FOOTBALL

How Ole Can Fix Man United

Published

2 years ago

November 18, 2021

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Only a few months back, the Old Trafford crowd were seeing life through rose-coloured glasses, and who would have blamed them?

The Red Devils started their Premier League campaign in an emphatic style thrashing bitter rivals Leeds United by 5-0.

Then, Cristiano Ronaldo marked his return to the club with a brace in Man United’s 4-1 win over Newcastle.

But, all those seem like far distant memories now.

Manchester United have slipped to sixth in the Premier League table, and are a point behind who lost all three of their opening matches.

They got humiliated away at Leicester and at home by Liverpool.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, under whom United made two back-to-back runners up finishes in the last two seasons, all of a sudden finds his job at risk.

Lack of quality in the midfield

The record time English champions spent north of £100 million this summer transfer window bringing in the likes of Jadon Sancho, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Raphael Varane.

But, surprisingly, they did not address the most pressing issue of the squad – a proper defensive midfielder.

Fred and Scott McTominay have anchored the Man United midfield mostly throughout last season.

But, time and time again, the duo portrayed why the Mancunians needed to go for midfield reinforcements in the summer.

Both Fred and McTominay are good footballers, but continuously they ended up in shadow areas during build-ups which hampered United’s ball progression and during the opposition counter, they sometimes got caught in situations that allowed the opposition to run into acres of space.

The cohesive pressing of the frontline provided enough cover for Fred and McTominay’s deficiencies.

However. Since Manchester United were such a dynamic system in 2020/21, their midfield did not derail their season, and they finished second behind Manchester City.

However, the 12-point gap suggests they were never in strong contention for the league title.

Ronaldo is a riddle Ole needs to solve

Bringing back Cristiano Ronaldo has made things a bit more complicated for Ole.

While the 36-year old is still one of the finest finishers in the business, he caters to a different setup.

Cristiano Ronaldo has thrived in teams that granted him a license to go forward.

De volta a casa 🇵🇹👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/hraQLRppgl
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) October 5, 2021

He is a guaranteed source of goals as he is great in picking up spaces and positioning himself in the right places to score.

To get the best out of the Portuguese, a team needs to have an elite link-up player like Karim Benzema or Wayne Rooney.

On top of that, the defensive shape has to be ideal to compensate for the gap Ronaldo leaves behind.

Manchester United so far have been struggling to integrate Ronaldo the right way.

The four-time Ballon d’Or winner has been prolific himself, scoring nine goals in eleven outings for the club.

But, his presence created problems in other areas of the pitch, which can be addressed with proper coaching and tactics.

Possible solutions

One of the obvious solutions for Ole is to drop Ronaldo altogether and bring back Mason Greenwood as the central striker.

This, however, would put him under even greater scrutiny.

Benching a player of Ronaldo’s calibre is a tough call for any manager in the world. So, we don’t think Ole will go down this path unless it is the last resort.

Bruno Fernandes will have to shoulder the responsibility of the link-up player to provide Ronaldo will ample goal-scoring opportunities and protect the midfield at the same time.

The wingers will have to play a more proactive role as well to prevent the midfield from getting overexposed.

Sancho’s problem

Jadon Sancho would have loved playing for Manchester United last season.

He has played for an attack-minded Borussia Dortmund side in the Bundesliga and his primary responsibilities there were to receive the ball while surging forward and cut in from the flanks.

With frequent runners all around him, Sancho would have been a great fit at Ole’s 20/21 United.

Ronaldo’s lack of mobility changes the situation.

Now, the wingers will have to play a bit inverted role to provide more defensive cover. Marcus Rashford gets the nod in this regard ahead of Sancho.

Away kit brazy. 🥶 @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/PO5Mh1qdWI
— Jadon Sancho (@Sanchooo10) July 30, 2021

If Sancho wants to cement his place in the lineup alongside Ronaldo, he will have to take on more defensive duties.

Nemanja Matic should play as the defensive midfielder to offer more stability in the middle of the park.

The Premier League veteran is 33 years old now, which does not make him the best candidate for the role.

But, he is still the best Manchester United have at that department, which goes on to show how grim of a mistake the club made not signing a defensive midfielder.

How to use Fred

Fred has often been slated for his blunders, but in some cases, the criticism was harsh since he was a victim of the inefficient defensive structure of Man United during transition plays.

With a solid partner and in a decent shape, Fred can perform much better and make the Manchester United midfield more difficult to break down.

With fixtures like Watford and Norwich on the horizon, there is a great opportunity ahead for Manchester United to bounce back.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has to tweak his tactics to make Manchester United flourish again.

Instead of trying to cram all of his star players together in the lineup, the Norwegian has to go for the right personnel to get desired results and more stability in playing style.

FOOTBALL

WATCH: Georgina Rodriguez makes huge claim on Cristiano Ronaldo’s retirement in Football

Published

2 months ago

March 3, 2024

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Georgina Rodriguez made a huge claim on the future of her husband and star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, in Football. In a brief interaction with a host recently, Rodriguez was asked about the time left for Cristiano to make an impact at the highest level. Georgina looked honest in her approach to the question of the host and claimed something the fans would not love to hear.

