Manchester United (Red Devils) | Special Thread

[radika]

We recorded our biggest ever victory on this day in 1956, beating Anderlecht 10-0 in the European Cup.

 

[ruralofficer]

Ed Woodward has made it clear to Juventus that if Dybala decide to quit Juventus, Jose Mourinho wants him at Old Trafford. [Mirror] MUFC

Aje wafanye reunion na pogba

 

[man of steel]

 

[SAVAGE AF]

12:58KEY EVENT

No Fellaini, Pogba, or Carrick

United have some injury worries Mourinho has confirmed - and it’s particularly in midfield.

“We don’t have Fellaini, Pogba or Carrick, so all three midfield players we lose for this match, so the solutions are not many.

“But we try not to focus on individual battles on the pitch, we are going to have a team with quality and balance to try to win the match, which is the objective.

 

[SAVAGE AF]

12:59

Mou on his weekend rouge

Sent off at Southampton.

The FA confirmed no ban yesterday.
So what does Mourinho make of that?

“If I’m not punished, its because there were no reasons for the sending off and I’m happy I can do my work normally against Crystal Palace.

“That’s enough for me.”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:01

Not Jose's first CSKA rodeo

Mourinho has met CSKA Moscow a number of times in the past with his former clubs.

He reckons this may just be the toughest CSKA side he’s faced though.

“This is the best CSKA I will come up against”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:10

Mourinho on United's form

“The way to try to keep it is to do what we’re doing.

“We try to play well and in some moments of the match, if the opponents have some moments of superiority, we have to be humble, like at Southampton, and cope with those moments.

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:11

Mou on Fellaini injury

More from Mourinho now on Marouane Fellaini.

He doesn’t expect the Belgian to be out for too long, but has confirmed that Fellaini will miss the weekend clash with Palace.

He expects he’ll be back after the international break.

“I thought the referee Craig Pawson had a great game. It was only when I saw it on TV that I realised that Fellaini was very lucky [not to have a serious injury.

“I do not expect him to be out for long.”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:13

On CSKA...

Mourinho is refusing to give too much away about CSKA.

With good reason.

“I don’t like to speak about opponents.

“Because if I speak good I motivate them and if I speak bad I motivate them.”

Oh, and he really likes Moscow.

“I always like to be back. Moscow is a beautiful city, every time I come it’s better so I have to say it is a pleasure.”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:04

Mkhitaryan does the presser - so will he start?

Mkhitaryan does the presser today.

Normally that means he’ll start tomorrow. Maybe not.

“Normally we bring players here [to the press conference] who are starting. Mkhitaryan is coming here [to speak] because he speaks Russian.

“I’m not saying Mkhi starts tomorrow.

“Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t, but I try to make it as easy as I can [for the Russian media].”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:21

Time for Mkhitaryan

Henrikh Mkhitaryan now takes centre stage.

He’s hoping for more Armenian support.

“Last season, there were a lot of Armenian fans in the crowd at the game in Rostov and I hope there will be the same again tomorrow, giving me and the team a hand.”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:25

Mkhitaryan on his development

Does Mkhitaryan play better in Europe than in the league?

That’s what he’s been asked. he’s defiant.

“I think that was last season. This season is different.”

“I am working very hard in training, to be ready for Premier League games.

“I have started the season well and I am doing my best to help the team.”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:28

Mkhitaryan on CSKA and Russian football

Mkhitaryan is no stranger to Russian sides and in particular CSKA.

Here’s what he has to say on Wednesday’s opponents:

“I watch a lot of CSKA games in the Russian league and they have a lot of experience in their team.

“But Champions League games are very different to Russian league games and I expect them to play differently tomorrow.”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:33

Focus on winning

If anyone thinks Man United are in the Champions League to make up the numbers, then they haven’t told Mkhitaryan.

He’s fully ‘in it to win it’.

“Manchester United is a massive club and we are focused on trying to win this competition.”

 

[BALOZI WA KITAA]

FWATILIA DONDOO ZA UBASHIRI KWA MICHEZO YA NYUMBANI YANI LIGI KUU TANZANIA BARA, KENYA, UGANDA, RWANDA, BURUNDI , TUNISIA, MISRI, CAMEROON, IVORY COAST, MOROCCO, NA NYINGINE NYINGI ZA AFRIKA KUPITIA WWW.BONGOTIPS.COM KILA SIKU

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:37

Mkhitaryan on Mourinho demands

“Of course everyone knows he is very demanding and what he says is right and he didn’t say exact names but if we have done something bad.

“But we try to improve and be more focused and not to do some fantasy football or playstation football as he said.”

 

[Ferrenga]

View attachment 595629

Jedwali limeanza kuoneka..arsenal simwoni hapa kulikoni??

