The international break comes at the right time for Manchester United and their supporters. The start to the Premier League season has been absolutely atrocious, and the summer transfer window, which closed on the first day of the break, was a total disaster. (Read our analysis, and see our grade here)
Hopefully, things will turn out better when we get to the other side of the internationals. That said, let’s take a look at what is making headlines in the United cyberspace, starting with the team captain.
What is wrong with Harry Maguire, the world’s most expensive defender? Has his tumultous off-season distracted him? He’s been described by one Twitter user as “Phil Jones, but with better marketing.” While that is very harsh, to say the least, much has been written about him this week, and it’s all by negative, so let’s take a closer look.
Fan Sided described Maguire as the club’s biggest problem right now and pointed out that a player with a lesser reputation would get banished to the youth side for playing this poorly.
The Telegraph looks at what has gone wrong with the ex-Leicester City man, asking if it’s the harsh glare of the spotlight that has gotten to him.
Meanwhile Give Me Sport has a video that shows all of his gaffes this entire season.
Turning to brighter news, Marcus Rashford, the club’s leading scoring threat, at least in theory, has been commended for his philanthropy and community service. No one has brought more attention to the issue of childhood hunger in Britain than Rashford, and as such Queen Elizabeth II awarded him with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) award.
Finally, deadline day signing Edinson Cavani won’t be available to train, or participate in the next game due to covid-19 precautions. As he arrived into Britain from a covid hot spot nation, he must first isolate for two weeks, and thus has to train by himself.
The 33-year-old Uruguay international has indicated that Ole Gunnar Solskajer was the one who convinced him to sign the dotted line and join up at Old Trafford.
“Yes, I had a conversation with the manager, and to be truthful that also really encouraged me to come to United,” Cavani told the Manchester United website.
“We spoke a bit about the mental side of things, and a little about how you can go about preparing for each game, about what it is to compete, about what is important within a group, and you could say that we agreed strongly on a lot of the things we spoke about and discussed. Things like self-sacrifice, commitment to your teammates, creating a competitive spirit, and thinking of others, and competing altogether. All things that I really like and appreciate,
“I believe that when you pretty much agree on things like this and think in a similar way, I reckon it also makes you want to join a club even more, and to then give of your best, train hard and prepare yourself in the best way you can.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.