal. Halse should have scored a second from a Wall centre, but his effort was blocked by Lawrence.

United hung on to their one goal advantage as the minutes ticked away, with Newcastle pushing forward in search of a last grasp equaliser, but with left back Whitson now injured, they were basically down to nine men and were never going to get the better of the United defence who stood firm to ensure victory.

Newcastle had been poor, with their half backs failing to match the strength of their rivals and whilst fit, Shepperd was easily contained by Charlie Roberts, by far the man of the match, who was according to the ‘Guardian’ was “cool in defence and accurate in his passing and tackling”. But even United were below par.

Halse will be remembered only for his goal, Sandy Turnbull was only average, Meredith was well watched, with Jimmy Turnbull always on the move.

United, however, had to wait in order to find out who they would be facing in the Final at Crystal Palace, as in the other semi-final, Bristol City drew 1-1 with Derby County at Stamford Bridge, something that was perhaps not too unexpected, as three of their previous four cup ties had all gone to a replay.

In the First Round, they had drawn 1-1 with

The United players relax at Blackpool prior to the final.

If the exodus to Sheffield for the semi-final tie had surpassed anything previously, then that particular Friday evening saw scenes the likes of which had never been previously witnessed.

“This has been one of the warmest times I have ever experienced. I never remember such large crowds outward bound for one place, and all my staff, I can assure you, have had to exercise all their ingenuity to deal with them” proclaimed one over-worked station master.

As the Town Hall clock struck ten, an hour before the first train was due to depart from Manchester, the first large group of United, red and white bedecked, supporters made their way to London Road Station. Slowly the

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the morning of the match, where they had lunch at the nearby Great Eastern Hotel, before making the journey to Crystal Palace, which due to the vast crowds took the best part of an hour.

Leading up to the kick off the traffic from central London out to Sydenham was like a giant snake, crawling its way towards the ground. Taxis and buses stretched back for over a mile, with the ground itself quickly filling up, many securing a rather precarious viewing point on trees surrounding the vast arena.

United made their headquarters at Chingford and travelled to Liverpool Street Station on

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As kick-off drew near a number of Bristol City supporters marched along the touch line with a banner proclaiming “Stop the Game, it’s snowing. Success to Burnley” to some light-hear ted reply’s from the Mancunian contingent.

Others had hoisted a Bristol City flag up a pole, but their opposite numbers attempted to remove it and replace it with another which proclaimed “ P l a y Up M anche s te r ”. A United suppor ter was given a much warmer reception when he emerged from the crowd dressed as a footballer, in United’s usual red shirt.

Amongt the crowd were numerous soldiers in uniform, from members of the Royal Horse Artillery to the Inniskilling Dragoons.

Enterprising locals did an excellent trade in charging two shillings for the hire of a soda water box or a barrel, which would offer a better advantage point from which to view the action and for those who did not own such items, they hastily constructed something for the supporter to stand on, with the sound of constant hammering being heard above the shouts of support for both teams. Some constructed ‘swinging cradles’, like those used in the painting of the side of a ship, fastening them onto the front of the stand and charging the sum of one shilling per ‘cradle’.

On the whole, supporters were in good humour, but there were some twenty-two arrests. Sixteen of those were for gambling offences, with tricksters luring unsuspecting supporters with the three card trick and dice.

Five were for pick-pocketing and one for robbery of a purse which contained 14/6d and a return train ticket to Leek!

With the pre-match ‘entertainment’ concluded, both teams emerged from the changing rooms, with the Bristol players taking to the field first, dressed in blue, followed minutes later

by United in a change shirt of white, with a red ‘v’ and a badge showing the red rose of Lancashire which had been presented to the club by comedian George Robey.

MixedMANCUNIANPlatter What if late goals are removed?

T

he scope of this exercise was to see if late goals in favour of United might have affected United’s points tally and hence the position in the league table. Some might say that it was a futile exercise and they may be right, but I have wanted to do this for some time. Then it is up to you, the readers, to pass the final verdict to disprove or approve the myth that United win trophies by late goals. United haters say our team is lucky (in scoring late goals), forgetting, in the process, that opponents also score late goals against United. These same haters seem to have lost from their dictionary the words resolve, perseverance and belief, of which Manchester United players have aplenty.

