Liverpudlian who climbed his way to helm at Old Trafford...
UNITED have finally appointed their first football director, with John Murtough taking the reins at Old Trafford
But who is the man tasked with overseeing operations and strategy across all football functions at the club?
■ His history
MURTOUGH joined United in November 2013, having worked with David Moyes at Everton, and became the club’s head of football development in 2016.
Prior to that he was head of elite performance at the Premier League, following senior academy and player development roles at other clubs.
The Liverpudlian was involved in United’s overhaul of the academy and recruitment department as the club’s head of football development.
■ What does his new role mean?
MURTOUGH has been promoted to the role of football director with Darren Fletcher being made technical director – two new roles which are hoped will strengthen the club’s football operations.
The football director will have overall leadership and responsibility for operations and strategy across all football functions and Murtough will work closely with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the rest of the football staff to create the structures, processes and culture to deliver sustained success on the pitch.
He will work day-to-day with the United boss and Solskjaer will continue his role in the recruitment process, supported by extensive scouting and data analytics functions that will continue to report to Murtough.
Matt Judge will also report to the football director, with a new title of Director of Football Negotiations.
PEP Guardiola couldn’t have been plainer when he mused about the derby defeat and explained what he expected his players to learn from it.
No individual mistakes, he warned.
Up stepped Aymeric Laporte to loop his arm around Jannik Vestergaard, to discover that even giant Danish pine trees can be blown down by a breeze, if they want to be.
It was a penalty, Laporte’s mistake.
And just as City seemed to have secured the win at 4-1, Bernardo Silva’s sloppy pass, Laporte’s half-hearted challenge and a dozy Kyle Walker handed Saints a route back in.
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PEP Guardiola said after the derby defeat that he loves losing, as long as it’s not a loss that costs his team something.
Given that, and his assertion his squad had been
‘on fire’ in training, we expected an inferno of a start from the Blues.
Instead, Southampton looked like handing out another dose of reality with a swift start of their own.
But once City had re-discovered their feet, and their rhythm, they soon established their own reality, the reality of a march towards a third league title in four years.
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EVERYONE of a Blue persuasion wanted Kun to end the chatter about
REALITY CHECK AGUERO BACK
exactly how long it has been since his last goal.
And had it not been for the sodden Etihad turf holding up Aleks Zinchenko’s measured pass beyond the defence, he might have done just that.
City fans desperately want him to have a big couple of months – they are not ready to let him go just yet with his contract up at the end of the season!
■
AFTER a dreadful derby, some fans wanted the Belgian ace rested, but Guardiola decided to let him play his way back to form.
The energy was not 100 per cent, but the touch to tee-up Riyad Mahrez’s opener, the drive to score his first, and the great feet for his second were all sure signs that it was the right policy.
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DE BRUYNE DELIVERS FERNA FOREVER
EVERY game the Brazil midfielder plays until the end of the season will be scrutiny of his right to be given a new contract.
He found the opening phase of the game last night highly uncomfortable, but once City had shrugged off their hangover from the derby defeat on Sunday, he gave them control and tempo from deep in a way that no other City player can match.
Surely Pep, he is worth another contract at the end of this season?