In the latest episode of Barclay and Barton on the Premier League, legendary football scribe Paddy Barclay and United author Wayne Barton look at the 2016/17 season.
The season as a whole is analysed but the pair take time to discuss Manchester United’s mixed bag of a season – their first under Jose Mourinho, where they won the League Cup and Europa League, but otherwise failed to impress.
Paddy of course wrote a biography of Mourinho, and Wayne wrote Redprint, an analysis of United’s post-Ferguson decline.
“United were never convincing,” says Barton. “They won the League Cup, but Mourinho never looked happy. And when they got to the latter stages of the Europa League, well, Ferguson wouldn’t have made the choice. But Mourinho did, he sacrificed the league to win the Europa League. I still feel uncomfortable in the fact that he rested players at Arsenal and Spurs when those teams were in the battle for top four.”
“I understand,” Paddy muses, “and if Ajax had beaten them, his bum would have been hanging out the window, but his gamble paid off. He was proved right. But when you talk about the season it is extraordinary that a team that only loses five times – the same number as the champions, Chelsea – incurs so much opprobrium. But they had fifteen draws and scored just fifty four goals. There have been teams relegated who have scored more.”
*Please accept our apologies for the audio problem at the start of this episode. There is an issue with Wayne’s audio for the first fifteen minutes or so.
If you want to listen to Paddy and Wayne discuss the post-Ferguson transition in detail, the episode of Barclay and Barton on Manchester United, hosted by Matt Beadle, is here.
Barclay and Barton on the Premier League
Legendary football journalist Paddy Barclay and football writer Wayne Barton explore the Premier League era, dedicating time to some of the great teams and players, and aiming a forensic microscope over some of the most fascinating stories of the times.
Enquiries should go to bbpods@waynebartonbooks.com
Barclay and Barton on the Premier League is in association with Pitch Publishing
Follow Paddy and Wayne on social media
@paddybarclay
@waynesbarton
Intro music “Calm Down” by Pete Yorn
