Man Utd: Players ‘expect Ten Hag to be sacked’ as INEOS’ five-man shortlist is revealed
The Man Utd squad are now expecting Erik ten Hag to be sacked in the summer and are delaying decisions on their futures, according to reports.
Man Utd were poor again on Saturday as they came from behind twice to draw 2-2 against 13th-placed Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Players ‘delaying decisions on futures’ over potential Ten Hag sack
Bruno Fernandes scored a brace to cancel out Cherries goals from Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert with Newcastle now moving above the Red Devils in the Premier League table.
Pressure is growing on Ten Hag as Man Utd dropped down to seventh with the Red Devils having little chance of catching fourth-placed Aston Villa, who are 13 points ahead with six games remaining.
Not only have results been bad this season but the Red Devils’ performances have also been terrible with Man Utd allowing more shots on their goal than any other side in the Premier League.
Widespread reports have claimed that INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe will give Ten Hag until the end of the season to prove himself after a positive first season in charge.
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United need clean break from Erik ten Hag to end embarrassing adolescence
However, recent results and performances have shown little improvement and now the Manchester Evening News claims that some players are ‘delaying decisions on futures as they expect Erik ten Hag to be sacked‘.
The report adds:
‘A number of United players are convinced Ten Hag will not remain in charge beyond the current season with the team languishing in seventh in the Premier League table.
‘Seven senior players are out of contract in the summer while there is uncertainty over the futures of several other squad members amid the upheaval following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment.’
And Spanish website Fichajes claims Man Utd now have five managers in their sights with the Red Devils board ‘on the hunt for a new manager for next season’.
The report continues by insisting that Thomas Tuchel, Antonio Conte, Roberto de Zerbi and Julen Lopetegui ‘are the coaches who have caught the attention’ of the Man Utd board, while Bologna boss Thiago Motta has ’emerged as a strong candidate’.
Man Utd have won just one of their last seven Premier League matches and Red Devils legend Gary Neville admits it’s a “bizarre experience” watching Ten Hag’s side at the moment.
TO THE COMMENTS! Who should replace Erik ten Hag? Join the debate here.
Gary Neville reveals his ‘biggest worry’ from Bournemouth display
“There’s nothing more to say, we’ve seen it all before,” Neville told Sky Sports when asked about the Red Devils’ draw at Bournemouth.
“It’s a repeat of what’s happened over the last six, seven years with manager’s in their second years at Manchester United. There seems to a breakdown at the end.
“The main thing is the performance levels and it was poor at Brentford and it was poor at Bournemouth. They were really low performance levels and that’s the biggest worry.
“People point towards the injuries and United have had a mountain of injuries. But nine of that team that started yesterday would probably be in the starting line-up if everyone was fit.
“They’re missing a couple of players but that’s the same with every team right now.
“There’s no explanation for how they’re playing at this moment of time. The anger and disappointment has gone out of a lot of fans’ voices, we’re getting to that point now.
“The FA Cup is obviously massive and winning a trophy two seasons on the bounce shouldn’t be sniffed at.
“But it is a bizarre experience watching United play in terms of how bad they can be. The inconsistency is rife and we’re just saying the same thing week after week.”
READ NEXT: Ten Hag explains how he tried to ‘repair’ Man Utd’s Garnacho problem by subbing him at half-time
TO THE COMMENTS! How do United break their managerial doom cycle? Join the debate here.
More: Manchester United | Erik ten Hag’s replacement
Wright hits out at one Arsenal star for ‘switching off’ in costly Aston Villa defeat
Ian Wright has criticised Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli for “switching off” in the lead up to Aston Villa’s first goal as the Gunners lost 2-0 on Sunday.
Arsenal were beaten by two late goals from Villa duo Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins as the Premier League title race took another turn over the weekend.
