Reuters/Lee Smith
Paul Pogba recently came up with a strange excuse when asked about Alexis Sanchez’s poor start to this new season.
Manchester United pulled off one of the biggest transfers in January, when they managed to bring in Alexis Sanchez. But the Chile International hasn’t been able to perform well at Old Trafford since his big-money move from Arsenal.
This season, Sanchez is yet to open his goalscoring account, and has provided only one assist in 5 appearances.
The forward had a pretty average outing this weekend, as Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by newly promoted side, Wolves. Jose Mourinho is said to be concerned by the Chilean’s poor performances in recent weeks.
WATCH: Players Reaction To Luka Modric Winning FIFA’s The Best Award
Paul Pogba is another Manchester United player who been under fire, but the French midfielder has managed to shut his critics down by scoring 4 goals and providing 2 assists this season.
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What Fans Are Saying About Alexis Sanchez After Wolves Draw
Reports suggested that Alexis Sanchez is finding it difficult to gel with his teammates at Old Trafford, but Pogba debunked those rumours in a recent interview, and revealed the real reason behind his fellow teammate’s poor form.
“What you have to know about Alexis is that he is a hard worker,” said Pogba. “He trains very well, he always tries to help the team, talks with the team and everything.
“He will get used to it. When you play a long time with another team and you play different football in that other team, you have some kind of adaptation that you have to have.”
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Paul Pogba’s comment doesn’t seem convincing, as Alexis has spent over three seasons in the Premier League, which makes the competition a familiar territory for the forward.
Jose Mourinho’s playing style is different from what Sanchez was used to at Arsenal, but the wide-man has failed to break into opposition defences altogether on many occasions.
The excuses and justifications as to why Sanchez isn’t performing upto the mark are drying up fast, and fans have continued to grow frustrated with their star man as each week has passed.
The 29-year-old will now be hoping to find his form back when Manchester United begin their Carabao Cup campaign against Derby County on Wednesday.
The post Pogba Provides A Strange Excuse For Sanchez’s Poor Form At United appeared first on BlameFootball.
VANCOUVER — The head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps says there’s a sense of deja vu about his squad’s 2-1 loss to FC Dallas on Sunday.
Carl Robinson said the ‘Caps (11-11-7) battled hard to notch an equalizer after conceding a goal in the first half, then gave away the draw in the match’s dying minutes.
"It’s (the) same again," Robinson said after Sunday’s match.
"If we’re being honest, we haven’t quite been good enough in the last two games."
Sunday’s loss — the second in a row following last week’s defeat to the Seattle Sounders — further dims Vancouver’s playoff dreams, sending the team down to eighth place in the MLS Western Conference.
Dallas (15-6-8) vaulted to first place with the victory.
The Toros opened the scoring in the 42nd minute, when midfielder Santiago Mosquera leapt from a crowd in front of the ‘Caps goal and headed the ball in.
The Whitecaps replied in the 66th minute, with teenage star Alphonso Davies getting a strong cross to the centre of the box, where striker Kei Kamara headed the ball in.
Kamara leads the Whitecaps in scoring with 13 goals and Davies is the team leader on helpers with 11 for the season.
The pair have been working in training on setting up plays where Davies beats his defender, then gets a cross to Kamara’s head.
The striker said he preys on balls in the air and can get frustrated when he doesn’t get them.
"Every time the ball is in the air, I want to make sure I’m dominant," Kamara said. "We’re at a crucial time of the year where everything counts, every cross, every pass, today, every mistake that you make."
Dallas defender Matt Hedges dashed the possibility of a draw in the 87th minute on Sunday, heading the ball in the top left corner of Vancouver’s net.
"It was a play that we work on sometimes when the other guy tries to flick it to the back post," Hedges said of the move. "It was kind of a flick play."
Giving up late goals has been a problem for Vancouver throughout the season.
Losing a match in the dying minutes is especially disappointing when it happens at home, Kamara said.
