Football analysis by Mark Payne
Mark Payne is a journalist currently living in Sydney, Australia. He is a weekly correspondent for ESPN's online service and a contributor to a host of business, travel and lifestyle publications.
Manchester United’s capacity for drama is certainly not on the wane. Not every heavily hyped contest lives up to the billing, but this Manchester derby was quite possibly the game that had everything. Even in victory over our bitter rivals, even just three points off the top of the league, United are still yet to [click to read more]
Rarely has the rest of the league been so obliging in making up for our shortfalls. Despite our disgraceful performance at Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve it would appear that we are not the only club in the division whose players may have enjoyed a few too many mulled wines over the last week. [click to read more]
The spirit of generosity is alive and well this Christmas time and the presents under United’s tree have been particularly lovely this holidays. If it hasn’t been our rivals dropping points, it has been a kind fixture list or a card happy ref. Truly ‘tis the season to be jolly. Having said all that, the [click to read more]
There are many fond memories for me at Loftus Road. I was fortunate enough to be there for wonder goals from both Cantona and Giggs and once sat in front of George Best at the ground. This weekend, Michael Carrick of all people added his name to an illustrious list. This would not be the [click to read more]
We are all in the business of writing our own destinies and this last week saw Manchester United’s young team pen a mixed and rather painful chapter. Our club is not defined by the crowing of jealous opposing fans, nor by the excellence of our expensively assembled opponents, but by how we overcome hardship and [click to read more]
Sometimes it is difficult to tell exactly what is governing our emotional responses. All I can tell you at the moment is that I am not overjoyed with what I am seeing from United. Whether this is because the current side is poor, is playing poorly or simply a wider malaise in society is at [click to read more]
We football fans are a notoriously fickle bunch. Either we are not happy because of the quality of the show or perhaps the fortitude of the results irk us. Either way, it’s certainly a mixed bag with United at the moment. Our rather schizophrenic football club has assumed one of its more flippant guises this [click to read more]
In general, writers like things called ‘themes’ that they can hang their articles around. Therefore, if there is anything mildly unusual or different about a story, for example one of the teams in an English league match being Welsh, then you can expect the scribe to bang on about it for ages. It won’t be [click to read more]
As the dust settles on the anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson’s arrival at the club we are still a quarter of the way through an active football season and in the thick of the battle. If you had offered us 26 points from that opening run of fixtures many of us would have taken it. [click to read more]
It is certainly not business as usual when the best way to view a Manchester United match is via the ‘minute by minute’ report. Sadly, the club’s reputation for swashbuckling football that takes the breath away is looking misplaced at the moment. It seems to be de riguer to score and concede several billion goals every time [click to read more]