Erik ten Hag says Lisandro Martinez’s knee injury “doesn’t look good” and the concerned Manchester United boss is praying centre-back has avoided a “personal disaster”.
The 26-year-old looked crestfallen after being forced off on just his fourth appearance since returning from four months out following the reoccurrence of a foot issue.

Martinez was surrounded by concerned United team-mates in the second half after going down clutching his right knee having been landed on awkwardly by West Ham full-back Vladimir Coufal.
The Argentina international was able to continue for a short period, only to pull up again and eventually trudge down the touchline to supportive chants from the Old Trafford faithful.
Ten Hag is fearing the worst and says “we can only pray” that Martinez, who he signed from former club Ajax in 2022, has avoided serious injury.
“I can’t say (what the situation is) but it doesn’t look good, so there’s a big concern,” the United boss said after Sunday’s 3-0 win against the Hammers.
“But we have to wait for what is the diagnosis and then we can tell you more.
“Of course we do everything to get the right diagnosis and see what the damage is.
“He is very sad, very disappointed. We are all. We feel really with him.
Related video: United can 'still achieve a lot' this season - Ten Hag (Daily Mail)

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“First of all, it’s a personal disaster when it’s really bad but let’s wait for what it is. But also for the team it’s really bad because he definitely brings us a lot.”
Martinez’s injury was a body blow on an otherwise brilliant day in what has been a largely disappointing campaign for United.
Rasmus Hojlund lashed the side ahead on his 21st birthday, before 19-year-old talent Alejandro Garnacho added a second-half brace.
The Argentina international celebrated his first goal by sitting on the advertising hoardings with fellow grinning young guns Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo, 18.
“We now have a team that is in balance on the pitch, then we can play better,” Ten Hag said. “Also you see the progress is coming.
“We bought players in the summer for the future. We also made choices to give players who deserve it, to give opportunities in the first team as Garnacho and Mainoo.

“But Mainoo in the second game (of the pre-season tour) against (Real) Madrid, gets a real bad injury, then all the plans you have you have to adapt.
“Hojlund had a period, he came late in, young, but you see he is progressing.
“When there is a consistent team in his back with routines, they will serve him better and then you see a frontline who is in balance.
“It is a threat for every opponent and also you see they enjoy it, to play football.
“They enjoy to give opponents problems, they want to do it with togetherness and the picture of the three youngsters celebrating together covered a lot, I think.
“It’s not about one player, it’s about a team and that is what I have seen today.
“It looked like a team – 11 defending, 11 attacking. For me, it was enjoyable to watch.”
READ MORE: Manchester United revel in rare afternoon of calm against a wilting West Ham

That viewpoint was not shared by West Ham counterpart David Moyes, who felt his side perhaps even played better than when they beat United 2-0 at home in December.
“Yeah, I do (think the scoreline flattered United,” he said. “I look at my last couple of performances. I didn’t enjoy our draw against Bournemouth, I didn’t think we played well enough.
“I didn’t enjoy my point again Sheffield United but I probably enjoyed my team’s performance better. I didn’t enjoy the results.
“So, that’s why when you’re getting to a point and you’re not doing well you’ve just got to take it and move on.
“But I’m hoping the performance today we can build on, I thought we played much better today.
“I thought we made quite a few opportunities and we just didn’t quite have a shooting boots on to get us the chances.
“We beat Manchester United at the London Stadium and we may have played better today than we did at the London Stadium.”

Man Utd: Getafe boss defends ‘great guy’ Greenwood after claims Bellingham aimed slur at forward

Getafe manager Jose Bordalas has called for “respect” for Mason Greenwood after allegations that Jude Bellingham called the Man Utd loanee a ‘rapist’.
The incident happened during Getafe’s 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in which the two Englishman played against each other for the first time since Greenwood’s move to Spain.


Greenwood tackled Bellingham during the match with the television cameras panning to the latter’s reaction to the challenge and caught the Real Madrid midfielder uttering a two-syllable word.
The audio did not pick up exactly what was said and now La Liga are drafting in a lip reader for an “expert report” on the incident.
A La Liga statement read: “Getafe yesterday transferred the complaint to the La Liga match director and La Liga, as it always does on these occasions, has requested an expert report on lip reading to investigate the matter and act on the basis of what can be proven beyond doubt [by the lip reader].
Greenwood was suspended by Man Utd on January 30, 2022 over allegations relating to a young woman after images and videos were posted online.
READ MORE: Man Utd fans praise ‘Henry-esque’ hero as Liverpool told why they must ‘thank’ Bukayo Saka
The 22-year-old faced charges including attempted rape and assault, but the Crown Prosecution Service announced in February 2023 that the case had been discontinued.
Reports that Man Utd were planning to retain him following an internal investigation were met by public outcry and the club announced in August that it had been mutually agreed for him to continue his career elsewhere.
Clubs in Italy, Germany and Turkey were among those to express interest, but Greenwood completed a deadline-day move to LaLiga side Getafe on a season-long loan.
And now Getafe boss Bordalas has defended Greenwood amid claims that Bellingham could be suspended if found guilty of making the one-word slur.
Speaking ahead of Getafe’s trip to Real Betis, Bordalas said: “That has already been clarified, what I said months ago was a misunderstanding.
On Bellingham’s alleged slur, Bordalas added: “I know the same thing that you know. It’s not up to me, it’s the club, La Liga and the Federation that have to make an assessment about it.


