Manchester united f.c news

Man Utd eye West Ham star Diop
Manchester United have shown an interest in West Ham's Issa Diop, says L'Equipe .
The Red Devils will reportedly make an approach for the former Toulouse man in the next few days.

Man Utd overtake City with £70m Maguire bid
Red Devils leading race for Leicester defender
Manchester United have edged ahead of arch-rivals City by tabling a £70 million ($88m) bid for Leicester defender Harry Maguire, claims Sky Sports .
The Foxes are said to have been in talks with the Red Devils and Blues for some time now, with a potential switch to Old Trafford now looking like the most likely option for an England international centre-half.

Spurs & Man Utd to battle for £70m Lo Celso
Real Betis will be looking to make at least £70 million ($88m) from any sale of GIovani Lo Celso, reports Marca.
Manchester United and Tottenham are both said to be keen on the Argentina international midfielder

Romelu Lukaku: Man Utd striker big part of squad, says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Romelu Lukaku still has a key role to play at Manchester United despite starting just one match since Jose Mourinho was sacked as manager, says interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The £75m ex-Everton striker has played for just 74 minutes in Solskjaer's six league games in charge, but started the FA Cup third-round win over Reading.
Solskjaer has favoured Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial.
But the Norwegian said Lukaku, 25, remains "a big part of the squad".
Only Rashford and midfielder Paul Pogba have scored more than the three goals Lukaku has managed since
Mourinho was sacked on 18 December.

Jose Mourinho blasted by Mark Hughes following comments after Man Utd's Southampton draw

The Saints flew into a 2-0 lead at St Mary's before being pegged back - leaving Mourinho to declare they were just "playing for a point" in the second half

Mark Hughes and Jose Mourinho have more history than Dan Snow.

So when the Welshman learned the Portuguese was trying to re-write their latest chapter by claiming Southampton had been “playing for the point” after the break in this ramshackle encounter, the Saints boss was not having it.

“Oh for Christ’s sake!” said the irked Old Trafford legend. “You guys were there, you know what it is.

“There was one team trying to press, had the majority of play in their half.

"Their play was flat. Our goalkeeper hasn’t made any saves in my recollection. Not the game we all saw.”

It was proof it is not only Manchester United fans and TV pundits who are annoyed by the way the Old Trafford club are playing under Mourinho – and his attempts to justify a team looking at home down in seventh place.

Yet it was appropriate that these two favourites in the Premier League manager’s sack race - who clashed literally at Stoke last year - needed to be figuratively separated after this draw.

Their next competition is to see who stays in a job longer and avoid becoming history.

But the Southampton players at least looked like they were up for the fight at their end of the table and wanted to keep Hughes in his job.

Mourinho deployed his usual diversionary tactics after a poor result with sound-bites about “mad dogs” and “simplicity is genius”.

Yet the truth is that, after a blundering start which again called into question the professional preparation of the players, Manchester United did not deserve to beat a side which started the day only off the bottom of the table on goal difference.

But torrid football, excuses and resignation have become the new normal on the red side of Manchester as another season slips away.

Mourinho’s team play likes he acts: sullen and inconsistent and lacking the traditional joie de vivre of this great club. Or “flat” as Hughes said.

The Portuguese complained about the lack of “fluidity” in his side while leaving Juan Mata on the bench. And he wanted more aggression with £50m Fred not called into action as Paul Pogba gave another lackadaisical display.

Instead Mourinho blamed his central defensive crisis after playing a Saints team which had scored 10 goals in their previous 13 matches.

“In the Premier League, to play a football match with one central defender is hard,” he whinged. The initiative was handed over before the start.

The consolation for United was that it could have been worse – and at least the car-crash first-half wasn’t boring.

A fine strike from Stuart Armstrong and a delicious free kick from Cedric Soares – when Scott McTominay was bizarrely crouching behind the wall - put Southampton two up after 20 minutes.

Yet with the Saints defence as fragile as their confidence, Marcus Rashford helped the visitors to level by half-time, as he set up goals for Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera.

“They have a good team and came back with individual skill,” said Soares. “We maybe slowed down a little bit. But after that in the second half I thought we were the better side again.

“Today we were again the better team. It’s just a very fine line that is not letting us reach the three points.”

‘Mourinho can F*** OFF’: Shocking message appears on Man Utd’s official website

MANCHESTER UNITED were left red-faced on Saturday after a supporter’s tweet, advocating Jose Mourinho leave the club, appeared on their website.

By Dan Gibbs / Published 3rd December 2018

Jose Mourinho’s side were held to a 2-2 draw against Southampton on Saturday as the Red Devils had to come from two goals down to share the points.

Having gone two goals down inside 20 minutes it was down to Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera to pull them level before the break.

As with every Premier League match, United’s match day blog was running on the website and the official club app.

But there was one tweet about Marcus Rashford, which was positive, from an account whose Twitter display name is ‘Mourinho can f*** off out of my club’.
The Times say United claim the embarrassing gaffe may have happened due to the account’s display name changing to something negative about Mourinho when initially the display name was acceptable at the time of posting.

The Red Devils sit seventh in the Premier League table, eight points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal, and 16 points behind leaders Manchester City.

And Mourinho was not happy at his side once again failing to take maximum points.

“Yes [it was two points dropped]. The result is not good so I have to say we dropped two points,” he said.

“If you are losing 4-0 and you get to 4-4 I would say maybe not. I think the comeback is good from 2-0 down to 2-2 in normal conditions everybody says it is a point gained, you have the game lost and you get a point, so normally you say it is a positive point, but it is a match that we want to win.

“It is a match where because of that good reaction in the first half we had 45 minutes to win the game.

“It was not like we had 10 minutes to win it, we had 45 minutes, so for me obviously it was not a good result.