Ian Wright: He has to get closer to him, it’s as simple as that
Manchester City beat Luton 5-1 on Saturday as Liverpool failed to jump above Pep Guardiola’s men as they lost 1-0 in a shock home defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
That gave Arsenal a chance to move back above Man City while gaining ground of Liverpool in the title race but it’s now the Citizens’ to lose.
Analysing the match, Arsenal legend Wright hit out at Martinelli for “switching off” in the build up to Bailey’s opening goal of the match.
“Look at Martinelli, this is what we’ve been saying because Arsenal have been so good defensively this season,” Wright said on Premier League Productions.
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“Everyone has been switched on but in this instance he switches off. Bailey is his man, that’s his man in this situation. He has to get closer to him, it’s as simple as that.
“Arsenal gave Villa too many opportunities late on and they took them. Martinelli switches off at the back post. He realised too late. That’s the difference.
“The margins are so small and the same thing happened against Bayern, a couple of lapses in concentration and they were punished.”
Wright later added on X: “Villa the braver team. Great performance. Loads of injuries, midweek games, better than us in everything. Unrecognisable Arsenal in that second half.”
TO THE COMMENTS! Merely a blip or have Arsenal ‘bottled it’? Join the debate here
Mikel Arteta: We could not control and generate what we did in the first half
When asked if Arsenal’s season could now fizzle out off the back of the result against Aston Villa, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta replied: “If one result is going to do that then we are not strong enough.
“That’s very simple. We had one of the best performances that we’ve had all season in the first half against a really good team. It should have been three or four (goals) or more. It didn’t happen. In the second half the momentum shifted.
“We could not control and generate what we did in the first half. We conceded two very poor goals and we lost the game.
“Congratulate the opponent and stand up. Now the moment is to stand up and be counted. When you win and win and win for four months it’s very simple to do it. The moment to do it is now.”
READ NEXT: Why Liverpool, Manchester United and co are slowly turning away from obvious Premier League talent
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Where are they now? Maurizio Sarri’s 10 signings as Juventus manager
Over here in the UK, we called it Sarriball. In Italy, it was Sarrismo. The ciggie-chewing former banker responsible for the tactical innovation that took Chelsea to the Europa League title, Maurizio Sarri, has lived a pretty unique life.
Having never played professional football, he took up management alongside his banking job for, as we far as we can tell, the craic. Ended up at the very pinnacle of Italian football as well as serving as boss at Chelsea, where he had his infamous argument with Kepa Arrizabalaga for refusing to be subbed in the dying moments of the Europa League Final (they both say it was a misunderstanding, Kepa and Maurizio… We’re not having it).
Juventus signed some superb footballers during Sarri’s reign. They also signed one bloke we’ve literally never heard of for, we assume, completely normal and not-dodgy reasons. Let’s have a look at those ten signings, should we?
Matthijs de Ligt
Ajax’s 18-year-old captain signed for Juve following some heroic—and team talks—in the Champions League. A total of over €85million including add-ons for a teenage centre-back was a huge statement from the Old Lady.
It didn’t quite work out as well as we’d all assumed it would, and De Ligt is now at Bayern, alongside his doppelganger Eric Dier. The Bundesliga is gone… but the Champions League might yet be in grasp.
Danilo
The Brazilian is still at Juventus and has become only the club’s second ever foreign captain. The versatile defender has proven to be a very smart signing by Maurizio.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player Maurizio Sarri used as Chelsea manager?
Dejan Kulusevski
The Swede was loaned out to Parma upon being signed by Juve, meaning his time with Sarri was very limited. After two strong years in Turn alongside Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic, Kulusevski was loaned to Tottenham, who have since made that transfer permanent.
Dejan is playing Angeball, now, down on White Hart Lane.
Cristian Romero
Romero never actually played a competitive match for Juventus. After signing, he was immediately loaned back to Genoa, from whence he came. The following season he found himself on loan at Atalanta, for whom he then signed permanently.
As soon as he signed permanently for Atlanta, he was loaned to Tottenham, for whom he then signed.
