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player ready...We, here at 90 Minutes, certainly hope you are well on your way to recovery from this St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
Just in the case anything was forgotten along the way, here is the latest edition of the Top Five to refresh your ailing short-term memory.
Speaking of ailing, this edition takes a look at the ailing Chicago Fire, Jose Mourinho’s short-circuiting, Mohamed Salah’s latest spectacle, and the return of an Italian legend to the Azzurri.
1. New lineup, same result
This revolution was televised. It was also an unsuccessful one.
The Chicago Fire presented an unprecedented lineup in their visit to Minnesota United, but despite the new look, the same old problems reared their ugly heads, resulting in the second loss in as many games in 2018.
The absence of soon-to-be-father Bastian Schweinsteiger and the injured Matt Polster caused a major shake up in the starting XI, with Brandon Vincent a center back, Rafael Ramos and Mike Ellis as full backs, and rookie Elliot Collier getting his first professional start.
However, the new back four could not prevent the same defensive problems from happening, despite a solid first half on that end of the field.
What’s most worrying is the growing feeling that no matter who playing on the backline, the same mistakes are being made.
Veljlko Paunovic insists more work is needed to fix this never-ending issue. But the more time passes, and the more the defense continues to struggle, the more blame will be placed on the Serbian manager and on Nelson Rodriguez.
2. Mourinho vs. the World
Welcome to round 852,353,809 of the epic war between Jose Mourinho and anyone not named Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese became unhinged after the loss to Sevilla in the Champions League, and decided to take out his frustration on the rest of the world, including his own players.
It all started on Friday, with Mourinho going on a 12-minute soliloquy defending his record at Old Trafford, questioning Manchester City’s “football heritage,” taking shots at Louis Van Gaal and his signings, and dropping the first hints of a roster makeover in his own image.
The latter notion was strengthened on Saturday after United actually won their FA Cup quarterfinal against Brighton. Mourinho returned to his old strategy of publicly criticizing his players. This time, he questioned their “desire” and “personality” in a winning effort.
If the end goal is, indeed, a roster makeover, then come summer we will find out who he refers to as lacking desire. But if you are waiting to Mourinho to accept his own mistakes this, you will be disappointed.
3. Let’s try this again
It’s time to rectify an emotional wrong involving one of the all-time greats.
Italy interim manager Luigi DiBiagio has made the call to the legendary Gianluigi Buffon, who had called it an international career last October, to return to the Azzurri for one last go ‘round against England and Argentina.
Buffon’s return serves a very specific purpose: to erase the memories of a sour end to his Italy career at the San Siro.
Who can forget the image of a disconsolate Buffon, with tears streaming down his face, apologizing to an entire nation for their embarrassing elimination from the 2018 World Cup?
Instead of celebrating him this summer as he would have taken part in his sixth World Cup, this was the very last image of Buffon in an Italy jersey, the consequence of something he never deserved.
The sport could not do this to one of its illustrious players, on and off the pitch. One of the greatest goalkeepers in history deserves a send off worthy of his greatness.
4. Mohamed, king of goals
Not much more can be said to describe to amazing season from Mohamed Salah, except for a new pair of words to associate with him: golden boot.
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Salah had another sensational performance on Saturday, scoring four goals and single-handedly destroying Watford at Anfield Road.
With these four goals, the Egyptian is now the leader in the European Golden Boot race with his 28 goals in the Premier League. This puts him ahead of Harry Kane, Ciro Immobile, Edinson Cavani and none other than Lionel Messi as the top goal scorer in the continent.
Not only does he lead the Golden Boot race, but the four goals also put him alone in the goal scoring table in the Premier League, and puts him within two of doubling his single-season record of 19 achieved last season with Roma.
He has been the revelation of the year in the Premier League, and he is well on his way to be the same in all of Europe.
5. Goal of the weekend
Salah’s performance was not the only aspect of that Watford win worth highlighting.
The Egyptian assisted Roberto Firmino for Liverpool’s third goal, a no-look, backheel finish right in the face of Orestis Karnezis, a specialy of the Brazilian forward.