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.
Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi has distanced himself from reports linking him to the soon-to-be vacant Bayern Munich job by insisting he wants to stay where he is.
The Italian's name has been circulated as Bayern look to replace Thomas Tuchel, who will leave at the end of the season after surrendering the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen.
De Zerbi has also been linked with taking over Manchester United, Liverpool and Barcelona having drawn praise for his side's elegant yet risky brand of football down on the south coast, and although resulst have dipped in 2024 - with Brighton struggling to balance domestic duties and injuries to key players with their exploits in the Europa League - his stock remains high.
But in an interview with Sky Sports, De Zerbi has revealed he'd like to stay put for now, detailing his affinity to his current employers.
"I would like to stay in Brighton because I love my players, I love this city, I love my club and my fans," he explained. "I said in the meeting with the fans, if I am happy there isn't a club that can bring myself to change team.
"I need to find the balance between my heart and my head. And there is a part of myself who pushes with the heart, and the other is more calm to analyse better the situation."
Brighton have slipped to 12th in the Premier League table after losing four of their last six games, while the only goal they scored in the entire month of March came courtesy of an own goal from Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.
Nevertheless, a top-half finish can still be achieved as Brighton have games in hand on the teams immediately above them in the standings. They will, however, need to get results against sides who are placed higher in the league - Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Manchester United, managed by the increasingly under pressure Erik ten Hag.
Last week: Jake Knapp won the Mexico Open at Vidanta.
Notes: The tournament again leads off the Florida swing under a new name. Cognizant takes over as title sponsor of what previously was the Honda Classic. ... Rory McIlroy is playing to beef up his pre-Masters schedule. He last played the tournament in 2018. ... Six of the seven winners on the PGA Tour this year were outside the top 50 in the world ranking. The exception was Wyndham Clark, No. 10 when he won at Pebble Beach. ... This is the last tournament for the leading top 10 in the FedEx Cup and the leading five players in “swing category” to earn a spot in Bay Hill next week. ... Since turning pro after winning The American Express, U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap finished in last place at Pebble Beach and missed the cut at Riviera. He is in the field this week. ... NCAA champion Fred Biondi, who turned pro last year, received a sponsor exemption. ... The field features five of the top 25 in the world ranking.
Last week: Patty Tavatanakit won the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Notes: This is the second of three straight weeks in Asia. The HSBC Women’s World Championship dates to 2008 and typically gets a strong field. ... Jin Young Ko is going for her third straight title in Singapore. ... Lorena Ochoa set the course record of 268 in 2008, the inaugural year of the tournament. ... The field features eight of the top 10 in the women’s world ranking, missing only Nelly Korda and Charley Hull. ... Atthaya Thitikul, No. 11 in the world, has an injured left thumb and does not plan to return until the end of March. ... Former U.S. Women’s Open champion In Gee Chun is playing on a sponsor’s invitation. ... Minjee Lee is in the field, playing for the first time this year on the LPGA Tour. ... Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis has named Paula Creamer, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel as assistants for this year’s matches in Virginia.
Last tournament: Dustin Johnson won LIV Golf Las Vegas.
Notes: Brooks Koepka is going for his third straight LIV victory in Saudi Arabia. The tournament was played in the fall the last two seasons. ... Anthony Kim is expected to make his LIV debut as an individual. Kim has not competed anywhere since May 2012 at the Wells Fargo Championship. He is now 38. ... Dustin Johnson’s victory in Las Vegas makes him the first player to win in each of the three seasons of LIV Golf. Among those with a chance to match him this week are Koepka and Cameron Smith. ... Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Harold Varner III and Abraham Ancer have all won in Saudi Arabia outside the LIV Golf League. ... Jon Rahm’s new team is leading the standings after two events. ... Joaquin Niemann was the only LIV Golf player who received a special invitation to the Masters based on his European tour performances in the offseason. ... Patrick Reed is no longer among the top 100 in the world.
Last week: Darius van Driel won the Magical Kenya Open.
Notes: The tournament is co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour of South Africa. ... This is the second of three straight tournaments on the African continent. ... The field features only four players from the top 100 in the world. The highest-ranked player is Rikuya Hoshino, who is at No. 81. ... South Africa only has five players in the top 100 in the world. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who plays the PGA Tour, is the top-ranked South African at No. 59. ... Only two players from Nos. 126-200 in the FedEx Cup last year are in the field, Matthias Schwab and Jonas Blixt. Dylan Frittelli was in that category until winning earlier this year to get full European tour membership. ... Keita Nakajima, a former world No. 1 amateur, is in the field. He is eligible from winning the Japan Golf Tour money title last year. ... The tournament only became part of the European tour schedule last year.
Asian Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia: New Zealand Open, Millbrook GC (Coronet and Remarkables), Arrowtown, New Zealand. Defending champion: Brendan Jones. Online: https://asiantour.com/ and https://pga.org.au/.
Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo couldn't hide their admiration for the ability of Toni Kroos after his defence splitting pass helped Real Madrid open the scoring against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal clash.
The German's slide rule through ball took advantage of poor decision making from Bayern defender Kim Min-jae, allowing Vinicius to zip in behind and slide home the opening goal of an exhilarating contest at the Allianz Arena.
It was a moment of real quality from 34-year-old Kroos, who was once again tasked with pulling the strings in Madrid's midfield despite his advancing years.
Kroos' high performance level inevitably raised the question of whether or not Madrid will look to extend his contract beyond this summer, and it certainly appears that a longer stay would be welcomed by Vinicius and Rodrygo judging by their post-match comments.
"Toni always makes things easy," Vinicius told Movistar. "He gifted me a goal. We practice a lot together in training. I know Toni very well, and he knows me. I'm very happy to have scored two goals. Now we need a magic night at home."
In reply, Kroos told Real Madrid's official website of his two-goal teammate: “Players like him always give you the possibility to make passes. He's not only quick, he's also clever and knows how and when to move. He's done well and it's his quality to get into space. “It's difficult to stop him there.”
Kroos also drew praise from Rodrygo, who drew the foul that saw Vinicius level the tie at 2-2 from the penalty spot, as he remarked: "What a pass! Incredible, Age doesn't matter. [Kroos] has always got that skill, that class that I love to see."
14-time Champions League winners Madrid would now appear to have the upper hand heading into next week's second leg clash at the Santiago Bernabeu. But Carlo Ancelotti's side will know not to look past the Bavarian giants, who last lifted the trophy in 2020, especially as they fought back from being 1-0 down to take a 2-1 lead through Leroy Sane and Harry Kane.
"It's going to be a really special game," Kroos added of the upcoming Bernabeu duel. "It's going to be the most important match of the season."
