Ras' Football World

Wolverhampton Wanderers has been a tough opponent for Manchester United to face since they got promoted under Nuno Espirito Santo. During the game, the commentator mentioned that the matches between both teams have been close. Most of the matches have been draws with only a single goal separating the teams in victories for either side. Lack Of Clearcut Chances We maintained a lot of sterile possession without creating many clearcut chances or shots on target. The clearest chance we had was Bruno Fernandes’ point-blank attempt saved by his international team-mate, Rui Patricio. Wolves’ Threat & Tactics Tactically, Wolves sat back and made it difficult for United. As we have seen in several games, when faced against opponents that sit back, we struggle to find the creativity to get past the low block. I feel that has largely got to do with playing at a slow tempo which just plays into the hands of the opposition. Wolves are not an average team that sat back, happy to play for a p...

 It was an irritating point to gain. On the surface of it, it is not such a bad point to gain, away to a good team like Leicester City. However, the way the game unfolded, it has to be seen as two points dropped. That assessment has nothing to do with any supposed title charge. Wasteful Rashford From the first minute of the match, I had a bad premonition that we might drop points here. Marcus Rashford’s miss in the first minute led to the development of that feeling. Rashford did score our first goal and it was a well-taken goal off the tiptoe assist of Bruno Fernandes. He had the chance to restore our lead but I would credit Kasper Schmeichel for a great one-handed save to keep him out. However, we have seen this happen too often now with Rashford. He is just not clinical enough. Annoying Goals To Concede At the other end, there was hardly anything in terms of clearcut chances created or shots on our goal but yet Leicester scored with their only two shots on goal. That statist...

Inter ended 2020 with a 2-1 win over Hellas Verona at the Stadio Bentegodi. We had dropped two points here on the 10 th   of July, more crucial points dropped in our quest for the Scudetto last season. Disjointed First Half Attacks We dominated the game against Hellas Verona from the start. There was greater urgency in our play but unfortunately, it broke down in the final third. We broke away from our traditional 3-5-2 to play with a 3-4-3 but the combination between Ivan Perisic, Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku up front was disjointed. In defence, it was a case of men against boys as Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni comfortably dealt with the threat of Verona’s young forwards. Our young forward, Eddie Salcedo, on loan at Verona couldn’t get a look in against de Vrij. Despite the dominance, the game’s best chance actually fell to the home side. Another Inter loanee, Federico Dimarco forced Samir Handanovic to pull off a great stop to prevent us from going...

I have seen many matches between Manchester United and Leeds United in the past but what I witnessed in the wee hours of Monday morning was unique. As a football match, it is unusual as well as it was played with the free-flowing, cavalier spirit of basketball. The action oscillated from one end to the other at a hundred miles an hour without much respite. Everything We Touched Turned Into Gold Our home form contrasts sharply against our away form so it was a pleasant surprise to take the lead after two minutes in the game. But immediately after that goal, my mind turned to the last time we took an early lead in a league match played at Old Trafford. That day, we went on to lose 1-6, utter humiliation and indignation. A second goal a minute after gave me a bit more confidence that this match would not go that way. It looked like every time we went forward, we could get past Leeds’ defence and score or at least test the goalkeeper. The match emanated the feeling that this was one of...

Inter played out a routine 2-1 win over Spezia to keep the pressure on AC Milan at the top of Serie A. I describe it as routine only because we won. Had we lost or drawn, Conte would have attracted a lot of criticism for the performance and it’s approach. It was another dour, turgid performance after the Napoli match in midweek. Chances At A Premium We only created three clearcut chances in the first half. Romelu Lukaku had a shot blocked, Lautaro Martinez missed a free header when unbalanced and Ashley Young’s brilliant dribble and run was saved by Ivan Provedel. Aside from that, our possession was careless, lacked initiative and urgency. At times, we played like a provincial team, like the minnows chasing our opponents for possession, trying to close them down and focused on blocking their passing chains. Lukaku and Martinez were feeding on scraps. Second Half Change The change came in the second half when Stefano Sensi was introduced in place of Roberto Gagliardini. He didn’t ...

Manchester United made things difficult for themselves once again in an away match to beat Sheffield United 3-2 at Bramall Lane. Once again, we had to come from behind to win. It was our sixth straight away win of the season, coming from behind to win in all of them. We became the first team in the English Premier League era to score two-plus goals in ten consecutive away games.  We have also scored three-plus goals in all our away League matches this season. That is all in terms of positive records and statistics for our current league campaign. Another Slow Start To The Game I laughed when we conceded within the first five minutes of the game. So much for trying to start the game fast. From the start, you could see we were not in the game AT ALL. Sheffield United might have been sitting bottom in the league but they were determined, hungry and aggressive. These traits brought them their first goal when Dean Henderson exemplified our start by dilly-dallying with the ball at his ...

How many times this season have we had 20 plus shots on goal, dominate a game and draw? In short, how many times this season have we got a result that we least deserve? This morning, our luck changed. We got a result we didn’t deserve but in a positive way. Over the season, luck evens itself out. That is the positive spin I would give Inter’s performance in the 1-0 win over Napoli at San Siro this morning. Big Result In terms of the result, it is a huge result. There is still about half a season left to be played but even at this stage, this result is a six-pointer. This result meant we have now won five Serie A matches in a row and cut AC Milan’s lead on top of the table to one point. It would also give the squad a massive boost to have beaten a rival for the title. To have done it in an ugly manner is also important for the team’s development and mentality. Cagey Game Both these teams were the top two highest scorers in Serie A this season but in Gennaro Gattuso’s time at Napol...