“The only thing that I can say is that I ask for respect from Mason Greenwood because he is a great guy. He is a man who respects everyone and has exemplary behaviour.”
READ MORE: The multinational stars England may lose: Mainoo eyed, Bellingham prays over Greenwood ‘baggage’

Pochettino sack inevitable as Caicedo joins Chelsea boss in the indefensible

hat Chelsea performance alone was a sackable offence for Mauricio Pochettino, who’s staring down the barrel at Stamford Bridge, where Moises Caicedo is perhaps the greatest example of his failings.
Chelsea fans are more defensive of Moises Caicedo than any of their other below par recruits over the last 18 months. His extraordinary transfer fee, the stunted opportunity to rub his decision to choose Chelsea in the face of Liverpool fans and his displays this season compared to long-term target Declan Rice’s for Arsenal combine to make Blues fans particularly prickly and thin-skinned when it comes to criticism of the Ecuador international.

They’re sticking up for a player who’s been on the end of significant enough abuse to delete his X account, and credit to them, but Caicedo isn’t making things easy for his guardians, giving with one hand and taking away with the other, as he did on Sunday.
Chelsea X as good as blew up as Caicedo slipped a perfectly weighted through ball into Cole Palmer’s path for the forward to open the scoring. ‘That’s what £115m buys you’ they crowed for under three minutes, before his detractors were handed the chance to ratio any positivity on a plate similar to the one the ball had been presented to Wolves on by Caicedo.
Cue the freeze-frames from Caicedo-ites attempting to excuse the midfielder for being robbed of possession by pointing to a lack of support. Guys, he was the last midfielder, as he’s supposed to be, and simply shouldn’t get caught on the ball as he did. It was inexcusable.
As was his role in Wolves’ second goal, which was a lovely sweeping move that went up one side of the pitch, back, and then up the other side, before another fortunate deflection saw them take the lead. It was entirely deserved despite the stroke of good fortune, and from a Chelsea point of view, entirely preventable.
Ben Chilwell – hardly a renowned one-on-one defender – was left two-on-one and was beaten easily, as Thiago Silva attempted to play offside when he shouldn’t have and then failed to close Pedro Neto down as he burst into the box. But it was Caicedo’s part in the goal – or rather his lack of one – that caught the eye, by virtue of his good, bad and ugly performance up to that point.
He jogged behind Rayan Ait-Nouri into the box as the full-back got on the end of Neto’s pull back. It didn’t require skill, quality or awareness, just effort. It’s not good enough.
Caicedo Chelsea
© Provided by Football365
Moises Caicedo had another game to forget for Chelsea against Wolves.
But then that would be on the report cards of each and every Chelsea player after Sunday, and the majority of them for the season, with Pochettino’s excuses becoming more and more broad as his terrible tenure continues, with fewer and fewer fans buying into a project doomed to fail thanks to its entirely flawed blueprints.


Boos rang out at Stamford Bridge, both at half-time and after the final whistle, on the back of a comically disjointed performance from a team that lacked any cohesion either in defence or attack, save for the move which led to Palmer’s goal. Matheus Cunha scored a hat-trick, FFS.
They are so easy to play against, with opposition teams not needing to be incisive or patient to break through. Ironically, the same laborious, unimaginative build-up play that’s been the customary method of attack for Chelsea this season would be more than enough to get past their own feeble defence.
The owners handed him an incredibly difficult job, but just as the performances of these players are inexcusable, so is Pochettino’s management of them. The odd poor display would be understandable, but even with such a young group of players, there should be an upward trend. They’re getting worse, seemingly owing to a combined lack of motivation and direction – both of which are obviously within Pochettino’s purview.

The question the Chelsea owners will now be asking themselves is can Pochettino lead the club back into the top four next term, because they quite simply cannot afford not to be in the Champions League come the 2025/26 season.
Looking both at this display and the season in general, it’s very hard to see that happening. Individuals haven’t improved, the collective are a collective in name only and something needs to change, with the manager the easiest and cheapest something of all.
We would doubt whether any available manager could do what Pochettino hasn’t managed to, but Todd Boehly and Clearlake – having been through this situation with Graham Potter – know that when the fan tide turns against a Chelsea manager they can’t be seen to do nothing. Pochettino is staring down the barrel.