It was not a good weekend for Manchester City and Manchester United fans as both clubs lost to MLS teams on Sunday.

Let me repeat that. Both Manchester teams lost to teams from the Major Soccer League in America.

Man City’s 2-1 loss to Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bulls was their second pre-season loss in New York and the pressure already has to be mounting on City boss Roberto Mancini. This has been a summer where City have spent about £100m on the likes of Jerome Boateng (Hamburg, £10m), David Silva (Valencia, £24m), Yaya Toure (Barcelona, £24m) and Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio, £17m).

Man City’s owners have not spent that kind of money to lose to the New York Red Bulls!

City have a really hard start to the Premier League season as they play Spurs (a), Liverpool (h) and Chelsea (h) in their first six games. Mancini needs to win at least two of these games or the pressure on him will really mount.

It was not a much better weekend on the red side of Manchester as United lost 2-1 to the Kansas City Wizards, and the Wizards played the entire second half only ten men.

United have not been impressive on this U.S. with their youth and inexperience showing, especially across the back four, where Chris Smalling has looked off the pace.

It does not get any easier for the Manchester teams and United travel to Houston to play an MLS All-Star line-up while City travel to Baltimore to play Inter Milan. I wonder what odds I would have got in Vegas earlier this month on the possibility of Man United losing two consecutive games to MLS?

photo credit: themikelee

Why do the media ask every player who is nearing retirement or has recently retired, if they are going to become a manager? Is it because they want another few years to have a pop at them and to make headlines from their failure? Or is it because they naively don’t undertstand what it takes to be a manager? In fact, if you look at the most successful managers in modern football, they are men who never had a prominent and lengthy playing career.

Brian Clough’s playing days ended at the young age of 29 through injury. The young Clough did finish with an excellent strike rate for both Hartlepool and Sunderland but didn’t set the footballing world alight. But Clough, who is to this day remembered as the greatest English manager never to have managed England, had an impeccable managerial record. Clough took a languishing Derby County up in to the top division in England and surprised the rest by leading his side to the Division One (now the Premier League) title. Clough went on to lead an unfashionable Nottingham Forest side to back to back European Cup successes.

The one manager still in a job today who can hold a candle to Clough, is Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson was a good striker in his day too, but for one reason or another ended up being a jorneyman player in the Scottish league. He appeared in major domestic finals, but ended up on the losing side. Contrast is playing days with his career in management. The Scot has won just about everything you can win in the game. Along with the Scottish First Division crown at St Mirren, he has won Scottish cup, Scottish Premier League, English cup and English Premier League titles. He also has six victories in Europe to his credit.

Arsene Wenger is another very successful manager who never had a glittering playing career. One thing these men also have in common though is time. they were all given the time they needed to learn their trade and to bring success to their clubs. One thing a player who decides to become a young manager today can be sure of, is that he won’t get much time. It takes a brave chairman to stand behind his choice with the pressure for success that comes from the board room and the terraces. Brian’s son Nigel Clough spent several years in the non-league as manager of Burton Albion learning his trade. The young Clough knew that if he went straight in to football league management he would have very little chance to succeed.

The reason a lot of players become managers is because they don’t know anything else. Starting on the back foot is no way to start a career with the big boys and will see many flounder. The only ones that do make it through need to find that rare breed that is a suportive and brave chairman. Roy Keane appears to be one of the lucky ones, with Marcus Evans backing him through good and bad. Or maybe the Ipswich supremo is is just too scared to sack him.

photo credit: Matt and Kim Rudge

Manchester United veteran Paul Scholes has announced that he will be hanging up his boots after this season in order to pursue a career in coaching.

“I am coming to the end of my playing career and I maybe have one year left,” Scholes said in an EPL Talk Podcast. “I have started doing my coaching badges back in England and hopefully one day I will be able to coach kids or coach some kind of team somewhere.”

Scholes has had a fantastic career at Man United winning nine Premier League champion’s medals and a couple of Champions League winners medals also.

United have done a really good job in the past keeping their former stars on as coaches in different parts of the organization. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for example coached the United reserves last season the Championship.

There i no word yet on whether Scholes will join the Man United back office or whether he will join a smaller club away from the media glare.

photo credit: Lordcolus

As the sun set behind the glorious table mountain last night, expectations and excitement rose inside the impressive Green Point Stadium, as the three lions of England went face to face with the desert foxes of Algeria.

90 minutes later England had failed to deliver again. This time it was much, much worse than the previous draw with USA. Algeria like all sides that are going to meet England throughout the tournament, had a game plan.

Algeria outwitted, with ease, supposedly superior individuals. Their bizarrely dressed manager had out foxed the mighty Italian Fabio Capello cut perfectly in his Armani suit. An African nation had undone a Western superpower.

However with all this negativity surrounding the team, there are plenty of positives to take from this match.

It cannot possibly get any worse.

In twenty years of watching England that had to be the worst competitive England performance. Even the mighty Graham Taylor’s side of 1993 which boasted such amazing natural talent as Carlton Palmer and Geoff Thomas would have put up a better fight.

