Category: SI

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag admits his side are not playing the style of football he'd like, and has attributed their struggles to the extraordinary amount of injuries to players in key positions.

The mood at Old Trafford was lifted by a successful first season for Ten Hag, which saw the Red Devils end a six-year trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup. They also reached the FA Cup final, losing narrowly to neighbourhood rivals Manchester City, and qualified for the Champions League thanks to a third-place Premier League finish.

But United haven't been able to kick on this season, despite spending a decent chunk of money on new signings, and Ten Hag's position as manager has repeatedly been called into question.

There is hope that INEOS' investment into the club will improve United's off the field activity, though it's not yet clear whether Ten Hag will be the manager backed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe to take the club forward.

Judging by Ten Hag's latest comments, in an interview with Sky Sports, he appears confident that he'll be in charge next year, and calmly explained why he thinks United's struggles can be attributed to factors out of his control.

"Frustration [at the style of play not working] is not the right word because I'm a realistic man," he said. "Last year when I came in, you make your adjustments but at the end of the day, it's about winning games. From last year, we found a way to make a very successful team.

"This year, we wanted to make the next step. We bought in a goalkeeper who can play out from the back, a dynamic midfielder in Mason Mount - who has been injured all season - and a goalscorer in Hojlund who is young and needed the time.

"On one hand, we were quite confident we made the right choices and we can make the next step. But all the injuries are coming and we made so many changes in some positions like the back four.

"We've now played 47 games and we had 30 combinations in the back four. They weren't from choices you make, they were forced choices because the players were injured… anyone with even a little bit of knowledge about football, they will know it will have a huge impact.

"Then Casemiro was injured for a long period. We had so many issues in the team that you can't always play the way you want to play.

"But the fans want to see a successful team, a team that's winning. What we always try to do, and it's a compliment to the team, in every game, they went for it and they had a spirit.

"We make the adjustments a little bit in our way of play because when you don't have a left-footed centre back or on the left side in the full-back position, you have to make adjustments you want to play, so we did.

"We are not where we want to be with the way we want to play, but the headlines are still there because we want to be proactive, be dynamic and we want to play with a high line. That's what we always aim for."

United will not feature in next season's Champions League, with a fifth-place finish the best they can now achieve, but will again appear in the FA Cup final against Manchester City after narrowly seeing off Championship side Coventry City in a thrilling semi-final penalty shootout.

Karim Benzema is back at former club Real Madrid in a bid to help him get over recent injury concerns.

The legendary Frenchman, who won the 2022 Ballon d'Or, joined Al Ittihad on a lucrative three-year contract last summer, sparking a mass exodus of some of European football's best players to the riches of the Middle East.

But Benzema's debut campaign in Saudi Arabia has been anything but ideal. Amid rumours of a falling out with manager Marcelo Gallardo, he has struggled to stay fit and string together a consistent run of appearances - with his absence contributing to Al Ittihad's struggles in the league.

Benzema has totalled 21 goal contributions in 29 outings - individually impressive numbers - but Al Ittihad are 30 points behind rivals Al Hilal, whose playing squad boasts the likes of Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. They also have Neymar on their books, though he has played just three games after succumbing to an ACL tear in October.

Now, in a bid to cure Benzema of his injury problems, Al Ittihad have confirmed that the 36-year-old has returned to Madrid for further treatment.

"Karim Benzema is undergoing further examinations in Real Madrid's clinic with his former doctor in Spain, who supervised his care in previous years," Al Ittihad wrote in a statement.

"The consultations were arranged between Ittihad's medical teams and Real Madrid regarding Benzema's injuries, which caused him to miss key matches this season. Benzema has already left for Spain and is expected to return next week."

Benzema's storied 14-year Real Madrid tenure saw him win every available honour in the game, topped off by his Ballon d'Or success in 2022. That honour was bestowed upon him after an incredible 2021/22 campaign saw score 44 goals en route to winning a La Liga, Champions League and Club World Cup treble, as well as the Pichichi Trophy (the award for most goals scored in La Liga).

He'd already won four Champions Leagues prior to those successes, including three in a row under the management of Zinedine Zidane.