Sports

Godwin Odiko: Why Erik Ten Hag can’t continue with Fred and McTominay in Manchester United’s midfield

Published

2 years ago

August 8, 2022

After a very impressive pre-season campaign, everyone thought Manchester United would at least defeat Brighton on their home turf. But, it wasn’t the case as Manchester United suffered defeat in what will be the first time they are ending a season with a defeat and starting another with defeat in 49 years.

So, how did Manchester United players fare in the game?

I will begin with the goalkeeper David de Gea. He could have done better with the save he made for that Brighton’s second goal by parrying the shot to a much safer zone instead of pushing it to Pascal Gross’ leg. Overall, he had an average performance.

Luke Shaw will have to perform better than he did against Brighton if he wants to hold on to his starting spot in the team. Didn’t produce any significant performance going forward and was many times lacking positional awareness at the back. He truly needs to step up, otherwise, Tyrell Malacia will easily take over from him.

Lisandro Martinez had a decent game and could have scored also but his performance won’t get the desired recognition because of the team’s result on the day. However, I see him holding on to that left CB position for a very long time.

Harry Maguire’s performance was not too bad but he could have done better with the first goal. Completely lost his marker and his lack of pace will surely give the manager reason to drop him if the team’s collective performance doesn’t improve.

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Diogo Dalot has been preferred to Aaron Wan Bissaka in the right-back role but I thought he was abysmal against Brighton. He couldn’t even contribute anything meaningful going forward after being preferred to Wan Bissaka because of his attacking prowess. He too needs to improve if he wants to keep starting at Manchester United.

Fred was impressive in pre-season but couldn’t carry over the performance into Manchester United’s first game against Brighton and was hauled off in the second half. To be sincere, he doesn’t have the talent to get into any of the top four sides. So, if Manchester United really want to compete at the top level they will need to get a proper DM.

Just like Fred, McTominay won’t even get into any of the top six teams to be honest. Just to reiterate what Roy Keane said in his post-match analysis, both Fred and McTominay lack football intelligence to play at a club like Manchester United. So, if Manchester United really want wants to compete at the top they need to get in at least one decent defensive midfielder to complement the creative talent of the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen.

Going forward, I expect the coach to drop either one of Fred and McTominay or even drop both of them because if Manchester United truly want to compete for trophies this season and also finish in the top four, Fred and McTominay are the wrong people to depend on to achieve such aims.

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Jurgen Klopp needs to show more confidence in Darwin Nunez

The Liverpool manager has twice started the Uruguayan striker from the bench in the two competitive games the Reds have played so far in the season and twice the 23-year-old striker has found the back of the net coming from the bench.

Klopp is still insisting on starting Firmino ahead of Nunez but the truth is that the Brazilian international isn’t in the form of Nunez at the moment. Pep Guardiola has shown confidence in his new recruit Feeling Haaland and the Norwegian has repaid his manager’s trust by going on to score a brace in his first Premier League appearance.

There is no doubting Darwin Nunez goal scoring ability as he has shown in both the Community Shield and the Premier League so it’s time for Jurgen Klopp to trust the Uruguayan striker and start to include him in his starting lineup if he truly wants to compete with Manchester City for the battle of the title this season.

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Sports

EPL: Arteta makes Premier League ‘guarantee’ after Champions League exit

Published

12 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Seun Okerayi

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta has promised that the team will be “fully focused” on the Premier League title race after they exited the Champions League on Wednesday night.

The Gunners lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in Germany and 3-2 on aggregate.

Arteta’s men’s only chance of winning silverware is in the Premier League where they are two points behind Manchester City.

Arsenal are away to Wolves on Saturday, having lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa last weekend.

“We have to be close to the players. What they need to do is stand right next to them, give them our support and our love.

“We have to pick it up because we have a big, big game on Saturday.

“We really want it and we have to show that we’re capable of turning it around,” Arteta told reporters.

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Sports

Dortmund ready for PSG rematch after epic win over Atletico

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Seun Okerayi

Borussia Dortmund are relishing a rematch with Paris St Germain in the Champions League semi-finals. This was after knocking out Atletico Madrid in a thrilling tie on Tuesday to set up a meeting with the French side they played in the group stage.

Dortmund overturned a 2-1 deficit from their quarter-final first leg against Atletico to win 5-4 on aggregate.

They will now renew their acquaintance with PSG, who beat Barcelona 6-4 over two legs to book their semi-final berth.

Dortmund coach Edin Terzic feels his side, who won the Champions League in 1997, are now better prepared to face the French champions.

This was after the Germans lost away and drew at home in the group stage.

“Our first game against them wasn’t good. In the second game, we adjusted to them better and were closer to victory.

“I think we’re a better team today than we were against them in the group stage,” Terzic said, following the win over Atletico.

Midfielder Julian Brandt, who opened the scoring in the first half for Dortmund, could scarcely believe that his side had made it through to the last four after taking a two goal-lead, conceding two goals, and then scoring twice more.

“It was a crazy game for the fans and for us. A great game for us, for our fans and for all football fans around the world,” he said after receiving his man-of-the-match award.

“It’s going to be very serious now against Paris. We played well against them at home in the group stage, but not well away. We want to do better now and, of course, reach the final,” he added.

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For striker Niclas Fuellkrug, who also got on the scoresheet, the Champions League semi-finals will be a new experience.

“I’ve never played at this level before and I’m very proud to be in the semi-finals of the Champions League with my team,” he said.

“Things will certainly be different against Paris than in the group stage.”

Sports

Kaka’s ex-wife denies saying she divorced footballer for being ‘perfect’

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Seun Okerayi

Caroline Celico, the former wife of Brazilian football legend, Ricardo Kaka, has debunked reports making the round that she broke up with the football star because he was too “perfect for her”.

According to her, she broke up with Kaka on mutual grounds, and they have been nurturing their two kids together.

Kaka and Celico married in December 2005, and their marriage produced two children: a son, Luca Celico Leite (born June 10, 2008), and a daughter, Isabella Celico Leite (born April 23, 2011).

10 years after their marriage, they parted ways with none of them saying the reason for their divorce until Sunday after a fake quote suspected to be a statement from Celico went viral.

The statement read, “Kaka never betrayed me; he always treated me well, and he gave me a wonderful family, but I was not happy; something was missing. The problem was that he was too perfect for me.”

It has since sparked speculations from fans across the world, with some condemning her and others saying that she probably was not happy being with the 2007 Ballon d’Or winner.

However, taking to her Instagram story, Celico debunked the viral statement on her divorce from Kaká, labelling it as not only ‘false’ but also ‘fake’, while speaking on her future with her current husband, Eduardo Scarpa Julião.

The chef and food content creator wrote, “For those who haven’t heard from me for a long time… or have never heard before.

“And are UNFORTUNATELY hearing some fake news and FAKE quotes. Let me update you:

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“I got divorced almost 10 years ago, from those 14 years of relationship there are 2 lovely teenagers.

“It’s been almost 8 years. I am with my husband Eduardo, and we are having our first child next month.

“I have a lot of respect for my lifetime story, and I am very grateful for everything I have lived so far. My ex-husband and I found a healthy way to raise our children, and I’m so grateful for this.

“Please be welcome to my social media, which is a place I share about many subjects, such as family, work and spirituality, with a lot of respect and love.

“Thank you.”

Recall that the former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder remained a single father for about four years before deciding to marry a Brazilian model named Carolina Dias.

Meanwhile, Kaká’s ex-wife and her husband are also expecting their first child together.