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Good day! A new – a new Manchester United?
Future :
? Amorim finds a formula
? North London EPL rage
?? Ranieri’s resurgence in Rome
? ♂️ Guardian facepalm moment
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 leading 2-2 and the goal at his mercy in injury 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 4 months.
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Bad lady or not (there is some debate later about whether the ball bounced), either way tells me Ruben Amorim can live with her. Certainly a misplaced victory against the league leaders would have been the next level, but after such poor form until the end of December, 4 consecutive defeats in all competitions, it is 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.
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. This was very much a post-New Year’s Eve Trent: dazed, confused and not quite sure what day it was.
His positioning went haywire. His passing played Liverpool into trouble. His attacking threat dried up and Arne Slot saved him from himself (not to mention further Virgil van Dijk death stares) with four minutes to go, replacing him with Conor Bradley.
Was it a coincidence that, a few days earlier, Real Madrid came looking for him?Slot said Alexander-Arnold wasn’t distracted by the floating eyes in Spain, but the right-back looked like a guy with his brain elsewhere.
It’s curious: at no time did the contractual things have any effect on Mohamed Salah. He scored again and when deciding whether to stay or go at the end of the season, it turns out he is enjoying the thrill of the chase. Alexander-Arnold is younger and potentially on his way to leaving the only club he has ever known. Was it just a misstep? Or did Madrid break its 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 don’t want to have you. “
First up, Ange Postecoglou who was ready to blow after Tottenham’s 2-1 loss to Newcastle United — not at his squad but at the match officials. Newcastle’s equaliser was allowed to stand despite the ball hitting Joelinton’s hand in the build-up. “On a fair and even playing ground, we would have won that game,” Postecoglou said.
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Maybe, though, that’s already 10 losses for the Spurs. They only played 20 games. Despite everything, they did it thanks to Alexander Isak, who does not fail in the six-meter area. If I were Newcastle I’d tell 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, 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 compared the pasting by Brentford to “being kicked in the head”. The Totally Football Show had some fun with that quote. You can listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
If Vinicius JR decides to continue his career outside of Spain, he will not go with good memories of Valencia.
He has been the victim of racist insults there in the afterlife and earned a red card at the Mestalla on Saturday so far in 3 visits. It is not happy to say that the Brazilian was only sent to the games in Valencia.
This one, it should be said, was deserved. He struck goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski in the throat during an altercation and the North Macedonian’s theatrics did not affect the letter of the law. Somehow, Madrid rode the dismissal to fight back from 1-0 down and win 2-1 through Jude Bellingham’s 96th-minute finish.
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The result all but 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 are the most sensible in La Liga, and it doesn’t seem that they have 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 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 Díaz (4), Ryan Giggs (4).
(Selected games)
Copa del Rey: Deportivo Minera vs Real Madrid, 1pm/6pm — ESPN+ (U.S. only).
Supercoppa Italiana: Milan vs Inter, 2pm/7pm — CBS Sports Network, Fubo/Premier Sports 1
Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Nottingham Forest, 3pm/8pm — 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 goalkeeper makes a mistake like Illan Meslier’s at Hull City (above) on Saturday, patience will be tested. Leeds United were leading 3-1 with minutes to go when he kicked a ball over the crossbar and safely on the line. of fire. Hull missed that opportunity 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)