Some bizarre
Poor Neil Custis. He is utterly baffled. He is so very certain that Manchester United’s football is much better under Jose Mourinho than the one who called him Fat Man (‘He will never serve up a borefest like the Dutchman __with his much vaunted ‘philosophy’’, remember) and yet the facts steadfastly refuse to play ball. Custis writes in The Sun:
‘But what is Mourinho’s United? Certainly it is better than under Louis van Gaal, even if the Dutchman – bizarrely – had a better record at this stage last season.’
It is indeed ‘bizarre’ that a team that ran more (566 miles v 521 miles), kept more clean sheets (4 v 3) and had more possession (60% v 53%) also managed to accrue more points (16 v 14). It defies logic. But Custis has an explanation:
‘Mourinho always likes to go into clubs and make sure the team stops conceding goals first and then build. In that sense you can see progress. This looks like a solid back four __with the best goalkeeper on the planet.’
Goals conceded by Manchester United after eight games last season: Eight.
Goals conceded by Manchester United after eight games this season: Eight.
That’s quite some progress. It’s just bizarre that hasn’t translated into more points.
Poor Jose…what can he do?
Mediawatch found itself nodding in agreement at the Daily Mail’s Ian Ladyman as he shifted some of the blame for Monday’s borefest to Jurgen Klopp for not having a plan B. But the nodding turned to pretty severe shaking of the head at about this point:
‘Mourinho is a sports coach. His job is to move his team forward and he will do it in his own pragmatic way. This is the man the United board hired. In football, defending was once considered an art form too and on Merseyside the Portuguese showed that some coaches at least have not forgotten that.
‘Some say the way United played was an affront to the history of the club. They did not have a shot of note on target. That view is understandable but says more about the limitations of United’s squad than it does about the approach of their manager.’
A couple of things that have been brushed under the carpet here:
Manchester United had the joint-best defence in the Premier League last season. Drawing 0-0 is not moving the team forward; it’s exactly the kind of result that Louis van Gaal would have achieved. In fact, he went one better and won 1-0 at Anfield with his one shot on target.
Manchester United brought in three players this summer in Zlatan Ibrahmimovic, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan who scored 57 league goals and assisted 40 more last season. If they then fail to have one shot on target it has to say something about the approach of the manager because the squad is nowhere near as limited as last season.
One more question: If the ‘current United have deep and entrenched limitations’, then why did Ian Ladyman predict they would finish second before the season began?
Shut that door
Once again Mediawatch would like to shout the words ‘if the exact opposite is a better story, don’t put it on your sodding back page’ as we turned over the Daily Mirror this morning:
Wednesday's Daily Mirror back page:
Let's talk, Messi#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/a6DU4ePqKT— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) October 18, 2016
Let us know when a leading football manager ‘closes the door’ to signing one of the best footballers in the world.
Copycat coco, cheese and tomato
Who sat next to each other at the Pep Guardiola press conference?
David McDonnell of the Daily Mirror: ‘PEP GUARDIOLA has opened the door for Lionel Messi to make a sensational move to Manchester City.’
Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail: ‘PEP GUARDIOLA has opened the door to Manchester City making a sensational move for Lionel Messi if the Argentina superstar ever leaves Barcelona.’
Peter Edwards of the Daily Express: ‘MANCHESTER CITY boss Pep Guardiola has opened the door for Lionel Messi to make a sensational move to the Etihad.’
Jeremy Cross of the Daily Star: ‘MANCHESTER CITY boss has opened the door for Lionel Messi to make a sensational move to the Etihad.’
Can we agree on two things – that Pep Guardiola opened a door and the move would be sensational? The rest is mere details.
* Peter Edwards does not actually exist so we absolve him of any blame. Though we are amused that the Express claim he is ‘in Barcelona’. Well, he could be anywhere.
The clothes do not make the man
You have to feel for the Daily Mail’s Football Editor Ian Ladyman. He filed 868 words from Pep Guardiola’s press conference. Less than 68 of those words were about Manchester City’s new ‘on-trend travelling outfits’. The headline on his piece in the newspaper?
‘CHECK OUT CITY’S NOU LOOK!’
The pictures take up far more space than the words. Just change the name of the newspaper to MailOnline and be done with it, fellas.
Got to get a message to you…
The Sun’s Antony Kastrinakis is getting a tad carried away…
‘Brazilian superstar Neymar’s new Barcelona deal is the latest twist in the cold war between Guardiola and his old club.
‘The announcement, 48 hours before tonight’s clash of the Champions League titans, was a blunt message to City’s ‘Barca clan’ of Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano: There is NOU way you’re getting Neymar. Or Lionel Messi. Or Luis Suarez. Or Sergio Busquets.’
Or alternatively, Barcelona have given Neymar a new contract because – and we quote: “After three seasons with FC Barcelona, Neymar’s statistics are outstanding. In 141 games for the club he has scored 85 goals, 15 in his first season, 39 in his second and 31 in his third.”
He’s probably the third best player in the world. But yes, Barcelona have given him a new contract as a ‘f*** you’ to Pep Guardiola. Which makes us wonder why Barcelona made Lionel Messi the best-paid player in world football while Guardiola was manager. Who was getting that ‘blunt message’ in 2009?
Antony gormless
Kastrinakis has got so carried away that he has given the Barcelona and Manchester City players ratings in advance of the game.
‘WHO WILL COME OUT ON TOP?’ asks The Sun.
You will be utterly shocked to know that Kastrinakis has decided that Barcelona’s players are considerably better than those of Manchester City.
Every day’s a school day
One of the five things the Daily Mirror’s David Anderson ‘learnt’ from Leicester’s win over Copenhagen:
‘Andreas Cornelius was a Cardiff mistake.’
David, you’ve turned up to school about three years too late.
Rules of admission
Admit..? Like you do when something is wrong.? Poor choice of words and isn't it normally a personal choice? Little to do with Chris Sutton pic.twitter.com/NtA2rDoPIY
— Chris Williams (@Chris78Williams) October 19, 2016
To be fair, they deleted the tweet. To be fair, Chris Sutton didn’t use the word ‘admit’. To be fair, what an utterly crass thing to write in 2016.
Worst headline of the day
‘MiracuLloris’ – The Sun. Oh wow.
Revelation of the day
‘Revealed: The seismic effect Ibrahimovic has had on Man Utd’s fan base’ – Metro. Actual story: Jesper Blomqvist says Swedes are now more likely to support Manchester United.
Recommended reading of the day
Matt Stanger on Virtual Reality changing football
Michael Cox on how Pep Guardiola will set up v Barcelona
Marina Hyde on the FIFA plan to kill the World Cup