What the papers say


'I'll focus on Leicester and we'll see after that': Ruud van Nistelrooy on his future – video
Ruud van Nistelrooy led Manchester United to a 2-0 victory over Greek champions PAOK in the Europa League. Van Nistelrooy, who is standing in as interim manager before the arrival of Rúben Amorim, will manage his last game for Manchester United on Sunday against Leicester. He said: 'For me, it's important now to carry on and build on results of Leicester, of Chelsea and of PAOK.'
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Lucas Paquetá is struggling, Ruud van Nistelrooy nears Old Trafford farewell and will Luis Díaz play as a striker again?
Brentford have scored nine and conceded six in their past two Premier League home games. Their leaky defence did not cost them in victories over Wolves and Ipswich but they were shown up by Harry Wilson’s injury-time double on Monday night at Fulham to suggest things need to improve at the back. Wilson’s goals both came from crosses. Brentford allowed Fulham to cross the ball 43 times, although Thomas Frank was not too worried about it and was surprisingly relaxed that they led to two goals. With Ethan Pinnock and Nathan Collins, he does have centre-backs capable of dealing with the majority but it is a dangerous game to play. Bournemouth will have taken note and their fine wingers and full-backs will probably target the space afforded out wide. Will Unwin
Brentford v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)
Crystal Palace v Fulham, Saturday 3pm
West Ham v Everton, Saturday 3pm
Wolves v Southampton, Saturday 3pm
Brighton v Manchester City, Saturday 5.30pm
Liverpool v Aston Villa, Saturday 8pm
Manchester United v Leicester, Sunday 2pm
Nottingham Forest v Newcastle, Sunday 2pm
Continue reading...Van Nistelrooy in dark over Manchester United future under Amorim
- Interim boss says he hasn’t heard from new manager
- ‘Let him focus on Braga’ says Van Nistelrooy
Ruud van Nistelrooy revealed he is yet to hear from Rúben Amorim regarding his future after Manchester United finally ended a wait of more than a year for a European win.
United’s victory over the Greek champions, Paok, at Old Trafford lifted them to 15th in the Europa League table with six points. Sunday’s visit of Leicester will be Van Nistelrooy’s fourth and final match as United’s interim manager. Whether he remains at the club under Amorim is yet to be determined, and after Thursday’s win the Dutchman said he had received no contact from the 39-year-old, who takes over on Monday after Sporting’s trip to Braga on Sunday.
Continue reading...Manchester United v PAOK Salonika: Europa League – as it happened
Amad Diallo was the two-goal hero as United ended their 380-day wait for a win in Europe
2 min: … and so both teams begin their quest for a first win in this Europa League campaign. A quiet start on the pitch, but both sets of fans make their beautiful noise.
Manchester United get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Stretford End during this first half.
Continue reading...Amad Diallo ends Manchester United’s European drought by seeing off Paok
Hold on to your hat: Manchester United are victorious in Europe after three consecutive Europa League draws and three more games without winning in last season’s Champions League.
So a 380-day drought stretching to a 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen at Old Trafford ends courtesy of Amad Diallo, whose explosive wing play was crowned by his double. The first was a clever 50th-minute header. The second an exhibition of aggressiveness as he mugged Abdul Baba along the right, shrugged off the defender’s manhandling, then fired a shot into the left corner, via a deflection.
Continue reading...Onana claims Manchester United will ‘step up’ for arrival of Rúben Amorim
- Goalkeeper backs teammates to adapt to new tactics
- Van Nistelrooy yet to speak with new coach about future
André Onana has backed his Manchester United teammates to “step up” and adapt to Rúben Amorim’s style after watching Sporting defeat Manchester City 4-1 in the Champions League. Amorim, who will arrive in England next week to replace Erik ten Hag, prefers a 3-4-3 formation and intense pressing, in contrast to United’s 4-2-3-1 under his predecessor.
