Man Utd stars note ‘change in demeanour’ of Ten Hag who has ‘resigned himself to the sack’
Man Utd players have picked up on a change in Erik ten Hag and believe he has resigned himself to being sacked, according to reports.
The Red Devils enjoyed a positive first season under Ten Hag with the Dutchman guiding them to an FA Cup final, glory in the Carabao Cup and a top-four finish in the Premier League.
However, things have not gone to plan this term with Man Utd out of Europe after finishing bottom of their Champions League group, while their inconsistent form in the Premier League means they are sixth and 11 points off fourth-placed Tottenham.
And Ten Hag has come under intense pressure over poor results and performances with Rio Ferdinand questioning his “kamikaze chaos football”.
Widespread reliable reports have always maintained that new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS will give him until the end of the season before deciding his future.
But The Sun now claims that Man Utd players now ‘fear’ that Ten Hag ‘has now resigned himself to the sack at the end of the season’ following a number of poor displays.
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How can Ratcliffe and Manchester United trust a process Erik ten Hag has not proven actually exists?
Related video: 'We have to improve' says Erik ten Hag after Man United's draw with Liverpool (Metro)
Yes and I think the most important was
The report adds that some players have ‘noticed a change in the demeanour’ of the Man Utd boss ‘in recent weeks’ after Ratcliffe ‘refused to deliver a public vote of confidence.’
Former Swansea City and Chelsea boss Graham Potter ‘is in line to take over after meeting with’ Ratcliffe with the Englishman snubbing a move to Ajax last week.
Journalist Neil Jones insists he would be “amazed” if Man Utd aren’t looking “at their next managerial target” ahead of next season.
Jones wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Manchester United under Erik ten Hag, I’m not entirely sure what they are or what they are trying to be.
“He says they aim to be “dominant” with and without the ball, but they are neither, as far as I can see. They have some talented individuals who can produce moments of magic – Garnacho, Rashford, Mainoo, Fernandes, Antony – but as a team, I just don’t see the same levels of structure, organisation and desire as at, say, Liverpool or Arsenal or City. Even Tottenham.
“Their pressing structure, in particular, is appalling at times. How easy is it to play through the lines and get at United’s back four? They cough up chances – good chances – at an alarming rate for a so-called top side, and it happens week after week, home and away, whether against the good sides or the average ones.
“Two years in, a lot of the blame for that has to fall at Ten Hag’s feet. Either his message isn’t clear, isn’t getting through or he hasn’t got the players to make it work. And if it’s the latter, then questions must be asked as to some of those he has brought in. Their better players at the moment are either academy products – Mainoo & Garnacho – or those who he has previously discarded – Maguire & Wan Bissaka.
“It feels to me like the FA Cup might save Ten Hag this season, but I’d be amazed if United aren’t at least starting to look at their next managerial target, because right now they look miles off the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and City. “
Sheff Utd to start on -2 points if relegated as Nuno bemoans ‘messy’ Forest points deduction situation
Sheffield United will start the 2024/25 season on minus two points if they are relegated from the Premier League to the Championship.
An independent commission has imposed a two-point penalty for the start of the next campaign they are under the English Football League’s jurisdiction, after the Blades defaulted on payments to other clubs during their promotion season in 2022-23.
Sheffield United given points deduction for next season
A further two-point penalty has been suspended until the end of that same season, the EFL said. This will be triggered if United default on any payment to another club under a transfer or compensation agreement for more than five business days from the due date of payment.
The EFL said the defaults which led to the sanction were cumulatively in excess of 550 days.
The club also agreed to pay the EFL’s costs of £310,455.
Sheffield United are currently bottom of the Premier League, nine points off safety with seven games left to play.
Forest: Nuno not happy with PSR
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has described the current points deductions under the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) as a “mess”.
Forest – who are 17th in the table – were given a four-point sanction for breaching PSR last month and are awaiting the results of an appeal.
Fellow strugglers Everton have also been deducted points this season and were handed a 10-point penalty imposed last November which was cut down to six points.
The Toffees were plunged into further trouble earlier this week after receiving a further two-point deduction and Nuno admitted the situation is a “mess”.
He told a press conference: “That’s a lot of uncertainty, the appeal going on, we’re still waiting, so there’s nothing much to say about that. Let’s focus on what we have to focus (on) and wait.
“I’ve never experienced this situation, I think none of us has experienced this before. It’s a mess, isn’t it?
“There’s so much things going on that we cannot clearly know what’s going to happen, so let’s leave it this way and wait.
“Honestly, me and the players are only focused on our tasks.”
The points deductions and subsequent appeals, if successful, could change the landscape at the bottom of the Premier League table, where Forest are fighting for survival.
With the current deductions, Everton now sit just two points above Forest in 16th and Nuno’s side are lingering just above the relegation zone with only goal difference separating them from 18th-placed Luton.
Nuno comes up against his old club Wolves on Saturday at the City Ground and the Forest boss admits this season’s points deductions have created “uncertainty”.