The list was endless. Highly paid, household brands were second best to a third rate country.

Aaron Lennon, Frank Lampard, Emile Heskey, Glen Johnson and Wayne Rooney. All grossly underperformed.

Wayne Rooney

It is refreshing to see that Wayne Rooney has grown up and learnt from the incident involving the Portuguese winker 4 years earlier.

He stropped around the pitch like a moody teenage delinquent who then attacked the very people who matter most, the fans. How dare he blame somebody for his performance. This simply supports the argument that Rooney showed he is not dis similar to a teenager, always looking to pass the buck and not face the consequences of his actions, or in this case his lack of.

He then decided to attack thousands of fans who had paid thousands of pounds and flown thousands of miles to support him and his lacklustre team mates. In sport especially at that level performers do strange things in the heat of the moment and that is understandable, but you must choose your battles. He comes across as a Spartan warrior but even this battle will be a battle that he cannot win.

Security Breach

The third and final positive from the contest is the deep satisfaction that security employed to protect our role models and millionaire idols is up to standard.
This match was highlighted as Risk 1 by the national security.

Helicopters buzzed around overhead all game, security spoke in code all game to ensure that any potential act of terrorism was thwarted, so it was refreshing to see that an irate fan was able to breach security and get within 3 feet of England players and the heirs to our throne.

That’s right Prince William and Prince Harry were in the changing rooms to offer support to the dejected England camp and an angry, drunk fan was able to get in to the same room as all of them.

On the Brink of History

That in itself is a bigger worry than the fact that England stand on the brink, on the brink of history.

If England underperform again and lose against Slovenia, which is very likely from performances so far, they stand to be the first England side in 52 years to be eliminated at the first group stage of a world cup.

Friday nights match was a nightmare for all those with a vetted interest in England. All this must be put right with immediate effect by the players and the players alone if they want to write themselves in the history books for the right reasons. Can it be done?

Just days after Manchester United and England star Rio Ferdinand was forced our of the World Cup because of a knee injury, we hear that Man United’s Portugal star Nani will also miss the World Cup after damaging his collarbone in training.

Nani will be replaced in the Portugal squad by Benfica midfielder Ruben Amorim.

A statement on the Portuguese Football Federation’s official website read:

“Following the injury to the left clavicle suffered by Nani, a daily assessment of the damage and the completion of medical tests, we have concluded he is unable to be competitive. The medical file will now be presented to the medical department of Manchester United.”

Big loss this is for Portugal who are in the Group of Death with Brazil and Ivory Coast. I would not be surprised to see Portugal get knocked out in the group stages.

Well, here it is.  Chelsea plays Wigan and it’s time to see who the Premier League Champion.  This is the coolest season format on the planet.  Every game matters and there are no playoffs.  You don’t sneak your way in and then make a miracle run.  You’ve got to be good ALL year or you have no chance.

United and Chelsea have made this into a 2-horse race all season.  They’ve really made it difficult for other clubs to compete and now all United has to do is wait and probably watch Chelsea beat Wigan.

This is fun–much like baseball used to be.  When the League Championship Series were just between the two division winners then you had to wait til the last day of the season–many times–to see who was going to the LCS.  Those were good days with teams winning a game and staying in the stadium with the crowd to wait for the final score from their division opponent’s final game.

I’ll never forget the Braves waiting for the Dodgers to lose so they would be crowned 91 AND 92 NL West Champions.  Now, United gets to wait and hope for a loss from Chelsea.

Chelsea loses and United is the EPL Champion.  Chelsea holds their own fate in their hands.  They win and they are the 2010 EPL Champions.

I already said I think Wigan can’t do anything cute on their final day.  They want to suddenly get good and it probably won’t happen.

Chelsea has every motivation in the world to win this thing.  The players who will play for England this summer will be swelling with National Pride.  Jose Mourinho might win the Champion’s League, and they REALLY need to overcome the crushing defeat they took to United last season.

One more time–Chelsea takes this on and United watches at home–in horror.

photo credit: Ben Sutherland

Manchester United will play four games in the United States and Canada as part of a preseason North American tour.

For the first time in club history, Man United will take on MLS opposition, highlighted by their taking on MLS’ best in the 2010 AT&T MLS All-Star Game on July 28 in Houston.

Before the all-star game United will play Celtic at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on July 16 and then the Philadelphia Union on July 21st and finally the Kansas City Wizards on July 25th.

“Manchester United are among the most recognized and successful clubs in the world, and we are pleased to have them compete against our All-Stars and two MLS clubs this summer,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. “We are proud to once again present our supporters with one of the most compelling All-Star game formats in sports and we believe Manchester United’s North American tour will be a tremendous celebration of the sport following the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.”

With this being a World Cup year the United squad will be missing Rooney and Nani but the squad is expected to include such stars as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Edwin van der Sar, Darren Fletcher, Antonio Valencia, John O’Shea, Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov, as well as promising young players, such as Federico Macheda and the da Silva twins.