For the scope of this exercise, Premiership seasons 1992 to 2013, ie. during part of Ferguson’s time at United are under scrutiny and goals scored from the 85th minute to the end of the game are considered to be late goals. Goals after the 90th minute injury time and after extra time after a particularly drawn knockout game are listed as 90. These late goals will be theoretically removed from the result, so affecting the points lost from each particular game and hence affect the league table or a knock out competition outcome.

So have fun with numbers.  Season 1992/93 We start from the first Premiership season, 1992/93. United won this one with 84 points to 74 points by Aston Villa which ended up second. United ended a 26-year run without an English league title.

Late goals which had made an impact on the league table for this season were a 0-1 way win (Dublin 89) vs Southampton, a 1-0 home win (Hughes 88) vs Crystal Palace, a home draw (Hughes 90) vs Liverpool and a home 2-1 (Bruce 90) win over Sheffield Wednesday.

Had United not scored these late goals, they would have lost 6 points from the final table.

There were no late goals in the cups which would have been significant.

For the record, 8 late goals were scored in this campaign, of which 3 made an impact.

Verdict: United were champions and would still have won the title as a 10-point gap from the first to the second position could absorb the loss of the 6 points.  Season 1993/94 The Premier League title was won by Manchester United on 92 points. Blackburn on 84 came second. The FA Cup and the Charity

Shield were added to the honours list as well as being a beaten finalist in the League Cup. Late goals which had made an impact on the league table for this season were an away 3-2 win (Keane 86) over Man City, a 1-1 home draw (Ince 88) over Blackburn and a 2-2 away draw (Ince 87) with West Ham. Had United not scored these late goals, they would have lost 4 points from the final table.

In the FA Cup, a late goal by Hughes (119) in extra time brought the necessary draw for a replay, which United then won 4-1 and eventually won the final against Chelsea, becoming only the fourth club in the 20th century to do the double.

In the League Cup, an 88th minute goal by McClair eliminated Stoke on aggregate. United continued to the final, beating Leicester, Everton, Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday but succumbed to Aston Villa 1-3 at the final hurdle.

For the record, 13 late goals were scored this season, of which 5 made an impact.

Verdict: United were champions and would still have won the title as an 8-point gap from the first to the second position could absorb the loss of the 4 points. It’s a different story in the FA Cup, as a 1-0 defeat to Oldham would have halted United progress to the cup final. So no FA Cup win this time and no double.  Season 1994/95 The Premier League title was won by Blackburn on 89 points, with Manchester United coming second on 88. The Charity Shield was won again. Beaten finalists in the FA Cup. A late goal was in the FA Cup in the semifinal against Crystal Palace, a 2-2 draw a.e.t (Pallister 90).

Had this goal not been scored, United would not have progressed to the final of the FA Cup. Sadly, the final was lost to Everton.

For the record, 7 late goals were scored in this campaign, of which only one made an impact on the outcome.

Verdict: United would still be second as no late goals were scored that would have affected the final outcome of the league table.  Season 1995/96 The Premier League title was won by Manchester United on 82 points, with Newcastle coming second on 78. The FA Cup was added to the honours list, with Liverpool being beaten in

by Karm Galea Part 1

the final. This was the 5th double in United history and the second since the beginning of the Premiership.

A late goal, which had made an impact on the league table for this season, was in an away 1-1 draw against QPR (Cantona 90).

Had United not scored this late goal, they would have lost 1 point from the final table.

In the FA Cup, a significant late goal (Cole 90) away against Sunderland in a 2-1 win in the third round replay earned United an aggregate win which eventually led to United winning the FA Cup by another late goal in the final (Cantona 86), beating Liverpool 1-0.

For the record, 12 late goals were scored in this season, of which 3 were relevant on the result.

Verdict: United would still have won the title as the gap between first and second place could absorb the loss of 1 point, but will not have progressed to win the FA Cup against Liverpool and there would have been no double.  Season 1996/97 The Premier League title was won by Manchester United on 75 points, with Newcastle coming second on 68. The Charity Shield was also added to the collection.

For the record, 7 late goals were registered in all competitions of which none was of value to the end result.

Verdict: No late goals were scored that would have affected the final league table, so United would still be champions.  Season 1997/98 The Premier League title won by Arsenal on 78 points, with Manchester United coming second on 77. United won the Charity Shield.

Two late goals in the league which made an impact on the league table, namely a 2-2 home draw (Solskjaer 86) vs Chelsea and a 1-1 home draw (Cole 85) vs Bolton would have cost United 2 points had they not been scored.

