..::Football IV::..

[Wolverine GTR]

Espanyol 0-2 Real Madrid: James & Benzema strike to give Merengue victory

Real Madrid maintained their 100 per cent record this season despite Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale sitting out the 2-0 La Liga win at Espanyol.

Coach Zinedine Zidane ruled Ronaldo and Bale out of the trip to the Estadi Cornella-El Prat due to illness and a hip injury respectively, while he handed a first start of the season to James Rodriguez.

That call was rewarded in first-half stoppage time as the Colombia playmaker fashioned space to open the scoring with an unerring 25-yard strike.

James' goal brought an end to an otherwise forgettable opening 45 minutes but Madrid operated with an easy control after the break and, having gone close on a few occasions, Karim Benzema – the remaining member of Zidane's feted "BBC" forward line – opened his account for the season to seal the victory.

Madrid sit three points clear of rivals Barcelona and surprise package Las Palmas after four matches, while Espanyol – who were left to rue a pair of first-half missed from Leo Baptistao – are still looking for their first win under Quique Sanchez Flores after two draws and as many defeats.

Madrid captain Sergio Ramos provided much of the early entertainment as he collected a deserved third-minute booking for clattering through Baptistao before powering a header wide from James' corner.

Baptistao might have still been feeling the effects of Ramos' boisterous introduction as he allowed Kiko Casilla to save in the Madrid goal following a dreadful clearance from Pepe.

Zidane suffered an unwelcome addition to his fitness concerns when holding midfielder Casemiro departed with an apparent calf injury in the 19th minute, with Toni Kroos on in his place.

Ramos' eventful outing continued as he took a Hernan Perez piledriver in the face and created more work for the Madrid medical staff.

Benzema was largely starved of service up front in the absence of Madrid’s attacking superstars and his eagerness to get on the end of Marcelo's cross from deep on the left flank resulted in a goal being ruled out for offside.

Baptistao flicked a header beyond Casilla's despairing dive but wide from Javi Lopez's centre and the Espanyol striker would regret his wastefulness when James muscled past Pape Diop to arrow a drive into the bottom corner.

Diego Lopez produced a high-class save to prevent Benzema from scoring a goal of comparable quality in the 59th minute – the Frenchman exquisitely controlling Lucas Vazquez's header and hitting a rasping volley on the turn that was met with the Espanyol goalkeeper's razor-sharp reactions.

Javi Lopez and Oscar Duarte combined to scramble behind as Vazquez and Benzema sought to increase Madrid's advantage in 67th minute, shortly before Diego Lopez tipped a bouncing low strike from the latter behind.

The goal Benzema's endeavours deserved arrived 19 minutes from time as Vazquez steered a low cross to the near post that left him with a simple finish.

With Gerard Moreno unable to maintain his prolific start to the season in attack for Espanyol, Flores turned to Felipe Caicedo from the bench and the powerhouse Ecuadorian had an attempt brilliantly blocked by Pepe.

Casilla was alert to push Caicedo's deflected follow-up behind before Madrid closed out the points comfortably, ensuring Ronaldo and Bale's absences were of little consequence.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'What the f***?!' - Watch Pep Guardiola lose his patience in Man City press conference

Pep Guardiola rarely hides his emotions when dealing with his players and he is no different with journalists, either.

After watching his Manchester City side continue their perfect start to the season by beating Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday he was asked if the Blues can go on to win all four competitions.

His response? He muttered "what the f***?" under his breath before seemingly contemplating his very existence for more than 10 seconds - a lifetime in press conference terms.

Guardiola was clearly less than impressed by the seemingly innocuous question, but after appearing to lose the will to live he did expand on his initial offering, pointing out that guiding City to the Champions League would be a particularly difficult ask.

"So Manchester City arrived in their lives in the Champions League semi-final once, so when the people believe I am going to win the Champions League because I am a really good coach... I don’t think so, guys", he offered.

