Manchester

Mourinho Blasts at Paul Pogba Critics after Midfielder’s Brace

José Mourinho has hit back at critics who have been highly critical of midfielder Paul Pogba.


The world’s most expensive player came to Manchester United in the summer for £89 million. His transfer fee has straight away been the main topic of discussion, and it has only intensified in the wake of some poor performances from the Frenchman. Pogba had been highly inconsistent in his first few games at United. It coincided with the club also struggling for results. While United are still unable to get wins on a consistent basis, Pogba’s form has been going up.

The midfielder was at his best in the 4-1 win over Fenerbahce in the Europa League. He came up with two goals to answer some of his critics. Part of the reason for Pogba being the most of the goals is his more advanced position on the pitch. The Frenchman has almost been played as a second striker by Mourinho and he has formed an excellent partnership with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Mourinho has taken the occasion of his performances against Fenerbahce to take a dig at the media who have been giving him a hard time. United have still only managed one win in the last five league matches.
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Louis van Gaal wants to save his Manchester United job

Louis van Gaal wants to save his Manchester United job by finishing fourth and winning the FA Cup


Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes that he can keep his job if he manages to win the FA Cup and also clinch the fourth place that will be synonymous with Champions League qualification. The Dutch manager still has one year left on his contract, and he thinks that he can fulfill it if ever he finishes the season strongly.

David Moyes was sacked when Manchester United could not mathematically qualify for the Champions League, and van Gaal believes that if ever he can finish in the fourth place he will be able to honor the remaining part of his contract.

However, the number of critics and demand for change might be too much for Manchester United to ignore next season and they might consider that change might be needed for the good of the team.

It will all depend on Woodward who was the one that brought van Gaal at Manchester United, and he will be desperate for the Dutchman to succeed at Old Trafford. (more…)

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Archie Thompson retires and Melbourne Victory reaches the round of 16

The 2015-16 season of the Australian League finished and Melbourne Victory had to settle with the 7th spot but it’s a memorable and historic campaign for the A-League as they managed to book their place as one of the last 16 remaining teams that are competing in the Asian Champions League and this is the first time that Melbourne Victory has managed to reach these stages of the Asian competition.


Kevin Muscat is the head coach of Melbourne Victory and he voiced his joy in reaching the round of 16 in the Asian Champions League as the tactician said: ”It’s a big achievement considering we have had five attempts to qualify before. That joy is overriding. It’s great for the club, we have managed to create some history a couple of times this year, we had never won the FFA Cup either,”

Melbourne Victory will be facing off with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on May 17 and 24 for the first and leg respectively. Even if the Australian League club are not able to make it past through these rounds, it still is an impressive accomplishment for Kevin Muscat and his team. (more…)

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Arsenal and Manchester United are leading the race for Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is considered to be one of the best forwards in the world which is an impressive accomplishment to reach considering that the Swedish player is 34 years old but he continues scoring goals at a consistent basis and his performances are top notch.

In 27 appearances, Ibrahimovic has scored 32 goals and this just shows the impact that the veteran attacker has made on his time despite being at an age which is considered to be old in the world of football.

The contract of Zlatan Ibrahimovic expires at the end of the season and the Swedish player is expected to leave PSG at that time but his future remains unclear as the player himself stated that its almost time to hang up his boots but considering that there are clubs that have been showing huge interest for him, there is a chance for him to continue performing.

Arsenal and Manchester United are the clubs in the Premier League that have been displaying interest in signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and according to him, he has been receiving offers from a number of different clubs.

“I have had lots of offers from English clubs. I have won a lot of trophies but I still want to win a lot more. I want to do it wherever I can.” Ibrahimovic said. (more…)

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Aiden McGeady has been linked with a return to his roots at Celtic

Everton winger Aiden McGeady has been linked with a return to his roots at Celtic.

The Scottish winger started his career at Celtic before moving onto Spartak Moscow in 2010. At that time,McGeady was on course to becoming one of the valuable players from Scottish football in recent times. After four years in a different league,McGeady struggled to establish himself and made just 72 appearances. This saw him return to British football with Everton offering him an escape. Everton appeared to be ready to offer regular first-team football to the 29-year-old but this unfortunately has not been the case.

McGeady continues to struggle for first-team opportunities and he made only 16 appearances last season. As the January transfer window has begun, rumours about a return to Scottish football have cropped up once again. Celtic have been struggling for form under Ronny Deila and the club are expected to make some improvements to the squad in this transfer window. However, the Norwegian manager has ruled out the possibility of the 29-year-old returning to Celtic Park since he would cost a lot in wages. Deila says that the only possibility of such a move happening is if the player accepts a huge cut in wages, which is unlikely to happen given that the player is just entering his 30s. (more…)

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David de Gea has rejected claims that the dressing room is a tough place

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has rejected claims that the dressing room is a tough place to be due to the recent poor results.

He claimed that the morale within the dressing room is high enough for the club to turn the situation around. United are without a victory in the last five games. They host Norwich City in the league this weekend, but the away team can be expected to get something out of the game at Old Trafford due to the contrasting fortunes. Norwich are on a high after getting points from the likes of Everton and Arsenal in recent weeks.

United, meanwhile, appear to have forgotten the feeling of winning a game. They have found it very hard to score goals. Under the regime of Sir Alex Ferguson, this was one of the main strong points of the team. The defensive tactics of Van Gaal coupled with lack of options up front mean that United are no longer threatening in the attacking side of things. Apart from slipping down the table, United were also recently handed the embarrassment of Europa league football after being knocked out of the champions league by Wolfsburg. Any club that is struggling for results will struggle for morale, but De Gea reckons that this is not the case. (more…)

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North Korea were seen as the least favourites for the East Asian Cup title

North Korea were seen as the least favourites for the East Asian Cup title, but they managed to bring a huge surprise to the party after securing a 2-1 win over initial favourites Japan.

The team managed by Bosnian VahidHalilhodzic was expected to make a huge impact at this tournament, but they have gone home without making any impact whatsoever. Part of this reason was the surprise performance from North Korea. The game between the two ended in a 2-1 victory for Korea DPR, who had to come back from going a goal down.

Prior to this match, North Korea were on a good run of form with the team claiming victories over the likes of Yemen and Uzbekistan in the World Cup qualifying group. This run undoubtedly helped the team get some huge confidence ahead of this game against Japan. However, few would have expected North Korea to rebound very well in the game after conceding to Muto as early as in the third minute.Hyok-CholRi came up with the equaliser in the 78th minute beforeHyon-Il Pak score the unlikely winner with just two minutes of normal time remaining. North Korea held on for a famous victory and they will hope to repeat this astonishing performance when they take on China in the next match. (more…)

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Rio Ferdinand reckons it’s because of the fact that Wayne Rooney started playing upfront again

The former Manchester United player, Rio Ferdinand, reckons it’s because of the fact that Wayne Rooney started playing upfront again, the fortunes of the Red Devils turned around.

The previous United boss David Moyes had deployed Rooney in a deep position in the 2013-14 Season and Louis Van Gaal followed suit when he arrived this summer.

But, having seen Rooney struggling in the midfield, Van Gaal quickly realized it was not the best place for him and he got him back playing in the attacking role.

According to Ferdinand, that decision which Van Gaal made to give Rooney the striker’s position again, it was a fantastic decision and it did United a world of good.

However, Ferdinand did not give all the credit to Rooney only. He had words of praise for some of the other players of the team too especially the defenders.

He pointed out the return of Michael Carrick and also, other factors, but, he  emphasized the point that if Van Gaal had not changed the role of Rooney, the position of United in the Premier League table might not have been as good as it happens to be now. (more…)

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