Category: Sport News

MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has defended captain Bruno Fernandes after the midfielder’s lackluster start to the season, saying it is only a matter of time before the Portugal international returns to his best form.

Fernandes has completed just one assist and is yet to score a goal this season and the midfielder has been criticized for his performances in United’s last two games in draws with Crystal Palace and Twente Enschede.

Ten Hag was asked if the 30-year-old was tired after a difficult last season when he played more than 4,000 minutes for United before representing his country at Euro 2024.

“I think the team put him in a situation. I think he can and has proven it, many times in the Premier League, he can create many chances,” Ten Hag told reporters yesterday ahead of Sunday’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur.

“I’m sure he won’t do it any differently. He’ll get back to his best form.

“He has created chances but he will make the last pass, he will score 100 per cent. Only time will tell.”

United have conceded just five goals in the league this season and sit 11th in the table.

“We have players in the team who are capable of scoring goals. But it’s clear when you look at all the chances we create, we don’t score enough goals,” said Ten Hag.

United have failed to beat Spurs for two years and are in a clash that has traditionally produced plenty of goals.

Ten Hag said he expects a tough match against Ange Postecoglou’s men who have collected seven points and are 10th on goal difference.

MILAN: Liverpool celebrated their return to the Champions League after a year away with a 3-1 win over AC Milan at the San Siro.

Despite a slow start, Arne Slot’s squad secured the three points with goals from Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai.

The clash between the two European giants saw Milan punish Liverpool’s defense with Christian Pulisic’s third-minute goal.

But the visitors began to dominate the game and both Liverpool centre-backs found the target before the break, with Szoboszlai securing victory in the second half.

“A great way to celebrate my birthday. You wouldn’t be able to say this after five minutes, but after that we played well,” said Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who turned 46 yesterday.

Pulisic opened the scoring by sprinting down the right unchallenged and scoring from a difficult angle.

The joy of the home fans did not last long as Liverpool began to dominate the game until the end.

“A shaky start with a goal conceded. But after that, with calmness shown, keep playing, try to find answers, I think it’s very good to see,” said Van Dijk.

Konate equalized in the 23rd minute when he leapt high to head home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick – his first goal in two-and-a-half years.

Captain Van Dijk put Liverpool in front after he headed home Kostas Tsimikas’ corner before the break.

Szoboszlai confirmed the win in the 67th minute by completing Cody Gakpo’s pass.

It was Slot’s first Champions League game with Liverpool since he replaced Jurgen Klopp.

They also managed to make up for the disappointment of the English Premier League after being surprised 1-0 by Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Saturday.

The last time the visiting team came from behind to win the Champions League at San Siro was Liverpool in December 2021.

MIAMI: Mauricio Pochettino has been appointed as the new manager of the United States (US) national squad, announced the governing body of US soccer.

The former Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Espanyol manager replaces Gregg Berhalter who was sacked in July after a disappointing Copa America campaign.

Pochettino is the biggest name in charge of the squad and the first foreign coach since German football legend Jurgen Klinsmann, who was sacked in 2016.

Pochettino, 52, has been unemployed since leaving Chelsea in May after just one season in charge of the Premier League club.

Details of his contract have not been disclosed, but Pochettino will lead the US to the 2026 World Cup which the country is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada.

The Argentinian manager, who managed big names such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe while at Paris Saint-Germain, is looking forward to getting started with his new team.

“The decision to join the US is not only about football for me; it is about the journey that the team and this country will go through.

“The energy, enthusiasm and determination to achieve something historic here – inspires me. Such an opportunity is hard to turn down.

“I see a group of talented and potential players, together we will build something special and something to be proud of,” said Pochettino.

Pochettino inherits a young squad that reached the last 16 at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, losing to the Netherlands at that stage.

BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi will miss Argentina’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia due to injury while Paulo Dybala was recalled to Lionel Scaloni’s squad.

Messi has not played with his club Inter Miami since suffering an ankle injury during Argentina’s 1-0 win over Colombia in the Copa America final in Miami, United States.

Roma forward Dybala has not made an international appearance since March 2023 but could get a chance to make his 38th appearance for the national team in Messi’s absence.

The world champions will also be without the services of Angel Di Maria following the veteran winger’s retirement from international football.

Argentina currently top the South American zone qualifiers for the 2026 finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The top six teams from 10 countries will automatically qualify for the finals.

Scaloni’s side will host Chile on September 6 before facing Colombia in Barranquilla four days later.