"My happiness does not depend on if I am going to win all the titles or not, so my target is now to be happy today, drink a little bit of wine, and tomorrow prepare the game and of course I am going to try to win our League Cup game [against Swansea City], there is no doubt about that.

"After we are going to see, so my question is today is: are the people who came to this game really enjoying it? Yes? Wow, that is enough. To win titles or not we will see."

But in three words he had already summed his feelings quite clearly.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Sane will play against Swansea - Guardiola

Pep Guardiola says that Leroy Sane will feature in Manchester City's EFL Cup tie against Swansea City this week.

Sane has played just 48 minutes of Premier League football this season following his £37 million transfer from Schalke, making his debut in the 2-1 victory over Manchester United.

A hamstring injury delayed the start of Sane's City career but Guardiola claims the 20-year-old, who replaced Ilkay Gundogan in the second half of City's 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday, is now ready to be involved from the start of a game.

Guardiola told reporters after the victory over Bournemouth: "He was ready to start today. But I decided to play [others]."Leroy was injured at the beginning and it's much better now. He's had one or two weeks' training with us and every day is much better.

"I know his quality and of course he needs minutes and the next game of course he's going to have these minutes."

 

[Alucard_SxE]

Simeone surprised at home to previously unbeaten Sporting Gijon by naming a very offensive line-up with two strikers, two wingers, and attack-minded Koke and Saul in midfield. The move paid off too, with Atletico 2-0 up inside four minutes, and eventually easing to a 5-0 win with Antoine Griezmann again outstanding.


Feels like AM will change their tactics this season The first couple of matches were pretty dissapointing to say the least. They netted 4 goals vs Celta & 5 vs Gijon after that. Pretty impressive. Wonder what'll happen if they play this formation against a much aggressive side like sevilla or las palmas. If they concede then, then their will be high drama vs barca & real. we'll see this wednesday

 

[Alucard_SxE]

Found this on reddit. So sad for a fan when this kind of thing is happening to the club he loves.

I am a supporter of Sport Club Internacional, from Brazil. Now let me tell you guys a story:
In 2006 Inter were champions of the Copa Libertadores and then champions of the FIFA Club World Cup beating Barcelona and reaching the biggest success in club history. Last year they got to the semi-finals of Copa Libertadores but missed out on a finals spot being knocked out by Tigres.
Today, they've lost to América-MG, who before the game had a mere 15 points out of 25 games and were in last place 8 points behind the team in front. Inter now has 1 win in the last 18 games. Now, in 18th place, 2 points behind the first team outside the relegation zone, it seems obvious to everyone (myself included) that we're being relegated at the end of the season.
To put a bit more context to it, only 3 teams have took part in every edition of the Brasileirão, Flamengo, Cruzeiro (who are looking dire too) and Internacional.
Since 2011 the club has had terrible management, with constant manager changes and very low national success. After the 2015 Libertadores the club sold it's biggest players, Nilmar and Aránguiz, and then loaned D'Alessandro, best player of the team, fan idol and team capitain, in the beggining of 2016 to River Plate.
Most of you don't really care about brazilian football and it's teams, and I get it, but as a fan I can't stand to watch my team do this bad and be quiet about it.
/r/soccer has been a big escape valve for me. Focusing about european football, following the Premier League, La Liga and a bit of Serie A has really made me think less about my team. It also makes me see the huge difference in quality between the leagues. I will certainly keep doing the same I do everyday, get on reddit and check about football and will still love this wonderful sport in all it's glory.
I apologize for any grammar mistakes I might have made, I just wanted to let it all out and thought this sub was the appropriate place to do so.​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Real Madrid won't give an inch after La Liga heartbreak - Carvajal

After missing out on the title by one point last season, Dani Carvajal says Real Madrid will not be giving anything away this term.

Madrid pushed Barcelona all the way to the final day of the 2015-16 campaign, but were unable to topple the Catalan giants, with both sides winning their final matches.