Georgina claimed that the Portugal star has maybe one year more from him at the highest level. She felt that Ronaldo might play two more years before retiring and not more than that. She was however not sure if he would play for just one or two years and added that the Al Nassr star could also play more than that.

Watch the video of Georgina Rodriguez here –

🚨🎙️| Georgina Rodriguez on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Paris Fashion Week yesterday:

“Cristiano one more year, then it’s over. Maybe two, I don’t know.”

(via @ArobaseGiovanny)pic.twitter.com/4dxw2j5DuC

— Pubity Sport (@pubitysport) March 3, 2024

“Cristiano one more year, then it’s over. Maybe two, I don’t know,” said Rodriguez in the little chat she had with the host. The video has gone viral on X and the fans have started sharing it on different platforms. Some of the fans feel that Georgina might be right, while others feel that she could be wrong, given the fitness and longevity of the star player.

Legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo

On the 5th of February, Ronaldo celebrated his 39th birthday. He is currently one of the oldest players in the world. In the past, players at this age would have retired way back. But the fitness and consistency of Ronaldo make him play the sport as long as he wishes. In his career so far, Ronaldo has won many major leagues for Portugal and league teams like Real Madrid, Al Nassr, and Manchester United.

With United, Portugal won some major leagues like the FA Cup and the Champions League. With Real Madrid, the 39-year-old won the leagues like the UCL, Copa Del Rey and La Liga. He won it three consecutive times for Real Madrid. For Portugal, Cristiano had a huge contribution to Portugal. He has the most number of appearances and goals for an international team and won the Euro 2016 with Portugal.

FOOTBALL

Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham slapped with Red Card as he argued with referee

Published

2 months ago

March 3, 2024

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Jude Bellingham shown Red Card (Image Credit: Twitter)

England and Real Madrid player Jude Bellingham was slapped with a Red Card during the La Liga game against Valencia. In the game, the home team, Valencia was leading by 2-0 after 30 minutes before Madrid scored in the injury time of the first half. Vinicius Junior opened the scoring for Madrid while Hugo Duro (27′) and Roman Yaremchuk (30′) scored a goal each.

In the 76th minute, Junior scored an equalizer to keep the team in the game. However, in the injury time of the second half, Bellingham was given a red card as he argued with the referee against calling it a full-time before he could score. In reply, the match official decided to slap the England international with a Red Card. The team coach Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t happy with the verdict as the Three Lions player was making a pass at the time.

Jude Bellingham verbally abusing officials and other footballers at the slightest provocation needs to be talked about more. It’s embarrassing he gets applauded by Real Madrid Fans.

Mason Greenwood should’ve allowed La Liga to deal with this simp. pic.twitter.com/ixYSw6YxaC

— Herman Facundo© (@hermanfacundo_7) March 3, 2024

“I think what’s just happened is unprecedented. It’s never happened to me,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“We had possession of the ball and the match should have been finished when Valencia had the ball.

“What bothers us is the red card for Bellingham because he didn’t say anything insulting. He was frustrated of course,” said Ancelotti, adding that Bellingham had used a common English swearword when telling the referee it was a goal.

We are annoyed with Jude Bellingham’s Red Card: Carlo Ancelotti

“We were annoyed with Bellingham’s red card. He didn’t say any insults. He said in English ‘it’s a f—ing goal,’ but he was just saying what we were all thinking … [The referee] allowed play to continue. I think he made a mistake.”

“[Bellingham] was clear in what he said,” Ancelotti added. “He was quite vehement [in his reaction] but that’s normal, after what happened. It wasn’t an insult, not at all.”

FOOTBALL

PL 2023-24: MCFC vs MUFC Dream11 Prediction, Playing XI, Fantasy League Today’s Captain, Vice-Captain, and more for Manchester derby

Published

2 months ago

March 2, 2024

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Super Sunday is set to witness the Manchester Derby in the Premier League 2023-24. The match between Manchester City (MCFC) and Manchester United (MUFC) is set to take place in Etihad Stadium, the home ground of Manchester City. The two teams have had a contrasting journey in the league till now. The fortunes of City changed ever since Pep Guardiola took over the club as the manager.

While the home side are placed in the second position in the points table currently, United are in the sixth place in the points table. In their previous encounter, City hammered Luton Town by 6-2 in the FA Cup. United have shown massive improvements in the last few weeks after not having a good start to their campaign. United were involved in a thrilling game where they beat Nottingham Forrest by 1-0 in their last game.

Both teams feature some of the best players in the world. The likes of Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, Marcus Rashford, Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, and others would be taking part in the match. Manchester City will start the match as the favourites, given their record in the ongoing league so far and the match taking place in their home. United with their improved record can challenge the home side.

MCFC vs MUFC – Match Details

Match – Manchester City (MCFC) vs Manchester United (MUFC), Premier League 2023-24

Venue – Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Date and Time – 3^rd March 2024, 21:00 IST

Live Coverage – Star Sports Network and Disney plus Hot Star

MCFC vs MUFC – Head-to-Head

Both the teams from Manchester have a rich history in the sport. they have been up against each other in 191 instances. In as many games, Manchester United have been historically the better side with 78 wins to their name. City have managed to win 60 wins, as 53 games ended in a draw. In the last five games between the two sides in the Premier League, City have won four of the five games.