“This is one of the worst Manchester United sides ever,” former Red Devils midfielder Robbie Savage declared as his old side slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Monday morning AEST.
Former captain Roy Keane told Sky Sports: “I bet Arsenal couldn’t believe how bad United were.”
While Arsenal great Paul Merson said on Sky Sports that “It was shocking” from Manchester United and claimed “Arsenal will never have an easier game than that, to be honest”.
It was United’s ninth defeat this season at Old Trafford, their equal-worst, and a club-record 14th defeat in the Premier League. It was also their 19th defeat in all competitions – their worst since 1978-79 (also 19). The Red Devils have now conceded 82 goals in all competitions this season, their most since 1970/71 (also 82).
The statistics are damning, though United have battled injuries throughout this season. Coach Erik ten Hag said that the team’s injuries – 11 players were absent from the Arsenal game – as explanation for their ongoing struggles.
“Every manager can always do better,” he said after the game. “I have been here two years and only one time had a full group of players.
“It is like swimming with your hands on your back and you have to keep your head above the water level.”
“We have problems, the problems cost us results. But I don’t know where we should be when we have all the players on board,” he added.
“If you have the players on board, you get more points. Especially in the backline, we concede a lot of chances and a lot of goals. Last season, we had the most clean sheets in the Premier League.”
Manchester United’s famous Old Trafford is falling apart.Source: Getty ImagesThe stadium flooded after the game.Source: Getty Images
The injuries meant midfielder Casemiro was deployed at centre-back again, despite a horror individual performance in their 4-0 thrashing by Crystal Palace last time out. The Brazilian great was again poor and was miserably caught out for Leandro Trossard’s goal.
But United aren’t the only team to have struggled with a host of injuries this campaign – and Merson believes that the eighth-placed Premier League team can’t use injuries as an excuse.
As he said on Sky Sports: “It was shocking.
“They just had 145 touches in the final third, and two shots on target. One was from Casemiro from 40 yards which I could have saved it.
“It’s not good enough, you can’t lose nine games at home, this is Manchester United.
“You can have 10 or 11 injuries, Luton have had 10 or 11 injuries. Chelsea have got 10 or 11 injuries, big players like Reece James who is first choice and the captain of the club. And Chelsea are still going to finish above them.”
It was too easy for Arsenal.Source: Getty Images
Keane said: “The disappointment for me, particularly the last half an hour, was Manchester United.
“Arsenal players will be in the dressing room saying ‘how easy was that’ – they hardly got into second gear. They knew when they got their goal and are so solid at the back it was game over. I bet Arsenal couldn’t believe how bad Manchester United were.”
“You look at that last half an hour – the decision making, nobody digging anybody out, people making mistakes and falling over, and everyone just walking away, nobody putting demands on each other,” he added.
“That United team there … they’re so bad.”
New minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has taken charge of the club’s football department, was in attendance for the game at Old Trafford alongside members of the ‘Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force’.
It was fitting that they were there today, as the leaky old stadium’s poor condition was exposed by heavy rainfall.
The roof leaked heavily, pouring water down onto the pitch and stands. Cascades of water ran down the steps of some stands. Even the away dressing room was beset by water leaking through the roof.
The task force has been charged with deciding whether to refurbish the ageing ‘Theatre of Dreams’ (though some fans aptly renamed it the Theatre of Streams) or build an entirely new stadium.
It’s just one of many questions facing Ratcliffe as he looks to turn around the club’s fortunes in the off-season.
The future of manager Ten Hag is under a dark cloud, while a squad overhaul is also expected.
When it rains, it pours, so to speak.
Club legend Wayne Rooney was asked on Sky Sports about Ten Hag, and instead pointed to the players as being to blame.
Rooney said: “When you’re losing games in the way they’re losing games, there’s going to be big questions asked.
“I think the players have to look at themselves, when you’ve got a manager talking about attitudes and players not being right to play for Manchester United, that’s a massive insult. If I see my manager saying that, there’s no way I would let that ride and ride until the end of the season.
“I think some players are just trying to get to the end of the season, that’s my opinion on it. So I feel for him, but that’s his job to make sure the players are right.”
Ten Hag is rapidly running out of time to get his players right – and to save his job.
United host Newcastle on Thursday morning AEST before the final-round match with Brighton, and almost certainly need to beat both to finish in the top six and seal a place in the Europa League.
Finishing in seventh means they would play in the third-tier Conference League in Europe next season – unless they can beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday 25 May.
Win that trophy, and Erik ten Hag’s men automatically earn a place in the Europa League.
But even that might not be enough to save Ten Hag’s job.
The reign of the hugely unpopular Glazer family at Manchester United is finally over – but how much will really change at Old Trafford?
On Tuesday it was announced that British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had finally completed a part-takeover of the iconic club after a 15-month process, buying an initial 27.7 per cent in a deal worth just under $2bn AUD.
That’ll rise to 28.9 per cent by the end of the year, with Ratcliffe investing another $100m by December 31.
$300m USD of the cash has been dedicated to go towards stadium upgrades.
While it isn’t the full takeover many fans wanted – and the Glazers themselves explored from November 2022 before pulling a major U-turn – Ratcliffe will be given control of the football department.
In many ways, it is a perfect outcome for the Glazers, who have never been particularly interested, or skilled, at handling the football side of the business.
Indeed, the historic club has largely been treated as merely a business plaything for the Glazers since they bought Manchester United for £790m in 2005 and immediately saddled the club with huge debts as part of the leveraged buyout. Indeed, since then, the club has spent over a billion pounds servicing those loans, and Manchester United – as of June 30 last year – has a total gross debt of £773m.
While they remain majority owners of the club, the American Glazer family will hand complete control of the football side of things to Ratcliffe. That includes the academy and both the men’s and women’s teams.
After a decade of failure following the departure of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, it could be the start of United’s long hoped-for revival.
Already, Ratcliffe has declared he wants to knock neighbours Manchester City and old rivals Liverpool “off their perch” – but admits there are no easy fixes for the struggling club.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester United’s US co-owner Avram Glazer (R).Source: AFP
WHO IS JIM RATCLIFFE?
Ratcliffe is a British billionaire who made his money as founder of petrochemicals giant INEOS, the fourth-largest chemicals company in the world where he remains CEO.
He is one of the hundred richest people in the world, and as of the 21st of February was estimated to have a net worth of $21.1bn USD by Forbes ($A32bn). The Sunday Times 2023 rich list thinks it’s significantly higher – just under 30 billion pounds ($A57.7bn), good enough to make him the second-richest person in the UK.