Zinedine Zidane's team maintained their 100 per cent record at the start of the new campaign with a 2-0 victory over Espanyol on Sunday, a result which saw them equal Barca's record of 16 successive La Liga victories achieved in 2010-11.Carvajal is desperate for Madrid to drop as few points as possible, having missed out by such a small margin last term.

"It's a nice record to equal the 16 victories, but we must keep thinking game by game," said the right-back.

"Now we are thinking about three points on Wednesday against Villarreal, but what we are seeing is a reflection of the great work from Zidane and the team."La Liga has just started, we are going into matchday five and there are 38 [matchdays]. We think about adding three [points] because last year at the end we lost by one point.

"All are important and we are not going to give any away."Zidane took over at the Santiago Bernabeu in January and, under his stewardship, Madrid have dropped just seven points in the Spanish top division.

The 1998 World Cup winner's man-management has been key to the club's stellar run, according to Carvajal.

"He has found the key to making everyone feel important," he added. "And keeping the egos apart - that is the basis for success today and I hope it remains so."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Makelele: Kante is the best defensive midfielder in the world

Claude Makelele hopes N'Golo Kante can become the best holding player in the world but claimed the Chelsea midfielder has work to do if he is to perfect the position.

Former France international Makelele was widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world at the peak of his career, shielding the backline and distributing the ball to more gifted attacking team-mates with understated brilliance at Real Madrid and Chelsea.

The 43-year-old, who began his career at Nantes and also played for Marseille and Celta Vigo before retiring in 2011 after a spell with Paris Saint-Germain, was asked by UEFA's website which active player he considers to be the best in his old role."It is a position where it is difficult to play," he said.

"You must be a leader. You must work with your team-mates in midfield. I like N'Golo Kante, but is he better than me at this? I do not know. He still needs time to fully learn the job, to learn about football."

Kante burst onto the scene at Leicester City last season, powering Claudio Ranieri's team to a shock Premier League title triumph after being plucked from the relative obscurity of Caen.

His efforts in the Foxes' unexpected triumph earned him a place in the France squad for Euro 2016 and a big-money move to Chelsea, where the 25-year-old is already demonstrating his worth to Antonio Conte's side. "He is a young player I really like, and I hope he will be better than I was," former Blues favourite Makelele said.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Dele Alli signs new Spurs deal

Dele Alli has agreed a new Tottenham contract, tying him to the club until 2022.
In an indication of the 20-year-old's importance to Mauricio Pochettino's team, Alli has already been handed improved terms at White Hart Lane despite earning a new five-year deal in January.

The attacking midfielder, signed from MK Dons in February 2015, has been a revelation in north London since making his Spurs debut in August last year, helping the club challenge for the Premier League title and being selected for England's Euro 2016 squad.

Speaking in an interview with the club's website after they announced his new deal on Monday, Alli indicated he is still coming to terms with his meteoric rise in the game."I remember when I was young and I wasn't playing football and I was looking up to the footballers and looking on the websites and seeing what they were doing," he said.

"I'm still the same kid as I always have been and nothing's changed for me off the pitch - I'm still the same person."I'm happy to be here and playing at Tottenham. Personally, I can't think of anywhere better with the fans, the manager we've got here and the young team - it's a great place to be."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Adebayor deal cancelled by Genesio, say Lyon

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas claims manager Bruno Genesio and his backroom staff took the decision to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta ahead of Emmanuel Adebayor.

Free agent Adebayor was expected to join the Ligue 1 club last week, only for the deal to fall through. Lyon cited concerns over the 32-year-old's lack of availability during the Africa Cup of Nations and his ineligibility for the Champions League group stage, prompting an angry rebuke from the ex-Arsenal player.Teenage forward Mateta has instead been recruited from Chateauroux, with Aulas hinting the acquisition of the 19-year-old on a five-year deal is likely to prove better business than handing a short-term contract to the veteran Adebayor.

