Ras' Football World

Manchester United took a giant leap towards the Europa League final early this morning with a 6-2 thrashing of AS Roma at Old Trafford. We are not there yet but we are close to breaking the hoodoo of losing in the semi-finals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaEYbkThC64 Turnover By Roma However, things could have taken a turn for the worse and we could be discussing a completely different result if we had faced a better, more experienced team. We got off to a great start. It was a great team move involving Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani finished deftly by Bruno Fernandes. We then gifted Roma a way back into the game. Scott McTominay and Fred both missed the ball in midfield and Roma hit us swiftly on the counter-attack. Rick Karsdorp’s crossed was handled by Paul Pogba and Lorenzo Pellegrini converted the penalty with aplomb. Roma then took the lead with another gift from us. Pellegrini was played onside by Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw. His cross was bundled home by Edin Dzeko, continui...

The return of Manchester United to Elland Road after 18 years was a non-event for more reasons than one. It was always a fixture that guaranteed a fiery reception for Manchester United when we played there. Having no fans there this time diluted the experience. Tactically Sound Leeds Leeds was cautious not to press high and leave space behind for United to attack as they did at Old Trafford. I felt they did a great job tactically to sit deeper and utilise their man-to-man marking all over the pitch to nullify our attacking threat. They didn’t pose much of a threat coming forward but could count themselves unlucky to not have been awarded a penalty for what looked like a handball by Luke Shaw in the penalty area. Blunt & Disjointed United Manchester United started with the same team that worked so well in the 6-2 win at Old Trafford minus the injured Anthony Martial. I guess you don’t change what is not broken. If you just base your opinion on statistics alone, you would think...

From Manchester United, we got to Inter and the two consecutive draws we have had. Napoli vs Inter Both teams made a cagey start as they were wary not to make a mistake. Inter had the better of the chances. Matteo Darmian was played in by Romelu Lukaku but he chose to cross instead of shoot. Lukaku then hit the bar before Inter were unlucky to concede. Many fans have labelled it as a Samir Handanovic mistake but I felt he was unlucky. He gathered Lorenzo Insigne’s cross and crashed into Stefan de Vrij for the own goal. Handanovic could have gathered the cross better but I felt it was his momentum that made him crash into de Vrij. Our response to going 0-1 down was heartening. We had the better of the game. Lukaku hit the post and Nicolo Barella ran on to a through pass but his first touch was too heavy. We finally got a deserved equaliser in the second half through a Christian Eriksen shot from outside the box. We should expect more goals from him so let’s hope we get that in the com...

Normally, I write an article after every match to review, analyse and offer my own views on how the match went but I have been busy so here I am summing up the last three Manchester United matches. Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United I felt it was our best performance in a long time. Could Paul Pogba have got sent off for an elbow at Serge Aurier while shielding the ball? He might have been. He got the benefit of the doubt. We thought we scored first and it was a great move and goal. It was disallowed after a VAR review for a foul on Son Heung Min by Scott McTominay. Son was touched as McTominay tried to brush him off but was it enough to warrant a foul? It’s just one of those that can be given for or against you I suppose. We did lose our heads after that goal was disallowed though. The goal we conceded soon after that was a piece of terrible defending. Victor Lindelof played so well against Granada in the Europa League quarter-final, 1 st leg, the Man Of The Match and then go...

There has been no blog entry from me for some time because I have been busy. Just as when I wanted to write something to analyse Manchester United’s wins over Tottenham Hotspur, Granada and Burnley as well as Inter’s draw against Napoli, the football world was turned upside down with the announcement of the European Super League. If you are a football/soccer fan, you cannot escape it. The news and its backlash are all over social media. While this League only lasted 48 or 72 hours depending on your geographical position, it continues to gather attention. Embarrassment & Disappointment On my part, as a Manchester United and Inter fan, it is embarrassing and immensely disappointing to find out that both my clubs were part of the 12 football clubs that had agreed to join this Super League. I felt on Monday like football had died, a passion that I had carried with me for 30 years this year has been wiped out in just one instant. It sounds dramatic but I thought to myself, “How woul...

