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  • rahultiwaridelhrahultiwaridelh Delhi India4 Points
    Mourinho believes Ronaldo is not a right man for The Red Devils. Jose Mourinho, though, seems speculative on the entire deal regarding Ronaldo. While the manager is quite strong-willed towards his move for Alvaro Morata, rumours involving the trio of Morata, David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo are quite clearly out of the possibility.
    7negimunna219777
  • thebeautifulgamethebeautifulgame Durgapur,India30489 Points

    Inside Ten Hag's turbulent time at Manchester United

    The axe has finally fallen on Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager.

    His last official engagement was in London, just as his first was.

    It ended in defeat, which is how it started, although he was only watching at Selhurst Park on 22 May when United were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace in Ralf Rangnick’s last game as interim boss.

    The day after, in the media room at Old Trafford, Ten Hag spoke for the first time about the challenge in front of him. The former Ajax manager was adamant joining United was not a risk despite the mess he seemed to be inheriting at his new club.

    As he has repeatedly reminded everyone after his side won the FA Cup final in May this year, only Pep Guardiola at Manchester City has done better than his two trophies since the summer of 2022.

    But another couple of observations Ten Hag made on that Monday morning have not survived the test of time.

    One was about the dominance of Manchester City and Liverpool under Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp and whether that era could come to an end with the pair still in post. "Yes," was Ten Hag’s curt reply.

    The other was about how he planned to achieve it. The 54-year-old said his plan was "huge" and that it would be rolled out to staff and players. "You will see," he said.

    What is the Ten Hag 'plan?'

    However, for the sixth time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, the fifth time since Liverpool appointed Klopp and the fourth time since Guardiola joined City the following year in 2016, United have once again concluded that they have the wrong man leading their team.

    And a major reason for that is that Ten Hag’s 'plan' was never in evidence. Or at least it was, just once, in last season’s FA Cup final at Wembley, when the manner of victory over Manchester City was the chief reason for him keeping his job.

    City were beaten thanks to a perfect plan that was on show from the opening minutes - suck defenders to the ball and play long, precise passes into space for the quick players and then support them. It was thrilling and brought a richly deserved success.

    However, other than that victory, it has mostly just been words. Ten Hag has been increasingly mocked on unforgiving social media platforms for his repeated use of phrases such as 'project' and 'game model', and demanding players and fans ‘stick to the plan’, which he said again before the Brentford game on 19 October.

    'One of the most poorly coached teams in the league'

    But most memorable in a series of withering attacks on Ten Hag came from Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher in the wake of a 4-0 defeat by Crystal Palace.

    "Manchester United are one of the most poorly coached teams in the Premier League," said the former Liverpool and England defender.

    As well as that humbling loss at Palace, Ten Hag's tenure also included:

    • A four-goal defeat by Brentford in August 2022

    • A 6-3 loss at Manchester City in October 2022 when United were four goals down by half-time

    • A record 7-0 defeat by Liverpool in March 2023

    • A loss at Chelsea in April despite his side leading deep into stoppage time

    • A VAR call in their favour deep into extra-time of last season's FA Cup semi-final that saw them scrape past Championship side Coventry on penalties after giving up a 3-0 lead.

    Whereas Aston Villa’s Unai Emery, appointed five months after Ten Hag, implemented a clearly defined plan that has taken them to the top of the Champions League table, Ten Hag continued to talk about his.

    £600m spent on Ten Hag transfers

    Speaking anonymously, a former coach with a deep understanding of United, outlined what he felt was a lack of identifiable style.

    "Erik is a coach," he said. "We all assumed when he came in, he would coach the players in a certain way.

    "But it is hard to see what that way is. Are United a pressing team? They don’t really have the players to press.

    "They play with two defensive midfielders but then bring the full-backs inside, which clogs up the midfield. And when the opposition break, neither of the sixes are effective at stopping them.

    "The issues are pretty basic but they are not being rectified."

    After the home victory against Everton last March, one of six out of seven Premier League games in which United had faced 20 shots or more on their goal, Ten Hag dismissed the problem, saying the visitors had a "low xG [expected goals]".

    The idea that United do not have defensive issues is ridiculous. They have conceded three goals or more under Ten Hag on 24 occasions, including against Liverpool and Tottenham already this season. That is the most of any Premier League club since Ten Hag took over.

    Part of last season's narrative was the volume of shots United faced against every type of team they faced, home and away.

    The issues persist even though United have spent around £600m on new players during Ten Hag’s time. None of the arrivals could be regarded as an unqualified success.

    Former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer debated about signing Antony for £30m during his time at the helm but backed off. Ten Hag pushed for the Brazilian winger, who became the second most expensive player in the club's history when he signed for £82m.

    Aside from the Carabao Cup victory over League One Barnsley last month, Antony has featured for 49 minutes across three substitute appearances. His last Premier League start was that 4-0 defeat by Palace in May.

    Manchester United points per game

    Post Ferguson numbers

    Games

    Points per game

    Jose Mourinho

    93

    1.89

    Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

    109

    1.81

    Louis van Gaal

    76

    1.79

    Erik ten Hag

    85

    1.72

    David Moyes

    34

    1.68

    Ralf Rangnick

    24

    1.54

    indian_gooner
  • thebeautifulgamethebeautifulgame Durgapur,India30489 Points

    UNITED APPOINT AMORIM AS NEW HEAD COACH

    Manchester United is delighted to announce the appointment of Ruben Amorim as Head Coach of the men’s first team, subject to work visa requirements.

    He will join until June 2027 with a club option of an additional year, once he has fulfilled his obligations to his current club. He will join Manchester United on Monday 11 November.

    Ruben is one of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football. Highly decorated as both a player and coach, his titles include winning the Primeira Liga twice in Portugal with Sporting CP; the first of which was the club’s first title in 19 years.

    https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/man-utd-appoint-ruben-amorim-as-new-head-coach

    giridharanindian_gooner
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