Manchester United last played a match last Thursday, a 2-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League. Their Premier League fixture with Leeds United at Old Trafford last weekend was postponed due to security concerns ahead of the Queen’s funeral. The previous weekend’s fixture was cancelled out of respect to the monarch’s death. This means that their last league fixture was Sept. 4.
Which means by the time they play next, Oct 2 for the Manchester Derby, it will be almost a month (29 days) between domestic fixtures.
7 minutes, 45 seconds of Christian Eriksen’s genius since joining Manchester United, best free transfer ever!pic.twitter.com/6jspmIl6ak
— Paul, Manc Bald and Bred (@MufcWonItAll) September 16, 2022
It will be 17 days since they have seen any action at all. So let’s look at the trending news topics today, starting with Christian Eriksen, which surround this very well rested side!
United legend Paul Scholes on Christian Eriksen, who was named the club’s player of the month for September: “[He] is the perfect example of a player who plays with intelligence, he plays with his brain. He is just a clever player, he knows where he is on the pitch and he knows where other people are on the pitch.”
Christian Eriksen’s game by numbers vs. Croatia:
100% dribbles completed
76 touches
49 passes completed
2 long balls completed
3 shots on target
1 goalScored an unbelievable goal. ? pic.twitter.com/ZVCzHEyL8C
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) September 22, 2022
His name is a top trending topic on Twitter right now, as a lot of United supporters are discussing a. his goal/strong performance for Denmark in Nations League competition and b. what an upgrade he’s been over Paul Pogba or c. both!
He’s the club’s Swiss Army Knife in midfield, as there are multiple skills, usages and abilities that he possesses to help the squad.
Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo has been charged with “improper or violent conduct” for that ugly cell phone incident at Everton. Here’s a link to the more on the charges, and the full FA statement, via Press Association Sport.
Also, in case you missed it, Ronaldo is reportedly reconsidering that insane monetary offer that he received this summer to move to the Saudi Arabian league. Both champions Al-Hilal and their rivals Al-Nassr, offered him obscene money, The Athletic reports. While Ronaldo said no then, he may change his mind now and look to make a move in the January transfer window.
Saudi Football Federation president Yasser Al-Misehal admitted what a huge asset Ronaldo would be to the league.
“We would love to see a player like Cristiano Ronaldo playing in the Saudi league,” he said to The Athletic as quoted by TalkSPORT.
“It would bring a huge positive feedback and it would be big news for everyone. I’m sure everyone knows the achievements and records of Cristiano Ronaldo, but also as a player who is a great role model.
“I think, ‘Why not?’. I’m sure it would be a very expensive deal, of course, but we can see our clubs getting higher revenues in the past couple of years. We have already seen some big players who used to play in the Premier League come to the Saudi league.
“I like Cristiano Ronaldo as a player and I would like to see him play in Saudi Arabia.”
Obviously, it would be a huge deal, and as such might be rather difficult to get over the line. But we’ll see.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.
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