 We took another step towards our 19th Scudetto with a nervy 1–0 win over Cagliari at San Siro. The scenes when we finally scored was reflective of Inter fans all over the world. It was also reflective of the way the game was going. All the awful thoughts of choking in matches that mattered matches that we were expected to win but didn’t and of choking a lead in the table were flashing back in my head the longer the game was 0–0. Struggling To Break Down Cagliari Antonio Conte made several changes to the team, only two enforced due to Nicolo Barella’s suspension and Ivan Perisic’s injury. Unfortunately, the changes made didn’t have the desired effect. We struggled to break down Cagliari’s organised and deep defence. Matteo Darmian and Ashley Young on the flanks lacked the guile and speed that Achraf Hakimi and Ivan Perisic would normally have in that position. Alexis Sanchez was given a rare start but looks better coming off the bench. Finally Breaking The Deadlock We didn’t have m...

Manchester United took a step towards their second consecutive semi-final appearance in the Europa League with a first-leg 2-0 win away to Granada. Highlights of Granada vs Manchester United, Europa League Quarter-Final, 1st Leg Granada was aggressive throughout the game and it was quite unlike anything you face in England. It brought back memories of English teams in the 90s. For all of Granada’s hustling and hard-nosed style, I don’t remember them creating many or any clear-cut chances. Manchester City loanee Yangel Herrera hit the post with one attempt and he was a player that impressed me. Ex-Chelsea player Kenedy had some difficult shots that he kept on target but didn’t trouble David De Gea. I felt defensively, we put in a good shift. We were solid and Victor Lindelof had a fantastic game. He produced a fabulous assist for Marcus Rashford’s goal. The assist was matched by a great first touch by the young Englishman and he cooly slotted it past the goalkeeper. In attack, we we...

When the final whistle blew in the match against Brighton and Hove Albion in the early hours of Monday morning, I was regretting the decision to wake up to watch this match. After looking at the standings, I decided I was not waking up to watch United play in the early hours of the morning unless it is in the Europa League or if it’s against a big team. It looks like we have secured Top 4 for the season unless there is an almighty collapse between now and the end of the season. I am not putting it beyond this team for a collapse like that but I am fairly confident we have done enough to secure a spot in the Champions League next season. We did the bare minimum to beat Brighton after a bright start to the game. We lost our way after being stunned by Danny Welbeck’s opening goal. Marcus Rashford didn’t do much in the game until the opportunity came for his equaliser. It was a very well-taken goal but he limped off not too long after scoring. With seven minutes left, Mason Greenwood score...

One more game chalked off in the list of remaining games with one more coming up very soon on Wednesday for Inter. With each passing win coupled with our rivals dropping points, we are edging closer to the Scudetto and our first piece of silverware in a decade. Winning Ugly The performance was not great, it has not been since we beat Genoa 3-0 at San Siro on the 28 th of February. Since then, we have lost our fluidity in attack, the triangles, running into space and one-touch passes are not coming off. We have got the goals either through set-pieces, capitalising on a mistake or some pieces of good play. But what I have been impressed with the most, is the ability to win ugly. I never knew this Inter had it in them to win ugly but we have shown a lot of resilience, mental strength and defensive solidity. Up until the 10 th of January where we let a lead slip against Roma, I always felt that attack was the best form of defence for us. If we didn’t play well, we will not win but thin...

It’s the international weekend so I caught up on a match from France 98. A momentous and eventful Round of 16 match between England and Argentina. I didn’t watch the match “live” in 1998 as it didn’t feature my team and it was probably in the wee hours of the morning too but I was aware of what happened in that match from reading the newspaper the next day. These are some observations I made of the match. I felt the match started at an intense pace from the start. It wasn’t calm, collected and measured from either team. You could also sense an air of tension between the players in both teams. Argentina had the better start in the game and got an early penalty. Gabriel Batistuta converted it but it was nearly saved by David Seaman. England got a penalty of their own soon after but I felt they were fortunate. Michael Owen ran at full pace at the Argentina defence but Roberto Ayala didn’t touch Owen who went down easily. In today’s time, VAR would have overruled the referee’s initial deci...