World Football Columns
Wayne Rooney
Elementary, My Dear Stretford: United are still a class act. La Liga, however, may now be the best league in the world.
Harry Sherlock takes a look back at United’s Basel defeat, and the nearest challengers to those pesky Catalans. Continue reading
Do Man United Need To Take A Step Back To Move Forward?
Is Harry Sherlock crazy? Maybe, but his harebrained idea just might work. Continue reading
Sir Alex Ferguson: Dynastic Is An Understatement
Harry Sherlock pays tribute to the only Manchester United manager he’s ever known. Continue reading
Culture Schlock: Soccer Men, By Simon Kuper
Andrew Beasley was impressed by Simon Kuper’s new book, Soccer Men: Profiles of the Rogues, Geniuses, and Neurotics Who Dominate the World’s Most Popular Sport. Continue reading
Blues Beat: Clinical United Remind Chelsea That It’s Goals Which Matter In Football
Chelsea’s situation isn’t as bad as it may seem after their setback at Old Trafford. Continue reading
The Sunday Morning Hangover: Merseysiders Lose; Merciless Manchester Win
What the hell happened in the Premier League yesterday? Continue reading
Elementary, My Dear Stretford: Man United & City Stretch The Meaning Of Friendly
Who’s Harry Sherlock? Well, he’s not a bumbling private detective or a master of disguise (that was Harry Crumb). When you read the first edition of Elementary, My Dear Stretford, you’ll immediately deduce that he’s our new Manchester United correspondent. So, if you’re a City fan, well – hit the bricks, Moriarty! Continue reading
Rio Ferdinand Has Communication Issues
Wait, are you calling me stupid? Continue reading
Hot Dogs & Apple Pie: US Against The World Is Getting Old
Only in America would no one care that their country was playing the World Cup champions. Continue reading
WFC’s 2011 UEFA Yearbook: Most Forgettable Moments
The second in our ten-part UEFA season review. Continue reading
Barcelona Leave Man United In Their Wake Again
Barcelona are champions again, although Manchester United won’t take any consolation in having pushed the Catalans much harder than they did two years ago. Continue reading
Man United Show Arsenal How To Win A Title
Arsenal dropped another match to Stoke on Sunday, while Manchester United continued to grind out results, no matter who challenged them on the day. The differing responses to the fallout from a big match highlight why one is struggling to translate their talent into titles and the other is on the brink of becoming the most feted club in the history of the English top flight. Continue reading
Man United 0 – 1 Man City: Where’s Howard Webb When Fergie Really Needs Him?
Manchester City have finally earned the key to the Premier League’s executive loo, with a 1-0 victory over United at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final. But while it may be the beginning of great things for City, it’s by no means the end of the road for United. Continue reading
FA Cup: Man City & United Have The Spotlight But Stoke & Bolton May Offer More Punch
Did you think we forgot the FA Cup semi-finals when we posted the Weekend Catch? Hardly. They deserve a spotlight to themselves! Continue reading
Man United and Barcelona: Which Is Artist & Which Artisan?
Since when did rigid form and functionality become the ultimate in artistic expression? Continue reading
Man United Keep Fighting The FA & The FA Keep Winning
Dale O’Donnell wonders if it’s right for the FA to hold Manchester United to a higher standard than the rest of the Premier League. Continue reading
Man United Thrive On The Edge While Chelsea Placidly Live In Denial
Chelsea are spending far too much energy pretending that their problems don’t exist. Meanwhile the side that just put them behind the eight ball in the Champions League, Manchester United, are less concerned with appearances than with winning. Continue reading
How HG Wells Explains Wayne Rooney
While Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to watch from the cheap seats, he undoubtedly enjoyed what he saw in the second half of Manchester United’s Premier League match against West Ham. Wayne Rooney hit a treble in less than a quarter-hour to bring United roaring back to victory from a 2-0 deficit. It was almost as though we had all gone backwards in time. Continue reading
England v Wales – Capello Forgets Rooney Has A Temper, Rooney Forgets He’s Already On A Yellow
Roger Domeneghetti tactfully avoids suggesting it is past time that Fabio Capello improved his English. Continue reading
Manchester United Introduces 7-Up: The Un-Offence
Who knows how the human brain functions? One thing is certain, though. The train of thought does not run on a fixed timetable or follow a set route. I never know where my thoughts will take me but I was still rather surprised that Sir Alex Ferguson’s opposite-of-what-they-seem tactics in Saturday’s FA Cup clash between Manchester United and Arsenal brought to mind a soft-drink commercial from my youth. Continue reading
Chelsea Finally Man U (p)
Chelsea are going to storm back and retain their title and Man United will suffer a total collapse. No, not really, but a lot of people are overreacting to a result that wasn’t as shocking as is being made out. Continue reading
Tales Of …. Man United Beaten!
Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last. Okay, Martin Luther King Jr. is turning over in his grave but I do have a feeling of relief, mixed in with the disappointment, now that Man United’s season unbeaten is no more. As I said in an earlier post, I’m not … Continue reading
The Weekend Catch: Football’s Best Fixtures For 5-6 February, 2011
The weekend has an incredible range of matches to sample. WFC brings you 22 of the best, from 12 competitions and served up by 11 writers. Help yourself! Newcastle v Arsenal (Saturday) – If Newcastle fans want to know what life will be like without Andy Carroll they don’t have to look very far – … Continue reading
Man United — Tales Of The Almost Beatables, Ch. 24: The New Villans
Other than win, Manchester United never seem to do what you expect. The Red Devils punished me last week for a) christening them the Almost Beatables and b) suggesting before the match that they would find their next gear, as they usually do, in the season’s second half. Instead of dominating Blackpool, they fell behind … Continue reading
Tales Of The Almost Beatables: Man United’s Berba & Hernandez Steal Blackpool’s Thunder
A fortnight ago, I had what seemed like a really good idea. United kept going out and giving up late goals to settle for draws which should have been wins. If not that, then they’d leave it late and strike at the death to turn certain defeat into points on the board. Wouldn’t it be … Continue reading
Tales Of The Almost Beatables: Man United Ride The Berba
Manchester United are traditionally not at their best at the outset of a season, but, as Sir Alex Ferguson, who is fond of a good vintage, will tell you, his club tends to age like a fine wine, improving with time. Those less enamoured of the Red Devils might substitute the sweet-smelling vino for a … Continue reading
Man United: Tales Of The Almost Beatables
It’s the second half of the season and Man United has yet to be beaten. Already, there has been some talk of whether they can match Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles. They consensus is that they are not as talented as that side, although that may be debatable. If anything, they certainly seem more resolute than that … Continue reading
The Scouser Report – Manchester United vs Liverpool
Manchester United at Old Trafford, especially in the Third Round of the FA Cup, was always going to be a big ask, considering the level of performance that has been witnessed away from Anfield this season. And so, it was perhaps a shrewd time to have Roy Hodgson make way for the return of Kenny … Continue reading
The Weekend Catch, 8-9 January 2011: FA Cup 3rd Round Leads The Way, La Liga and Serie A Finish A Great Slate Of Matches
Written by Martin Palazzotto, Eliot Rothwell, Tapesh Patel, Andrew Gibney, Fab Presilli & Tom Pollock. It’s a cup weekend in England, Scotland and France. Fans in all three countries will be holding their betting tickets and hoping a lowly club can play David and slay a Goliath. There are any number of matches which offer … Continue reading
Holiday Fixtures Report Card: Man United Refuse To Lose, City Fear To And Chelsea & Liverpool Can’t Help But
Ten Days. Four Premier League matches. A short stretch of time in the middle of the season, yet so much hanging in the balance. It’s a run of games which can make or break your season, changing it for the better, destroying every good result which came before or, in its ambiguity, locking you into … Continue reading
Holiday Fixtures Diary, Tuesday: Man United Has Strength In Reserve & Is The Honeymoon Over For West Brom And Blackpool?
For six clubs, the exhausting holiday fixture gauntlet is over and they all have an extra day to prepare for an FA Cup weekend. Manchester United even have a further day, as their match, so unbelievably early in the competition to be facing Liverpool as it is, has been given a special Sunday slot to … Continue reading
Holiday Fixture Diary: Ian Darke Hexes Man United, Toon & West Brom Sink And City Throw Down
It’s day 3, of 4, in the first round of holiday fixtures and the table has undergone another significant shift. On Boxing Day, the biggest changes were at the top, with Manchester City moving second, and at the bottom, with Wigan rocketing out of the drop zone and West Ham leapfrogging Wolves. Monday’s single match … Continue reading
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