Either way, buying a stake in Manchester United for 1.3 billion pounds is well within his means – and he’s done so effectively in cash, without any debt.
71-year-old Ratcliffe was born in Manchester and claims he is a lifelong fan of United – though he tried unsuccessfully to take over Chelsea in early 2022.
Under what is known as the INEOS Sports Group, Ratcliffe has stakes in a number of other sporting teams.
That includes owning a third of the Mercedes F1 team.
There’s the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team who won the 2019 Tour de France through Colombian Egan Bernal – more on that later.
They own Swiss top-flight football club FC Lausanne-Sport, and French top-tier club Nice (currently third in the league).
And Ratcliffe also is a heavy backer of British sailing (particularly in the America’s Cup competition) through INEOS Team UK.
Jim Ratcliffe has big dreams at United.Source: AFP
HOW DID THE PURCHASE HAPPEN?
In November 2022, the Glazers announced a strategic review – potentially including a sale of the club. It soon sparked a bidding war, with Ratcliffe battling mega-rich Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim.
In February 2023, Sheikh Jassim – the former Qatar Prime Minister – submitted a formal bid. But he never met with the Glazer family, and the somewhat mysterious figure never showed proof of funds for a potential purchase.
“Still nobody’s ever seen him, actually,” Ratcliffe told journalists today. “The Glazers never met him. He never … I’m not sure he exists! I think it’s extraordinary, really. But I agree with that – it was confounding.”
The Glazers’ asking price for a full takeover of the club was not met by either party, and in October last year Sheikh Jassim pulled his £5bn offer.
Meanwhile, Ratcliffe continued to negotiate with the American family. When the Glazers backed out of a full sale, he revised his offer to instead attempt to purchase around 70 per cent of the club, and then again to the current deal worth an initial 25 per cent rising to just under 30 per cent by the end of 2024.
It was a long and gruelling process.
“I remember at the Monaco Grand Prix, which was in May, we opened a bottle of very expensive champagne and all celebrated,” Ratcliffe said.
“That was in May … but that was a false dawn and we went through several more false dawns after that.
“We had a few surprises on the way.”
The deal was agreed in December, but took until this week for various bodies including the Premier League to sign off on the agreement.
Now it’s done, and Ratcliffe is already working hard to turn the club around.
The mysterious Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani (C) alongside Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (L) before the start of the AFC Qatar 2023 Asian Cup final a fortnight ago.Source: AFP
THE WORK SO FAR
Ratcliffe has visited Old Trafford and the club’s other facilities multiple times while waiting for the deal to be approved and finalised. If the Glazers were criticised for being too hands-off, it appears the British billionaire is determined to ensure he is a public presence.
Former CEO Richard Arnold left the club in November, with Ratcliffe securing a major coup by poaching Manchester City’s Omar Berrada for the role. 45-year-old was Chief Football Operations Officer at City Football Group, and is highly respected for his handling of both footballing and financial operations at City and previously at Barcelona.
But there’s an ‘absurd’ fight going on for a man Ratcliffe hopes will be crucial to his long-term plans at the club: Dan Ashworth.
Ashworth is an English football guru who is currently the sporting director at Premier League rivals Newcastle United.
Newcastle are reportedly demanding a payout of up to 20 million pounds in order to let him leave for Manchester United.
For now, the Magpies have placed him on gardening leave – and are apparently willing to leave him there for one-and-a-half years until his contract with the club expires.
Ratcliffe said: “I think Dan Ashworth is clearly one of the top sporting directors in the world, I’ve no doubt.
“He’s a very capable person. He’s interested in the Manchester United job because it’s probably the biggest sporting director job in the world just now, with the biggest challenge. It’s the ultimate challenge for a sporting director so we’ll have to see how it unfolds.”
And Ratcliffe lashed out at Newcastle for demanding what is effectively a sky-high transfer fee – but not for a player.
Ratcliffe said: “It’s a bit silly, personally. I won’t get dragged into that. What I do think is completely absurd is suggesting a man who is really good at his job sits in his garden for one-and-a-half years. That’s completely stupid.”
Should Ashworth join Berrada at United, it would form a significantly more capable and respected leadership than the club has had for many years. The other key figure in the club’s new leadership plan is Sir Dave Brailsford, effectively Ratcliffe’s right-hand man when it comes to sport.
Dave Brailsford (C) watching a Manchester United game in December.Source: AFP
WHO IS BRAILSFORD … AND WHY DOES HE MATTER?
Brailsford was a highly regarded cycling coach who led a renaissance in British cycling, which included successful Olympics performances in 2008 and 2012. His philosophy of ‘marginal gains’ – or what Australians call one-percenters – became widespread in both the sporting world and in general culture.
“The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together,” he told BBC once.
He took charge of British cycling team Team Sky, which dominated the Tour de France with six wins in seven years from 2012 to 2018. Ratcliffe bought the team in 2019, whereupon Brailsford also led them to another Tour de France win.
Brailsford has played a key role in all of INEOS’ sporting endeavours, and has spoken openly of looking to use the knowledge and expertise from other INEOS-backed teams to help Manchester United, in areas such as nutrition and recovery.
“Take nutrition,” he told ITV Sport. “You can take the best learnings from that and shift it across into football or into the sailing team …
“It could be the data and analytics or strategic planning of the F1 team and bring it here [to cycling]. So there’s a ‘cross-pollination’ of ideas … British Olympic sports, when I was part of that, did that ever so well. So to do that in a professional group of sports is exciting. I’ve been involved in that quite a lot.”
Brailsford resigned as the head of the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team recently ahead of the Manchester United deal being concluded, and has already begun a full audit of the club.
His role is effectively to provide the sporting nous, while Ratcliffe is a proven operator on the business side of things.
Crucially, Brailsford and Ashworth are close – with the latter even inviting Brailsford to speak to Newcastle’s players last season.
“I’ve known Sir Dave for a number of years, working across various different sports and he is without doubt the best in world sport at creating high-performance culture and turning that into winning,” said Ashworth.
For Ratcliffe, building an effective and cohesive leadership team at Old Trafford is a priority – and the trio of Brailsford, Ashworth and Berrada tick all the boxes.
Old Trafford could be refurbished for around a billion pounds – or a new stadium built.Source: Getty Images
REPAIR OR REBUILD THE STADIUM
The ageing Old Trafford has long been a sore point among supporters – especially since the Glazers refused to pitch in money to upgrade it. There have been no upgrades to the stadium since the 2005/06 season.
Ratcliffe has already committed $300m USD in funds that will go directly to infrastructure upgrades.
He revealed that the stadium could be ‘refurbished’ or expanded to seat between 80-90 thousand fans.