"Actually we had, after the injury to [Alexandre] Lacazette, identified a number of players," he told Canal+."Two players were approached. For Mateta there was [interest from] Juventus and other French clubs. Emmanuel Adebayor had agreed to come two days late.You could make a transfer on one hand and a big payday on the other.

"Bruno and his staff made the decision. We had released the funds. As always, it is the technical staff who make the ultimate decision, we followed that decision."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Valbuena: I have not thought about Benzema

Mathieu Valbuena is determined to prove himself at Lyon and win back his place in the France team as he seeks to forget an unhappy 2015-16 season.

Valbuena, 31, was not selected by Didier Deschamps for Euro 2016 on home soil.
His compatriot Karim Benzema was also absent from the European Championship after being charged as part of an investigation into an alleged attempt to blackmail Valbuena over a sex tape. The attacking midfielder has acknowledged, unsurprisingly, the previous campaign was one to forget, professionally and personally.

"It was a s***** season," he told France 2."The Benzema thing? It was not easy - you have to be strong. I have no complaint against him, and we have not met since. Frankly, I haven't thought about it since the end of the Euro.

"I watched all the matches of Les Bleus. For me, the France team, it's not over, well not like that anyway," he added, referring to his hopes of a national team recall.

Valbuena is yet to start in Ligue 1 this season after being made available for transfer in the off-season, but the former Marseille playmaker wants to stay and prove himself at Parc OL.

"I'll do everything to succeed in Lyon," he said."It is a great club which is well structured, has good young players and a beautiful stadium.

"I was surprised to be placed on the transfer list. I have not been informed by anyone, I heard that I had not shaken hands with [club president Jean-Michel] Aulas."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Klopp: Every Liverpool line-up I pick will be a strong one

Jurgen Klopp has no intention of resting players that are fully fit when Liverpool tackle Derby County in the third round of the EFL Cup, with the manager confident every line-up he fields this season will be a formidable one.

The Reds travel to Pride Park on Tuesday evening on the back of a four-game unbeaten run, and the 49-year-old is determined to ensure that streak is extended.To that end, he is averse to changing his first XI unnecessarily, stating he wants Liverpool to maintain their good rhythm.

“In my opinion, we only have strong line-ups,” Klopp said in his media briefing at Melwood.“That's the good news, and you can be sure that we will find a strong line-up again for this game.

“If a player after the game had a little bit of an issue or whatever then of course we wouldn't go and risk him in this game. “But it's not about resting 100% fit players - it's a normal rhythm, it's a rhythm we want to have in the next season again with games every three and four days. “It's not that we are not used to it. We know how to handle it, we know about recovery.

“But it's all about taking risks in football, but not with players when they are not 100% fit. [There is] no decision made until now because it's still a short time after the [Chelsea] game. “We have to wait a little bit. The session this afternoon will be important, only to see how they feel and I have to make decisions.”

Klopp revealed Roberto Firmino is in contention against to face the Rams, but Mamadou Sakho still needs time to work on his sharpness.“We gave him yesterday and today again because the medical department told me that he could have played [on Friday],” he said on the Brazilian.

“But I heard the word risk too often so I decided no. I’m very happy that it worked out.“They told me if we give him three days then everything will be perfect. Today is the fourth day. He has already had three, so he is in.”

On Sakho, Klopp added: “He is still working on [his fitness].“Of course he is closer, he is still working. But [being] match fit is a big difference. That’s all. It’s not about only making a few sessions.

“It’s not about how the player feels. It’s about how I feel and how close the player is. That needs time. It’s a long, long time that he didn’t play, for sure.“All the other players had not that long a break. Then it makes more sense that you really use the time and that’s what we are working on.”

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Ronaldo and Bale return to Madrid training

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale returned to training with their Real Madrid team-mates on Monday.

The pair missed Madrid's 2-0 win over Espanyol on Sunday, a result that saw them equal Barcelona's La Liga record of 16 successive victories achieved in 2010-11.