They would not have made any difference to United’s position.

For the record, 10 late goals were clocked in this campaign, of which 2 were important for the acquisition of points.

Verdict: United would still be second.  Season 1998/99 The Premier League title was won by Manchester

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United on 79 points, with Arsenal coming second on 78.The FA Cup and Champions League were also were also placed in the trophy cabinet.

Late goals which made an impact on the league table were a 2-2 (Beckham 90) home draw against Leicester, a 1-1 (Cruyff 86) away draw against Derby, and an away 1-0 (Yorke 89) win vs Charlton. Had these goals not been scored, United would have lost 4 points from the final table and lost the league.

In the FA Cup, two late goals (Yorke 88 and Solskjaer 90) saw the end of Liverpool in a 2-1 home win. Had United passed the Liverpool hurdle, there was the famous Giggs goal (109) against Arsenal on a neutral ground.

In the League Cup, two late home goals (Solskjaer 106 and Nevland 115) saw the end of Bury and progress to Round 4.

In the Champions League quarter-finals, a late away goal by Scholes (88) assured a passage to the semi-finals, while in the semi-finals a late Giggs (92) goal vs Juventus made sure the eventual aggregate score sent United to the final. But the epitome of late goals came in the final against Bayern Munich in a 2-1 win with goals from Sheringham (91) and Solskjaer (93).

For the record, 19 late goals were scored, of which 11 were very important indeed for the wellbeing of the supporters.

Verdict: United would have won nothing had these late goals not been scored. No league, no FA Cup and no Champions League. Definitely NO TREBLE.

win against Middlesbrough (Beckham 87), an away 4-3 win also against Middlesbrough (Fortune 85) and an away 3-2 win vs Watford (Cruyff 87). Had United not scored these late goals they would have lost 9 points from the final table.

For the record, 9 late goals were scored in this season, of which 5 were relevant to the winning of the league.

Verdict: United would have lost the title by 1 point.  Season 2000/01 The Premier League title was won by Manchester United (for the third successive season) on 80 points, followed by Arsenal on 70.

The only late goal which made an impact on the league table for this season is an away 1-0 win over Aston Villa (Solskjaer 85). Had United not scored this goal, they would have lost 2 points from the final league table.

For the record, 16 late goals were scored in this campaign, of which 3 were relevant Verdict: United would still be champions.  Season 2001/02 The Premier League title was won by Arsenal on 87 points. United managed third on 77.

Late goals which made an impact on the league table were a 1-0 (o.g. 90) away win against Aston Villa and a 1-1 (Solskjaer 89) home draw against Leeds. Had United not scored these goals, they would have lost 3 points from the final table.

 Season 1999/2000 The Premier League title was won by Manchester United on 91 points with Arsenal coming second on 73. The Intercontinental Cup was also added to the honours list. We were beaten finalists in the UEFA Super Cup.

For the record, 14 late goals were recorded for this season, of which 4 were relevant for the advancement of United.

Late goals which had made an impact on the league table for this season were an away 2-1 win against Arsenal (Keane 88), an away 2-2 draw against Sunderland (Butt 87), a 1-0 home

 Season 2002/03 The Premier League title was won by United on 83 points followed by Arsenal on 78. United were beaten finalists in the League Cup.

Verdict: United would have retained their third place in the table.

Late goals which made an impact were a 2-1 (Scholes 90) over Sunderland, a 2-1 (Forlan 90) home win over Chelsea, an away 1-1 (Solskjaer 90) draw versus Bolton and 2-1 (Forlan 85) home win over Southampton. Had United not scored these late goals, they would have lost 7 points from the final table which would have cost them the title.

For the record, there were 15 late goals in this season, of which 4 were relevant.

Verdict: United would have lost the title.  Season 2003/04 The Premier League title was won by Arsenal on 90 points. United ranked third on 75. As consolation, the FA Cup was won against Millwall for a record 11th time.

Late goals which made an impact for United were a 4-3 (van Nistelrooy 89) away win at Everton and a 1-1 (Saha 86) away draw at Arsenal. Had United not scored these late goals, they would have lost 3 points from the final table.

For the record, 10 late goals were scored, with 3 of them being relevant.

Verdict: United would have remained third.  Season 2004/05 The Premier League title was won by Chelsea with 95 points. United came third with 77. This was United’s 30th consecutive season in the top division. This season ended trophy-less, the fourth in 17 seasons. The FA Cup final was lost in the penalty shoot-out after a goalless draw, with Scholes having missed to score from the spot.