But the club is also investigating whether a new stadium could be rebuilt – which would have a higher upfront cost but would be more profitable in the long term for the club.
“What we can see so far – we haven’t had much time – what we’ve seen of the stadium so far: there is a really good case to refurbish Old Trafford, probably about £1 billion in cost, or something like that.
“You finish up with a great stadium, it’s probably an 80 or 90,000-seater. But it’s not perfect because you’re modifying a stadium that is slap bang up against a railway line and all that type of stuff, so it’s not an ideal world. But you finish up with a very good answer.
“Manchester United needs a stadium befitting one of the biggest clubs in the world and at the moment, it’s not there. Old Trafford maybe was 20 years ago but it’s certainly not today.”
He added to BBC: “There is quite a big argument, in my view, for regenerating that whole south side of Manchester. The nucleus of it would be building a new world-class state-of-the-art stadium which could take England games, the FA Cup final, Champions League finals. It could serve the north of England.”
Within 24 hours of the announcement the takeover deal had been approved, Manchester United legend Gary Neville was announced as part of the group looking into whether the stadium should be refurbished or a new one built.
Neville co-owns Hotel Football and University Academy 92, both in the area surrounding the stadium.
After years of protests, the Glazers aren’t quite out – but they will no longer be in control.Source: Getty Images
FIX THE RECRUITMENT
One of the biggest issues that has dragged down the club has been player recruitment – with exorbitant amounts spent of transfer fees with little to show for it.
In fact, a UEFA report released this week found that the 2022-23 Manchester United squad was the most expensive ever assembled.
Per UEFA, United’s squad cost a whopping €1.42 billion ($A2.34bn) in combined transfer fees, overtaking the Real Madrid 2020 team which cost €1.33 billion.
Much of the hefty expenditure down the years has been to the revolving door of managers, who each have reformed and reshaped the squad to fit their tactics – instead of the club having a clear identity or approach and finding managers and players who can fit into the system.
Ratcliffe said: “I think recruitment in the modern game is critical. Manchester United have clearly spent a lot of money but they haven’t done as well as some other clubs.
“So when I was talking about being best in class in all aspects of football, recruitment is clearly top of the list. I’m more thinking about getting recruitment in a good place in the future.
“There’s not much I can do about what’s happened in the past, so there’s no point they never want me going there really.
“So our thinking is all about how we become first in class in recruitment going forward. Which means you need the right people.”
One of the major issues when it comes to signing players will be Financial Fair Play or FFP rules, which limit a club’s losses over a rolling three-year period. But because the Red Devils have spent so much over the last couple of seasons, their transfer budget for the new season could be far more limited than many fans would have hoped.
“FFP has become a new aspect of running the football club, and it’s clearly a really critical part of running a football club.
Ratcliffe said: “Effectively, it takes into account your prior expenditure, and the club’s spent quite heavily in the last couple of seasons.
“So that does impact FFP going forward, because they’ve used quite a large part of their allowance if you like. So we need to be quite clear in the summer as to what the extent of … I don’t know the full answer to that question at the moment.
“It’s obviously related to sales as well as purchases, and so we need to get our heads around that well before the summer window, so we understand the number but there’s no question that history will impact this summer window.”
Years of a topsy-turvy transfer policy have come back to bite United.Source: Getty Images
DECIDE ON THE COACH
Another major question facing the new United hierarchy will be over the future of coach Erik Ten Hag.
The Dutchman’s future is secure until the end of the season, according to reports, but there’s no doubt that a change in leadership in the club could lead to a change in coach.
But, as Ratcliffe acknowledged, there’s been no shortage of exceptional coaches at the club in recent years – and none of them have really managed to turn the club’s fortunes around.
“I’m not going to comment on Erik ten Hag because I think it would be inappropriate to do that,” said Ratcliffe.
“But if you look at the 11 years that have gone since David Gill and Sir Alex [Ferguson] have stepped down, there have been a whole series of coaches, some of which were very good. And none of them were successful, or survived for very long. And you can’t blame all the coaches.
“The only conclusion you can draw is that the environment in which they were working, didn’t work. And Erik’s been in that environment. I’m talking about the organisation, the people in the structure, and the atmosphere in the club.
“We have to do that bit. So I’m not really focused on the coach. I’m focused on getting that bit right. And it’s not for me to judge that anyway. I’m not a football professional.”
Manchester United’s Dutch manager Erik ten Hag has been under pressure this season, but will survive until the end of the year.Source: AFP
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
The early indications are that the Ratcliffe era of control over Man United will prioritise football over financial gain, will include significant upgrades to the ageing Old Trafford, and will feature experienced football brains in leadership positions.
While that all sounds promising, there’s plenty of work to be done.
“[It’s] certainly the biggest challenge in sport that we’ve undertaken. It’s enormous – and the club is enormous,” Ratcliffe said.
He added: “It’s been a complete misery really in the last 11 years and it’s just frustrating if you’re a supporter during that period of time.
And Ratcliffe has warned fans not to expect success overnight.
“It’s not a light switch. It’s not one of these things that changes overnight.
“We have to be careful we don’t rush at it in a way, you don’t want to run to the wrong solution rather than walk to the correct solution.
“We have two issues – one is the longer term, getting Manchester United to where we would like to get it but there’s also the shorter term of getting the most out of the club as it stands today because we would like to see the Champions League for next season if we can.”
“The fans would run out of patience if it was a 10-year plan,” he added. “But it’s certainly a three-year plan to get there.”
Manchester United’s miserable season slumped to a new low this week as they crashed out of the Champions League, finishing last in their group after a timid 1-0 defeat at home to Bayern Munich.
Finishing the group stage in bottom position for just the second time in the club’s history means they fail to qualify for the second-tier European competition, the Europa League.
Having already been knocked out of the domestic Carabao Cup and sitting ten points off the title pace in the Premier League, only the FA Cup remains for the Red Devils to chase in terms of silverware.
Erik Ten Hag’s second season at Old Trafford has been a disappointment in many ways, particularly given the team’s progression throughout his first campaign at the helm.
In both results and performances, the side appears to have regressed in the first half of the new season.
Instead, this campaign has been characterised by off-field distractions, including a looming part-sale of the club, ugly rifts between the coach and multiple players, and the banning of multiple journalists.
Ten Hag is under mounting pressure, though there is reportedly little appetite among the current club hierarchy to axe another manager.
But this weekend’s blockbuster clash with Liverpool looms as a decisive moment for both the Dutch tactician and the club – for better or worse.
Here’s what has gone wrong this season, and what could happen next.
Ten Hag is noted for his harsh discipline and cold intensity – which was reportedly one of the key reasons why the club poached him from Ajax in the first place.