“It’s played (on players’ minds) since the decision came around. It’s always there,” Nuno added.
“What you are trying is (to) put (it) away from our focus and just pay attention to the things we can control.
“But it’s there, we are talking about this, we read, the players know, the fans are aware so what we expect is sooner than later the final decision comes so we can finish the season and see what’s happening.
“It’s very important that we have the decision sooner, it’s better for us, it’s better for the competition so it doesn’t create mess, it doesn’t create confusion and uncertainty because this is what we’re experiencing now.
“(There is) so much going on, so much talking, appeal after appeal, we don’t know. Like yourselves, we wait and see what’s happening.
“For us, it’s vital we focus on our tasks and the players’ tasks is to play and be focused on the game, try to ignore everything else.”
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Chelsea given 21 reasons to rue cut-price Christian Pulisic sale
When things get stale, try something new. It’s a principle Christian Pulisic has embraced this season and it has revitalised his career.
Before January 2016, Hershey, Pennsylvania, was known for one thing: chocolate. But then a 17-year-old Pulisic made an electrifying breakthrough into the Borussia Dortmund first team and Hershey gained a second claim to fame as the birthplace of America’s greatest soccer prospect.
Pulisic seemed destined for superstardom. But while a £58million move to Chelsea in 2019 would make him a Champions League winner, a combination of the club’s dearly held tradition of managerial instability, injuries and inconsistent form saw his career stall by the end of his four years at Stamford Bridge.
In search of new pastures last summer, he broke new ground. He joined AC Milan, with the Italian giants taking advantage of the 25-year-old’s shrunken market value to snap him up for less than a third of the fee Chelsea paid for him.
READ: Ex-Man Utd man claims Pulisic would ‘he’d still be’ at Chelsea ‘if he was ‘Dutch or Italian’
And when Pulisic made his Serie A debut, scoring in a 2-0 victory away to Bologna on the opening weekend of the season, he became the first American player signed permanently for Milan to play a league fixture for the storied club – Netherlands-born USMNT full-back Sergino Dest played for the Rossoneri on loan last season, and Oguchi Onyewu was a Milan player for two years between 2009 and 2011 but recorded more training-ground scraps with Zlatan Ibrahimovic (one) than Serie A appearances (zero).Related video: The Problem With Chelsea's Tactics Nobody's Talking About (FourFourTwo)
425 passes and not a single one leads them to
“I’m just proud to be an AC Milan player, it doesn’t matter where I’m from or becoming unique,” Pulisic told ESPN shortly after sealing his Milanese move.
“This club has won titles all its history, and while I’m obviously keen to represent my country and to be the first guy from the US to come here and make a big impact, the key fact is that I’m here to help AC Milan keep winning trophies.”
It’s not just in his surroundings that Pulisic is embracing change and stepping out of his comfort zone; he been playing in a previously unfamiliar position in Stefano Pioli’s side, too.
Emerging at Dortmund, Pulisic played predominately on the left wing, where he could cut inside on to his stronger right foot. With the United States national team, he has most commonly played as a No.10, the star of the team and its central attacking fulcrum.
At Milan, where Portuguese winger Rafael Leao is the undisputed occupant of the left flank, Pulisic has most often played on the right, both in a 4-3-3 formation and a 4-2-3-1. Another former Chelsea player, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, has tended to be preferred in the No.10 spot in the latter set-up.
Pulisic’s success in the role – with Pioli valuing his ability to thrive in tight spaces and attack defenders with fearless, direct dribbling – has been such that €20 million summer signing Samuel Chukwueze, a more natural right winger, has found his opportunities limited.
“He’s a footballer,” Pioli said of Pulisic. “When I say it like that, what I mean is that he’s one of those who knows to do the right thing in the right moment. Having someone like that makes everything simpler. He can play in different roles.”
READ: Phil Foden is master of the small spaces and player of the season
And for his willingness to adapt to a new role in a new environment, he has been rewarded with new levels of production – a 20-yard left-footed rocket to open the scoring in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Lecce was Pulisic’s 10th league goal of the season, a career high. His 13 strikes across all competitions is his best-ever return, too; likewise his tally of total goal contributions when his eight assists are added.
In January, he was named the US Male Soccer Player of the Year for a record-equalling fourth time, claiming the award for the first time since 2021. And, according to Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, Milan have been so impressed that they are already considering triggering an option to extend his contract a further year.
US soccer is entering its most crucial period in three decades, since hosting the 1994 World Cup and the launch of Major League Soccer two years later. Lionel Messi’s presence in MLS, the league’s ground-breaking AppleTV+ broadcast deal and the fact this year’s Copa America, next year’s World Club Cup and the 2026 World Cup are all set to be hosted – at least in part – in the States are coalescing factors in a monumental opportunity to further grow the game in the US.
With that in mind, it should not be underestimated what a boon it is that the face of the USMNT is smiling again.