Ronaldo, who only returned to action from a knee injury sustained in Portugal's Euro 2016 final victory over France in the 5-2 win against Osasuna on September 10, sat the match out with flu.

Bale, meanwhile, was suffering from a sore hip after being caught in a challenge by Sebastian Coates in last week's 2-1 victory over Sporting CP.

The Welshman took the blow in the first half, but continued playing until he was substituted in the 67th minute.The pair could be in line to feature in Wednesday's match against Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu, with coach Zinedine Zidane having last week expressed his desire to rotate the squad.

Casemiro was withdrawn after 19 minutes against Espanyol and he trained separately from the group on Monday, with Pepe also working away from his team-mates.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Montella backs AC Milan to keep Donnarumma

AC Milan boss Vincenzo Montella is confident the club will retain the services of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Donnarumma's agent Mino Raiola sparked alarm when he hinted his 17-year-old client could look to leave Italy, telling Rai: "Gianluigi is a rare jewel, and rare jewels should be displayed in the most beautiful window. Otherwise, what kind of jewel is he?"But Montella, speaking ahead of Tuesday's Serie A clash with Lazio, told reporters at his news conference: "[Donnarumma] doesn't have to worry; the club will surely renew his contract.

"Raiola is originally from the south [of Italy], like me and like Donnarumma, so I'm sure he will sign the contract no matter what [Raiola] says."I say that with a smile on my face because Mino is good at his job, the same as the club management at Milan."

Milan enjoyed an encouraging 1-0 victory at Sampdoria on Friday and Montella will now be looking for his players to show they have the quality to mount a push for a European spot with the Lazio visit to San Siro followed by a trip to Fiorentina at the weekend.

"Six points in four matches is more or less what we were expecting. We are though disappointed we lost against Udinese," Montella added.

"Lazio are improving and have been working on this project for a long time."They have good players, we have to keep concentrated. They know how to play offensively, and play on the wings. Their midfield is very strong, we'll see if [Lucas] Biglia will be back from his injury."Tuesday won't be an easy game, therefore we have to be prepared both in our minds and physically. I expect us to do play well.

"I will likely make a few changes. I don't like to play always with the same players.
"We still have one training session before the game, I'll decide tomorrow morning. Though, I don't like to change more than one player per position.

"Luca Antonelli has a head injury, it's not easy to know exactly when he will be ready. Mattia De Sciglio is fine. He trained yesterday with the rest of the group and he can be called up for tomorrow's match."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mata: Man Utd have no time for mourning

Juan Mata says Manchester United do not have time to mourn their surprise defeat to Watford and has called for a reaction against Northampton Town and Leicester City.

United conceded twice late on to lose 3-1 at Vicarage Road in the Premier League on Sunday, marking the first time since 2001-02 that Jose Mourinho has lost three successive matches in a single season.

However, Spain international Mata has sought to put a positive spin on the team's difficult situation and urges them to take their chances to bounce back.

"As I always say, one of the best things of football is that the game is testing you all the time," he wrote in a blog on United's official website. "A win doesn't last too long, and it happens the same way with a defeat."You have the chance to make it up soon afterwards."Two more games this week will give us the opportunity to show on the pitch our pride and skills. There's no time for mourning. We must react."

As they seek to respond to recent disappointments, United are away to third-tier opposition on Wednesday followed by a challenging assignment at home to title-holders Leicester on Saturday."First of all, we visit Northampton Town in the EFL Cup, in our first game of the season in this competition," Mata said.

"We are the favourites in this game and we have to deliver, with all due respect to the opponent because, despite being in League One, Northampton Town has already knocked out a Premier League side like West Brom."I'm sure the stadium will be packed and they will try to make things difficult for us. And next weekend we are back to the Premier League, this time at Old Trafford against Leicester.

"Playing a nice game against the current champions would be the best signal that we could send to our supporters. In order to do so, we have to improve and work hard in every sense."I believe this team is capable of doing great things this season."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Ramsey still sidelined, confirms Wenger

Arsene Wenger could welcome Gabriel back for Arsenal's EFL Cup third-round tie at Nottingham Forest but Tuesday's match comes too soon for Aaron Ramsey.