“Strict lines is what the club asked me because there was no good culture before I entered last season,” said Ten Hag this September.
Last season he was praised for his handling of a feud with Cristiano Ronaldo, after the Portuguese player fumed at being used mostly as a substitute. Ronaldo left the stadium during one match after being taken from the field, and then refused to be substituted on for the final three minutes against Tottenham in October 2022. He was subsequently axed from the squad for the next game against Chelsea.
Then the Portuguese great went nuclear in an interview with Piers Morgan, saying he had “no respect” for Ten Hag and claiming the club had “betrayed” him.
“The interview I think, as a club, you can’t accept,” Ten Hag said. “There will be consequences. To make that step he knew the consequences.”
“It was quite clear after [the interview] that he had to leave. I think we didn’t have to discuss it. It was quite clear.”
Ronaldo subsequently moved to Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr.
Then, in September, Ten Hag axed Jadon Sancho from the first-team squad, forcing him to train and eat away from the senior players.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. (Photo by PETER POWELL / AFP)Source: AFP
It came after Sancho publicly hit out at comments from Ten Hag after being dropped for a crucial match against Arsenal.
“Jadon, on his performances in training we did not select him,” Ten Hag said at the time.
Sancho took to social media to say: “Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people to say things that are completely untrue. I have conducted myself in training very well this week.
“I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!
“All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to the team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and I am grateful to do so, which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!”
Sancho refused to apologise to Ten Hag and has been frozen out for three months now, with a transfer a near-certainty in January’s window.
There were widespread reports that Ten Hag’s harsh treatment of Sancho had caused tension in the dressing room.
“This is what I’ve been hearing… from a Man United player who told someone I know very well,” former Manchester United player Alan Brazil said on talkSPORT. “He said the players are not having the manager. They’re not having him at all. By all accounts, they are disgusted by the way he treated Ronaldo – and they say Sancho is a great guy who works his socks off.”
Other players have also showed signs of frustration with the manager. Marcus Rashford had a stroppy reaction to being substituted off amid a dismal individual performance against Newcastle, while Anthony Martial raised his arms in frustration after Ten Hag shouted in his direction in the same game. Ten Hag has also had a falling out with World Cup-winning defender Raphael Varane in recent weeks.
Raphael Varane at a training session. (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Paul Merson told Sky Sports in November: “This needs to get sorted out but personally I think it is toxic, I don’t take too much notice of behind the scenes, but it is toxic on the pitch and that is where it counts… There are ways of losing football matches and, for me, he has lost the players.”
The club then took the drastic action to ban journalists from ESPN, the Daily Mirror, the Manchester Evening News and Sky Sports after all those outlets reported on tensions in the dressing room.
The club and Ten Hag were heavily criticised for that move, which Manchester United claimed was not due to the reporters panning the club, but because they did not give United the right of reply.
But the dressing-room tensions combined with the battle with the press has been an ugly distraction.
“He (Ten Hag) has got to be worried and thinking about what’s going to happen now,” United great Jaap Stam told the Stick to Football podcast.
“You can ban players, but it’s also about man management of course and how to work with and handle players.
“There was the [Cristiano] Ronaldo thing, the [Jadon] Sancho thing, Raphael Varane probably – I don’t know if something’s happened over there.
“There’s the thing with the press now and banning journalists from press conferences. It doesn’t work in your favour as a manager.
“You need to have peace and quiet… you don’t want to pay too much attention to other things like players and the press.”
But midfielder Scott McTominay came out and backed the manager, denying reports of a ‘toxic’ dressing room.
“It’s not just a case like with some of the other managers where it’s been a little bit toxic at times,” McTominay said. “The boys are firmly behind the manager. That’s the be-all and end-all and the way it will remain. We’ve got an amazing coaching staff, as well.”
Ange all smiles after 2nd straight win | 02:49
STYLISTIC REGRESSION AND THE BIG GOAL PROBLEM
“We want to dominate opponents, we want to play proactive football, we want to play dynamic football,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports earlier this season. “Pressing is a part of it. The in-possession stuff also has to be right.”
It sounds like a clear tactical plan, an approach being built by Ten Hag over his 18 months in charge. The truth is far different. In his first season, United played in a more transitional style – which brought success. But this season, trying to play a more fluid and possession-based style (which brought Ten Hag great success at Ajax) has been a shambles.
United often appear to lake cohesiveness on and off the ball. Players appear frustrated or unclear on where they are meant to be positioned or their roles in the structure.
United have been pressing well at times – this season, no Premier League teams has made more turnovers in advanced positions.
But they are extremely vulnerable to the counter-attack, such as against Bournemouth in a bruising defeat, while their style of pressing is often porous, allowing opponents to expose gaps and stretch the defence.
The defensive line itself has been little better than a shambles, vacillating between a high line and a tendency to drop back to mitigate their lack of pace compared to opposition forwards.
In possession, the “dynamic” football Ten Hag speaks of has been far from the reality on the pitch. United struggle horribly to play the ball out from the back, while their midfielders give away possession frequently. They cannot “dominate opponents” with their midfield incapable of controlling the ball in the centre of the park – an area where Bayern Munich comfortably outclassed them.
With Bruno Fernandes further up the pitch, United lack the sort of deep-lying playmaker capable of progressing the ball either by passing or carrying, as Declan Rice does so well for Arsenal.
Pressure is mounting. (Photo by PETER POWELL / AFP)Source: AFP
Paul Merson told Sky Sports earlier in the season: “You watch Man Utd play and you just don’t see the pattern of play. It’s like if it comes off, it comes off. You watch Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City play, they have patterns of play. Someone will go in and come back out, but at Man Utd, it’s get the ball out wide and hope that Rashford does something and if he does, we might score a goal.”
But scoring goals has been a major problem, with just 18 goals in 16 appearances. Rashford has suffered a shocking decline in form after a career-best 30 goals in all competitions last season.
That saw him earn a hefty contract upgrade, but he has scored just twice this season – with one of those from the penalty spot. New striker signing Rasmus Hojlund is goalless in 12 league appearances, the same as Antony, while Anthony Martial has just one goal in 13.
United’s lack of goals contributed significantly to the team suffering their worst-ever Premier League start through seven games, and things have hardly improved since then.
Only three teams in Europe’s top five leagues have lost more games in all competitions this season than United (12). Those 12 defeats from 24 matches is as many as United lost in all 62 matches last season!
They lost two home games in the Champions League and in their six group stage games, conceded a total of 15 goals – the most ever by a Premier League club in a Champions League group stage.
