Riyahd’s teammates give him a new name
As I wrote last week Riyahd Mharez is in a bitter battle with his employers Leicester City. Following his failure to move clubs in the January Transfer Window Riyahd went missing from training and did not turn up for the match against Everton last week. The result of that is a huge £200,000 fine. Riyahd has now missed four training sessions. However, there is an amusing side to the story. On the final day of the transfer window last summer he waited patiently at Paris airport for a telephone call to tell him to fly to Barcelona, Manchester (City) or London where Chelsea and Tottenham were also in the mix to sign him. However, no call came and Riyahd spent a few hours at the airport. Eventually he had to go home to Leicester a very disappointed man. Since then his club colleagues have nicknamed him “Viktor” after Viktor Navorski who was the film character played by Hollywood actor Tom Hanks in the movie “Terminal”. In the film Viktor gets trapped in New York’s John F Kennedy airport because US Immigration would not let him enter the country. He remained living in the airport terminal for several months.
I am rather nervous writing about Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. As I have mentioned before, his job at Chelsea is under serious threat because owner Roman Abramovich accepts nothing except success and Chelsea’s last two results 0-3 and 1-4 are not what he expects from his Championship winning team and manager. The Blues are also 19 points behind leaders Manchester City and no realistic chance of retaining their title. Antonio publicly criticizing his board of directors for not showing more commitment in the transfer window was not a clever move. Telling his Chelsea bosses to publicly back him with a strong statement of support was not a clever move either. Abramovich has never done that for a manager since he bought the club 15 years ago. The curse of winning the Premier League title one season and being sacked the next could happen to Antonio before you read this column. Don’t forget that Leicester sacked Claudio Ranieri the following season after winning the title. My inside spies tell me that the two likely candidates to replace the manager are Luis Enrique and Gus Hiddinck. Conte planned to give his players one day off this week but after the 4-1 Watford beating he gave them 3 days off to recover. Many players had been unhappy with the manager’s tough training programme and Chelsea has suffered nine hamstring injuries this season. The game against West Brom this weekend is a must win to retain their fourth place Premier League position and probably save Antonio his job.
It is the old story...when his team isn’t playing its best football Jose Mourhino usually tries to put the blame elsewhere and never with himself. After the Reds rather lacklustre 2-0 win against Huddersfield he decided it was the fans fault for not motivating the team enough to make the win more emphatic. He accused the fans of being “too quiet”. He even claimed that 17,000 fans at Portsmouth’s small Fratton Park made more noise than the 76,000 fans at Old Trafford. He has encouraged the United faithful to find their voices again and start cheering for all they are worth. However, I put this point to you: Manchester United fans are among the best and most loyal. United have a unique position in world football and are a key part as to why the Premier League is the most famous and most keenly watched in the world from Japan to Europe and from Africa to America. The American Glazer family own United but their relentless ticket price rises mean more profit for themselves and enhances the value of their equity in the club. The new ticket prices have meant that many loyal local fans can no longer go to watch matches. They cannot afford the high prices. Often United are watched by tourists who come to see the famous names at the equally famous Old Trafford. It is something to be ticked off on the list of things to do on holiday. These fans do not cheer in the way passionate genuine United fans make their voices heard. And as for Mourhino himself…he does not play the exciting football championed by say Pep Guardiola up the road at City or Pochettino at Spurs. Mourhino will play for a defensive 1-0 win whereas City will go all out for goals and exciting quick passing football. United fans have put up with a lot of heartache over the last few years with the failure of Moyes and Loius van Gaal for instance.
Manchester United are arranging for goalkeeper David De Gea a lucrative new deal to keep him at Old Trafford for the rest of his career. De Gea has 18 months left on his £190,000-a-week deal, with the option for United to extend that agreement by an extra year to 2020. But United boss Jose Mourinho revealed the club are already planning to keep De Gea - a longterm target for Real Madrid - way beyond that time with the offer of a new contract.
United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward plans to open talks with De Gea’s representatives over a new agreement that will see the goalkeeper earn an estimated world beating £250,000-a-week.
“It’s obvious that we’re not going to let the option disappear,” said Mourinho. De Gea’s possible move to Real Madrid collapsed on transfer deadline day in August 2015, with the Spanish international then committing to a new four-year deal with United. The 26-year-old has since developed into arguably the best goalkeeper in world football and United are determined not to lose him. Many Arsenal fans are questioning manager Arsene Wenger’s strategy of playing new £56million record signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wide outside with Alexandre Lacazzette in the middle. Why, I heard many ask, does the manager not play both strikers in the middle and support them with four players behind to give a stronger service forward and thus creating many more scoring chances? Fans say they would prefer 4-4-2 to give more punch in front of goal. When I went to the Arsenal game on Saturday I looked twice when I thought I saw music superstar Rihanna. And then I saw her again, sitting in one of the VIP seats. Later it all became clear because she is a friend of Arsenal star Mersut Ozil. The two met in 2014 when Rihanna celebrated with the German team after their World Cup win in Argentina. The two have stayed in touch and Mesut invited her to watch the match on Saturday. She must have been pleased because Mesut played very well and the Gunners won 3-1.