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Hello! A new year — a new Manchester United?
Future :
? Amorim discovers a formula
? PLA anger in north London
?? Ranieri’s resurgence in Rome
?♂️ Facepalm from the goalkeeper
Manchester United: not such a lost cause after all, but a bit of a mystery nonetheless. They blunder through Christmas, only to come within a clean Harry Maguire strike of beating a team who are almost unbeatable. Make it make sense.
It 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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A bad miss or not (there was a debate afterwards about whether the ball bobbled), something tells me Ruben Amorim can live with it. True, a win away at the league’s leaders would have been next level but after form so bad through late December — four defeats in succession in all competitions — it was enough to land upon a blueprint that worked.
Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte gave Amorim legs in midfield, and the difference they made to United’s shape and threat was huge: oiled wheels as opposed to rusty cogs in Casemiro and Christian Eriksen. Diogo Dalot ran riot down the left, a definite upside of Amorim’s three-man defensive system — which has to be worth persevering with.
For sure, challenges remain. Rasmus Hojlund does not look like much of a No 9, and hitting him was like trying to land on a specific grain of sand in a long-jump pit. Marcus Rashford’s future is unresolved, something Laurie Whitwell has covered forensically. Matthijs de Ligt’s part in both Liverpool goals were errors a better player wouldn’t make. But successfully going toe-to-toe at Anfield must be a psychological boost. Surely.
The victim of Dalot’s electric afternoon was Trent Alexander-Arnold. It was indeed a post-new year trent: giddy, confused and not knowing what day it was.
His positioning is crazy. His death contributed to Liverpool’s suffering. His attacking risk was exhausted and Arne Slot saved him from himself (not to mention the death of Virgil Van Dijk, he appears with 4 minutes left, replacing him with Conor Bradley.
Could it be a coincidence that a few days before Real Madrid came to pick him up? Slot said Alexander-Arnold wasn’t distracted by his floating eyes in Spain, but the right-back looked like a guy with brains elsewhere.
It’s funny: at no stage have contractual matters affected Mohamed Salah. He scored again yesterday and in working out whether he stays or goes at the end of the season, he seems to be loving the thrill of the chase. Alexander-Arnold is younger and, potentially, on course to leave the only club he has ever known. Was yesterday simply a misstep? Or have Madrid broken his flow?
?️ Most clicked in Friday’s TAFC: the most perfect thing in sport.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, two episodes of “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not willing to get you. “
Firstly, Ange Postecoglou, who was able to take a break after Tottenham’s 2-1 loss to Newcastle United, but was not yet in his team, according to the coach. preparation. “On a clean field and even playing, 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 hurt by the penalty that forced Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at Brighton. There’s no doubt it was an unusual decision given William Saliba was up against Joao Pedro, but Arsenal also have shipping problems and Ethan Nwaneri adding Bukayo Saka to the injured list will rarely improve matters.
At the other end of the division, the reflection of the day: is Southampton on track to become the worst Premier League team of all time?They have still moved their legs under the guidance of new coach Ivan Juric. They lost 5-0 to Brentford on Saturday and are stuck on six points. Derthrough County set the record for the lowest overall ever recorded by achieving 11 in 2007-08. It’s there to break.
?️ Juric Brentford’s pass to ‘get kicked in the head’. The Totally Football Show laughed a little at this quote. You can pay attention on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
If Vinicius Jr decides to continue his career outside of Spain, he will not leave with good 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, it must be said, was deserved. He punched goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski in the throat during an altercation and the North Macedonian’s theatrics did not comply with the law. Somehow, Madrid took advantage of the sending off to come back from 1-0 down and win 2-1 thanks to a goal by Jude Bellingham in the 96th minute.
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The result almost appeased coach Carlo Ancelotti, who said Madrid’s first half was “so bad I couldn’t see. ” He plans to gain ground by designating a penalty taker after Bellingham missed one more in the game. Not everything is sweet and light, but Madrid is the most sensible in La Liga, and it doesn’t seem like they’ve really started.
❤️ Possibly today there is nothing better read than James Horncastle about Claudio Ranieri, 73, who is reviving Roma. How he’s doing in one sentence: “Whoever would accept Roma’s fourth coach in 2024 would need courage, intelligence and a great cross: everything Ranieri had had in his hands as a butcher boy. ” Arc.
How did you come up with the name of the players who scored 4 or more passes in the Premier League matches 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 p. m. /6 p. m. – ESPN+ (United States only).
Supercoppa Italiana: Milan vs Inter, 2pm/7pm — CBS Sports Network, Fubo/Premier Sports 1
Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers – Nottingham Forest, p. m. /8 p. m. – US Network, Fubo/Sky Sports
Championship: Queens Park Rangers vs Luton Town, p. m. / 8 – CBS Sports, Paramount / Sky Sports
Win as a team, lose as a team. Or that’s what they say.
But if a goalkeeper blunders like Illan Meslier did at Hull City (above) on Saturday, patience is going to be tested. Leeds United were 3-1 up with nine minutes to go when he palmed a ball which was safely clearing his crossbar back into the line of fire. Hull mopped up the chance and a 3-3 draw ensued.
His team-mates’ reaction is quite the montage: Joe Rodon (right) screaming at him, Joel Piroe (centre) giving it a more gentle ‘WTF?’ and Joe Rothwell (left) heaving the biggest sigh since I last told my eldest to put down her phone and read a book. Awkward.
(Photo: Zohaib Alam — MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)