Awful irony as Ranocchia fails to reach Row Z
By all accounts, it took some persuading for Andrea Ranocchia to go on loan to Hull City, even though he was not getting a game at Inter Milan.
According to the Italian club, Ranocchia (right) did not fancy it in the Premier League and had turned down the chance to play in England in the past, even for bigger clubs.
However, Inter told him that a physical, strong
defender such as he would thrive and, overall, the 29-year-old Italian international has done well. How horribly ironic, then, that with his blunder against Crystal Palace, an air-shot when he had to simply clear the ball, gifting them their opening goal that consigned Hull to relegation, Ranocchia failed in the very thing that Inter told Hull he was pretty good at: putting it in Row Z.
As for Hull’s head coach, Marco Silva – whose contract expires at the end of this season, relegation meaning that a 12-month extension will not be triggered – it has been said that neither Sam Allardyce nor Paul Clement have received sufficient praise, while he has been lauded for the work he has done. Both Allardyce and, in particular,
The danger is that by doing so, he has given the impression that league games do not matter, and so United have drawn at home to Swansea City and were beaten at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and as much as their fans sing that “Jose has got us playing the way we should” – to the tune of Herman’s Hermits’ I’m Into Something Good – this is not what was expected, stylistically as much as in terms of results.
But if United do not win in Stockholm, it will be a nightmare scenario for Mourinho. The team are desperately in need of major surgery, an ailing patient still trying to find a way back to rude health. He bought reasonably last summer – at a very heavy price – but it has turned out to be an expensive shoring-up exercise, a make-do-and-mend measure, albeit one covered by cheques for tens of millions of pounds.
If United are back in the Europa League, recruitment will be difficult. They will also be caught in a dreadful cycle for Mourinho, who has been dismissive of the competition in the past, and only now clings to it because of that Champions League prize and because of the other argument that the club have never won the Europa League or, in its past format, the Uefa Cup. He will have been thankful when that was pointed out to him, as it affords him the chance to make history.
United managers do not, traditionally, win trophies in their first season (although, following Mourinho’s line, David Moyes did when he won the Community Shield) so he has already done that.
“I don’t know other clubs, I don’t know the way they think, I don’t know what is important for them,” Mourinho said after Sunday’s defeat by Spurs. “We, Manchester United, for us it’s more important to win titles than to finish top four.”
It is another persuasive argument, but success or failure now rests on one match. One match. Mourinho does well in finals, winning 11 of the 13 he has reached – although this is his first European final since winning the Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010 – and he will have to do so again. Next Wednesday represents the biggest game of his career. Lose, and that island will feel even smaller.
Clement at Swansea City, have done brilliantly at their clubs. But let’s be fair – as dire as the situation was that they each inherited, it was nothing compared to the shambles Silva faced at Hull. That he got them even close is remarkable – as numerous clubs have noticed – and he will have offers. Management is about making the most of what is available. He made bricks without straw.