T4O’s feeling a wee bit generous, today. An overpowering majority of the lads on our news desk have seen their respective clubs turn up the dial, with some pretty darn impressive scorelines on Saturday. We look at three of such club’s managers and peruse the pervading pizza-on-the-house positivity and goodwill their acts have elicited.
Manager: Juergen Klopp
FT Score: Liverpool 5 – Hull City 1
Expected result: Win
Marks: 8.5/10
A routine 3 > goal drubbing from Liverpool this Saturday vs the visiting troupe of Mike Phelan’s Hull, saw Juergen Klopp execute some galavanting, goal scoring acrobatics. What’s delightful about the match, was not simply the quantity of strikes on goal, but the sheer quality of them. First was Adam Lallana’s contortionist act, which saw him arching his back like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, sponging just enough power away from his standing foot, to guide it into the far post, when the much easier option would have been to thump it across goal, where the goalkeeper was spread-eagled. Adam Lallana’s evolution from a man who shied away into the shadows, and at the forefront of Liverpool’s pressing protagonist has been as dramatic as the 1996 Disney feature film.
Sadio Mane’s ridiculous turn and thump and Coutinho’s routine long-range worldie were flanked by James Milner’s prudent double-striker from the penalty spot. All this would give the gregarious Juergen and the Anfield faithful a lot of heart, as their charges never put off their foot off the pedal. More of the same, please, Herr Boss.
Manager: Jose Mourinho
FT Score: Manchester United 4 – Leicester City 1
Expected result: Loss
Marks: 9/10
Craig Burley tore into Wayne Rooney. Saying something in the lines of, that without the White Pele, Manchester United will be eventual title contenders, this season. He may have point. Without the English international stinking up the pitch with his sheer ineptitude, Zlatan had a new lease of life with the younger boys doing the running around him; Juan Manuel Mata played the number 10 role as Jimmy Page played the guitar, and Paul Pogba bossed the game in patches, without having the worry of running into the wide frame of Wayne and injuring himself.
Everything just fell into place for Jose Mourinho, as United ran the former champions ragged with a 4-1 win, wondering perhaps why he didn’t do this in the first place.
Manager: Arsene Wenger
Result: Arsenal 3 – Chelsea 0
Expected result: Loss
Marks: 10/10
Open up the 20-year-old Cognac, Monsieur. You deserve this. Even before the half-time whistle blew, Mesut Oozil [that one flick-flak near the touchline was absolutely sent countless Chelsea fans to the pub for a hard drink] and the likes were unwinding for the party with the ball at their feet, which such unprecedented disdain not seen here since 2010. That’s how long Arsenal fans have dreaded this fixture. But on the almost holy occasion of Arsene’s milestone at the helm of Arsenal Football Club, the bunch of youngsters finally came of age.