Wales midfielder Ramsey has been sidelined since the opening weekend of the season, when he sustained a hamstring injury during the 4-3 Premier League defeat to Liverpool.

The Ramsey setback came on the back of some ill-timed injuries towards the end of pre-season, including Brazilian centre-back Gabriel damaging his ankle against Manchester City in Gothenburg."[Gabriel] has a chance to play against Forest," Wenger said, before delivering less satisfactory news on Ramsey, who is also likely to miss Saturday's London derby against Chelsea.

"He is still out – I don't think he will be ready for the weekend either."Olivier Giroud is targeting to return in the match against Antonio Conte's side, while long-term absentee Carl Jenkinson is also on the mend.

"Everyone came out of the Hull game well," Wenger added. "Giroud is still not available - we will see at the end of the week if he can join in."[Jenkinson] is improving, he is not quite back in full training yet."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Bravo: I joined City to avoid being benched at Barca

The prospect of sitting on the bench at Barcelona persuaded Claudio Bravo to join Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Chile international Bravo ended a trophy laden two years at Camp Nou by signing for Pep Guardiola's side last month.

Despite an error-strewn debut in the 2-1 derby win over Manchester United, the 33-year-old kept back-to-back clean sheets in last week's 4-0 home wins over Borussia Monchengladbach and Bournemouth.

Bravo was Luis Enrique's first-choice goalkeeper for LaLiga matches over the past two seasons, with Germany international Marc-Andre ter Stegen stepping in for cup games.However, Bravo told Cadena SER that, with Ter Stegen set to take his place as Barca's number one this time around, he felt it was time to move on.

"It was not me that was [first] at Barca, it was Ter Stegen," he said, having started the season in the Barcelona side as Ter Stegen returned from injury.

"The club made me an offer to renew but, seeing their plans, I also made them understand my position."I was very sincere, I did not want to sit on the bench. It's not my thing. And they understood.

"In Barcelona I always devoted myself to doing my best, I always felt the support."
Bravo insists that the competition between the pair did not lead to a difficult relationship between himself and Ter Stegen.

"What appeared in the press – that we had a bad relationship and things were uncomfortable at the end – was not true," he added."It was never a problem, indeed, we both always benefitted from the competition."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Jardim: Falcao needs to play more to reach his peak

Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim has urged patience with Radamel Falcao, stating he is unsure whether the striker is fully fit and ready to complete 90 minutes for the Ligue 1 leaders.

Falcao scored his first goal in France's top flight since August 2014 in Saturday's 3-0 win over Rennes, following two unsuccessful seasons on loan with Manchester United and Chelsea.

Nevertheless, Jardim is keen to play down expectations surrounding the Colombia international, whose struggles can be traced back to a cruciate knee ligament injury that forced him to miss the 2014 World Cup.

"It's normal that he is not at 100 per cent because he did not play for a month," Jardim told a press conference ahead of Wednesday's derby against second-place Nice."He needs to play more and more to reach his level. I don't know if he'll be able to play 90 minutes. We'll see what happens, and we'll have to substitute him if needed."

Regardless of which players he selects to see out the match against Nice, Jardim insists there is no way any of his squad should be lacking for motivation at the Allianz Riviera."I think that playing a derby is very good, it's a very important game for our fans and for us," he said.

"I think this year it'll be a bigger game because it's first against second and I think it's been many years since we've had this derby with the two teams at the top of the league."Because of all this, we have all the reasons to play a good game."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Fellaini: Manchester United are in 'little crisis'

Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini has admitted his club have fallen into a "little crisis" after losing three games in just over a week. The club started life under Jose Mourinho with victory in the Community Shield and three consecutive Premier League wins.

Since then, however, the club has tasted defeat against Manchester City and Watford domestically, while Feyenoord got the better of them in the Europa League.

