Manchester United library, Mo Salah the miracle man and life’s a pitch at Leicester: the Premier League weekend exposed
Charlie Adam broke his own personal best with his sprint towards the tunnel to get out of the snow and Alan Pardew's 'unlucky' West Brom
DON'T you just love weekends like the one we’ve just had?
Snow everywhere.
Freezing faces and frozen toes.
Players in gloves (and short sleeves?).
Yes, it was another wonderful weekend of Premier League and FA Cup action.
All it needed was an orange ball…
IS THIS A LIBRARY?
It’s not often I agree with Jose Mourinho but having braved the blizzards to attend Manchester United v Brighton on Saturday evening, I was struck by just how spot on he was when he questioned the atmosphere (or lack thereof) at Old Trafford these days.
Save for a pocket of United fans in the corner usually given over to away supporters, the place was silent, soulless and half empty by 80 minutes.
SHAW BUST-UP Manchester United star Luke Shaw in amazing training ground bust-up with Jose Mourinho
It may have been the weather – it was brass monkeys, after all – but it seems United are caught in a vicious circle at the moment, especially at home. The more the team stutter like they did on Saturday, the less excited the crowd get. The less excited the crowd get, the worse the team play.
Something’s got to give.
HAIR TODAY…
Meanwhile at Old Trafford, Brighton’s Glenn Murray came on in the 76th minute and revealed his savage new number one all over crop.
Most people would want more hair to cover them up in those merciless sub-zero temperatures.
Not Muzza.
For the record, Glenn Murray is northern.
SEASON’S GREETINGS
Another weekend and another chance to lavish praise on the miracle worker that is Mo Salah.
His four goals against Watford took his tally to 36 in 41 games this season and four ahead of Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot but, I think, he’s now also nailed on to be Player of the Season.
Yes, Kevin De Bruyne is clearly world class but on the evidence of this season – and it is an award for this season only – he really has been something else.
BEG YOUR PARDEW?
A dejected Alan Pardew appeared on MOTD yesterday bemoaning West Brom’s lack of luck after their 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, maintaining that “on any other day we would have got a win.”
That’s not strictly true.
Why because on 16 of the 17 league games he’s taken charge of he’s not won.
So, to be more accurate, he should have said ‘on 5.88% of any other days we would have got a win.’
LIFE’S A PITCH
Not so long ago, the Premier League issues a new directive instructing clubs not to cut their pitches in crazy designs, largely after Leicester City carved a picture of a fox into their centre circle.
Well, it wasn’t quite a fox yesterday but the design for their FA Cup game against Chelsea (where madcap turf tomfoolery is still allowed) still gave me a rotten headache.
SNOW JOKE
I’m not saying Charlie Adam didn’t fancy playing in the snow at Stoke on Saturday but I’ve never seen a turn of pace on him like the one he displayed when he ran off down the tunnel after his red card against Everton.
Electric.