 

[SAVAGE AF]

13:51

On his assists

“Everyone knows football is not just 90 minutes.

“Every game I stay focused at the end the opponent is getting tired and use that opportunity and cause them trouble.

“Maybe because of that I could give more assists in the last 15 minutes.”

 

[SAVAGE AF]

Man United press conference live as Mourinho speaks ahead of CSKA Moscow clash

 

[Belo]

What has happened to Ander Herrera? From Man Utd Player of the Year to benchwarmer
Kris Voakes

Man Utd Correspondent

The Spaniard is a fan favourite at Old Trafford but he has fallen out of favour with manager Jose Mourinho following the arrival of Nemanja Matic

In May 2017, Ander Herrera booked his name alongside a long list of Manchester United legends when he collected the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award. Just four months later, he faces perhaps the most testing spell of his Old Trafford career.

When he collected the prestigious club award in the summer there were few who could have begrudged him his moment in the spotlight. The Spanish midfielder had delivered consistently impressive showings in 2016-17 and had strengthened his tremendous bond with the club’s supporters.


“It’s very special for me to win this award because when you see the list of winners, you realise how important it is," Herrera said at the awards ceremony.

“I feel [the fans’ affection] and I’m very thankful but I think a Manchester United player can never stop. We have to keep giving them the affection back because you can see we don’t always perform at our best yet they are always behind us.”

Such a high performance level in a season which saw United collect two major trophies was made even more remarkable considering he had been asked to slot into a different role upon the arrival of Jose Mourinho, playing as a more defensive midfielder than had been his way previously.

“I think all of you have seen that since the beginning of the season, after a few games my role changes,” Herrera told the Daily Telegraph in February. “The manager has helped me a lot to get the knowledge about that role.

“I am so happy to be a bit more of a defensive player than last season. I can share my energy with the team in that position. [Mourinho] has been great for me, but not just for me, the team as well.

“My first two seasons here I played 71 games, so it’s not a bad number of games. But, of course, I cannot lie, this is the time I am enjoying most at Man United.”

However, as United prepare to take on CSKA Moscow on Wednesday in the second game of their Champions League campaign, Herrera is still attempting to get his season started, having seen his progress of last term stunted by the arrival of Nemanja Matic in the summer.

The Serb’s instant impact has left Herrera waiting for a chance. His sole start in the league – at Stoke earlier this month – coincided with United dropping their only points so far and the 28-year-old was withdrawn shortly after Eric Choupo-Moting’s second goal had left Mourinho needing a different approach.

It might have been inconceivable to many as the votes were being tallied on the Player of the Year ballot, but Marouane Fellaini has featured far more in United’s campaign to this point. Yet there is a good reason for that.

Since Matic has immediately slotted in as the protective shield and mobile midfield basis of United attacks that Michael Carrick has slowly faded from being over recent years, Paul Pogba has been given a new lease of life with the ability to start from the kind of more advanced positions he revelled in when playing for Juventus.

Then, when Pogba was forced out of action by a hamstring injury in United’s 3-0 win over Basel in their previous Champions League fixture, it was Fellaini’s more direct, aerially-threatening approach which was favoured over Herrera’s bits-and-pieces style.

And it is in his multi-functionality in the middle that the former Athletic Bilbao man has his greatest challenge. Mourinho bounded into Old Trafford in 2016 with the warning that he prefers specialists over multi-functional players, and Herrera’s success in the Portuguese’s debut campaign was based in his ability to plug the gap as a defensive screen.

“The manager had a conversation and he told me I was going to be an important player if I do what he wanted me to do,” explained Herrera to ESPN. “I am always open to learning. I am always open to adapting myself to a new role and a new position. It is not so easy to play for Manchester United, for example, as a No.10.

“When you play for a big club, a No.10 has to score 10 or 15 goals and make 10 or 15 assists, so it is not so easy. So I say to myself, if I want to play every game for Manchester United, which is my dream, I have to do something else for the club and for the manager.”

But now Herrera needs to find a new way to give to the team. If he cannot supply the 10 to 15 goals and 10 to 15 assists of a more attacking player, is unable to match Matic for the defensive workload needed at the base of the midfield, and cannot supply the direct brawn offered by Fellaini, then the Spaniard could end up being resigned to acting as a stop-gap as and when Mourinho needs him.

It is quite the fall from grace for a club Player of the Year award winner, but Herrera, at least, has the right attitude. He knows that without that one obvious key trait which makes him undroppable, he has to show the heart and the fight to earn a place once more.

“I think we have a good understanding between the manager and myself," he says. "We understand football the same way and we think the same; if you give everything, you are going to give things to the team.”