And Fellaini affirmed that such results were unacceptable at Old Trafford."We can say it’s a little crisis, because a club like Manchester United cannot lose three games," the former Everton man said to SFR Sports. United will have to chance to break their losing run on Wednesday, when they visit Northampton Town in the League Cup.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mourinho cannot adopt siege mentality at Man Utd - Atkinson

Jose Mourinho must not adopt a siege mentality at Manchester United if he is to be successful at Old Trafford, according to Ron Atkinson.

After winning his first four competitive games as United manager, Mourinho has seen his team lose three matches in eight days - including a 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester City.

The Portuguese, who was critical of both refereeing displays in his side's defeats against City and most recently Watford, has adopted an us-against-the-world approach at all of his previous clubs.

But Atkinson - who led United to two FA Cup successes in 1983 and 1985 - does not believe that style of management will work for Mourinho in charge of the Red Devils."I have never been a huge fan of this siege mentality he brings to his clubs," Atkinson said.

"There's nothing wrong with being fiercely protective of your players, but that doesn't mean you have to antagonise everybody else."I don't think that approach would work at Manchester United because it can lead to the club becoming claustrophobic.

"It is a global brand and you cannot run it as your personal fiefdom. United is an ­expansive club, it's a club of the people. Telling everyone that 'It's us against the world' doesn’t really wash, because United have lots of friends – they probably have more fans on the planet than anyone else.

"Jose has an engaging personality and it would be a shame if he got sidetracked by siege mentality and taking on the world."Atkinson added: "I was surprised by the way United played in the derby."All credit to City, who look phenomenal, but I thought Jose would have set up his team to play higher up the pitch.

"It would have been an eye-opener for him to see the way City went about it, with David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne finding pockets of space."United were never outnumbered in midfield, but they were ­outmanoeuvred. You can't imagine that scenario if Roy Keane and Paul Scholes had been playing.

"For the first 10 minutes, they would have announced themselves, and tried to break up the little ­triangles City were forming, and I didn't see that in Jose's team in the derby."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Klopp: Liverpool won’t talk about trophies, we’ll do everything to win them

Jurgen Klopp expects Liverpool to replicate their authoritative top-flight displays in the League Cup against Derby County on Tuesday night as they aim to better last season’s status as beaten finalists.

The Reds smashed in five unanswered goals in the second round of the competition at Burton Albion on August 23, and since then have secured league victories against Leicester City and Chelsea as well as picking up a point away at Tottenham.

They were the superior side in all of those fixtures, and Klopp demands that trend continue at Pride Park.He has designs on winning the tournament after losing a penalty shootout to Manchester City in last season’s showpiece at Wembley.

“It makes only sense to be part of a competition, especially cup competitions, with the aim to win it – there is no other reason why we should start in it,” he said at Melwood on Monday.

“It’s not that we have nothing else to do - we could train today and tomorrow, which would be very important, but [instead] we have a very competitive game against a strong side.“It’s not that we say every day we want to win the EFL Cup, but it’s a very important tournament and we showed last year that it’s really exciting to be part of it.

“We had a lot of great games and being part of it helped us a lot, to learn more about each other and how we react in specific situations. That’s what we want to do again.

“The final was a great experience – always being part of a final is great, but only really great when you win it. That’s what we had to accept after the game, but the final was good for us.

“We start in this competition to win it, but it’s not important to talk about it – it’s more important to show it on the pitch again. It will be a real challenge.“It’s not about talking about it [winning trophies], it’s about doing everything so that you come as close as possible to get them.

“Whatever I could say now, nothing would change but everybody can imagine that we are really ambitious in all competitions – it’s the only reason we do it [compete in them] – but it doesn’t help to talk about it.“It’s all about using the moment, having a good squad with a very good working attitude and big skills.


"The only problem we have is that are are a lot of teams around that are not really worse, to be honest – they can play football too, so you have to find your own way to be a little bit better on each matchday. That’s what we’re working on.”