European Leagues

‘I don’t care’ – Erik ten Hag

A defiant Erik ten Hag insists he is refusing to get distracted by outside ‘noise’ and ‘doesn’t care’ that he is yet to receive a public vote of confidence from new Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Last week, Ratcliffe – CEO of the INEOS chemicals group – officially completed his 27.7 per cent takeover in a £1.3billion deal at Old Trafford.

The 71-year-old has made no secret of his sky-high ambitions to return United to their former glory, outlining his plans to knock Liverpool and Manchester City off their perch, while also revealing his preference to rebuild the Theatre of Dreams.

But Ratcliffe, crucially, is yet to publicly endorse Ten Hag and recent reports emanating from France claim the British billionaire is prepared to axe the Dutchman if results fail to improve, with Zinedine Zidane eyed as a ‘dream’ managerial target.

Zidane, who has been out of a job since stepping down from his second spell in charge of Real Madrid in 2021, put United on red alert by signalling his intention to return to management this week.

Asked whether he has immediate plans to return to coaching, Zidane replied: ‘Why not? Anything can happen.

‘But at the moment I’m doing something else. I am sure that I will return to the bench, I would like to coach again.’

United’s dismal defeat at home to Fulham last weekend placed further pressure on an already under-fire Ten Hag, with the club languishing down in sixth in the Premier League – 16 points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

However, talking to the media ahead of United’s FA Cup fifth round tie with Nottingham Forest, Ten Hag insisted he had only received positive feedback from Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford since the INEOS takeover.

‘So I’m here. I’m under contract for three seasons, so I don’t care,’ he told reporters.

‘I’m only focusing on the process, so I don’t care what’s going on around me. I have many talks with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, also with Sir Dave Brailsford and others in that group, so I know where we are and I feel that they believe in me.’

Gary Neville this week suggested United’s hierarchy may already have made a decision over Ten Hag’s future, but the ex-Ajax boss is not focussing on his ‘personal circumstances’.

Ten Hag added: ‘I know what I’m doing. Consistently we have talks, and we’re talking about the future together.

‘If you talk about one defeat and the manager’s position is in discussion, I think it’s quite opportune after two months without a defeat. I can’t take it seriously.

‘It would be a problem when the leadership in this group has this approach or, internally, the others would have this approach, but that’s not the case. We are together there.

‘It’s not about me. I’m not focusing on my personal circumstances, I’m just focusing on the team. It’s all about focusing on that and don’t get distracted by any noise or whatever.’

European Leagues

Richard Keys Makes Pep Guardiola Sack Claim After Man City Draw v Everton

Richard Keys believes Pep Guardiola would have been sacked after the loss to Everton if he had not been the Manchester City manager.

Sean Dyche’s team held the Sky Blues to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad on Thursday [26 December], making it one win in nine Premier League matches for Pep Guardiola’s team.

Iliman Ndiaye equalised for the Blues to secure a point, and Keys believes the former Barcelona head coach would have been relieved of his duties had he been managing a team towards the bottom of the table.

Speaking on beIN SPORTS 1 [26 December, 17:11], the 67-year-old said: “It’s one win in 13 in all competitions for City now. Five points from 27 in the Premier League. If that’s a manager at the bottom, he gets the sack.”

Sean Dyche relieves Everton sack pressure after Manchester City draw

Guardiola has been arguably the finest manager anywhere in the world for more than a decade, and while calls for sacking him feel absurd, the Spaniard certainly needs to turn things around at the Sky Blues.

Dyche was under pressure at the Toffees not long ago after a poor start to the season, but the Englishman has turned things around in recent weeks.

The Blues were languishing close to the relation zone before a set of tricky fixtures in December, and many of the Goodison faithful were fearful.

However, Everton have gone up against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in their last three games and have taken a point from each.

Dyche must be commended for the remarkable set of results, and his conservative approach to football has certainly been instrumental.

The 53-year-old head coach has quelled the noise around his future in the Goodison dugout, but it remains to be seen whether The Friedkin Group will pull the plug if things go sideways in the coming months.

With Nottingham Forest up next on Sunday [29 December], the Blues can’t rest on their laurels and must see off Nuno Espirito Santo’s unexpectedly successful team.

In other Everton news, an ESPN image shows what might have helped Jordan Pickford during the Erling Haaland penalty save.

European Leagues

Bruno Fernandes sees red as Manchester United slump to another Premier League defeat

Manchester United’s struggles continued in a bruising St Stephen’s Day defeat at Vitor Pereira’s resurgent Wolves as Matheus Cunha scored one and provided another shortly after Bruno Fernandes saw red.
Gary O’Neil’s successor followed up Sunday’s 3-0 victory at Leicester with another impressive win as the Portuguese’s first match at Molineux ended with a huge boost in their bid to stay up.

Wolves deserved their 2-0 win, exposing the set piece frailties of Ruben Amorim’s stumbling side as Cunha beat Andre Onana directly from a corner shortly after Fernandes’ third sending off the season.

Star man Cunha – whose availability had been in doubt with a Football Association misconduct charge hanging over him – teed up substitute Hwang Hee-chan to wrap things up at the death.

New boss Pereira punched the air after his perfect star continued, inflicting a fifth defeat in 10 matches in all competitions on Amorim.

This was an alarming United display four days on from a 3-0 home humbling by Bournemouth, leaving them languishing in 14th spot.

Cunha shone amid the Molineux fog from the outset, drawing fouls during the early exchanges that saw Leny Yoro and Fernandes booked. The latter decision would prove particularly costly.

European Leagues

Ola Aina And Taiwo Awoniyi Star As Nottingham Forest Execute Toothless Tottenham

Super Eagles stars Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi featured for Nottingham Forest as they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at the City Ground, Soccernet.ng reports.

Nottingham Forest returned to Premier League action with a fixture against Tottenham at home. The Tricky Trees have been impressive this season, claiming the scalps of Manchester United and Aston Villa recently, and they were looking to continue their run.

Super Eagles defender Aina kept his place on rhe starting XI, while Awoniyi started from the bench. Tottenham started the game on the front foot, with Mats Selz making some important saves in the first 25 minutes.

However, Nottingham Forest had a big chance in the 28th minute, and they took it. Sweden star Anthony Elanga produced an effort from inside the box to open the scoring.

Tottenham probed hard for the equalizer, but they failed to get it. In the second half, Nottingham Forest were solid and stopped Tottenham for getting good looks at goal. Super Eagles star Aina put in a great shift at right back, registering three clearances and one tackle. Despite facing a lightning-fast Brennan Johnson, he was dribbled past just once.

Awoniyi was introduced into the game in the 87th minute, and he had an opportunity just a minute after his introduction, but he dragged his shot wide.

Nottingham Forest had an easy end to the game, as Djed Spence got sent off in stoppage time. It eventually ended 1-0 to the Tricky Trees, as they won their 10th game of the season.