Late goals against Blackburn, an away 1-1 (Smith 90) and another away draw 2-2 (Bellion 90), this time against Bolton, made an impact on the league table. Had these not been scored, United would have lost 2 points from the table.

For the record, 11 late goals were scored in this season, of which 2 were relevant.

Verdict: United would have remained third.

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Major Five European Leagues Round-up…

Man City and Paris SG in a dominant position Napoli, Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the lead but face sterner opposition

Ham (10). Everton (12 points) and Leicester (14), who were crowned champions only two seasons ago, seem to be in free-fall and one does not exclude their involvement in the dog-fight against relegation.

M

an City have literally taken the English Premier League by storm as they have won 12 (and drew the remaining one) of their first 13 outings. Ironically, Man City have dropped their only points so far this season against toothless Everton in a 1-1 home draw on 21 August. Otherwise, Pep Guardiola’s side were solid all the way and currently enjoy a healthy eight-point lead over nearest pursuers Man United. The two Manchester teams will clash on 10 December at Old Trafford. By that time, the Red Devils simply do not afford to slip further away from their so called ‘noisy’ neighbours.

Perhaps the real difference between the two teams so far is Guardiola’s winning mentality compared to José Mourinho’s more cautious approach. Third-placed and defending champions Chelsea have already slipped 11 points behind Man City implying that this season’s English Premier League title race will be restricted to only the two Manchester teams. Arsenal, Totthenham and Liverpool will at the most contend the fourth Champions League berth whereas at the wrong side of the table, things are looking bad for Crystal Palace (eight points), Swansea (nine) and West

Five Premier League managers have already lost their jobs so far this season – Frank de Boer (Crystal Palace), Craig Shakespeare (Leicester), Ronald Koeman (Everton), Slaven Bilic (West Ham) and Tony Pulis (West Brom) implying a new trend in the English Premier League... gone are the days when managers used to get ample time to prove themselves as nowadays, most of the (non-British) owners of English Premier League clubs demonstrate to have a short fuse when they come to dealing with managers.

by Antoine Dalli

2017/18 Scudetto, albeit Inter, Juventus and Roma might also have their say in the title race.

Much was expected from big spenders Milan but after 14 games, they had only 20 points under their belt and virtually out of contention for a Champions League berth let alone for the title race.

Although things are looking promising for Maurizio Sarri’s side, sterner battles are ahead of Napoli starting from their home direct encounter with Juventus on 1 December. One also needs to analyse this season’s Serie A title race in a broader context.

Inter are not involved in any Euro club competitions and thus are able to focus on their league and Coppa Italia commitments.

Juventus and Roma are on the brink of making it to the first knock-out stages of UEFA’s premier club competition, the Champions League.

The same, however, cannot be said of Napoli, who at the time of writing this article were third in Group F, a massive nine points below group winners Man City and three behind Shakhtar Donetsk, whom they beat 3-0 in their own San Paolo Stadium on match day five. To make it with the last 16 Napoli need to beat Feyenoord in Rotterdam and at the same time, hope that the Citizens outsmart Shakhtar at the OSK Metalist Stadion.

In the Italian Serie A, Napoli are the sole leaders with 38 points from 14 games. At this stage of the campaign, the southerners are two points clear of nearest pursuers Inter, four better off than reigning champions Juventus and seven over Roma, who have a tricky away fixture vs. Sampodoria in hand (due to be played on 13 December). The early indications seem to suggest that Napoli are the favourites to lift the

At the wrong side of the table, Benevento have set an all time negative record. Benevento were promoted to the Italian top flight via the playoffs after finishing fifth in Serie B last season.

Towards the end of last season, they went 12 games unbeaten, including three playoff rounds.

In the summer transfer window, Benevento spent €20.53 million on 19 new players.

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Notwithstanding, they have been unable to adapt themselves to life amongst the Italian elite. Benevento, who are popularly known as “Le Streghe” translates to “The Witches”, already broke the Serie A record for the worst start to a new season a few weeks ago, surpassing the previous domestic record set

by Venezia, who lost their first nine games of the season in 1950.

Their defeat to Sassuolo on the 13 th day saw them surpass Man United’s 87-year-old record from 1930, when the Red Devils recorded the worst ever start in Europe’s top five leagues, according to AS. For the record, Man United broke their hoodoo after the 12th defeat, beating Birmingham City 2-0 at home, but could not prevent relegation after winning just seven games that season.