"Today, we just gave it away. And that hurts really bad," he said.
There have been 11 times this year where the squad has given up a goal in the last 10 minutes of a league game.
There have also been six times where the ‘Caps scored in the 10 minutes.
The difference on Sunday was that the Whitecaps didn’t focus on details.
"It cost us the game. It’s hurtful. We’re very disappointed," said Kendall Waston. "We lost three points that could have helped us to be closer to a playoff spot."
But the season isn’t over yet and playing beyond the end of October is still a realistic possibility, Waston added.
"In football, you never know what’s going to happen," he said. "And if we still have the chances, we’re going to continue to try to get there."
The Whitecaps have five games left this season and are now focused on how many points they can steal from other teams, Kamara said.
Next week, they’ll take on superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the L.A. Galaxy in California.
The Galaxy moved ahead of the ‘Caps into seventh place on the table Sunday, beating the Seattle Sounders 3-0.
Kamara said he and his teammates need to believe they can win when they’re in California.
"It’s realistic to go into L.A. to get points or to go anywhere in this league," Kamara said. "Everyone says this is the only league where you don’t know who’s going to win the game until the game is done."
Losing on Sunday was a "kick in the butt," the veteran forward added, and it should be motivation to push harder than ever in the final stretch to playoffs.
"It’s still the same mentality, it’s still the same fight," Kamara said. "It’s crunch time."
NOTES: Whitecaps defender Brett Levis was subbed out at the half due to a left quad strain. … Vancouver’s Russell Teibert and Cristian Techera were each shown the yellow card for unsporting behaviour. Dallas’ Marquinhos Pedroso and Michael Barrios received the same caution from the referee.
Cardiff aren’t exactly easy on the eye.
Neil Warnock has to be hailed for taking the Welsh side into the Premier League but if they manage to stay up it’ll be a minor miracle.
But if they go back down they’re not going to go quietly.
Warnock is having the time of his lifeAction Images
Not for the first time against Man City they’ve displayed their tendency to push the boundaries with some horrendous tackling.
Earlier this year the two sides met in the FA Cup and Pep Guardiola was besides himself after a sickening lunge by Joe Bennett nearly broke Leroy Sane’s ankle.
And it appears the Bluebirds aren’t looking to alter their approach in the league today either.
City were inevitably dominant in the first half and were 3-0 up at half time thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan.
But the latter was on the end of a horrible lunge from Joe Ralls towards the end of the half which left the German in a heap on the floor.
Ralls led with his studs up and caught him on his shins but was only punished by a yellow card.
After Gundogan’s injury hell that saw him sidelined for nearly a year earlier in his City career, the worst must have flashed through his mind.
Fortunately he was OK but on another day he might not have been so lucky.
WATCH: Love Of The Game: Leyton Orient (Episode 1)Paul Pogba was reportedly scouted by Barcelona during Manchester United’s win over Young Boys.
The Red Devils romped to a 3-0 win over their Swiss opponents in the Champions League group stage clash on Wednesday.
Barcelona scouted Paul Pogba during Man Utd’s win over Young BoysReuters
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Pogba was in terrific form as he found the net twice and was named man-of-the-match in the process.
But it’s been claimed that the Frenchman may have turned on the style due to the presence of a scout from summer suitors Barcelona.
Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo has revealed that the La Liga champions sent eyes to watch over Pogba in Switzerland.
Barca were strongly linked with the £89million midfielder during the last transfer window.
The ace put in a man-of-the-match performance with two goalsAFP
And Pogba only added fuel to the flames by refusing to commit himself to Jose Mourinho’s side.
It could now be that Barcelona are lining up a fresh bid for the World Cup winner this winter.
Ernesto Valverde signed Arturo Vidal and Arthur as replacements for departing Nou Camp legend Andres Iniesta.
But Pogba would be an upgrade on both, bringing both talent and an X-factor to the table in Catalonia.
