Ras' Football World

Manchester United's season ended valiantly in defeat last Saturday to our neighbours, Manchester City who have also taken over us now as the leading team in the city and the land. Let me present to you, my analysis of United's season. In the English Premier League, our season didn't start well. Like the previous Dutch manager we had, Louis Van Gaal, we followed up a pre-season campaign that raised the hopes of many followers, with a whimpering start to the season - a 1-2 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. Same result and the same venue as the defeat that was inflicted in Van Gaal's first competitive match in charge. A week after, things were to get worse as we slumped to a 4-0 defeat away to Brentford, losing all 4 goals in the first half. There were fears that nothing has changed from the horrendous previous season but thankfully, that was not the case. However, inconsistency still plagues Manchester United. We have looked imperious at home, the first-day de...

  Europe Over in the Champions League, we were drawn in the same group as last season’s finalists, Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) and semi-finalists, RB Leipzig. We got off to a great start in the Champions League. Two wins out of two, both we played well from start to end, getting our tactics spot on. We looked odds on favourites to qualify as we faced tournament debutants Istanbul Basaksehir in our next two matches. We proceeded to produce one of our worst performances of the season against the Turkish side in Istanbul. We made up for it in a convincing manner at Old Trafford and had to get one point from our last two matches against PSG and Leipzig to qualify. We should have beaten PSG at Old Trafford but didn’t take our chances and were punished by the Parisians. All was not lost, one point away to Leipzig would do it but we failed to turn up and lost. From a promising position, we crashed out of the Champions League signalling our mental fragility and lack of winning mentality. I f...

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s Manchester United finally got past their hoodoo of the semi-finals by beating AS Roma in the Europa League semi-final. In truth, the job was done after the first leg itself. The second leg was a mere formality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EQnsebSVhM Not Built To See Out A Game In his pre-match press conference, Solksjaer mentioned the team’s inability to see out the game to navigate a problem-free passage to the final. He wasn’t far from the truth. David De Gea had to turn back the clock to the days when he won the Player Of The Year award consecutively. He repeatedly repelled Roma’s shots on target and was the Man Of The Match. If it wasn’t for him, we could be sitting here talking of a narrow escape or worse yet, elimination. While De Gea, was busy keeping out Roma, we also had chances to score ourselves. Edinson Cavani missed twice before finally giving us the lead. Commendable Spirit Of Roma You got to commend the spirit of Roma. They were facing a...

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...

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...

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...

Manchester United took a leaf out of the great Serie A days and did the classic Italian job on AC Milan in Milan. We squeaked through by the narrowest of margins to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, a 1-0 win away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_dtj5iRERA Good Start To The First Half, Erratic End I felt we started the game well. On a couple of occasions, the ball into the box was just behind Mason Greenwood or Marcus Rashford. After that, we got erratic in our possession. Bruno Fernandes was one of the most wasteful players in possession. He nearly gifted a goal to Milan with a casual back pass but thankfully, Milan didn’t punish us. Fred was another who was typically poor in possession and busy chasing after his first touch. At the half-time break, I was hoping and praying for a departure from this mediocrity through the introduction of Paul Pogba and Donny van de Beek. Pogba, Game Changer Paul Pogba came on but not for Fred. He came on for Marcus Rashford and I was wo...