As expected, Paris SG are finding life easy in the Ligue 1. By the 14th day, Unay Emery’s side have already built a seemingly unassailable nine-point lead (over nearest pursuers Lyon and defending champions Monaco) at the top of the Ligue 1. Although the French top division has not yet reached its halfway mark, Paris SG’s seventh Ligue 1 title – their fifth since season 2012/13 – already appears to be a formality.

Even in the direct encounters, the 1996 Cup Winners’ holders were superb as they have already prevailed against Lyon (2-0 at home on the sixth day) and against Monaco (2-1 away on the 14th day). By the 14th day, Paris SG had already scored 45 goals (and suffered only 10) and dropped only four points thanks to draws vs. Montpellier (0-0) and Marseilles (2-2).

In the group stages of the Champions League, Paris SG have also been in defiant form as they currently top Group B with maximum points after five games, including a 3-0 drubbing of Bayern Munich which contributed to the sacking of their former coach Carlo Ancelotti.

For the record, with one group game to go, English Premier League early pace-setters Man City and Paris SG are the only two teams with a 100 per cent winning record in the Champions League this season.

By stark contrast Nice, who have Italian outcast Mario Balotelli within their ranks, have dropped to third from bottom with 14 points from 14 games, after suffering a 0-5 home drubbing at the hands of Lyon.

38 VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

came on 25 November, a 1-2 away defeat vs.

Borussia Moenchengladbach.

After a shaky start to the season, Bayern Munich are now firing on all cylinders and are currently leading the Bundesliga with 29 points from 13 games. The five-times Champions League winners are currently three points ahead of RB Leipzig and five clear of Shalke 04 and Borussia Moenchengladbach. Borussia Dortmund, the 2013 beaten Champions League finalists, are currently in fifth place with 21 points.

Bayern Munich’s real turnaround happened on 6 October with the appointement of 72-yearold Jupp Heynckes instead of Ancelotti, who had led the club to their 28th Bundesliga title last season. Without making wholesale changes or introducing any revolutionary tactical system, Heynckes, who led Bayern Munich to their treble success in season 2012/13, went on to win eight straight games, scoring 20 and conceding just three goals in the process, including back-to-back Bundesliga triumphs against nearest challengers RB Leipzig (2-0) and Borussia Dortmund (3-1). Bayern Munich’s first defeat since the appointment of Heynckes

Things seem to be going Barcelona’s way in the Spanish La Liga. The Catalans are currently the leaders of the Spanish top division with 35 points from 13 games, thanks to 11 wins and just two draws. Ernesto Valverde’s side are currently four points clear of second-placed Valencia, with whom they shared the spoils on the 13th day at the Mestalla Stadium, and eight better off than joint-third Real and Atletico Madrid.

Many things may still happen from now till the end of the season but so far, Barcelona have proved to be the most consistent team in Spain. If Real Madrid aspire to topple Barcelona from the La Liga summit, then they need to be consistent and make home ground count in the upcoming El Clásico encounter on 23 December at the Bernabeu Stadium.

The Season So Far..

by Michael Gatt

Our Title and Champions League prizes depend on Mourinho’s Home Comforts For the Manchester United fans who have not yet completely erased David Moyes from their collective memory, the Newcastle United home fixture of 2013-14 when Moyes was in charge saw United lose 1-0 to an average Newcastle side.

“They are coming to Old Trafford and we are going to make it as hard for them as we possibly can,” Moyes said, in December 2013.

That, and the fact United lost the game 1-0, came, in part, to symbolize Moyes’ reign as manager. A perceived lack of belief and results that seemed to prove it. No winning mentality ever existed.

Newcastle were the third team to win at Old Trafford during Moyes’ tenure after Everton and West Bromwich Albion. Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City, Liverpool and Manchester City would all do the same by the time he was sacked. United under José Mourinho do not have the same problem. Newcastle were beaten at Old Trafford in one of the latest home

league games in the way they used to be. And despite De Gea conceding an early goal, United where never in the panic mode and ended up comfortably beating the Newcastle side led by Benitez and with minimal fuss. The result was never in doubt.

After Newcastle, then came Brighton, led by the bright Hughton, who had a very impressive

organized and confident team playing at Old Trafford. Last year’s Championship player of the year Knockeart was very impressive (I had seen him play for Brighton vs Preston earlier this year) and at times he ran riot in that game.