The Argentinian is still at Spurs, where he collects red cards like we collected Pokemon cards in the 1990s.
Luca Pellegrini
The Roman-born wingback played 21 competitive matches for the Bianconeri during the season 2021-22 season, but has spent the vast majority of his Juve contract on loan. He’s been loaned to Cagliari, Genoa, Eintracht Frankfurt, and now Lazio, who have an obligation to buy if certain conditions are met.
Pellegrini started his career with Roma…
Can’t imagine that’s a warm welcome home on derby day.
READ NEXT: Where are they now? Andrea Pirlo’s 7 signings as Juventus manager
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Juventus’ top 20 goalscorers in Serie A since 2000?
Merih Demiral
The Turk was an exciting young centre-back when Juve swooped to sign him from Sporting, Unfortunately, he wasn’t a regular in the Old Lady’s backline and ended up moving on to Atalanta.
Nowadays, you’ll find Demiral lapping up that Saudi money with Al-Ahli.
Aaron Ramsey
Old Arsenal favourite Ramsey is back at Cardiff, his childhood club, living the pre-retirement dream. Injuries have kept him out for most of the season, as you might imagine, but we love a good homecoming story.
Two-and-a-bit seasons in Italy and a year in Southern France before returning home sounds bloody lovely to us.
Gianluigi Buffon
We just had to make doubly sure that Gigi had finally retired and that wasn’t just some sort of fever dream but, yes, he is retired now. Buffon came back to Juve has a backup keeper and, after two seasons, returned to Parma for a farewell-to-football stint in Serie B.
READ: Six brilliant keepers who just couldn’t displace Buffon as Italy No.1
Adrien Rabiot
Andrea Pirlo once said of Rabiot, “He is a complete player. I have rarely seen someone so strong, both physically and technically.”
Pretty big endorsement. Rabiot is still at Juventus and has played over 200 games for the Bianconeri. Solid signing, we’d say.
Mattia Bortolussi
Never heard of Serie C striker Bortolussi? Us neither. According to Transfermarkt, he signed for Juventus on a free transfer from *checks notes* Lucchese, and was sold the very next day to Novara for €200,000…
Calcio.
Lionel Messi magic in Mahomes’ home makes MLS winner a no-brainer
The world’s greatest footballer stole the show at the home of the NFL’s biggest star to dump misery on the club Patrick Mahomes part-owns.
MLS winners
Messi magic in Mahomes’ home
Lionel Messi put on a show at the home of the NFL’s back-to-back Super Bowl champions on Saturday night, although there was a blank space in the luxury box Taylor Swift has come to frequent. But to keep the Swifties interested: spot the seven song titles subtly hidden in this segment.Inter Miami had been unceremoniously dumped out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup by Mexican side Monterrey in midweek and were winless in their last three MLS outings. Call it what you want, but that’s not good enough for a club with designs on multiple trophies.
As far as that run of poor form was concerned, though, Messi and co. were able to shake it off at Arrowhead Stadium, which was on loan to Sporting Kansas City for the evening from the Kansas City Chiefs.
As Messi walked past Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the bowels of the arena pre-match, the two-time NFL MVP instructed the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner to “have fun” – GOAT recognises GOAT, it seems. And to the misfortune of the home side, for whom Mahomes is a minority owner, Inter’s superstar did exactly that.
The former Barcelona icon provided a trade-mark defence-splitting pass to assist Diego Gomez’s equaliser in the 18th minute, after Erik Thommy had given the home side an early lead in front of a 72,000 sell-out crowd.
Then, early in the second half, Messi gave the fans a goal they could only have pictured in their wildest dreams. Collecting the ball 25 yards from goal, he took one electric touch to set himself before rifling into the top corner.Related video: Brittany Mahomes Takes ‘Big Day Trip’ with Her Kiddos Back to Her Hometown (E! News)
Video Player is loading.Thommy levelled with a goal of equal quality just seven minutes later. But Luis Suarez scored from close range in the 71st minute to get Inter out of the woods and record a much-needed victory.
