Musa Okwonga – Page 5 – Football Scout

Rashford, Sanchez 4/10 as Man United look disjointed in FA cup final defeat

Jose Mourinho admits he’s sad to finish the season without silverware, but feels his team were the best team in the FA Cup.

Chelsea edge Man United and win the FA Cup for the eighth time, courtesy of Eden Hazard’s first-half penalty on his 300th appearance.

Manchester United slumped to a 1-0 FA Cup final defeat against Chelsea in a game that captured the worst elements of their season: needless defensive errors at crucial points, a curious lack of intensity in the first half and a lack of both imagination and cohesion in attack. It was a disappointing end to a term that saw United fall short in the UEFA Champions League, and a spectacle that few will wish to remember.

Next season, and a renewed sense of vigour, cannot come soon enough.

Positives

David…

Sanchez start at United was below-par but fans can trust Mourinho’s dynamo

ESPN’s Manchester City correspondent Jonathan Smith shares his view on a season where Manchester City finished champions 19 points ahead of Manchester United.
When football historians look back over this season in years to come, it will be interesting to see how important they view the signing of Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United’s ambitions.
It is striking to think that there were many who were concerned by the Chilean forward’s transfer from Arsenal — this writer included — and some who did not see the need for it altogether. Sanchez, it was feared, would rapidly reduce the playing time of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford at a key stage of their…

Time for Jose Mourinho and Man United to spend big and stop the depth excuses

The guys respond to your tweets about this season’s Champions League, Man United’s season and summer, and bragging rights in Spain and England.

Craig Burley and Shaka Hislop agree Manchester United have more pressing matters to worry about than their loss away to Brighton.

Jose Mourinho puts his Man United fringe players on blast after their 1-0 defeat at Brighton, indirectly explaining why he starts Romelu Lukaku over others.

Looking at Manchester United’s place in the Premier League table, one statistic stands out. Though they are second in the division, they are some way behind the champions Manchester City and third-placed Liverpool in the number of goals they have scored — City have scored 102, Liverpool 80, United 67. This number is pertinent because United have an odd problem — in recent months they have managed to defeat several of their closest rivals, but have lost to those at the bottom of the division.

Those…

Paul Pogba delivers worst performance in Man United shirt in loss at Brighton

Pascal Gross sent the Amex into a frenzy, as his lone goal saw Brighton past Man United and guaranteed the Seagulls’ Premier League safety.

English Premier League: David De Gea (20′) Brighton 0-0 Manchester United
Manchester United lost 1-0 at Brighton, a game where the hosts secured their Premier League status for another season, in a performance as abject as any United have produced under Jose Mourinho. It was a performance lacking in urgency until the 70th minute, when United seemed to realise the gravity of the situation, but a defeat with intensity and discipline of this nature was no less than they deserved.

Positives
David De Gea produced a cluster of saves that showed why he is one of the world’s…

Nemanja Matic has delivered as a maestro, mentor but Jose Mourinho needs more

Man United boss Jose Mourinho confirms Arsenal matchwinner Marouane Fellaini is close to penning a new deal with the club.

As Manchester United look set to finish second place in this year’s Premier League, manager Jose Mourinho believes the club have progressed but they need to aim higher.
With the season drawing to a close, and Manchester United much more likely than not to secure second place in the Premier League, it feels as good a time as any to assess the impact of Nemanja Matic.
He is a player whose signing possibly was greeted with more caution than most — Eric Bailly was seen as talented with room for growth, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as strange as it now seems to relate, was considered to have an excellent chance of swift success.
Matic, on the other hand, was viewed in…

Fellaini delivers another late goal as Man United snatch win vs. Arsenal

Arsene Wenger’s final trip to Old Trafford ended on a sour note for Arsenal, as Marouane Fellaini scored a stoppage-time winner for Man United.

Paul Pogba quips about Marouane Fellaini’s ability to score every which way for Man United, after the Belgian’s last-gasp header broke Arsenal hearts.

As Robbie Fowler stated in his autobiography, there is no sentiment in football. Arsene Wenger’s last visit to Old Trafford as a manager, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s goal-scoring return, saw their Arsenal side lose 2-1 to an injury-time winner from Marouane Fellaini — and, of course, this loss came against Jose Mourinho, who emerged as Wenger’s most brutal adversary.

This didn’t feel like a grudge match, though — it lacked the intensity of most of their recent encounters, and only rarely surged…

Ander Herrera recovers from uncertain spell to be Jose Mourinho’s trusted lieutenant

The ESPN FC team answer your tweets on Alvaro Morata vs. Romelu Lukaku, Manchester United’s comeback, Napoli’s season and more.

Craig Burley examines the difference in approach from Jose Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino in Man United’s FA Cup semifinal win over Tottenham. Cometh the month, cometh the man. During a season where he has often seemed an afterthought, Ander Herrera — when it has mattered most these last few weeks — has been Manchester United’s best midfielder.
Yes, Paul Pogba has been decisive, but his performances have oscillated between abject and excellent, often in the course of a single game. Nemanja Matic, perhaps due to fatigue, looks a level below his imperious form of the first part of the season. Both Pogba and Matic have emerged to play vital…

Ander Herrera 9/10, Alex Sanchez 8/10 as Man United advance to FA Cup final

Craig Burley examines the difference in approach from Jose Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino in Man United’s FA Cup semifinal win over Tottenham.

Ander Herrera’s second half effort completed the comeback against Tottenham to send Man United into the FA Cup final.

Ander Herrera’s goal capped a strong all-round performance from the steely midfielder.
This FA Cup semi-final wasn’t so much a game of football as a boxing match, with Manchester United allowing Tottenham Hotspur to punch themselves out before mounting a rousing comeback to win 2-1. United looked overwhelmed in the early stages but then they asserted themselves in midfield, and it was fitting that their star man and inspiration, Ander Herrera, should step forward to score the winner. United stride into the final, with a chance to end a season both promising and disappointing on the…

Manchester United boosted by Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera 9/10s

Jose Mourinho made seven changes to the team that lost to West Brom over the weekend and got the result that keeps them well clear of Liverpool for 2nd.

After the Bournemouth win, the FC panel talk who’s in line to make the squad for Manchester United’s FA Cup semifinal against Spurs.

Jose Mourinho was asked to rate Paul Pogba and respond to Paul Scholes’ scathing criticism of the Frenchman after the West Brom match.
In winning 2-0 away at Bournemouth, Manchester United produced a performance almost unrecognisable from their home loss against West Bromwich Albion. Here was a showing rich in speed and ruthlessness, both of which qualities were bafflingly absent just days ago at Old Trafford, and which sets United up well for their FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham Hotspur.
Positives
Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera dictated play, as one would expect them to at their best, whilst Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford…

Manchester United’s full-back weakness exposed again by West Brom

Paul Pogba was subbed off in Manchester United’s defeat to last-place West Brom, but is he being used as a scapegoat for United’s latest mishap?

Ian Darke takes issue with Jose Mourinho slamming his Man United squad for overcelebrating their derby win and “paying the price” against West Brom.

Jose Mourinho says several players who appeared in Man United’s defeat to West Brom “don’t have a place” in the team to face Spurs in the FA Cup semifinal.
Manchester United’s 1-0 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion was a collective failure, one where Jose Mourinho and almost every one of his players were substandard. As a result, it seems unfair to single anyone out.
What is important, though, is to identify a key area where the team have both advanced and regressed, and this is in relation to United’s full-backs.
Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia are two of the squad’s most reliable performers, defensively diligent from week to week, but there is…

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