Even when they have been winning, like November when Ten Hag was awarded Premier League manager of the month for three wins and no goals conceded, the performances haven’t matched the results.
Crisis has never seemed far away.
‘No coincidence we’re looking stronger’ | 02:36
INJURIES AND ABSENTEES PROVIDE AN EXCUSE
Many Premier League clubs have battled long injury lists this season, including Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs, Newcastle, and Chelsea. But Manchester United have faced plenty of injury challenges of their own.
When they travel to Anfield on Monday morning (AEDT), the Red Devils will be without 11 first-team players. The host of injured stars includes Lisandro Martinez (foot), Casemiro (thigh), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Christian Eriksen (knee) and Amad Diallo (knee), while Mason Mount (calf) also hasn’t played in a month.
Luke Shaw has recovered from a thigh issue he suffered in the first half against Bayern Munich, but November Premier League player of the month Harry Maguire will be missing with a groin injury.
Marcus Rashford has recovered from a mid-week illness that saw him miss the Munich game, but Anthony Martial is still unwell, while Victor Lindelof trained this week but is listed as doubtful for the Liverpool game.
Captain Bruno Fernandes will be missing after a suspension for accumulating too many cards, and Jadon Sancho is still in exile.
Fernandes’ absence is perhaps the biggest blow. He has three goals and three assists this season for United, meaning he has been directly involved in a third of their 18 goals. No other Premier League midfielder has played every minute of the season so far, and he leads the league in chances created with 47.
Fernandes’ absence is a tough blow. (Photo by PETER POWELL / AFP)Source: AFP
There have been other ugly off-field dramas that have ruled players out of matches this year, such as when big-money winger Antony missed three games while being investigated over abuse claims from multiple ex-partners.
And young talent Mason Greenwood was offloaded to Spain after police withdrew multiple charges of domestic violence and abuse after his partner stopped cooperating with an investigation.
The long list of injuries has been a crucial factor in why Ten Hag has not been under more pressure, despite 12 losses in 24 games (all competitions).
But the real reason that he retains the support of the Manchester United hierarchy is that a long-awaited partial sale of the club is nearing completion – and it will significantly alter the decision-making at Old Trafford.
THE OWNERSHIP CHANGE TO SHAKE UP RED DEVILS
The billionaire American Glazer family has been controlling owners of Manchester United since 2005, when they purchased the club for £790 million.
Their 18-year tenure has been marked by a lack of effective leadership, poor long-term planning, limited investment, and a tendency to sack managers frequently. Fans have regularly protested the Glazers throughout their reign, and their prayers appeared to have been answered early this year when the Glazers announced they would explore a sale of the club.
But despite multiple offers, the Glazers backflipped on a complete sale and instead cut a deal with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe to buy 25 per cent of the club for around 1.3 billion pounds ($A2.46bn).
The deal will see Ratcliffe, who owns INEOS Grenadiers cycling team as well as French top-flight club OGC Nice, take control of all football operations – including transfers as well as managerial appointments.
The deal is expected to be completed in the next week, according to reports from the UK, but will take six to eight weeks to be ratified by the Premier League.
However, Ratcliffe’s sporting guru Sir Dave Brailsford, INEOS’ sporting director who is set to lead the new football department at Old Trafford, has already been conducting a full audit of Manchester United.
EPL wrap: United & Arsenal lose | 04:06
Sky Sports reports that Brailsford’s top priority is to fix the football department’s operational structure rather than focus on managerial changes.
In the meantime, United’s interim boss Patrick Stewart and football director John Murtough are seen as unwilling to change managers before INEOS takes over full control – especially since Murtough signed Ten Hag in the first place and allowed the new manager to splash the cash in the transfer market. Stewart has only been in the role a month, and would hardly want to make such a big decision.
But Ratcliffe and Brailsford are no strangers to hiring and firing managers – they’ve changed managers at Nice four times in the last five years but with precious little success.
They even interviewed former Chelsea boss Graham Potter in mid-year for the head coaching role at the French club, with Sky Sports and The Sun both reporting Potter is a chief contender to take over at United should Ten Hag be relieved of his role.
Ten Hag is confident he has the support of the current club hierarchy.
“I feel that and they tell (me) that,” the Dutchman said ahead of the Liverpool clash.
“So that’s fine, that’s OK but I’m focusing on the process, I’m focusing on making this team play better, I’m focusing on making the individuals better. That’s my concern. That’s all I’m doing – focusing on the right thing and that is the team.
“There is no concern because I’m here to win and I have to make the team play better. If you play good, even then good is not good enough. We are inconsistent so I have to work on the team playing for longer periods on a higher level.”
But the pressure is rising as the losses mount up. One more loss could tip things over the edge.
Things are threatening to seriously unravel. (Photo by PETER POWELL / AFP)Source: AFP
WHY LIVERPOOL MATCH COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING
Manchester United will travel to Anfield in a match that pits two teams that are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
While the Red Devils are crumbling, the Reds are flying – top of the table, a perfect seven wins from seven at home (21 scored, five conceded), and with Mohamed Salah recently scoring his 200th goal for the club.
The Egyptian talisman has picked up a goal or assist in 16 consecutive home games and he’s scored more goals against Man United than any other club (12).
United, meanwhile, haven’t won any of their last 13 away games against teams starting the day in the top eight on the ladder, a run dating back to October 2021.
And when the two teams met last season at Anfield, the Reds handed out a 7-0 thrashing. It was United’s equal-heaviest competitive defeat in history and their worst since December 1931.
In fact, Manchester United hasn’t won at Anfield since Jurgen Klopp’s first experience of the famous rivalry back in January 2016, when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal.
Since then, Rooney has played for three clubs, retired, then managed three. Klopp’s Reds have won the Premier League and the Champions League.
And Manchester United have sacked four managers.
While there’s no appetite among the current leadership at Old Trafford to make it five, another big defeat at Anfield could make Ten Hag’s position almost untenable.
Things continue to go from bad to worse for Manchester United, with one legend calling out a superstar who continues to flap his arms in frustration.
Meanwhile, another flailing giant of English football sunk to a humiliating new low as a proud record looks more baffling by the day while Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham continue to sit atop the ladder.
Foxsports.com.au takes a look at the weekend that was in the latest edition of Premier League Talking Points!
Manchester United have been torn to shreds by former players after their dismal performance in the Manchester derby. City cruised to a 3-0 victory, hardly needing to get out of first gear in a match that exposed the gap in class that still exists between the sides.
“It was a footballing lesson. Manchester United didn’t know what to do,” Micah Richards declared on Sky Sports.
But who – or what – is to blame?
Former Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher pointed the finger at manager Erik ten Hag, who has failed to instil a clear style of play.