“We had to get out of that dynamic of tying games, losing and making errors,” Miami manager Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino said post-match. “Today we managed to get out of that dynamic in a week that was difficult and long.
“We recovered sensations and ended up winning the game in a good way. In that way, we are satisfied.”
A hamstring injury has caused Messi to miss four of Miami’s nine league fixtures so far this term, but in the five he has been available for, he has continued to provide all-time-great production. He is now only the fourth player in MLS history to record 10 goal contributions in his first five games of a season.
The win left Miami top of the Eastern Conference. Still worried about their title credentials? You need to calm down.
READ: Lionel Messi proves gold doesn’t rust as racism is shown the Red Bull
Galaxy’s new star shines
After losing ‘El Trafico’ to local rivals LAFC last weekend, Los Angeles Galaxy’s bright start to the 2024 season could have been thrust into peril with a trip to face fellow Western Conference standouts the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.Dejan Joveljic put the away side ahead early in the second half, but when Brian White equalised with a header from a Ryan Gauld corner – the seventh set-piece goal the Galaxy have conceded already in eight games this season – it looked as though Greg Vanney’s side were destined to drop more points.
Paintsil had other ideas, though. The Ghanaian winger, a $9million summer signing from Gent, raced in behind the Vancouver backline to latch on to a perfectly calibrated Riqui Puig through-ball and finish calmly in the 80th minute.
It was the 26-year-old’s third goal of his debut MLS campaign. And two minutes later, he racked up his third assist, again racing clear down the right flank before cutely cutting back for Diego Fegundez to score and fire LA to the top of the West.
Powered by Paintsil and Puig, the Galaxy look contenders to add to their record haul of five MLS Cups – provided they drop the Day of the Dead routine when defending dead balls.
MLS losers
Collapsing Kansas
Their loss to Messi and Miami means Sporting Kansas City are stuck on just one home win for the season – even if this one wasn’t at their usual home, the 18,000-capacity Children’s Mercy Park.That solitary victory on home soil hardly makes for impressive reading, either; they scraped a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes, the current inauspicious owners of the worst record in MLS.
And the defeat to Inter Miami marked a continuation of another worrying theme for KC, who, having led early on, again dropped points from a winning position.
In just the second week of the season, they conceded in the 94th minute to slip to a 1-1 draw against the Philadelphia Union. They led LA Galaxy 2-0, only to capitulate over the course of eight second-half minutes to lose 3-2. And against Phil Neville’s Portland Timbers last week, Kansas led 3-0 yet still only came away with a point.
In front of 72,000 at Arrowhead, Sporting had the chance to kickstart their season with a statement win against a wounded Miami team. Instead, in a stadium used to housing a gridiron juggernaut, they found familiar ways to fall short.
Fault lines in San Jose
The San Jose Earthquakes are another side contriving to find ways to lose games.
Against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, the Quakes enjoyed a 58.9% share of possession and outshot their visitors by a margin of 22 to 13.
Yet they were smashed 3-0.
Despite their domination of the ball and frequent efforts at goal, former Manchester City keeper Zack Steffen was seldom tested between the sticks for the Rapids as the home side offered as much cutting edge as a baby-proofed blancmange.
The result leaves San Jose bottom of the Western Conference and, with just one win from eight games, the worst record in the league.
What’s frustrating from an Earthquakes point of view is that they ought to be significantly better. They have conceded 20 goals, the worst defensive record in MLS so far this season. But the cumulative expected goals (xG) of the chances they have conceded is just 11.91, a mid-ranking number that suggests they’ve thus far fallen victim to outstanding opposition finishing.
And in attack, they have scored 10 goals, but the xG of the chances they have conjured is 11.5, again suggesting they should be performing slightly better.
The numbers point toward a brighter outlook than the picture currently painted by the standings. But any turnaround might have to wait – next up, they’re away to LA Galaxy.