United where lucky that Brighton had something missing in the final third and one must also pick out Lindelöf, who had his best game in a United shirt, so far in a game we won 1-0.

VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

39

This game, extended United’s unbeaten run at home to 39 games in all competitions -- matching Ferguson’s best run between December 1998 and April 2000. The club record is 39 games unbeaten between 1964 and 1966.

Mourinho’s team have also won their first nine home games of the season -- a post-war club record. Dwight Gayle’s opener for Newcastle was the first league goal United have conceded at home since April.

The belief is back and so are the results.

United’s next home match is going to be, probably the toughest of them all, and on paper, it is a must win game. There are no two ways about it. Also, it will be the most important derby of recent times (last four years) and the rivalry of Pep and Mourinho will be at the center of the battle. There will never be any love lost between the two managers.

Of course, it means nothing to Mourinho and he said as much at his prematch news conference on Friday. He is not here to set records, he said, only to win trophies. If one follows the other, then great. But it is only really silverware that interests him. Personally, I like this mentality. You could see that in all the press conferences he will deviate pressure away from his players and personal accolades.

Deep down he knows that he will love to break all records… The previous loss was towards the beginning of the previous season against Man City. A game which we lost 2-1, and deserved to get something better out of the game.

Manchester United manager José Mourinho has an exemplary record at Old Trafford Mourinho might not want to spend too much time talking about United’s home form, but it is not an accident. His career is built on winning home games. Particularly home games in the league. Between February 2002 and April 2011, he did not lose one. The run spanned nine years, one month and 10 days, four clubs in four different countries, 150 games, 125 wins and 25 draws. Since taking over at Porto in 2002, Mourinho has only ever lost nine league games at home -- and four of those were during Chelsea’s disastrous run at the beginning of the 2015-16 season. Barcelona are still the only side to inflict a home defeat on a Mourinho team in the league during a season when they have gone on to win the title.

City have been in blistering form but, at home, Mourinho will fancy his chances.

“After playing so many away games recently, seven of our last 10, it is pleasing that five of our next eight matches will all be at Old Trafford,” he wrote in his program notes ahead of Newcastle’s visit.

“This is a time when we can build momentum as we work towards our aims, and like I always say, we will always do better when you play with us, so if you get behind the boys, they can make some real progress over the coming weeks.”

40 VOL 45 - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2017

Progress for United would be eating into City’s eight-point lead at the top of the table.

It is thanks to their home form that they are still in touch at all after losing two and drawing two of their last five Premier League away games.

Wins over CSKA Moscow and Manchester City

in the next month would set a new club mark of 41 consecutive games unbeaten at home.

But victory over City would be more significant than the other 40 put together.

The belief, the fear factor -- whatever you want to call it -- is back for the first time since Ferguson retired and United will push hard from the home front this season.

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Volume 44- Issue 2, December 2016

Volume 44Issue 1, October 2016

a very Issue 4, Volume 43season but phy been a tough June 2016 FA Cup – it’s to win this tro “We have our fans. It’s a great feeling a Mat Juan ited.” the nchester Un good end for time with Ma t firs the for

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alta ters’ Club-M United Suppor zed by the Manchester is officially recogni l Club.

Founded 1959, United Footbal Manchester

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Manchester United Suppor ters’ Club-M Founded 1959, alta is officially recogni Manchester zed by the United Footbal l Club.

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Volume 45- Issue 1, October 2017 Volume 44- Issue 3, March 2017

4, Volume 44- Issue June 2017

“This is what I came for.

I came to win and I’m winning.”

, ss to Manchester some happine ld ory will bring e else, we wou “Maybe this vict ld obviously, me and everyon ious. lives, that’s obv wou that lost their I don’t know. I ple peo ud.” the pro hy for , I am really side ball change this trop foot the But if I focus on José Mourinho

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“He’s a massive sig ning.

They’re all big-mo ney signings nowadays but he’s proven in the Premier League. He’ ll get goals and tha t’s what United missed last season. I think he’ s got plenty of those in him.”

Andy Cole

Manchester United Supporters’ Club-Malta Founded 1959, is officially recognized by the Manchester United Football Club.

ta Supporters’ Club-Malthe d by Manchester United is officially recognize Club.

Founded 1959, Football Manchester United

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