TouchlineFootball

 Chelsea v Manchester United Game Review -Vivaan Jain and Samarth Purohit -Editor: Mitansh Kagalwala Photo Via: standard.co.uk Chelsea, who stand atop the Premier League table have had an impressive start to the 2021 season, both domestically and in Europe. However, the same cannot be said of the Red Devils, who have struggled to consistently deliver in the Premier League. The two sides faced off each other at Stamford Bridge on 28th November, in United interim manager Michael Carrick’s second game as head coach.   Game Review: The game started as expected, with Chelsea dominating both in terms of possession and creating chances. On the other hand, United seemed more than comfortable parking the bus and nearly hanging on. Chelsea played as they usually do: play out from the back and pass the ball to the holding midfielders who would either play it on the wing or give a through ball for the man up top. For the first quarter of an hour, Chelsea was quite persistent and loo...

  THINGS WE LEARNT FROM BARCA'S 3-1 WIN OVER VILLAREAL -Mitansh Kagalwala Photo Via: barcauniversal.com Barcelona travelled to the Estadio De La Ceramica to take on Villareal in Xavi's third match as manager of the club, looking to continue their fine form. The game was won in the second half, with Barca netting thrice against the Yellow Submarine to capture all three points. Goals from Frenkie De Jong and Memphis Depay either side of an equalizer, followed by a Philippe Coutinho penalty ensured Barca's first win away from home. Here's what we made of it:  1. FRENKIE'S BACK: Frenkie De Jong, long touted to be Barca's marquee midfielder, has endured a torrid last few weeks, with several lackluster performances. However, he put his doubters to rest with an excellent performance against Villareal. He was assured on the ball, and his attacking play was excellent. He should have had two assists in the first half, but Memphis Depay squandered the two chances. Three mi...

 MANCHESTER UNITED VS. VILLAREAL: THE POST-OLE ERA -Samarth Purohit Photo Via: Manchester Evening News Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked as Manchester United manager following an embarassing 4-1 loss to Watford on top of an already poor run of games. Assistant coach and former United player Michael Carrick has taken up the role of manager until a suitable interim may be found. Carrick took charge against Villarreal and showed an interesting change in line up, starting VDB and Martial, while benching regular starters such as Rashford and Fernandes.  The game got off to a slow start, with Manchester United seeming to struggle against the Spanish side for the majority of the first half. The difference came, as it often does, with 2 players: David de gea and Cristiano Ronaldo.  David De Gea was unrelenting, and despite the sub-par defence of Manchester United not making any blunders, an unusual occurrence in itself, he had his work cut out for him. He did not disappoint, keepin...

SQUAD REVIEW & PLAYER RATINGS FROM UNITED'S DISASTROUS LOSS TO CITY - Samarth Purohit -Editor: Mitansh Kagalwala Photo via: onefootball Manchester United have gone from a club with the best defence the PL has ever seen with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, to a defensive blunder with Maguire, Lindelof and Bailly . Raphael Varane is incredibly skilled and makes a major impact when on the pitch, but will be out of commission for a while. This shouldn't be much of a problem for a club of United's stature, as substitutes like Bailly are present. However, Bailly himself is very inconsistent, as shown by his amazing game against Atalanta, before he proved to be a liability against Man City. Maguire and Shaw were both incredible during the Euros, but have since regressed in form. Shaw looks like the broken left back who was often criticized under Mourinho. Chances are they weren't given the right amount of time to re-enter training after a taxing international campaign, ...

  GAME REVIEW AS MANCHESTER UNITED BEAT SPURS IN THEIR OWN BACKYARD -Samarth Purohit -Editor: Mitansh Kagalwala Photo via: independent.co.uk Tensions have been running high at Manchester United after the Red Devils faced a humiliating 5-0 loss to their biggest rivals in Liverpool. Fans, whom were already discontent with the manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, called for him to be sacked immediately, and as a Manchester United fan, I wholeheartedly agreed with them. The club chose to let him manage against Spurs (possibly due to their poor form this season) and then make a decision for the remaining matches prior to the international break (The second UCL fixture against Atalanta, and the Manchester Derby). It was pretty much clear to all that if United left with less than 3 points on Saturday, Ole would be sacked. Nuno himself has been facing a lack of support from Tottenham fans who proclaim him to be a worse version of former manager Jose Mourinho. Both teams had a poor run of form l...