United Struggling
7 games played, 3 wins, one draw and 3 defeats. United lie in 10th place with 10 points and a -2 goal difference. We will have to roll back 30 years to find a worse start to the season by United. United had lost 4 of their first 7 games of the season, the last of which was a 5-1 humiliation in the Manchester derby. The manager at that time, Sir Alex Ferguson was able to turn it around and win his first of 38 trophies. But that was a different time and a different team all together.
After less than 6 months of taking them the closest to bringing back the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho has taken Manchester United backwards and away from that target. Yesterday produced a new low in a season that has been nothing short of disappointing thus far. His strongest defence so far is not getting enough support from the board financially like his rivals. Can you blame the board for hesitating to give you more money when you are at loggerheads with a player who you convinced them to pay a world record fee for? Can you blame the board for refusing to spend £60m on a centre back when you play a central defensive midfielder at CB while having two fit CBs, with one being a player you signed for £32m? And finally, how are you going to convince the board to give you more money, when a player you convinced them was worth being the highest paid player in the league isn’t good enough to be in an 18-man squad just 9 months after his signing?
The problems at Manchester United aren’t entirely down to Jose Mourinho. However, the main problem is the team not improving two years after he took over and that’s completely down to him.
Pogba vs Mourinho
When a player continuously questions his manager’s tactics publicly, the manager is bound to react. Three times, Paul Pogba with his mini outbursts and comments has given the media reason to think and dig into the supposed ‘rift’ between himself and his manager. The straw that finally broke the camel’s back was Pogba coming out after the disappointing draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford. In his comments, he called for United to “attack, attack, attack” when playing at Home. Jose subsequently demoted him as vice Captain in a reaction to that. It’s very clear there is a breakdown in relationship between manager and player and it’s certainly not good for the club. It’s either a higher official comes in to solve the problem or one of the two parties is shown the door.
Liverpool endure tough week
It was a brilliant game at Stamford Bridge and in the end, a stunner from Daniel Sturridge was well worth the game it was scored in. For the best part of 70 minutes, Liverpool huffed and puffed for an equaliser and in the end, it was worth the wait. Having lost their league cup encounter 3 days later, it was important for Liverpool to get back on track in the premier league as they sought to maintain their lead at the top. In the end, they had to fight for a point through Daniel Sturridge’s late wonder strike. Next is a trip to Naples in the Champions League before the welcome the champions to Anfield. The tough fixtures comes as quick as you see them and after these run of games, Liverpool will have a better idea of how serious they are about challenging for the title.
Ronaldo leads Juve to victory.
He didn’t score but this was arguably Ronaldo’s best performance in a Juventus shirt. He had a hand in all three goals and he was unlucky himself to not get in the scoresheet. His shot of the post 4 minutes into the second half was tapped in by Mario Mandzukic on the rebound for Juve’s second. Napoli began well, breaking the deadlock after Mertens finished from close range to cap off a fine team move but Juve responded, took control of the game and in the end, the quality of Ronaldo in particular was the difference on the day.
Neymar
A brace from Neymar helped PSG to a 3-0 win at Nice. The 26-year-old Bazilian who has come under so much criticism for his performance at the World cup has been ligue one’s standout performer and also leads the top scorer’s chart with 7 goals. Only Kryzysztof Piatek of Genoa has more. The Brazilian looks to have put the past few months behind him and is ready to be the main man for Paris St. Germain asked they challenge for top honours both domestically and in Europe.
Bonus : Ghana premier league fans woke on Sunday morning to the sad news of the demise of Karela FC owner Senator David Brigidi. On behalf of everyone at The Green Turf publications, I express my heart felt condolences to the family of the deceased and the entire Karela family. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
Avot
The Green Turf 
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