“It’s great to be going back to North America,” Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. “I enjoyed the last two tours there in 2003 and 2004 immensely. The quality of the facilities is outstanding and there is real enthusiasm in the crowds. It’s especially pleasing to be going in a World Cup year, when interest in football will be at its height

Manchester United North America PreSeason Tour
July 16: Man United v Celtic in Toronto  - Buy Manchester United v Celtic Tickets
July 21: Philadelphia Union v Man United - Buy Philadelphia Union v Manchester United Tickets
July 25: Kansas City Wizards v Man United – Buy Kansas City Wizards v Manchester United Tickets
July 28: MLS All-Stars v Man United in Houston – Buy MLS All-Stars v Manchester United Tickets

None this year…

When you use words like “freshen up” to describe a Soccer team I think you might have gone a little overboard with attempts to make the team better.  It’s true that youth helps in sports, but youth is not everything and it is certainly not going to change things in Manchester.  If United was close to winning many trophies this season I don’t see how a bunch of young guys were going to bring them closer to that goal.

Anyways, this seems to be Fergie’s idea ahead of the last match of the season where it appears United will finish behind Chelsea for the Premier League Title.

“You have to take a decision about where we can improve the team,” he told MUTV. “When you are challenging for four trophies, it can have a draining effect.

“You have to be aware of that and spot the moment when it is time to freshen up one or two players. It is not a desire to do it but you need to do it because the demands and pressures on players can, over time, be quite exacting.”

“People don’t recognise that we’ve signed three players for £20 million already.  Young Chris Smallingfrom Fulham has signed for us, Mame Diouf has done well, and Javier Hernandez from Mexico will join us after the World Cup.”

“Those are three young players whose futures are guaranteed at this club. There are others who come into that bracket like Jonny Evans, Federico Macheda, Gabriel Obertan, Danny Welbeck and Darron Gibson, so we have a good nucleus and foundation of players who can carry the club for a long time”

Yes, you have a nucleus, but you can’t go into next season hoping that a bunch of young guys are going to fix your problems.

Freshen up the coaching AND the roster.  This will require less changes and provide more consistency for the players. 

THAT will help you win a title next year.

photo credit: The Red Pill

United has put themselves back on top 79 points to Chelsea’s 77.  With only a couple matches left the race for the EPL title is coming to a close.  Right now every point counts and those points will come at a premium.

Chelsea gets Stoke City, Liverpool, and Wigan.  United still has Sunderland and Stoke City left.  One would think that these clubs would be ready to lay down, but I bet they’re chomping at the bit to spoil someone’s season.  You see, if Chelsea wins out then they will win the EPL.  However, if they stumble then United can put themselves on top for good.

The worst case scenario would be a draw thrown in the middle of this to make the situation a little harder to figure out.  This means that we’ll be playing right now to the last minute of injury time in the season.  So, this means the next piece of news is bad for United…

Wayne Rooney could be out the rest of the season for United.  He’s got a groin injury and that means you basically can’t do anything–including think–because it hurts so freaking bad.  So, when Fergie says he’ll try to be back in 2 to 3 weeks he’s being extremely optimistic.  I’m no Doctor, but I’ve had a groin strain and it SUCKS!

Does this mean United is screwed?  Well, probably.  Rooney is the driving force in Manchester and without that Chelsea will see that the door was left wide open for them.  How could they NOT take advantage of this opportunity.  No one wants to win this way, but sometimes you have to take it any way you can get it.

I think things are going to get complicated and that’s why we’ll go down to the wire, but I still think Chelsea squeezes this one out.

photo credit: gordonflood.com

NO…the other one…

“It is rubbish.  There is no truth in it. I have no intention of retiring and if I did the people I would tell are (chief executive) David Gill and the Glazer family.”

“As I have said time and time again, the only that determines my staying here is my health and, unfortunately for you lot, I’m in rude health, so you’ll be left to suffer me for many more years. You’ll be gone before I’m gone, don’t you worry!”

“There’s been a lift around the club this week, no doubt.  There’s always been a sense of atmosphere around the place, but in training this week it’s been noticeable, the lift. Training has been very competitive.”

“We just need to do our job and let Chelsea deal with their situation. We know we have to win, that’s the important thing.”

This is how Sir Alex responded to the notion that he might be quitting United over the summer.  Now, I get that he’s a “Dean Smith” kind of coach who re-evaluates every summer to make sure he still wants to do it, but this kind of funny.

Now that I’ve figured out the whole “crazy coach motivation” thing I think I can answer the questions about this.

Sir Alex knows that the heart of a grown man who have his machismo constantly satisfied also has the heart of a small child deep within him.  Every time he says that he’s going to leave or someone reports that it stirs his club.

Every guy on the club thinks, “No, don’t go!”  It’s like they ALL have a daddy complex and he’s just playing to that kind of innate fear of abandonment and it draws the club closer together.

The man’s a genius.  I don’t have any other way of describing that.  Plus, the way he vehemently denies–probably–his own rumors is HILARIOUS.  I bet he leaks this stuff just so he can get a rise out of his.

You know what?  More power to you Alex–I get you now–and I like it.

photo credit: jorgemejia