Carragher said on Sky Sports: “He has been here 18 months and none of us here can explain what Manchester United try to do with how they play. They play underdog football. They play counter-attack and long balls – no other top team plays that way.
“It’s nothing to do with what’s going on above him. What’s he doing on the training pitch, with the players he brings in, and what’s he asking them to do? You can’t see it.”
Gary Neville, meanwhile, declared: “The second half wasn’t a contest. It became a shambles. United went missing in the second half.”
“But,” he added, “my anger isn’t with Ten Hag. I don’t think he is the fundamental problem. The toxicity at this club is eating alive every manager and every player that comes here.”
It’s going from bad to worse for Manchester United. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
He pointed the finger largely at the ownership – the controversial Glazer family who this year put the club up for sale then pulled the pin on a deal. A new sale of a minority stake in the club to Jim Ratcliffe has been mooted, with reports stating that the Glazers would transfer footballing decisions to the new part-owner.
Neville believes that that situation – and the clean-out of the footballing department that would likely ensue – has staff looking over their shoulders and suffering from the instability.
“It is toxic, and embedded negativity. They all think they are all going to lose their jobs.
“Jim Ratcliffe is going to come in with David Brailsford, they are gong to sweep out the football department. That’s what’s happening and I honestly believe this toxicity that exists at this club, and has done for years, it eats alive every manager that comes and every player that comes.
“Harry Maguire was going to go to Man City. Mason Mount was going to Liverpool. They come here and it’s a graveyard for them. Are we going to keep blaming the kids in the class, or the head teacher?”
Responding to Carragher’s criticism of Ten Hag’s lack of playing structures and patterns, he said: “I don’t like the football at all, I’ve no idea what the patterns are they are trying to put in place, but the bigger picture with United that we have seen is that great managers and great players with great reputations come here and die in front of our eyes.
“Why is that? How do we answer that question?”
There hasn’t been an easy answer to that question for years, and United still look a world away from challenging for the title.
Erik ten Hag’s tenure has quickly turned toxic. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
TIME TO STRIP BRUNO?
If there is one thing Ten Hag can – or should – do immediately to turn it around, it’s change his captain for the second time in less than six months. That’s according to a former Red Devils captain in Roy Keane.
The manager stripped England centre-back Harry Maguire of the armband prior to the season, hardly a surprise given the player had fallen down the pecking order behind Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez and was even up for sale.
But Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes has been repeatedly criticised for his attitude on the field and a perceived lack of leadership, and Keane believes ten Hag must make another change.
“Today having watched him again I would take the captaincy off him 100 per cent,” Keane said on Sky Sports.
“I know it’s a big decision, obviously they changed the captaincy with Maguire, but Fernandes is not captain material.
“He is a talented player no doubt about it. But what I saw today – we’ve discussed many times before, it was last season at Liverpool – his whinging, his moaning and throwing his arms up in the air constantly.
“It really isn’t acceptable. From what we saw today, I’m thinking I would take that off him.”
He added: “Fernandes is a brilliant footballer but in terms of captain material – he is the opposite to what I would want in a captain.”
Red Devils great Roy Keane feels Bruno Fernandes should be stripped of the captaincy. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
LEGENDARY BOSS’ ALL-TIME ANGE PRAISE AS SPURS GRAVY TRAIN ROLLS ON
Ange Postecoglou has delivered a record-breaking start to the season to Spurs, and he’s earning plenty of admirers along the way. That includes former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who has declared that his old North London rivals are well and truly in contention for the title this time around.
Wenger said on beIN Sports: “If I said after 10 games [they’d be] top of the league… You ask me, not a tricky question because I like always to say what I feel deeply, and I believe Tottenham will be one of the contenders for the league.”
Wenger was full of praise for a trio of Postecoglou signings who have started the new campaign brilliantly – midfielder James Maddison, centre-back Micky Van de Ven, and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Wenger said: “They bought Maddison, who is a great player and who is that link from low midfield to high midfield, and added some technical creativity to the team.
“They bought Van de Ven who I find exceptional. I find him absolutely exceptional.
“They had weaknesses there [at the back] and last year [Hugo] Lloris didn’t have the best of seasons as well. And overall, the movement from Son into the middle looks very good.”
Son Heung-Min has become a man transformed under Ange Postecoglou. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Whether Son Heung-Min could successfully transition into a more central position following the departure of Harry Kane was one of the biggest question marks for Spurs this season.
And while Kane has enjoyed a dazzling start to life at Bayern Munich – with a hat-trick this weekend including a goal from inside his own half – Son’s goal in the win over Crystal Palace took his tally to eight goals and an assist in his first 10 league games this season.
Postecoglou says fans can dare to dream of a shock title this season.
“Let them dream, that’s what being a football supporter is all about and, fair to say, this lot have suffered a bit,” said Postecoglou.
With games against up-and-down Chelsea (home) and struggling Wolves (away) next, there’s a strong likelihood of extending their unbeaten league start.
Things then get harder with a match against high-flying Aston Villa, before a fixture that could prove truly momentous – travelling to reigning champions Manchester City on December 4.
For now, though, even Tottenham’s bitter rivals like their ex-Arsenal enemy in Arsene Wenger can’t help but admit that something special is happening at Spurs.
How long can Tottenham’s unbeaten run continue under Ange Postecoglou? (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
BLADES REMAIN ROCK BOTTOM AS UNWANTED DEFEAT LOOMS LARGE
Spare a thought for Sheffield United and their fans. The team’s 5-0 defeat to Arsenal on the weekend (which featured a hat-trick to Eddie Nketiah) means that the Blades have now got just one point from their first 10 matches.
Besides this weekend’s hammering, they’ve also been battered 8-0 by Newcastle – at home no less – and they boast a miserable goal difference of minus 22 (seven scored, 29 conceded).
Their only point came against Everton in early September in a 2-2 draw.
It is the worst ever start to a Premier League season after 10 games.
The only other team that ever had just one point through ten games? That was also Sheffield United, back in 2020-21, when they ended up rock bottom with 23 points and a goal difference of -43 for the season – and were relegated by a full 16 points.
The Blades failed to win any of their first 17 games that season. Paul Heckingbottom and his side this season will be desperately looking forward to games against the likes of Bournemouth and Burnley in a few weeks to try and get their season off and running. As it stands, the infamous record of Derby County in 2007-08 – and their 11 points all season – is looking like it could be broken this year. Things have to change, and fast.
And it might just start with Heckingbottom.
Sheffield United have started the season horrendously. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
BLUES’ HOUSE OF BRICKS TURNS INTO PILLOW FORT
It seemed like Chelsea had finally turned a corner under Mauricio Pochettino.