Barcelona were strongly linked with Pogba over the summerAFP
Pogba has refused to commit his future to the Red Devils in recent timesGetty Images
WATCH: Love Of The Game: Leyton Orient (Episode 1)
MOSCOW— Of the four people who protested on the field during the World Cup football final in Moscow, one is now in intensive care and another spent part of the week in a jail cell. Two months since the tournament ended with France beating Croatia, the tolerant image presented by Russian law enforcement to the […]
The post Two months after World Cup final, Russia police no longer relaxed appeared first on Inquirer Sports.
REUTERS/David Klein
Manchester United sniffed out another victory as first-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling proved enough for the Red Devils to secure three points, despite Watford getting back a goal in the second half, courtesy of Andre Gray.
A last minute red-card for Nemanja Matic looked set to throw the script awry, but David De Gea held the Mancunian giants firm.
Here are the talking points from the encounter at Vicarage Road:
1. Will Hughes
While Watford’s 100% win record this season has been foiled, it provided much positive fodder. The Hornets boasted of a strong showing from English midfielder Will Hughes, and the 23-year-old certainly appeared to be a crucial engineer of their success for the four games where they emerged triumphant.
Against United, it was his threat that often posed a real danger, particularly in the first-half, when the home side often appeared toothless in the face of a near perfect United play.
Going into the season, they can certainly hope for a top-flight finish, and if the likes of Hughes keep up their brilliance, something great may await them after all.
2. Second Goal Was Engineered
The second goal that United netted, mere minutes after Lukaku found his opener, was really engineered in the training ground itself. The reactions of both the players as well as Jose Mourinho is testament to that.
The manner in which Fellaini single-handedly set-up the goal to conveniently find Smalling in a crafty spot to score the goal told a great tale.
This is certainly the kind of goal that Mourinho will wish to see his lads score, particularly since their practiced nature make them a near-perfected assurance. More of the same?
Jose on @ChrisSmalling's goal:
"We trained the corner during the week, and the best thing is when you see it happen in the match. He was good. The only thing I don’t like about Chris is the haircut, but I am nobody to tell him that!"
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 15, 2018
3. Lukaku All The Way?
Lukaku found the net yet again, and the Belgian striker seems eager to not kiss his consistent goal-scoring run goodbye.
The 25-year-old has oft received criticism for being nothing but a blunt and fortunate finisher, but his tally from last season, coupled with his performance in the past few games, both for club and country, narrate a starkly different tale.
With 4 goals in 5 games, Lukaku is right on track to meet his normal quota, and could very much better his prior tallies as well. But is the side overly reliant on him to meet their goal-scoring requirements?
4. Two Reds For The Reds
REUTERS/Phil Noble
For two successive games in a row, Manchester United have come out with 10 men on the field.
While Marcus Rashford’s aggressive behavior against Burnley earned him a three-game suspension via a red card, this time around, it was Matic who picked up a second-yellow in quite literally the last minute of the game.
Both instances had essences of brashness and impatience to them. There was absolutely no need for the Serb to go into the late tackle despite knowing that he was on a yellow, and even less so knowing that Valencia was right ahead to secure that particular run.
This may mean that Fred and Pereira will get some crucial minutes in the games to come, till Matic is back from suspension.
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5. ‘Real’ De Gea Is Back
Much doubt has been hurled at the Spaniard, particularly after an underwhelming outing with his country in the World Cup. However, today’s game was a masterclass in shot-stopping, and one that has been seemingly absent for quite a while.
His saves were crucial throughout the game, and particularly so in the dying moments, when Watford seemed eager to take away a point from the encounter.
This peak of form is good news when seen together with his work-rate for Spain in the international break as well, and for once, Mourinho may be able to not worry much about their defense, with De Gea being the final line of assurance.
The post Watford 1-2 Manchester United: 5 Talking Points appeared first on BlameFootball.
Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly keen to sign Wolves ace Ruben Neves.
Neves starred for the West Midlands club in their promotion campaign and has made an impressive start to life in the Premier League.