“I think Scott [McTominay] and [Nemanja] Matic did a very positive job for two midfield players and Phil Jones led that group of three in a way where we were totally in control.

“I would say that the only problem that we had was that the two attacking players didn't have enough continuity, because in midfield we lost too many balls.”

United are next in action on Wednesday night when they welcome Arsenal to Old Trafford (8pm).

TRANSFER NEWS

Man Utd must sell to buy new defender in January

Manchester United will need to offload one or two centre-backs if they are to buy another in January, according to the Manchester Evening News.
The Red Devils' wage bill has risen dramatically following the capture of Alexis Sanchez at the start of the year.
And therefore one or two of Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo must be sold if United are to sign a new defender and reduce their wage bill.

Part Cristiano Ronaldo played in Diogo Dalot's Manchester United move.

Diogo Dalot says that Cristiano Ronaldo influenced his decision to sign for Manchester United.

The teenager moved to Old Trafford from Porto in the summer, and has figured in two first-team games this season as he tries to make his way in English football.

United fans raved about his display in the 3-0 Champions League win at Young Boys in September , while he was also one of the few bright spots in the penalty shootout defeat to Derby County in the Carabao Cup in the same month.

“Cristiano, I don't need to describe him because you already know him." Dalot said in an interview with MUTV.

"For me, since I remember, he was the inspiration to play football and of course, if you asked me if the fact he played here was also an influence to come, then of course I say yes.

"The way he played here, the way he developed, was unbelievable. I want to make that step too, to improve and play for many, many years here.

"He is an inspiration for everyone, for every player, for every young player. To have a player like that in the world, we just have to enjoy it for as long as he stays with us, playing and giving us the opportunity to enjoy his football.

"It was a proud few years for Manchester to have him here and, hopefully, one day the United fans will say it was good for them to have Dalot here.”

The full-back also said that Jose Mourinho's presence was a factor in his move too.

"Jose was a big influence on me coming here,” he said.

"He was very important. His history speaks for itself, the way he is coaching and the way that he has made football change.

“It is the fact that is he is Portuguese too. The relationship that he has with the players is very good, and it was quite impressive to me. He pushed me to come here and the way that he believed in me was very good.

"That is why I am here. He is a big reason why I came.”

FIRST HALF PREVIEW

Manchester United have enjoyed plenty of possession but have so far struggled to turn that into opportunities. Rashford and Martial have looked particularly dangerous with their pace causing both Mbabu and Benito problems down either flank. Young Boys have also looked dangerous themselves on numerous occasions when counter-attacking, and will look to continue in the second half how they performed in the first.
Chances have been few and far between in the opening half of the game. Rashford’s chipped effort in the opening five minutes was the closest that the hosts came to taking the lead and failed to really register any other golden chances. Young Boys, meanwhile, came close to breaking the deadlock through Sow just before the break. The visitors will certainly be the happier side at the break.

Jose Mourinho reveals why he dropped Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez against Young Boys.

Manchester United will secure their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League with victory over the Swiss outfit.

Mourinho made six changes to the team that was held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace at the weekend.

Striker Lukaku and midfielder Pogba were named on the bench, while Sanchez was left out of the squad altogether.

Asked to explain his team selection before the game, Mourinho told BT Sport: ‘They are are always asking for Rashford to play, so you cannot complain that Rashford is playing as a number nine.

‘And people like Fred, they play, so you cannot complain that Fred is playing.
So fresh blood, fresh legs, people that did not play in the last match two days ago. I always think that to play after two days is never so easy.

‘I try to keep a certain stability in the team, but with fresh people and the three attacking players are Lingard, Rashford and Martial.

‘All of them young, all of them fast, all of them are supposedly fresh, so that’s the way we go.’

Lukaku blasts back at Scholes and 'BS' criticism of Man Utd form
Chris Burton
18:09 27/11/2018

R. LUKAKU
The Belgian striker has seen his value to the Red Devils cause called into question this season, but he has learned to ignore his detractors

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku considers criticism from the likes of Paul Scholes over his form and physique to be “some BS”.
The 25-year-old acknowledges that his standards have slipped this season, with an 11-game goal drought being endured at club level.
The Belgium international is, however, of the opinion that he is being unfairly singled out during a testing campaign for all concerned at Old Trafford.

Former United favourite Scholes is among those to have questioned the Red Devils on a regular basis and told ESPN recently of Lukaku’s value to the cause: “I'm just not sure you are ever going to win the league with a goal scorer like him.”
Having been around long enough to have learned how to turn a deaf ear to his detractors, Lukaku is not overly concerned about the views of the United legend.
He told Bleacher Report: “I really don't respond to him.
“You know, when I see him before the TV, he still shakes my hand. And then do like everything is normal, so...”
Lukaku has, however, taken issue with those talking down the physical qualities he brings to the United side.
He added: “That's some BS!
“Yeah, that's some BS. I'm one of the strongest players in the league. I never get injured. I'm always there, so what's the problem?”

The best way for Lukaku to silence his critics would be to get back on the goal trail, with a proven performer unaccustomed to enduring such a barren run.
He said of his struggles in the final third: “Lately? Yeah, lately. Yeah, yeah. That bothers myself, because I'm a goalscorer.
“I want to score goals, I think I'm known for scoring goals, so that's something that bothers me really.”

Mourinho wants knockout game mentality from Manchester United
Lukaku saw a niggling knock prevent him from making the expected impact with United prior to the international break.
He was, however, back in Jose Mourinho’s starting XI for a meeting with Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Red Devils could only muster a goalless draw in that contest, to have them sat seventh in the Premier League, and they will be hoping for a welcome boost when attention switches to Champions League competition against Young Boys on Tuesday.