Manchester United star Paul Pogba hit back at critics of his team, saying their three trophies were all that mattered last season.
Despite criticism over their performances, United claimed the Europa League, EFL Cup and Community Shield in 2016-17.
Pogba, in his first season back at Old Trafford, was also questioned after United paid a world-record €105million to sign him from Juventus.
The France international dismissed critics, pointing to the silverware Jose Mourinho s men claimed.
I accept that we didn t play well we didn t do this, we didn t do that, Pogba said in an interview with Esquire magazine.
I know what we did we won three trophies. That s all I know.
And that s all that matters. Because you can be the best team in the wo…
Chris Smalling can foresee a long-term future for himself in Serie A if his loan at Roma from Manchester United goes to plan.
The 29-year-old defender swapped Old Trafford for Stadio Olimpico in search of playing time after falling out of the first-team picture at United.
Harry Maguire s arrival sent centre-back Smalling further down the pecking order and his hopes of returning to favour appear limited for as long as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remains in charge.
Roma offered a way out and the 31-cap England international jumped to seize what could become more than a temporary lifeline.
I think this is an opportunity that came to me that I was very interested in, and I was very eager to come, Smalling said.
It happened very quickly. I am very focused o…
Fernandinho expects former club Shakhtar Donetsk to bring a bold approach to the Etihad Stadium and attack Manchester City in Tuesday s Champions League clash.
Both sides won their Group F openers, with City thrashing Feyenoord in Rotterdam and Shakhtar seeing off hotly tipped Napoli.
And now the teams go head-to-head in midweek, with Fernandinho a Shakhtar player from 2005 to 2013 expecting an entertaining encounter.
We all know [Shakhtar] play attacking football, the midfielder told City s official website. There s a lot of Brazilian players in their squad.
Every year they fight for the title over there and, in the Champions League, they try to play in the same way they play in their domestic league.
We have to be prepared for that because th…
Last Saturday evening, Manchester City were truly awful in defence, as they suffered a 3-2 defeat by Norwich. The home side deserves major credit for the win, but the Citizens were defensive frailties were easily exposed.
The absence of Aymeric Laporte has had a big effect. Things have now got worse for Pep Guardiola’s side ahead of Wednesday nights trip to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
On Tuesday, the news broke that England centre-back John Stones will be sidelined for around six weeks due to muscular strain. That leaves Nicolas Otamendi as the teams only fit senior centre-back. It is far from ideal for .
Limited options at centre-back
The failure to add another centre-back to their squad now looks to have come back and bitten City in the backsi…
Arsenal have struggled to challenge for the Premier League title in recent years because of a lack of self-belief under Arsene Wenger, according to former Gunners star Santi Cazorla.
The London club last won the title in 2003-04 and have finished runners-up just twice since, the most recent coming in 2015-16.
During Cazorla s six-year stay, Arsenal finished in the top three just twice and were rarely considered to be a genuine threat to those clubs who were fighting for the crown.
Cazorla has since departed for Villarreal, following Wenger out of the exit door after an injury nightmare at the club.
And the Spaniard feels the final years of the Frenchman s tenure were mired by mentality issues.
We needed to believe in ourselves more, he told BBC S…
Inter chief executive Giuseppe Marotta admits it will be satisfying to return to former club Juventus as a champion following the Nerazzurri s Scudetto triumph.
Marotta spent eight years working in a similar role for Juve and was widely regarded as one of the key architects behind one of the most successful periods in the club s history.
Despite winning seven Serie A titles, four Coppas Italia and reaching two Champions League finals, the 64-year-old was forced out of the Allianz Stadium in 2018.
He was appointed by Inter soon after and has overseen their first Scudetto success in 12 years, which was confirmed on Sunday when second-placed Atalanta drew with Sassuolo.
Inter travel to dethroned champions Juventus on May 15 and Marotta, despite holding no gr…
Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick said his side s 8-0 demolition of Schalke on the opening day of the Bundesliga season should serve as a benchmark for the rest of the campaign.
The reigning champions were in scintillating form against a hapless Schalke, storming into a 3-0 lead by half-time thanks to goals from Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka and a Robert Lewandowski penalty.
It got even better for Bayern after the interval as Gnabry completed a hat-trick before Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane and 17-year-old Jamal Musiala completed Schalke s misery.
While Flick was pleased his side laid down an ominous marker for the 2020-21 season, he still believes they should have scored more in the first half.
We have had our first game but we need to take things slowly, he tol…
Manchester United finally enjoyed away-day success as Anthony Martial s 43rd-minute penalty earned an unconvincing 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade, lifting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s men to the top of Group L in the Europa League.
Prior to Thursday s contest in Serbia, United had gone 11 matches without an away win in all competitions their worst such run in 40 years since beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League back in March.
Yet the Red Devils travelling support were finally given reason to celebrate again as a spot-kick from Martial making his first start since August 24 following injury was complemented by the club s third clean sheet in as many Europa League matches this term.
United s overall performance was far from impressive and a lack of creati…
Verdict: Manchester City and over 3.5 goals
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In the final round of Premier League fixtures in 2017, Manchester City will look to edge ever closer to setting a top-flight record of consecutive wins. Still unbeaten domestically, Pep Guardiola s side will travel to southeast London and meet a Crystal Palace side who s eight-match unbeaten run came to an end on Thursday night.
Crystal Palace
After losing their first seven Premier League matches on the bounce, without registering a single goal in return, it was no surprise that Crystal Palace were tipped as this year s relegation favorites. However, as the New Year fast approaches, under the guidance of former England boss Roy Hodgson, Palace have managed to turn their fortunes aroun…
England defender Lucy Bronze admitted her goal against Scotland was something she had practiced during the World Cup.
Just over a month since their World Cup final defeat against Spain, the Lionesses earned an inaugural Nations League victory on Friday night with a 2-1 win against Scotland in Sunderland.
Bronze put the hosts ahead in the 39th minute after a fantastic pass from Katie Zelem picked out the former Black Cat, who made a perfectly timed run to head home.
She told the England website: “It was something we worked on in the World Cup. But it never came off then, so we saved it for tonight instead.”
Lauren Hemp then doubled the lead for the hosts six minutes later before Kirsty Hanson pulled one back with the last kick of the half.
Scot…