They beat Brighton in the Carabao Cup and then followed it up with league wins over Fulham and Burnley as well as a thrilling 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
But the wave of momentum came crashing back down after a 2-0 defeat to Brentford at Stamford Bridge.
The loss to the Bees means Chelsea have still won just once at their home ground this season and that was against Luton Town, who were promoted from the Championship.
Even worse, Brentford have won more games at Stamford Bridge in the past seven months than Chelsea have themselves.
It’s a far cry from the record-breaking days when Chelsea didn’t lose once in a run of 86 games from March 2004 to October 2008.
Yet their alarming home form isn’t the biggest worry of this Chelsea team.
The inability to find the back of the net against Brentford meant the game was the 14th time Chelsea failed to score in 2023.
A front four of Raheem Sterling, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson huffed and puffed but failed to blow Brentford down.
However, Pochettino and Chelsea could be given a major boost as summer signing Christopher Nkunku nears his return from a pre-season knee injury.
The Blues boss revealed Nkunku is likely to return after the November international break.
Will he be the man to reverse Chelsea’s fortunes in front of goal, or will Nkunku prove to be yet another expensive swing and miss?
After all, they’d overcome 5000-1 odds to win the Premier League seven years prior, made it to a Champions League quarterfinal in 2017 and hoisted the FA Cup in 2021.
But now, Leicester City must face the cold, harsh reality that now stares them in the face: they are a Championship club.
Despite a 2-1 victory over West Ham United on the final day, a long range pile-driver from Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure rendered the Foxes’ victory irrelevant and condemned the club to relegation.
An off-season of uncertainty awaits, with no fewer than eight players out of contract and a raft of stars like James Maddison and Harvey Barnes set to be sold.
The wage and transfer budget will have to be slashed to comply with the significantly decreased income due to the vast difference in revenue streams between Premier League and Championship clubs.
It still feels remarkable how steep this decline has been.
But it is the culmination of a mess entirely of the club’s doing.
And it is one former Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers saw coming before a ball had been kicked in anger this season.
HOW £50M ‘COLOSSAL DISAPPOINTMENT’ BEGAN INEVITABLE SLIDE
En route to Leicester’s Premier League title in 2016, one aspect of their football department was the envy of not just England, but the world.
The Foxes’ fearsome trio of Jamie Vardy, N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez had been bought for a collective $AUD13 million, highlighting the club’s unrivalled eye for talent.
Although Vardy has remained at the club, Kante and Mahrez were flipped for a combined $142 million.
Over the coming seasons Leicester developed a reputation for selling a player for significant profit and reinvesting it in the squad.
Harry Maguire was bought for $22 million in 2017 and sold two years later to Manchester United for a staggering $142 million, a world record fee for a defender.
Ben Chilwell, who came through Leicester’s academy, moved to Chelsea in the summer of 2019 for $82 million while Wesley Fofana departed to the Blues last August for $131 million.
“For many years, Leicester were a well-run club but, equally, recruitment in recent times has been a colossal disappointment,” Percy wrote.
“The £50 million spent on Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare and Jannik Vestergaard in the summer of 2021 was a huge waste. Ryan Bertrand also signed as a free agent on big wages and has not started a match since December 21.
Jannik Vestergaard struggled to make his mark at Leicester City. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“After winning the title in 2016, most of the signings who followed were underwhelming.”
The Foxes soon struggled to find homes for players deemed not good enough.
The club also had to deal with players they knew would be out of contract at the end of the 2022/23 season, but no willing buyers — well, at the valuation Leicester wanted for them — emerged.
Percy described the contract farce as “mismanagement on a grand scale”.
Compounding the club’s financial woes further was the vast expenditure on the new training ground at Seagrave.
It is a facility to make most European clubs green with envy, but set the Foxes back an estimated $188 million and is a large and costly operation to continue running.
With the big outlays on players and the training ground and receiving little in the way of transfer fees or European qualification money, it forced Leicester to turn off the money tap for Rodgers.
It was a situation that caught the Northern Irishman, who had already commenced conversations with prospective transfer targets, by serious surprise.
Almost immediately, the goalposts were shifted.
And not for the better.
Leicester City invested heavily in their new training facilities. (Photo by Ashley Allen/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“From that moment onwards, Rodgers adopted a negative tone, talking about a challenging season before a ball was kicked and about the target being 40 points,” The Athletic’s Rob Tanner wrote.
“People around the club were genuinely shocked when he placed the bar so low. That message didn’t match Leicester’s ambition or the surrounds of the media suite at Seagrave where he said it.
“Ultimately, Rodgers has been proven right, but that negativity had already seeped into the psyche at the club, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
In the end, Leicester made just one signing in the summer: centre-back Wout Faes from Reims for $27 million.
But just two players of note went out the exit door in the form of Fofana and former skipper Kasper Schmeichel, who moved to Nice in Ligue 1.
It was the latter’s departure that spun the wheels of relegation faster, even if he was one of the club’s highest earners, with Percy labelling the sale as “a grave mistake.”
The Foxes failed to replace Schmeichel and instead put their faith behind backup goalkeeper Danny Ward, a decision that backfired significantly.
It wouldn’t take long for Leicester’s botched recruitment plans to seep out onto the field as the irreversible decline of the 2015/16 champions set in.
Danny Ward was symbolic of Leicester’s failures this season. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
PROPHETIC RODGERS WARNINGS EVERYONE IGNORED
Rodgers already had plenty of credits in the bank as Leicester boss.
Since his arrival from Celtic in February 2019, he guided the Foxes to consecutive fifth-place finishes and an FA Cup triumph in 2021 before dropping back to eighth last season.
The divide between the manager and Leicester’s passionate fanbase slowly crept in last season.
An embarrassing 4-1 thrashing in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the hands of Nottingham Forest, a Championship outfit last season, was a key moment that highlighted the disconnect.
After the defeat, Rodgers claimed the majority of his team “had achieved everything they can” in what was yet another prophetic call from the manager.
If anything, the eighth-place finish glossed over the fact two of Leicester’s three wins in the final four games of the season were big wins against teams who had already been relegated in Norwich City and Watford.
It was a wildly inconsistent season in which they won as many as they lost and failed to string more than two consecutive wins together.
Leicester’s malaise worsened at the start of the 22/23 season as the Foxes drew its first game against Brentford before losing their next six games in a row, including 5-2 and 6-2 defeats to Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.
With the Foxes rooted to the bottom of the ladder, Percy felt the Spurs defeat was “surely the time to part ways,” especially since it was around the first international break of the season.
