Shoot the Pog
There was never going
to be any doubt about which side The
Sun’s Neil Custis would take in any battle between Jose Mourinho
and Paul Pogba. He labels the Frenchman’s criticism of
Manchester United’s tactics ‘an astonishing attack’ on the back page and then
throws in the word ‘incendiary’ in his match report. And how dare Pogba say
anything after his performance (in which he set up United’s only goal with a
wonderful flick) against Wolves?
As Custis
writes:
‘Whether Pogba got it in the ear from the Old Trafford boss after the
game and whether that prompted his words is not clear.’
Though it
will not stop you speculating…
‘He was certainly at fault for the Wolves equaliser as he tried to be
too clever in the centre of the pitch and lost possession.’
At fault? He did indeed lose the ball but
Wolves scored a full 20 seconds later, after Luke Shaw had failed to prevent a
cross, Victor Lindelof had failed to block said cross, Chris Smalling had lost
his man for long enough for him to lay off the ball and neither Marouane
Fellaini or Fred were close enough to Joao Moutinho, who finished beautifully
from the edge of the box.
Apart from
all that, it was definitely Pogba’s fault.
Defending the
indefensible
The back page of the Daily Mirror is more than a little
naughty as they claim that ‘Pogba questions Mourinho tactics: We MUST attack,
attack, attack, instead we defend…but I am a player, not the manager’.
Did Pogba
mention anything at all about defending? Did he balls. But how else could the
Mirror justify their ‘POGBORE’ headline?
They then
double down on their website, with the top headline at 11.30am on Monday
reading ‘Pogba continues feud with Mourinho by slamming Man United manager’s
‘over-negative’ tactics in costly draw to Wolves’.
Note the
quote marks…around a phrase uttered by absolutely nobody.Remember
when integrity was a thing?
Old
man shouting at clouds (part the first)|
Paul Pogba scored a
penalty last week against Young Boys of Berne; it was his third successful
penalty of four this season. Now you might think that Jose Mourinho would be
quite pleased with that record as United players missed three of six penalties
last season, with Anthony Martial, Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku all failing
from the spot.
Scoring three from
four is a decidedly better record so Mourinho is presumably pretty happy with
his new spot-kick man. Keep it up, fella.
Let’s hand
over to the the Sunday People’s Neil Moxley:
‘It was with dismay that I read Jose Mourinho had given Paul Pogba the
green light to continue with his penalty-taking routine.’
Sorry,
what? You think Mourinho should stop Pogba taking penalties a certain way even
though he is, you know, scoring them? Which is surely the whole bloody point.
‘For
those who missed it, the France international took 26 steps and nine seconds
before slotting home against Young Boys in midweek.
‘Twenty-six
little steps over a nine-second period. Come on. Really?
‘However,
it’s not so much the time that the £90million midfielder took, or the
over-elaborate manner in which he approached kicking a ball 12 yards towards
the goal.
‘It is more the precedent that he set.’
The
‘precedent’? You have already said that John Aldridge was the man to start the
stutter trend. How can Pogba be ‘setting a precedent’ a full 30 years later?
This
ridiculous rant (and it really is ridiculous) surely cannot be just because
Pogba is a little on the flashy side, can it? It’s definitely not just a
middle-aged man being annoyed by the youth? Because we all know that makes you
sound a little silly…
‘Clearly, he likes being the centre of attention. His hair, the way he
carries himself. This malarky over penalties is just an extension of that.’
Oh it
really is. We are back to the bloody hair again.
‘His technique is mildly annoying, mainly because it’s really
screaming, ‘Look at me!’’
Which of
course should be more important to Mourinho than the fact that he actually
scored.
Old
man shouting at the clouds (part the second)
Garth Crooks in his BBC team of the week: ‘In
the end, one goal was enough to win the game against Everton, and when you
score a superb goal like Alexandre Lacazette’s one for Arsenal, you are
entitled to celebrate. What I don’t get is the appalling disco jig that
follows. Why spoil such a wonderful finish with such a spine-chilling dance?
What’s wrong with punching the air or running to the crowd?’
Remember
when you used to be able to leave your front door open and kids stood up on the
bus?
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Writes Garth Crooks: ‘Leicester look like a team again after disappointing
results against Liverpool and Bournemouth. Do Leicester fans have any idea what
team their manager is going to play from one week to the next, because I don’t
have a clue. I wonder if Claude Puel tinkers with the team just to keep it
interesting.’
Or he made three
changes – one of which was forced by suspension – because they lost their last
game 4-2.
Oh and it
worked as they won 3-1 on Saturday.
But yes,
it definitely makes sense to use over half of your paragraph about James
Maddison to have a pop at the boss.
Evans above
Headline in The Sun: ‘MAD FER HIM.’
Opening
line from Graeme Bryce in The Sun:
‘SIR ALEX FERGUSON is the latest member of James Maddison’s fan club, according
to Jonny Evans.’
Actual quotes from Jonny Evans: “Sir Alex always young players to express
themselves and entertain and it’s great James is one who can do that.”
And that
automatically makes him a member of the fan club of every young player in
football. This sh*t is easy.
Will
he, won’t he?
Oh. Why
not? We click on the link…
‘Cristiano
Ronaldo delivered a telling reminder of his greatness just before the Best FIFA
Awards.
‘On Monday, Ronaldo will be suited and booted and on his way to the
Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank.’
Or not.
Take your pick.
Luk
who’s to blame…
Think Romelu Lukaku
did rather well to score 27 goals for a pretty average Manchester United side
last season?
Then you
are a fool because Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester
Evening News is here to tell you that is in fact a little bit
sh*t…
‘Lukaku is 25 and has spent over seven years in England. He has not
lifted silverware since he was with Anderlecht, never tallied 30 goals in a
club campaign and, while he has more Premier League strikes than his idol
Didier Drogba, there are two more relevant statistics; big-game goals and
trophy count. He has not really emulated Drogba, never mind surpassed him.’
Pesky
fact: Only four Manchester United players have ‘tallied 30 goals in a club
campaign’ over the last 30 years; United winning nothing last season was
probably not his fault.
Success
addicts
Elsewhere on the Manchester Evening News website, we
read that ‘Manchester United’s Carabao Cup game against Derby County has taken
on a whole new meaning’.
Has it? It
feels like a bit of a reach but we have an open mind. Explain…
‘United need something, anything, to reignite an addiction to
success that would offer greater hope of avoiding clumsy displays against
lesser opposition, and triumph in English football’s second cup competition is
Mourinho’s best bet for finding that spark.’
You do
know they won it about 19 months ago, right? Oh for such a non-addictive
personality…
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