“When those big international moments come along, starting with next summer’s Copa America, I’m just going to be that much more battle-experienced,” Pulisic told ESPN. “I view earning my place and performing well for AC Milan as a huge chance for me to really step up and go to another level as a player.”
Pulisic’s move to Milan, so far, is working out for almost all involved. The only related party with reason to rue the cut-price deal are Chelsea, whose failure to maximise the midfielder’s unquestioned skills has seen them miss out both on a marketable star player and a hefty return in the transfer market.
For everyone else – from Pulisic to Milan to the USMNT – it’s been a deal as sweet as his hometown’s primary export.
Barcelona, PSG boycott Spanish broadcaster over pundit’s racist Lamine Yamal joke
Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain staged a boycott against Spanish broadcaster Movistar over a racist on-air comment aimed at Lamine Yamal ahead of their Champions League clash on Wednesday.
The Spanish giants ran out 3-2 winners in Paris with an Andreas Christensen header securing victory in a game which caught fire in the second half.
Racism provokes Movistar laughter
But ahead of the game, former Atletico Madrid assistant German Burgos, working as a pundit for Movistar made a comment about 16-year-old wonderkid Lamal that left both Barcelona and PSG furious.
As the Barcelona-born teenager, whose parents are from Morocco and Equitorial Guinea, was shown doing kick-ups on screen in the warm up, one of the pundits said “look at the quality, look at the touches”, to which Burgos replied, “if football doesn’t work out, he’ll end up at a traffic light”.
The comment provoked laughter in the studio before Burgos later apologised on air for his comment.
A terrible apology
Burgos said: “It was a comment made without the intention of hurting anyone. If anyone felt offended I apologise publicly. In these times we have to adapt to everything and that’s what we are in.”
A terrible apology, I think we can all agree.
Players and officials from PSG and Barca were made aware of the comment before the match, and made it known to Movistar that they didn’t wish to speak to them after full-time.
Informing viewers of Barcelona’s decision to boycott all interviews, Movistar presenter Ricardo Sierra said: “I understand that many spectators expected us to have a conversation or interview with Barca.
“But PSG and Barca have notified us that they were not going to attend to us because they were tremendously angry with a comment that was made on our set.”
Having managed to avoid horrendous racist jibes at footballers, TNT Sports spoke to match-winner Christensen after the game.
“Big win, playing away in the Champions League. One game in Barca to go. We played well, we defended well and attacked. Tactically we did really well,” he told TNT Sports.
“They changed a lot of players, we defended [Kylian] Mbappe really well. We create many chances, Raphinha and Robert [Lewandowski] made the difference, Pedri helped us a lot. Very happy and very proud of the team.
“Christensen also with the corner, we did so well. Big win but half work, game in Barca will be tough. PSG one of best teams in world right now.”
READ MORE: Kylian Mbappe anonymous as Xavi gives the finger to Barcelona tiki taka
Ian Wright apologises over ‘very strange’ Bukayo Saka moment in Arsenal v Bayern
Ian Wright says he’s “sorry” for his take on what he believes was a “very strange” movement from Bukayo Saka in Arsenal’s draw with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Leandro Trossard’s second-half strike secured the draw for the Gunners after Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane had given the German giants the lead following Saka’s opener at the Emirates.
Dive or no dive?
The aftermath of the game has been dominated by two penalty decisions, as Arsenal star Gabriel wasn’t punished for picking the ball up in his own box, and Saka went down after contact with Manuel Neuer.
Neither were given, and Gunners legend Wright has sided with those who believe Saka initiated the contact with the Bayern goalkeeper, and the referee was therefore right not to award the penalty.
Wright claims Saka’s movement towards Neuer when he should have been going in the opposite direction is proof that the Arsenal winger attempted to kid the referee.
“He should be nowhere near.”
Wright explained: “The angle that we got, the face-on where Saka went in, he moved it with his left foot so if you move it with your left foot, you should be going off to the left. He actually, for some reason, [moved] the leg out to the right.
“His leg went out to the right, whereas I’m thinking because you’ve gone to the left, anything that’s coming to impede you then, you jump over it. So this is why it felt very strange for him to be fouled in that manner, because he should be nowhere near.Related video: Kane's comeback unsettles Arsenal as Bayern Munich secures a 2-2 draw. (Sports AlDente)
Bayern Munich clashed with Arsenal in a thrilling first leg
“His right foot shouldn’t be there. His right foot should be coming across to the left-hand side because that’s the side he’s just moved to.
“I thought when I saw it, it was strange that his body’s moving to the right when the ball has gone to the left. And it seems to me that his body’s moving to the right because that’s where the goalkeeper was and he’s tried to initiate contact. I’m sorry, that’s how I saw it.”
Arsenal will attempt to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League next Wednesday night when they travel to the Allianz Arena for the second leg against the German champions.
MAILBOX: An ’embarrassing display of cheating’ from Bukayo Saka or ‘stepping over a short barrier’
