The Warm-Up: Manchester United hit the back pages again; Wenger to... Bayern?
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Updated 19/10/2018 at 08:50 GMT
There's no shortage of material for Friday's Warm-Up - most of it coming from Old Trafford...
Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku of Manchester United in discussion
Image credit: Getty Images
FRIDAY'S BIG HEADLINES
Now Sanchez is fed up with Mourinho too
Like a Moldovan teenager with a good broadband connection and a relaxed attitude to meddling with American politics, Manchester United just keep on determinedly churning out news with two separate strands of interest making back-page headlines on Friday morning – neither of which is even yesterday’s revelation that a couple of good games for Luke Shaw have seen him rewarded with a new deal worth upwards of £160,000 per week. Which would have you crying out ‘fake news!’ if it wasn’t for the fact that the club published a photo with the left-back and his good friend, Jose Mourinho, who managed to spend 10 minutes in a room with Shaw without slagging him off.
But if Shaw is staying, Alexis Sanchez could be going, according to a flurry of reports in some of the biggest newspapers this morning. The Times and The Mail both carry the story that the January signing is already looking to quit Old Trafford. According to the former:
The forward is understood to be disappointed about his lack of game time and what he sees as a negative tactical approach from his manager. Sanchez believes that he gets more praise from Mourinho for tracking back rather than trying something creative in attack.
Sanchez actually did manage to score in United’s last outing, netting an injury-time winner in the amazing 3-2 comeback win against Newcastle United which saved Mourinho’s job – an act which probably didn’t make him particularly popular in some corners of the dressing room.
And if the timing of this story is slightly odd given this complaint could have arisen at any point in the international break rather than 24 hours before a Premier League match against Chelsea, it’s because doing it this way has the maximum impact on the under-pressure manager, who will have to address the subject in his press conference today.
Players v Pundits row escalates
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Manchester United's Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku (L) and Manchester United's Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez
Image credit: Getty Images
A new front has been opened up in the war between Manchester United’s underperforming players and the pundits who so voraciously analyse their every misstep, like vultures perched on the rim of a 60-inch touchscreen under hot studio lights.
Yesterday, Jack Lang brought you details of how United players had, amazingly, been sharing clips of figures like Paul Scholes and Gary Neville making mistakes in their playing days in response to the regular criticism they have been getting from people who have been fulfilling their role of accurately reporting what is happening on a football pitch.
Let’s quickly fire up The Warm-Up’s patented Beef-o-metre to see who is feuding today. *Beep beep* Okay, so it’s Romelu Lukaku, and… *Beep beep* Gary Pallister!
The source of this prime cut of beef is a (largely innocuous) interview Lukaku gave during the international break, when he was asked if he would one day like to play in Serie A and gave a polite answer of: "Why not? I hope it happens” before going on to praise Juventus. All of which was enough to bring Pallister’s p**s to boiling point.
It’s disrespectful if you start mentioning other clubs when you’re actually contracted to the club you’re at. If it’s in your mind I’ve got no problem with that but to put it in print, I’ve got a problem with that. At a time when a club is under real pressure to have their leading goal-scorer say he’d like to move abroad – if that’s what he has done – is not the ideal scenario.
The Warm-Up hears Lukaku has been spamming the United players’ WhatsApp group chat with videos of Pallister’s own goal in the 3-2 loss to Chelsea in November 1990 all morning.
Big news brewing at Bayern?
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FC Bayern MUnich - Niko Kovac
Image credit: Getty Images
Today at 11am, Bayern Munich have called an unexpected press conference. Manager Niko Kovac will hold his usual weekly address before president Uli Hoeness, chairman Karl-Heinz Rumenigge and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic take to the stage.
No one seems to know what they will say, with Kovac under some pressure following a disappointing run of form at the start of the season.
There have even been suggestions - sourced back to a random Russian reporter on Twitter - that Arsene Wenger could be lined up as Bayern's next manager.
Just as a warning to anyone expecting something massive: Bayern Munich also did this.
IN OTHER NEWS
It might not be as good as the original, but it's good to know Arsenal fans can still get their wires crossed on social media:
RETRO CORNER
Arsenal scored a gorgeous team goal before the international break as Aaron Ramsey showed precisely why a club shouldn’t be ready to cast him away on a free transfer with that outrageous finish against Fulham. But five years ago, Wengerball produced something even more delicious:
IN THE CHANNELS
The Youth Olympic Games have just wrapped up in Buenos Aires, but not before two slices of magic from the futsal competition.
First, a goalkeeper scoring (always value in that):
And secondly, one of the great all-time own goals:
'Ave it!
COMING UP
Sheffield Wednesday are taking on Middlesbrough in The Championship tonight - just a reminder you can see highlights of that, and all the rest of the EFL action, on Quest on Saturday night.
Marcus Foley says he's handling Monday's Warm-Up so if he's unveiled as Bayern's new manager there will be hell to pay...
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