Things In Manchester Gets Uglier

(Above) Paul Pogba

Jose Maurinho

This week, I had two big headlines to write in today's blog entry.

I thought I had it all figured out earlier this week on what headline I was going to focus on first.  That is, until yesterday.

I was going to write about the firing of Vancouver Whitecaps head coach, Carl Robinson first.

That all changed yesterday when news broke out of Manchester.

Manchester United's manager, Jose Maurinho stripped Paul Pogba of his vice-captaincy this week.

After playing to a disappointing 1-1 draw to Wolves on Saturday (Sept. 22), Pogba criticized Maurinho defensive tactics, saying the team ought to attack more.

Then, Man. U. lost to Derby County on penalty kicks in a league cup match on Tuesday night.

Manchester United is in a real mess right now.

Now on to the firing of Robinson.

The Whitecaps of Major League Soccer, (MLS) fired Robinson earlier this week.

Robinson was appointed head coach of the Whitecaps in 2013.

He recorded a regular season MLS record of 64-59-42 and a 78-71-50 across all competitions.

Robinson guided Vancouver to three playoff appearances, including, two Western Conference semifinals, a Canadian Championship in 2015 and a semifinal appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League in 2016/17.

A comprehensive search for a new coach is going to begin immediately.

Meanwhile, Academy technical director, Craig Dairymple is now the acting head coach.

The Whitecaps are just five points out of a playoff spot in the West Division.

(Above) Carl Robinson

Finally in the Premier League, Liverpool sits all alone in first place with a 6-0 record after defeating Southampton on the weekend 3-0.

Chelsea's perfect record ended when the team played to disappointing  0-0 draw to West Ham on Sunday, (Sept. 23).  

Costa Banned For Four. Hazard Gets Hat-Trick

Douglas Costa, (left) got a four game ban for spitting at Federico Franceso (right)

There were two big news stories in Serie A this week.  Both involved Juventus.

Douglas Costa has been banned for four Serie A matches for spitting, elbowing, and attempting to head butt Sassuolo's Federico Franceso in a 2-1 Juventus win on Sunday (Sept. 18).

Before the incident, though, Cristiano Ronaldo finally broke through by scoring his first two goals of the season.

Now to Premier League action.

Eden Hazard got his second ever Chelsea hat-trick on Saturday in a 4-1 win over Cardiff City.

Eden Hazard

Manchester United ended Watford's perfect record on Saturday with a 2-1 win.

Chelsea is first and Liverpool is second in the Premier League standings with 5-0 records.

Finally, West Ham is no longer dead last in the PL. standings.  The team won their first game this week, defeating Everton 3-1.

Burnley now sits in last place.

Trouble In Manchester

(Above) Paul Pogba

There was no club football this weekend because of the International Break, however, there were two rather big news stories worth mentioning.

Both stories involve, you guess it, Manchester United.

Apparently, French superstar, Paul Pogba, isn't getting along with United's manager, Jose Maurinho.

This revaluation  probably means Pogba's time with Man. U.  is almost up.

Speculation is that Pogba is going elsewhere after this season.

Word has it that Pogba has his sights on Barcelona.

More bad news for Manchester United.

Luke Shaw suffered a concussion last week, playing for England in a National League match against Spain.

Shaw is going to miss two Premier League games.

Things Got Heated A Bit This Week

(Above) Kylian Mbappe got sent off for shoving an opponent this past week.

Things got a bit heated this week in international football.

First, the big story was French phenomenon, Kylian Mbappe, being red carded for shoving Nime's midfielder, Teji Savanier, to the ground in a match earlier this week.

Mbappe was reacting to a challenge by Savanier.

Mbappe, however, has no regets.  He told the press the day after the incident that he'd do it again.

Savanier also was red carded.

 (Above) Marcus Rashford

There was also a red carded incident in the Premier League this past weekend.

Manchester United's Marcus Rashford was sent off in Sunday's (Sept. 2) match against Burnley for head butting Phil Bardsley.

Manchester defeated Burnley 2-0, snapping their losing streak.

Since Manchester United won their match this week, the focus turned towards West Ham United.

West Ham were seconds away of picking up their first point of the season when Adama Traores scored for Wolves in injury time to give his team the win.

The fans booed the West Ham players off the field.

West Ham is 0-4 with no points and are dead last in the Premier League.

Liverpool, Watfield, and Chelsea round out the top three in the standings with 4-0 records.

No club football this week as the leagues go on their first international break of the year.