I’ve been guilty of making a very large mistake – not paying a lot of attention to the England women’s team at Women’s Euro 2022. I’ve been checking scores once results are over, but that’s really about it. Not anymore though! The Lionesses are legit trophy challengers this tournament. Many of the pundits are regarding them as the most complete team, and they really showed that today against a Norwegian squad that’s ranked among the best in the world.
Many recall the USA hitting Thailand for 13 at the last Women’s World Cup, and while that was undoubtedly impressive, England’s 8 (eight!) to 0 (nil) victory today over Norway at Amex Stadium in Brighton, UK was arguably even more so. Along with France and England, the Norwegians were favorites to win this tournament and have one of the best players in the world in striker Ada Hegerberg. To beat a squad like this so thoroughly really shows the class England have at all 11 positions and on the bench.
England were all over them from start to finish. Pressing very effectively, and Norway could not figure out what to do about it. Forward Beth Mead earned her first hat trick of the tournament today, while stalwart forward Ellen White contributed two goals as well. It was 6-0 to England at half time! Things did kick off with a soft penalty awarded to England, but that does not excuse the Norwegians from allowing seven more goals after that. This was the biggest victory by any team – men or women – at the Euros ever.
Coupled with their 1-0 victory over Austria last week and their now massive goal difference, England have effectively won Group A and will move on to the knockout rounds. The formality of the final group match against minnows Northern Ireland remains, but England manager Sarina Wiegman now has the luxury of rotating her squad before the next match.
Come on England!!!
*****
On the men’s side of things, pre-season is about to kick off for Manchester United, who are currently on a tour of southeast Asia. It has been a spicy close season and transfer window indeed, most notably for who United have failed to sign. Due to our own inability to complete a transfer swiftly and the fact that United will not be in the Champions League next season, a lot of the top shelf talent has gone to our rival clubs. Manchester City have signed all-world striker Erling Haaland and midfielder Kalvin Phillips, Liverpool have signed striker Darwin Nunez, while Arsenal and Tottenham have strengthened their midfield and attacking options respectively as well.
United have so far lost more players than they have signed. Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, and Andreas Pereira have all signed elsewhere, will sign elsewhere, or have retired from the game. While we did need a clear out and to offload some bloated contracts, the other half of a competent transfer strategy is replacing those departing players while improving the squad. Not sure United has done that, yet.
The Red Devils have officially signed left back Tyrell Malacia from Dutch side Feyenoord, and they appear very close to announcing the signing of attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen from Brentford. United also appear to be in for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, but the process has taken so long and the rumors flying every which way has made this saga about as clear as mud. Barcelona and United are currently two of the most poorly-run clubs in the world. Indeed, United would arguably be the worst if not for the stunning incompetence of the Barcelona board of directors. There seems to be a contractual issue at the forefront, and it’s unclear whether De Jong even wants to play for United next season. I understand he may be important to new manager Erik ten Hag’s plans, but what’s the point in dragging out this whole process if he doesn’t want to be here?
What to do about Cristiano Ronaldo has also caused some head-scratching it seems around Carrington training ground. Ronaldo will be 38 by the end of next season, but the argument could easily be made that he was United’s best outfield player last season. He was leading scorer after all, and seemed to win matches on his own at times. But now he is supposedly not happy with the lack of transfers, and there are rumors that he has requested to leave Old Trafford. That could happen, but two major obstacles are in the way. For one, Ten Hag has explicitly stated that Ronaldo is in his plans for the upcoming season. Second, and this is potentially the bigger obstacle, are Ronaldo’s massive weekly wages. He is rumored to be on a whopping £510,000/week contract, and there are simply not many clubs that can afford to pay him that much. He probably won’t take a pay cut unless he really wants to leave. It is important to note that Ronaldo is not currently with the squad in southeast Asia, as the club has given him leave to address “family” issues. Whether he stays or not will be interesting. Chelsea are rumored to be the only destination that checks all the boxes, but would Ronaldo really leave United for a competitive rival? Is he that much of a mercenary? Many fans want to believe he isn’t, but as we all know, money talks.
United still need a true defensive midfielder in my opinion, but that’s been the case for about two years now. Ten Hag seems to have the lads training hard every day, but I have to question whether he feels supported by ownership and club officials. There’s a lot of pressure on him to succeed at United, but that will be near impossible if he is not given the support from ownership that he needs.
4-4-2 