As Romelu Lukaku pushed the ball past the stranded and excellent Cagliari goalkeeper, Alessio Cragno, he had acres of green to run into with no-one close enough to stop him. He ran on to smash in Inter’s third goal, seal the win for us and startle the ball boy behind the goal. It was only then I could rest easy. Normally I am at the edge of my seat for the duration of each half as I am engrossed in the action, following every kick of the game. This time, I allowed myself time to sit back and rest after Lukaku’s goal as it secured victory for us in an exhausting game. Cragno’s Brilliance It didn’t seem much as we started the game on a hot day in Sardinia. We weren’t really in our groove and Cagliari was aggressive in midfield. It is always tough to play away against Cagliari anyways. We got into the game slowly, our energy levels matched the heat sapping through and started racking up chances. The game was open as it was not one-way traffic but only we created chances to score. Every ...

A trend is emerging this season involving Manchester United and big games in the Premier League. I am afraid the effects of that crushing 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur has meant a change in tack in approaching these games. In three games after that hammering, we have scored zero goals and conceded once. All three games have been dour, tentative and cagey. The focus is to protect the defence first and foremost before going forward. If we go forward and nick a goal, all good, otherwise the team is happy to keep a clean sheet and draw. Not A Good Point To Gain As a fan, it is frustrating to watch. It’s a throwback to Jose Mourinho days where we defended deep, went forward in hope rather than with a defined strategy. This I feel is a regression in our approach from last season where we did quite well in the big matches. I am not buying the argument that this is a good point to gain. It would have been if we were injury-hit, coming into the game in terrible form or were just not good en...

For the third season in a row, Inter exited from the Champions League at the group stage. But by far, this has been the MOST disappointing, frustrating and under-whelming campaign of all three. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t1eWtoGsCg VAR Decisions Against Us Granted that we were not in an “easy” group but I don’t feel we were inferior to any of our opponents including Real Madrid. After exiting the tournament, Antonio Conte spoke about VAR decisions going against us and yes that played a part. Real Madrid’s first goal in their 3-2 win in Madrid should not have stood for a push on Achraf Hakimi. We should have got a penalty in the away game against Shakthar Donestk when Romelu Lukaku was held back. But blaming that is clutching at straws. Costly Errors We made costly individual mistakes to allow Borussia Monchengladbach to come back into the game and take the lead at San Siro. We were completely dominant before that. The culprit, Arturo Vidal is one of Conte’s much-vaunted sig...

2005-06 vs Benfica, 2011-12 vs FC Basel and 2015-16 vs VfL Wolfsburg. These were the Champions League matches that Manchester United needed to get a positive result in to qualify for the knockout stages and failed to do so. Now added to this list of ignominious defeats and disappointing exits from Europe’s elite club competition, 2020-21 vs RB Leipzig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axTUw9IOEKo Tough Group United was in the same group as the mega-rich, perennial champions of France, Paris Saint-Germain and a controversial but upcoming German club, RB Leipzig. Both teams were semi-finalists in last season’s Champions League with the French club finishing runners-up. It was a tough group to be part of but we started the campaign like a dream. We beat both PSG and Leipzig comfortably and with some style. We looked odds on favourites to qualify before our return fixtures against both these clubs. Where It Went Wrong? Where it all went wrong from a promising position was in an unfate...

The general emotion among Manchester United fans was one of confusion at the end of the match this morning. West Ham United away at their new ground, London Stadium has been a bogey ground for us. We have only won once there, 2-0 in Jose Mourinho’s debut season, 2016-17. I have always preferred their old ground, Upton Park, not because it was luckier for us but because it had a lot of character and was a good old-fashioned stadium. It wasn’t easy playing there either. West Ham On Top This morning, United had lots of possession but a lot of it was sterile, passing it sideways, backwards and slow. We kept losing the ball and couldn’t get it to stick. West Ham was sharper to the ball, robust and with greater impetus to attack. They were catching us out on the counter-attack and had better chances. But not many attempts on goal though. They took a deserved lead and it is not an exaggeration that they could have led by more than one goal. Surprisingly Early Substitutions The change at h...

 I will start this article by quoting my pre-game tweet “Today’s game will be a test of our maturity. I feel because of our recent wins n the last 2 results against PSG, the team (manager and players) will take it easy and forget that PSG has many top quality players. N we will lose. Such is our maturity n consistency #MUFC”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0-fzB-qek8 Change Of Tide In The First Half At the start of the game, my prophecy was coming true for the reason stated above. We were sloppy in possession and control of the ball. We were left chasing shadows and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) took the lead. I saw this coming but it was still uncomfortable viewing. I was squirming in my seat, urging on Solksjaer to make a tactical change and revert to a back three. I was very concerned at the odds of us holding off the waves of PSG attack. We weathered the storm and slowly increased our possession share in the game. We were patiently probing without giving the PSG backline much...

 Inter lived to see another day in European competition this season. We beat Borussia Monchengladbach this morning to record our first win in this season’s Champions League campaign. It was a nail-biting and nervy conclusion to the match but a huge relief at full-time. More on the match later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNffficKDI0 Irritation From Defeats to Real Before Inter took on the pitch, news came through that Shakthar Donestk had completed a double over Real Madrid. It was an irritating result because we have just lost twice to the Spanish giants. Over two games against Real, I felt that we didn’t do enough to beat them. We didn’t believe enough and were not brave enough. Had we done so, we would have at least got one win from two matches against them. We were a little unlucky too that the first Real goal in the first match stood despite a foul on Achraf Hakimi in its build-up. Then we had only ourselves to be blamed for not taking our chances and getting caught ou...