Ruben Neves is wanted by Paris Saint-Germain, according to reportsGetty Images - Getty
Neves has enjoyed a fine start to the new season and made his seventh senior Portugal appearance this weekGetty - Contributor
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He attracted interest from Liverpool last summer but, according to Calcio Mercato, PSG could now make a move.
Neves, 21, Wolves from Porto in 2017 and was the standout player in a remarkable season as the club returned to the Premier League.
The Portugal international, brought in by super-agent Jorge Mendes, played a key role in the heart of the midfield and scored a number of long-range stunners.
And he begun his first season in England’s top flight in similar fashion, smashing in a free-kick against Everton on the opening weekend.
The 21-year-old starred for Wolves last season as the club earned promotion back to the Premier LeagueGetty Images - Getty
Neves, No8, began his career in England’s top flight in style, scoring a free-kick against EvertonReuters
His performances have not gone unnoticed and PSG are now keen to sign the star, who holds the record for the youngest captain in the Champions League, leading his Porto side to a 2-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in October 2015, aged just 18 years and 221 days.
But they will have to stump up a hefty fee if they want to bring Neves to Ligue 1 because the Portuguese ace, who has seven senior caps, has a contract at Molineux until 2023.
Neves captained Porto in the Champions League aged just 18 years and 221 days, the youngest captain in the competition’s historyGetty - Contributor
Les Parisiens already have an arsenal of midfield talent, with the likes of Adrien Rabiot and Marco Verratti, while Brazilian centre-back Marquinhos has been deployed in a holding midfield role in recent matches.
Frenkie de Jong, also 21, has been linked with a moved to the French champions as well, but Barcelona and Tottenham are reportedly interested in the Dutch star who made his senior international debut last week.
Neves will look to continue his fine form when Wolves welcome Burnley to Molineux on Sunday.
PSG already have a strong midfield with the likes of Adrien Rabiot and Marco VerrattiAFP or licensors
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For the first time in their 140-year history, Man United are looking to hire a director of football.
It’s the modern way, after all.
And judging by United’s questionable transfer business in recent years, we reckon they could use all the help they can get.
AFP or licensors Best of friends[/caption]
So to get the ball rolling, United have publicly advertised for a ‘Recruitment Analyst’ on everyone’s favourite job listings website Indeed.
Working within the club’s scouting and recruitment department, the ad states the club is looking for someone who will “collate and analyse Manchester United specific technical, tactical and physical benchmarks”.
Essentially, steer clear of Angel Di Maria.
PA:Empics Sport Nope outta this one[/caption]
So what do you actually need to work as a scout for United?
Well, first off, you’d need to be well qualified in the field of sports science.
The bare basics are that you’ll need a sports science honours degree – “preferably a master’s level qualification” – as well as training in performance analysis (essentially, watching and re-watching training videos; the kind of thing Marcelo Bielsa does for fun).
Then, you need to understand the technical and tactical demands of professional football.
As we all know, Jose Mourinho has very ‘specific’ way of setting up his team (get the bus memes in, lads), so the player would need to work well within the Special One’s unique system.
Got it? Got itREUTERS
Luckily, there’s already a huge scouting network for you to play with.
In recent years, the club’s network across Europe, South America and Asia has grown to treble it’s size since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The chances are, nowadays they’d have someone who’s actually watched Bebe play football.
If you’re interested, make sure you get your application in quick.
It seems United have already started their backroom shakeup by hiring former Man City scout Romain Poirot, who will be tasked with searching for ‘world-class and emerging talent’ in France.
WATCH: Love Of The Game: Leyton Orient (Episode 1)
LONDON — England defender Luke Shaw alleviated concerns about his health after receiving lengthy treatment on the field following a collision during a game against Spain on Saturday.
Thank you for all the love and support I am doing fine and am in the best hands. I’m a fighter so I will be back soon!
