Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag “can’t be bothered” with criticism of the job he is doing at Old Trafford and claims he has only been able to pick his strongest team once in 18 months.
The Dutchman delivered an encouraging first season, winning the League Cup and finishing in the top four, but this campaign has been far more difficult.
They were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and are in a battle to finish in the top six in the Premier League, with his position coming under scrutiny following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority purchase and takeover of the football operations.
Boss ||
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
United can salvage their season by winning the FA Cup and they aim to reach a second successive final…
France striker Olivier Giroud said Les Bleus are aiming to reach at least the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and claimed England are particularly afraid of Didier Deschamps side.
The 1998 winners were drawn in Group C and will face Australia, Peru and Denmark as they look to improve on 2014 s march to the quarter-finals, where they were beaten 1-0 by Germany.
Giroud scored four goals in eight appearances as France ran out winners of World Cup qualifying Group A ahead of Sweden and the Netherlands.
The 31-year-old expressed his belief in the talent available to Deschamps, and also indicated he had gauged the mood of the England internationals he plays alongside at Emirates Stadium.
We obviously want to get out of this group, but I have always respected…
Christian Benteke redeemed himself by scoring for the first time this season and ended Crystal Palace s long wait for an away goal as Roy Hodgson s resurgent team defeated Leicester City 3-0 in the Premier League.
Benteke incurred the wrath of his team-mates by taking a penalty against the manager s orders and failing to score in a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth last weekend.
The Belgium international made amends by scoring his first goal of the campaign at King Power Stadium, before setting up Wilfried Zaha for the visitors second five minutes before half-time.
Leicester had a goal ruled out and saw Wilfred Ndidi sent off in the second half, as the 2015-16 champions failed to force their way back into the contest, Bakary Sako adding gloss to the scoreline for th…
West Ham United have made a bid for Brentford star Said Benrahma, according to . It has been reported that the Premier League club have offered the Championship side an initial transfer fee of £17 million plus add-ons for the Algeria international, who can play as a winger or as a forward.
Brentford are yet to officially respond to the offer from fellow London club West Ham, although the Bees are looking for close to £25 million as transfer fee. Brentford reached the Championship playoff final last season, while the Hammers narrowly avoided the dreaded drop from the Premier League.
Last season, Benrahma made 42 starts and four substitute appearances in the league for the Bees, scoring 17 goals and providing nine assists in the process, according to . Back in 2018-19, …
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On Saturday afternoon, Mauricio Pellegrino s struggling Saints will make the journey to Craven Cottage for their FA Cup third-round tie. With pressure ever growing on their Argentinian boss, Southampton will be looking to pick up their first win in their last nine attempts.
Fulham
On paper, Fulham boss Slaviša Jokanović should be confident about causing a third-round upset on Saturday afternoon. Currently sat 10th in the Championship table, the Cottagers are still in contention for a playoff spot come the end of the season. Four points adrift of sixth-placed Leeds, the west London sides major problem this year has been their inconsistency. Embarking on a six-match winless run last November, the Cot…
Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi scored in a 2-1 victory over Milan as Liverpool became the first English team to win all six Champions League group games in a single season.
Although they fell behind to a Fikayo Tomori strike, the Reds rallied to round off a perfect group-stage campaign.
And this result meant Milan not only failed to join their opponents in the next round but also missed out on a Europa League spot.
Liverpool saw out a historic win – their first at San Siro against Milan – with little trouble.
5 Mo Salah is the first player to score 20+ goals in five consecutive seasons for Liverpool in all competitions since Ian Rush from 1981-82 to 1986-87 (six in a row). Famous.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Despite knowing the stakes, …
Manchester City are interested in signing Eden Hazard from Real Madrid in the summer of 2021 if they are unable to bring Lionel Messi to the Etihad Stadium, according to . It has been reported that City have identified the former Chelsea attacking midfielder as an alternative to Messi.
Premier League giants City are interested in signing Messi in the summer of 2021 when he becomes a free agent at Spanish and European giants Barcelona. The Argentina international worked with City manager Pep Guardiola at Camp Nou.
Hazard joined Madrid from Chelsea in the summer of 2019. The Belgium international, who can also operate as a winger, had injury problems last season and could not make an impact. The former Lille star is not having a great time this season either. According to…
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast hi…
Bayern Munich travel to Stuttgart this weekend and are ready to rotate their side with the Champions League semi-final second leg at Real Madrid to come four days later, manager Thomas Tuchel said.
The league title has been secured by Bayer Leverkusen, and with the Bundesliga s top five clubs guaranteed Champions League football next season, Saturday s clash between Bayern in second and third-placed Stuttgart is not crucial.
We will give a few players the chance to pick up some rhythm, Tuchel said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Of course, we will also take a few players out and allow ourselves to adapt the rhythm to Wednesday.
But that doesn t relieve us of our responsibility, that those who play have to fight and show grit there.
…
Former Portugal midfielder Deco believes Jose Mourinho s coaching successes have been much harder than those of Pep Guardiola.
The two bosses clashed on numerous occasions before Guardiola stepped down as Barcelona manager last summer, after losing out on the La Liga title to Real Madrid.
Deco himself enjoyed four years at Camp Nou between 2004 and 2008, but despite his links with the Catalans, he has offered his backing to his compatriot.
Winning in all places as Mourinho has done is harder, he told RTP.
Guardiola is a great coach, but Barcelona went on to say that he did not invent anything. But let s see how he does with other teams and different training methods, then we can make a better assessment.
The Fluminense man also had his say on …