The Hottest Football Blog

Jose Mourinho Counting On Ashley Young Next Term

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has praised the impact of Ashley Young during the current campaign and believes the Englishman could have a similar role to play next term. The 33-year-old has been the undisputed first-choice in the left-back position this season, contributing two goals and seven assists in 36 appearances for the club.

Speaking to MUTV, Mourinho was pleased with the performance of Young over the course of the season and feels the Englishman has answered plenty of questions which were pointed out towards his fitness, age and ability to play at the highest level. He said: “When I arrived, he was playing a few matches per season. For the last couple of seasons, lots of injuries, lots of doubts, lots of question marks about his future at the highest level. (more…)

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Both Teams To Score & Win Bets

For those who don’t like merely backing outright results in football matches, the option to get behind the outcome where each side scores at least once and a specific team wins comes as a riskier alternative with stronger odds. This has grown in popularity over the past few years and it’s no surprise when considering how often this occurs in all of the most desirable football leagues to bet on.

All you need in order for your BTTS & Win bet to land is for each side to score one or more times each and your chosen side to win the game, all inside ninety minutes unless stated otherwise. (more…)

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Joel Pereira Keen To Repay Jose Mourinho’s Faith

Portuguese goalkeeper Joel Pereira is keen to live up to his potential with Manchester United. The 21-year-old is currently the Red Devils’ third-choice goalkeeper behind David de Gea and Sergio Romero, but he has been backed by Jose Mourinho to become one of Portugal’s best shot-stoppers of the current generation.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Pereira stressed that he is very happy at Old Trafford despite playing deputy to De Gea and Romero, he said: “I’m very happy. As the number three, I have two top goalkeepers in front of me, and they help me a lot too. They have lots of experience and they can help me with that. Obviously, I have a manager who has helped me so much and has always been by my side. I’m learning a lot so I am happy where I am. Obviously, it’s very nice to hear good stuff coming from the manager. Now is my time to show people that he’s right about me and everything he says is actually the truth. I’m just learning and getting some experience. We’ll see what happens next.”

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Henrikh Mkhitaryan insists Manchester United stint was a success

Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan has stressed that his 18-month spell with Manchester United was a success. The 29-year-old netted 13 goals in 63 appearances for the Red Devils before making the switch to Arsenal in a swap agreement involving Alexis Sanchez.

In an interview with SFR Sport, Mkhitaryan defended his stint with the Red Devils, and believes he had relatively good success with the club, having netted the crucial second goal during the Europa League final win over Ajax last season, he said: “I think I left an impression in Manchester, although I had difficulties. We won three titles in a year and a half — not every club does that. We won the Europa League, and I scored a goal in the final. If people say that I did not have enough success it is their opinion but I believe that I had a lot of success at the club.”

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Nemanja Matic Has No Excuse For Manchester United’s Champions League Exit

Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has admitted that the team can provide no excuse for their lacklustre showing against Sevilla in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The Red Devils failed to show up over the course of the two-legged tie, and they eventually lost by a 2-1 aggregate scoreline.


The Red Devils played out a dull 0-0 draw on the road to Sevilla last month, and this had put them in a strong position to beat the Andalusian outfit at home, where they had lost only to Manchester City this term. However, their approach towards the game was negative from the start, and they came on to haunt them in the final 20 minutes with Wissam Ben Yedder coming off the bench to score a match-winning brace. Romelu Lukaku did manage to score in the 84th minute, but it only turned out as a consolation.

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Pull the Other One, Defoe: Veteran Striker Has No Chance of Going to World Cup

At 35 years old, Jermain Defoe is fast-approaching the end of his career at the top of the game. If he does a John Terry and decides to move down a league or walks off into the sunset a rich man, there’s no doubt the East London-born scorer has put in a shift over the years.

The well-travelled England cap – who has represented his country at every level from U16 to the senior squad – is currently plying his trade at Dean Court in the colours of Premier League club Bournemouth but his CV shows stints at West Ham, Tottenham and even Portsmouth (when they used to be half-decent). (more…)

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Manchester United target Arturo Vidal hints at Bayern Munich stay

Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal has reportedly delivered a blow to Manchester United’s transfer ambitions for the summer. The Chile international has been identified as one of Jose Mourinho’s prime targets to bolster the centre of the park, though the 30-year-old appears content to remain with the Bavarian giants.

In an interview with Sport1, Vidal has suggested that he could stay put with the German champions beyond the summer irrespective of the club’s agreement to sign Leon Goretzka from Schalke 04, he said: “I play in this team for a reason, and I’m certainly one of the world’s best in my position for a reason. I do not think about a change, I feel really good here. Of course I would like to extend. This is an option and my children are very happy here.”
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Jose Mourinho Speaks about Money in Football

Jose Mourinho claims that money makes all the difference when it comes to football. The Manchester United manager was speaking just days after Liverpool announced the signing of Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for around £ 75 million. Thus, the Dutchman has become the most expensive defender in the world. Earlier in the campaign, Mourinho had to defend concerns about the vast sums of money being splashed up by United in the hope of returning to the former glory days. After signing Paul Pogba for £ 90 million initially upon arrival, Mourinho went on to bring in Romelu Lukaku for an initial fee of £ 75 million last summer.

Over the course of the decade, Mourinho has spent more money than any other manager in world football. Yet, this has not been a successful period for the Portuguese, as he has struggled to a certain extent at the likes of Chelsea and United. There was a lot of expectation that United would be challenging for the league title this season, but it has gone all wrong in the last couple of weeks. The Red Devils are a whopping 15 points behind Manchester City, who have also spent money in the summer. It should be interesting to note that Guardiola signed 16 players since taking over at the club.
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Jose Mourinho justifies team selection against Liverpool

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that both Eric Bailly and Marcus Rashford had suffered minor injuries on international duty. The Red Devils drew 0-0 versus Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday afternoon with a couple of forced changes with Bailly and Marouane Fellaini not making the matchday squad. Rashford, however, had a cameo appearance in the second half in place of Anthony Martial, although he could not have much of an impact on the match.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Mourinho said, “I don’t think we have many options. Fellaini was injured with the national team, Bailly was injured with the national team and Rashford was injured with the national team. We don’t have many options. I never complain about that. I was just mentioning it to you because the next question is maybe why is Rashford not playing? Why is Bailly not even on the bench? But, okay, since the moment we know the players we have available, we thought about the match and we thought about our options and we made these decisions.”
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