Straight after Ronaldo was showing off his six-pack on Wednesday night I turned to my dog, Buddy, and said, ‘that will be that then’ and off we went to bed.
So, imagine my surprise yesterday morning when I learned that Manchester United had come back yet again and won the match 2-1.
Under Sir Alex, as people love to remind us, United never gave up and so often came back from behind to win games they shouldn’t have won, often with late, late winners.
These very same people seem to also tell us that it’s not been the same since. Well, hang on there, Mr Nostalgia. Can Jose Mourinho actually do any more than what he is doing right now?
Don’t forget, for Sir Alex’s team to be the masters of the late winner or late comeback then they needed to be losing in the first place. I think having gone behind in six of their last seven (and not lost), Jose’s team ticks that box.
To come back, you need to attack. So, Jose cannot be that defensive, can he?
And for Fellaini, see Steve Bruce – a limited footballer who is bloody good in the air and would score a silly amount of goals for someone who was often the last resort.
I am telling you now, this United team isn’t that different to some of Fergie’s. The only problem is, there are some other good sides around – a bit like what happened when Arsenal brought in Arsene and Chelsea became rich overnight.
That’s as far as I am going with the Jose praise today, though. Because it was still an awful game to watch other than Ronaldo’s stunning finish and the hilarity of Juventus still believing they could win the Champions League with Szcezny in goal.
Ander Herrera believes the victory gives United hope for the Manchester Derby this weekend and he might be right. United will definitely go behind and I will make sure I keep watching until the very end.
Arsenal might need to find someone else to sit on the Premier League bench for a while after Danny Welbeck was stretchered off against Sporting. Daniel Sturridge is often castigated for being made of paper but Welbeck must come from the same factory. That’ll be the £10m move to Crystal Palace off, then.
Arsenal’s former useful sub was finally back in the goals last night. Well, goal singular actually. Olivier Giroud headed home Chelsea’s winner away to BATE in a game that Chelsea should have really lost considering their opponents hit the woodwork three times.
Forget the fact they won 6-0 and were awarded the kind of penalty that makes you wonder more than ever why UEFA insist on having five officials on the pitch, Manchester City are making headlines again for other reasons. Earlier in the week, it was FFP stuff and now it is claimed, by the same source, that ex-manager Roberto Mancini had two different contracts with the club’s owner to help them circumnavigate those pesky fair play rules further. Sure, Mancini won a title but any fans of the clubs he has managed would suggest at times he was barely worth one contract, let alone two.
Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson has been called up to the England squad for the pointless game against the USA and the Nations League game against Croatia. In a debut that will, no doubt, be overshadowed by the Rooney sideshow, Wilson will touch the ball about seven times, do nothing wrong but not really do enough either to see him recalled next time.
Gareth Southgate has been surprised around all the negative chat around Wayne Rooney getting this testimonial thing. Gareth, we still remember just how bad he was towards the end of his actual England career and it is still a little too close to the bone. I mean, so he turned up over 100 times. So what? Show me his international medals.
I’ve just sussed what the link to Southampton’s decline from being a very well run club to being a total car crash might be. Chinese owners. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t going to be a tirade against foreign owners because some are very good. Some are not so much. But, I’ve not seen a successful Chinese takeover of a European club yet. What say you, Villa and AC Milan fans, eh? Southampton have decided to restructure the club from the top down, meaning Les Reed has been given the boot and technical director Martin Hunter will not be far behind him. Watch out, Mark Hughes, they are coming to get you.
