Sport/ Opinion - How much longer do Liverpool fans need to whinge about Saturday’s result?
Irrespective of what might have been or could have been, the bottom line is that Manchester United won the battle of the rivals at Old Trafford to secure second spot on the table with a five-point cushion over the Reds.
It was a massive win for United, who have played boring and unconvincing football of late.
Jose Mourinho’s tactics were spot on, as were his substitutions, and it might not have been pretty to watch, but taking those crucial three points was all that mattered.
Even though Mourinho got so much criticism for both matches against Liverpool, whether you like to admit it or not, he has taken four points off Jurgen Klopp.
Two chances and two goals - Marcus Rashford was poetry in motion on Saturday and so was Ashley Young, who had the better of Mo Salah.
This was by far one of the better Man United-Liverpool battles to watch in recent years.
* I REALLY pity Arsenal fans these days because it doesn’t look like Arsene Wenger is going anywhere willingly and he even got a stay of execution on Sunday after the Gunners defeated Watford.
Wenger seems to be a bit deluded about the current status of the club and is obviously living in the past, but one definitely has to question the leadership, if it exists at all, at Arsenal as well as the owners of the club.
Loyalty, past results and history can and should only count for so much - if you’ve been given numerous opportunities to turn things around and you’re failing even after spending money in the transfer windows, then surely your time has run out?
I can’t imagine that Arsenal isn’t under pressure from their sponsors as they face another season without Champions League football, a likely sixth place finish and no trophies to fight for unless anyone thinks they have a real shot at the Europa League.
* THE LONG, excruciating wait is over - MotoGP officially gets under way this weekend in Qatar and I’ve no doubt we won’t be disappointed.
The 39-year old Valentino Rossi will yet again be the one to watch, while much more will be expected of his teammate, Maverick Vinales, this season.
Rossi turned 39 last month, but he has shown no signs of retiring, which is fantastic news for all his fans.
He will, however, be out of contract at the end of this season, but will in all likelihood receive an extension from Yamaha.
It will be interesting to see how the opening race of the season plays out after a long break.
Marc Marquez will, not surprisingly, be in top form again this season and so, too, might the Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo.
In MotoGP it’s very difficult to predict race results. Don’t forget that seven of this season’s 19 races have been shortened: Valencia (three laps shorter) while France, Catalan, Czech, San Marino and the Americas GP will all be a lap shorter.
* THE WEEK after sees the return of Formula One, which will no longer feature grid girls, a decision that appears to be unpopular with men around the world.
Looking ahead to the 21-race 2018 season, I think we can expect much of the same from Mercedes and Ferrari, although the latter has given fans some hope with some really dominant testing performances.
I don’t see Red Bull and Williams being a major threat to the top two, although the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo will always be in strong contention for race wins.
McLaren are expected to do significantly better with the Renault engines. Last season was an absolute disaster for the former champions and Fernando Alonso due to all their reliability issues.