Manchester United thumped Newcastle 4-1 at Old Trafford yesterday, sending a statement to the rest of the Premier League. The Red Devils won’t concede the title to their Manchester City just yet, and with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba now back in action, they may have the firepower to contend again.
Let’s take a look at some of the news that’s currently circulating in the Man United online news universe as we head towards the UEFA Champions League group clash at FC Basel Wednesday night.
For part one of Man United news, go to this link.
–Romelu Lukaku scored in the 70′, his first goal since September for United. This broke a seven match drought. United Manager Jose Mourinho said after the game: “He is a striker and strikers like to score goals. It is not a problem for me if he works like he always does and he doesn’t score goals but for their self-esteem, their confidence, strikers like to score goals.
“He was not doing that for us for a few matches and then all that can affect strikers’ confidence. I was really happy that he scored that goal.”
Paul Pogba chimed in on this too. “I come back and Romelu scores again? I like that,” Pogba added.
“We’ve got a lot of good players, a lot of talented players. We have to trust each other. Romelu is the best striker in the Premier League. We know his quality. We know everything. We don’t worry about him. And at the end, we see the result.”
Pogba was a dancing machine in his return, because that’s exactly what Pogba does. He has a tremendous debut, but club legend Rio Ferdinand found a major error in the Frenchman’s performance yesterday. That’s exactly what a pundit is supposed to do- pretty much take the punch bowl away as soon as the party starts.
Mourinho has named Pogba, along with Nemanja Matic, the “engine of the team,” but Ferdinand saw that engine breaking down, and being at fault for Newcastle’s lone goal.
“You need your midfielders to help,” Rio said while doing punditry for BT Sport (hat tip Daily Mirror).
“I thought Matic and Paul Pogba there need to do more there to get back.”
“Identify the danger, just go into your back four and be there to snuff out danger. Today I don’t think they saw that quick enough.
“That was the reason I thought (the goal happened).”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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