Yet Leicester owner Aiyawatt “Khun Top” Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin boldly elected to stick rather than twist.
Percy felt the decision simply proved what many had feared: Leicester had essentially blinded itself from the worst fate possible.
“The absence of ruthlessness allowed the club to drift,” Percy wrote.
The fans turned on Rodgers. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)Source: AFP
“It seemed to suggest a mindset of ‘everything will be OK’, despite all the warning signs.”
However, results turned in Leicester’s favour after the international window with five wins from eight games and went into the mid-season World Cup break sitting in 13th.
But normality for Leicester in terms of their season as a whole quickly resumed post-Qatar.
Four consecutive losses didn’t quite send Leicester plummeting down the table, but it certainly decreased the gap between them and the chasing pack fighting tooth and nail for survival.
A mini-revival of two wins in February over Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur — in which they scored eight goals — proved to be nothing more than a false dawn.
Despite several more defeats, including one against rock-bottom Southampton, Rodgers still remained in the dugout at the King Power Stadium.
However, the baffling patience of Khun Top and Rudkin wore out after Leicester’s 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace on April 1 as Rodgers was dismissed the next day with the club sitting 19th.
Although it left Leicester with 10 games to salvage its season, it seemed as if there was no way to halt what felt like the inevitable.
“There was a realisation that things were going in one direction and Leicester’s slide has proven to be irreversible,” Tanner wrote.
“The damage was done.”
Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell were installed as caretaker managers in the hope of providing a bounce which often accompanies a change in the dugout, but it was not forthcoming.
Sadler and Stowell oversaw two defeats from two before former Aston Villa manager Dean Smith was handed the keys with only eight games left.
Smith had masterminded a miraculous escape once before with Villa during the Covid-affected 19/20 season and no doubt felt he could do the same again with former Foxes boss Craig Shakespeare and John Terry alongside him.
Rodgers’ successful tenure as Leicester boss rapidly spiralled out of control towards the end. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
A win against Wolves and draws against Leeds and Everton provided glimmers of hope, but consecutive defeats to Fulham and Liverpool ultimately proved to be the death knell for Leicester.
Even though the Midlands side did all they could on the final day to survive, their reliance on Bournemouth to get a result against Everton proved fruitless.
An off-season of significant change awaits Leicester.
The likes of Caglar Soyuncu, Ryan Bertrand, Jonny Evans and Youri Tielemans will leave the club as free agents, representing a net loss of $115 million.
Then there’s the group of Leicester stars who will be forced out the exit door to help finance new signings.
James Maddison, who is also out of contract at the end of next season, is almost certain to depart in a deal estimated to be $65 million.
Electric winger Harvey Barnes is another likely departure too.
But most pressing is which manager will be entrusted with the duty of getting Leicester promoted.
Former Chelsea and Brighton manager Graham Potter is the Foxes’ dream candidate but at this stage it seems highly unlikely he would drop a division.
Regardless, Manchester United legend Roy Keane believes the vacancy is one that will have several parties highly interested.
“A lot of managers would love to take that job,” Keane told Sky Sports.
“Especially if you get the backing they’ve had over the last few years — obviously it’s not been great the last 12 months — but generally Leicester have had good backing.”
It remains to be seen if Dean Smith will stay on as Leicester boss next season. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
WHY REMARKABLE DECADE HAS FOXES PRIMED FOR PL RETURN
Although it is a sombre mood at the King Power Stadium, it presents a time to reflect on what has been the greatest period of the club’s rich history filled with long-lasting memories.
There’s the great escape of the 2014/15 season under Nigel Pearson when the Foxes looked dead and buried, only to survive by the skin of their teeth.
It provided the platform for Leicester to complete one of the most remarkable stories in the history of sport when they won the Premier League title.
A memorable run to the Champions League quarter-finals in the following season also provided plenty to sing about.
Unfortunately the period of success was not without a tragedy which rocked the entire football world.
Former Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five people who died in a helicopter crash just outside the King Power Stadium after the Foxes’ game against West Ham United on October 27.
His son Khun Top continues to work tirelessly to honour his late father’s vision he had for the club he loved dearly.
There is certainly frustration in the manner with which Leicester went down, especially since it was largely preventable.
But they are no strangers to the Championship and, with the star power they already have in the squad, are primed to bounce straight back.
Socceroos star Harry Souttar, a January signing for the club, could prove to be a key figure in Leicester’s push for an immediate return given Soyuncu and Evans, two fellow centre-backs, will depart in the summer.
It promises to be a massive off-season for the club as they prepare for life in the second division for the first time since 2014.
With a new face in the dugout required and a squad refresh, this moment presents a golden opportunity for Leicester to turn a new page.
But it’s also a timely reminder for other clubs: if you dare to fly too close to the sun, it will end in flames.
La Liga football team Barcelona allegedly made payments to the company of a former Spanish refereeing chief which is being investigated on corruption charges, Spanish radio said Thursday (AEDT).
The public prosecutor’s office confirmed to AFP it is carrying out investigations into the matter, but did not give further details of the inquiries, which were extended last November.
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The investigation began after Spain’s tax authorities identified irregularities in tax payments made between 2016 and 2018 by the company Dasnil 95 — owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, vice-president of Spain’s refereeing technical committee (CTA) between 1994-2018.
The company reportedly received payments between 2016 and 2018 for advising the club on refereeing matters.
The total amount of money Barcelona allegedly paid is $AUD2.1m, per The Athletic.
The last invoice, according to Cadena Ser radio, was issued in June 2018. After that the CTA was restructured and Enriquez Negreira left the organisation.
Josep Maria Bartomeu, then-president of Barca, told reporters the club had decided to dispense with these services in order to cut costs.
Negreira — who refereed in La Liga between 1977-1992 — denied that he had given any favourable treatment to the club.
He said his duties were limited to providing Barca with mostly verbal advice on topics such as how players should behave in front of referees.
FC Barcelona issued a statement that said it had formerly had a contract with an “external provider” for “technical reports related to professional refereeing in order to complement information required by the coaching staff of the first team and the reserve team.” The statement, which did not mention Dasnil 95, said this was “a common practice at professional football clubs.” Barcelona said the task is now undertaken by a member of staff within their football department, and they would take legal action against any party trying to damage the club’s image.
The club also noted their “regret” that the information had been released “when the team has hit its best form of the season”.
“It’s not just chance that it’s coming out now,” said president Joan Laporta. “Any biased interpretation that insinuates things which are not so will receive a proportional response from the club. We will defend the honour and interests of FC Barcelona.” The Catalans beat Villarreal 1-0 on Sunday to move 11 points clear of rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