— Luke Shaw (@LukeShaw23) September 8, 2018
England coach Gareth Southgate said it was "difficult to tell" if Shaw was knocked unconscious at Wembley Stadium, but added that the left back would continue to be assessed by medics overnight.
"He is sat up in the dressing room talking and seems fairly comfortable," Southgate said. "It was a nasty looking fall and collision."
The incident happened at the start of the second half. Shaw connected with a header as he challenged Dani Carvajal for the ball but collided with the Spain defender, fell backward and his head bounced off the ground. Shaw appeared to be wearing an oxygen mask as he was stabilized on a stretcher and then wheeled off the field.
Shaw was making his first England start since facing Switzerland in September 2015, a week before his double leg break in a Champions League match while playing for Manchester United.
Shaw set up Marcus Rashford’s opener in the 11th minute but Spain scored twice in 20 minutes to secure the victory.
It took new Philippines coach Scott Cooper a few more minutes after his first match to learn what could be the best quality of the squad he brought here for his first training camp.
The post Cooper likes first look at Azkals appeared first on Inquirer Sports.
The Canadian men’s team will mark a new era in its history this weekend.
The Reds will be in Bradenton, Fla., to take on the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sunday in their opening game of qualifiers for the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League.
Here’s what you need to know about this international competition.
What is the Concacaf Nations League?The Concacaf Nations League is a new tournament for national teams based in North and Central America, and the Caribbean.
How does it work?Forty teams from Concacaf will compete in the Nations League, which is, essentially, a three-league competition.
The six nations that made it to the final round of the Concacaf qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup – the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama – receive automatic entry into the competition, and will play in League A.
The other 34 nations will play in a qualifying round (four games each) to determine which of the three leagues they will compete in. The top six teams from the single-table qualifiers will be put in League A, the next 16 teams will play in League B, and the last 12 teams will play in League C. Each league will play games in September, October and November of 2019, and will be contested under a home-and-away, round-robin format.
Each of the three leagues will be divided into four groups of three teams, and will feature promotion and relegation. The four group winners will qualify for the Nations League championship to be played in March, 2020. The four last-place teams in League A will be relegated to League B.
League B will also contain four groups of four teams. The group winners will be promoted to League A, and the bottom four teams will be relegated to League C.
League C will feature four groups, with each group winner earning promotion.
Who will Canada play?The Reds are in a qualifying group with the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, and French Guiana. Canada plays its opening match against the U.S. Virgin Islands – this is a road game even though it was moved to Florida, due to a lack of proper facilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Canada hosts Dominica in its first home game on Oct. 16 at BMO Field.
Why is the Nations League important?The Nations League will be used as the qualifying process for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and it will also determine seeding for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying. The top 10 nations from the Nations League qualifiers will earn a berth at the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will expand to 16 teams.
The Nations League will also hope to strengthen the Concacaf region by ensuring teams have a chance to play regular competitive games, instead of meaningless friendlies – a lot of smaller Caribbean nations only play one or two matches a year.
“CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying represents a watershed moment for CONCACAF and its 41-member family,” CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani said when the tournament was first announced.
“When the ball rolls in September [of 2018], it will mark a new era of international football for our member associations, conceived in line with our one CONCACAF vision, during which all our countries have the chance to weigh themselves against the confederation’s best, while widely developing national team football on and off the field.”
Why is the Nations League important to Canada?Aside from the reasons stated above, the Nations League gives Canada a better chance to prepare for the 2019 Gold Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying by guaranteeing it will be playing a number of competitive games over the next few years.
During some recent international windows, Canada has played just one game (and sometimes none at all). The hope is that by playing regular games in the Nations League, Canada will improve and be able to test itself ahead of next year’s Gold Cup and the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning have apologized and said they would punish the official responsible for a foul-mouthed reference on social media to rivals Shanghai Shenhua. The official, who has not been named, mistakenly used the club’s account on the popular Weibo platform instead of his own when using an expletive about Shenhua and […]
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