MILAN: Napoli manager Antonio Conte apologized to club fans after his squad lost 3-0 at Hellas Verona in Serie A action.

Conte and Napoli got off to a disappointing start as Verona scored three goals in the second half, with the manager saying he took full responsibility for the defeat.

“We allowed Verona to create chances at the start of the second half, and in the blink of an eye we were behind.

“Then we melted like snow under the sun. I think we need to apologize to the Neapolitan supporters, who were loyal to us.

“I as a coach need to take responsibility for this defeat,” said Conte.

Conte said the 2023 champions need to work harder to reach the desired stage.

The 55-year-old also feels he needs to strengthen his squad before the transfer window closes.

“In the market, one, two, three, four may come, no matter how many clubs want to sign. This problem needs to be addressed, and it is not an easy matter,” he said.

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MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe has revealed the real reason he didn’t sack Erik ten Hag even though the club is enduring its worst season in the Premier League era.

Ratcliffe, 71, also explained why he felt the club had lost its way before his arrival and he was working to rebuild the English giant.

United finished the 2023-24 Premier League campaign in eighth place, the fastest achievement since the 1989-90 season.

A negative goal difference for the first time in 34 years and 14 league defeats – the worst since the 1989-90 season – further soured United’s image under Ten Hag.

But victory over rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final ensured United will continue to play on the European stage this season.

When fans and observers called for the Dutch manager to be sacked, Ratcliffe decided to continue giving Ten Hag a chance rather than looking for a new manager for the sixth time after Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

“Erik is a good guy and did his best, but it was too much work.

“He’s trying to reshape the squad but at the same time trying to ‘repair the roof’,” Ratcliffe said.

MANCHESTER: Julian Alvarez is set to leave Manchester City to join Atletico Madrid for £81 million.

Man City bought the 24-year-old Argentine player for 14 million pounds from River Plate in January 2022.

After helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Copa America, as well as two Premier League and European Champions League titles at club level, Alvarez’s price has soared.

Alvarez scored 36 times in two seasons at the Etihad as Pep Guardiola’s side became the first team to win England’s top four league titles four times in a row.

However Alavarez was second choice behind Erling Haaland throughout

playing in Manchester.

City now needs to find a new striker to support the Norwegian bomber.

ORLANDO: Barcelona beat Manchester City 4-1 on penalty kicks after the two teams tied 2-2 in a pre-season friendly in Orlando this morning.

The match at the Camping World Stadium was postponed for 80 minutes due to weather problems, the same situation that occurred during City’s first action when they lost 3-4 to Celtic in the tour series in the United States (US).

After the match started, Erling Haaland thought he had scored in the first 15 minutes but his visible push of the ball over the goal line was ignored by the referee.

Barcelona on the other hand opened the curtain on Pau Victor in the 24th minute. He managed to shoot a shot into the penalty box even though Kalvin Phillips tried to tackle him.

City equalized through 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly but Barcelona were back in front just before the break when Victor’s fine cross was finished with a precise shot by Pablo Torre.

The two teams made exchanges at the break seeing Pep Guardiola replace Haaland and Ederson.

City equalized soon after through Jack Grealish after getting a pass from Mateo Kovacic for the score to end at 2-2.

In the penalty shootout, Phillips was among the City players who failed to score the spot-kick that allowed Barcelona to win 4-1.

City’s next game is against Chelsea in Ohio on Saturday while Barcelona face La Liga challengers Real Madrid in New Jersey.

LONDON: World Cup winner, Joachim Low is reportedly also interested in the position as England manager.

Low, 64, who managed Germany for 15 years and helped the country lift the World Cup trophy in Brazil in 2014, is seen ready to discuss the matter with the English Football Association (FA) following the resignation of Gareth Southgate.

Apart from him, another German manager and former Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has also been the talk of the town in England but he is said to be clearly not interested in returning to football this summer.

Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and Lee Carsley are also reportedly on the FA’s shortlist.

The FA may prefer to choose a local operator but has not ruled out the possibility of hiring an outside manager.

The last game Low managed before stepping down as Germany manager was when the team lost 2-0 to England at Wembley in the Euro 2020 best 16 competition, three years ago.

The former Stuttgart and Fenerbahce manager then decided not to work since then.

Southgate earns 5 million pounds a year to manage The Three Lions and Low was only paid half of that amount during his last contract with the German FA.

Klopp earns 15 million pounds per season with Liverpool and the estimated average salary seems reasonable for the FA.

Under the management of Low, Germany also managed to advance to the final of Euro 2008 but lost 1-0 at the hands of Spain.