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Good day! A new – a new Manchester United?
Future :
? Amorim finds a formula
? PLA anger in north London
?? Ranieri’s Roma revival
? ♂️ Goalkeeper facepalm
Manchester United: such a lost cause after all, but a bit of a mystery. They slipped up until Christmas, only to fall to a classy Harry Maguire goal that beat an almost unbeatable team. Make sense of this.
He was there for Maguire at Anfield (pictured above), with United and Liverpool tied 2-2 and the goal at his mercy in stoppage time. He gave the impression that in the last position you would need a centre-back to appear and his forgiving helmet was the margin between Liverpool and a first Premier League defeat in four months.
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Bad miss or not (there is some debate afterwards about whether the ball bounced), everything tells me that Rubén Amorim can live with that. Certainly, an away win against the league leaders would have been next level, but after such poor form until the end of December (four consecutive defeats in all competitions), it was enough to land on a plan that worked.
Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte gave Amorim legs in midfield, and the difference they made in United’s form and risk was huge: greased wheels unlike the rusty gears of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen’s Array Diogo Dalot were loosened down the left, a definite merit of Amorim’s three-man defensive formula, a formula that will be worth persevering with.
It is certain that demanding situations persist. Rasmus Hojlund doesn’t look like a No. 9, and hitting him was like trying to land on a quick grain of sand in a long jump pit. Marcus Rashford’s long career is unresolved, whatever Laurie Whitwell has covered forensically. Matthijs de Ligt’s role in any of Liverpool’s goals was a mistake that a more important player would not make. But being able to compete at Anfield will have to be a mental push. Certainly.
The victim of Dalot’s electric afternoon was Trent Alexander-Arnold. This was very much a post-New Year’s Eve Trent: dazed, confused and not quite sure what day it was.
His positioning is crazy. His death put Liverpool in trouble. His attacking risk was exhausted and Arne Slot saved him from himself (not to mention Virgil van Dijk’s other doom looks) with 4 minutes left, replacing him with Conor Bradley.
Was it a coincidence that, a few days earlier, Real Madrid came in for him? Slot said Alexander-Arnold was not distracted by fluttering eyes in Spain but the right-back looked like a man with his mind elsewhere.
It’s curious: at no time did the contractual problems have an effect on Mohamed Salah. He scored again and in deciding whether to stay or leave at the end of the season, it turns out he’s enjoying the thrill of the chase. Alexander-Arnold is younger and potentially on the verge of leaving the only club he has ever known. Was it just a false step? Or did Madrid interrupt its flow?
?️ The most clicked on Friday’s CAT: the best, the best in sport.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, two episodes of “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they don’t want to have you. ”
Firstly, Ange Postecoglou, who is in a position to explode after Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat against Newcastle United, but is not yet in his team before the referees fit. Newcastle’s equivalent conceded despite the ball hitting Joelinton’s hand in the build-up. “On a fair and equal playing field, we would have won this game,” Postecoglou said.
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Maybe, but that’s 10 defeats for Spurs now. They’ve only played 20 games. They were done in the end by Alexander Isak, who just doesn’t miss from the six-yard box. If I was Newcastle, I’d be telling him to pitch a tent there.
And then we had Mikel Arteta, also harmed by the penalty that forced Arsenal to draw 1-1 at Brighton. There’s no doubt that it was an unusual decision, given William Saliba faced Joao Pedro, but Arsenal also have shipping issues and the addition of Ethan Nwaneri to Bukayo Saka on the injured list will rarely improve things.
At the other end of the division, a thought for the day: are Southampton about to become the worst Premier League team of all time? They’re yet to shake a leg under new boss Ivan Juric. They lost 5-0 to Brentford on Saturday and they’re stuck on six points. Derby County set the record for the lowest-ever total by reaching 11 in 2007-08. It’s there to be broken.
?️ Juric Brentford’s move to ‘getting kicked in the head’. The Totally Football Show had a few laughs at this quote. You can pay attention on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
If and when Vinicius Jr chooses to continue his career away from Spain, he won’t leave with happy memories of Valencia.
He has been the victim of racial slurs in the past and earned a red card at Mestalla on Saturday for the second time in three visits. Sad to say, the Brazilian was only sent off in the games in Valencia.
This one, it must be said, deserved it. He hit goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski in the throat during an altercation and the Normacedonian’s theatrics did not comply with the letter of the law. One way or another, Madrid took advantage of the expulsion to come back from 1-0 down and win 2-1 thanks to Jude Bellingham’s 96th minute.
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The result almost appeased manager Carlo Ancelotti, who said that the first half in Madrid was “so bad I couldn’t keep my eyes open. ” He plans to win the floor by designating a penalty taker after Bellingham missed an earlier in the game. It’s not all sweet and light, but Madrid is very sensible about La Liga, and it doesn’t look like they’ve really started.
❤️ Today you won’t read anything better than James Horncastle on 73-year-old Claudio Ranieri bringing life back to Roma. How about this phrase? “Whoever accepts Roma’s fourth coach in 2024 would need courage, intelligence and a great cross, everything Ranieri had in his hands when he was a butcher’s boy. ” Bow.
How did you go with naming the players who’ve scored four or more goals in Premier League games between Liverpool and Manchester United?
They were: Salah (12), Steven Gerrard (8), Robbie Fowler (6), Wayne Rooney (6), Rashford (5), Andy Cole (4), Luis Diaz (4), Ryan Giggs (4).
(Selected games)
Copa del Rey: Deportivo Minera vs. Real Madrid, 1:00 p. m. /6:00 p. m. — ESPN+ (United States only).
Italian Super Cup: Milan vs Inter, 2:00 p. m. /7:00 p. m. — CBS Sports Network, Fubo/Premier Sports 1
Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Nottingham Forest, p. m. / 8 a. m. m. – USA Network, Fubo/Sky Sports
Championship: Queens Park Rangers v Luton Town, p. m. /8 p. m. —CBS Sports, Paramount/Sky Sports
Win as a team, lose as a team. Or that’s what they say.
But if a passer makes a mistake like Illan Meslier made at Hull City (above) on Saturday, patience is being tested. Leeds United led 3-1 with nine minutes remaining when he hit a ball that safely cleared the crossbar and returned to the shooting line. Hull eliminated the possibility and a 3-3 draw ensued.
The reaction of his teammates is a montage: Joe Rodon (right) yelling at him, Joel Piroe (center) yelling “WTF?” » softer and Joe Rothwell (left) letting out the biggest sigh since I told my oldest son. Put down your phone and read a book. Clumsy.
(Photo: Zohaib Alam – MUFC/Manchester United Getty Images)