“I did watch the game yesterday,” Onana said before United’s Europa League game at home to Paok. “Great victory from them [Sporting], by the way. Different system, but the players, my teammates, we are all pragmatic. I think everyone here is capable to play in each system, so I don’t think this will be any issue for us. We have big players, so they will step up.”
Continue reading...Rúben Amorim warns 'Manchester United cannot play the way Sporting do' – video
Rúben Amorim said Sporting’s 4-1 rout of Manchester City was a dream way to sign off in his last home game as head coach but warned that when taking over Manchester United he cannot be as 'defensive' as the Portuguese champions. 'We cannot transport one reality to another,' he said. 'United cannot play the way we play, they cannot be so defensive. Of course it’s good to beat City. But I’ll be living in a different world, we’ll have to start from a different point'.
Continue reading...Manchester United cannot play the way Sporting do, warns Rúben Amorim
- Sporting thrash Manchester City in coach’s home farewell
- Amorim to take over at Old Trafford on 11 November
Rúben Amorim said Sporting’s 4-1 rout of Manchester City was a dream way to sign off in his last home game as head coach but warned that when taking over Manchester United he cannot be as “defensive” as the Portuguese champions.
After Phil Foden opened the scoring, Viktor Gyökeres’s hat-trick and a Maximiliano Araújo strike handed City a first Champions League loss of the season. Yet Amorim was clear the result will mean nothing when he starts at United next week.
Continue reading...Manchester United fans prefer new stadium to redeveloping Old Trafford
- Survey finds 52% season ticket holders want move
- Task force recommendations likely next year
A majority of Manchester United fans favour a new stadium rather than the redevelopment of Old Trafford, a survey has found. Fifty-two per cent of more than 50,000 season-ticket holders, members and executive club members prefer a new ground, compared with 31% who support the redevelopment of the existing stadium.
Seventeen per cent were undecided on the best option, which is being looked at by the owners in conjunction with the Old Trafford regeneration taskforce, which includes former United defender Gary Neville, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and the World Athletics president, Lord Coe.
Continue reading...David Squires on … Rúben Amorim’s big job and suspicious minds elsewhere
Our cartoonist on Manchester United’s hive mind choosing the next manager and José Mourinho’s latest antics
Continue reading...Sporting success of Amorim and Viana soon to be split across Manchester
On Tuesday the Portuguese side host City, Hugo Viana’s next employer, as a partnership nears its end
In Portugal they speak of Hugo Viana working “in the shadows”, a man eager to perform his duties away from the spotlight. He will be especially pleased that his good friend Rúben Amorim will take the headlines when Viana’s current and future employers meet in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Over the past six years he has built his reputation as one of Europe’s best young sporting directors by helping to make his first club, Sporting, a force once more.
Sporting had not won the league title for 16 seasons when Viana arrived with only six months’ experience at Belenenses. Under Viana’s direction, Sporting have bested both Porto and Benfica twice to finish top – his first title coming in his third season at the club. The former Newcastle midfielder cannot claim all the credit for the turnaround but it was his decision to appoint his former teammate Amorim, paying €10m for a head coach who had started the season managing Braga B in the third tier.
Continue reading...Supporters will think ‘new Ferguson has arrived’ if Sporting beat City, claims Amorim
- New United manager set for last home game at Sporting
- Amorim says win could lead to ‘difficult’ expectations
The incoming Manchester United manager, Rúben Amorim, has claimed supporters will think he is the “new Sir Alex Ferguson” if his current side, Sporting, beat Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday and said that could make expectations around his impact at Old Trafford “difficult”.
City’s visit to the Estádio José Alvalade is Amorim’s last home game as Sporting head coach before taking over at United on Monday week. The 39-year-old’s opening match as Erik ten Hag’s successor is against Ipswich on 24 November and he will take his new team to the Etihad Stadium on 15 December for a first derby against City.
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Forest and Bournemouth shine again, Gordon provides Toon tonic, while Gomez and Solanke are winning over doubters
If Ruud van Nistelrooy was supposed to wash the nostalgia out of the Manchester United system then perhaps that was achieved, though maybe not as intended. If Rúben Amorim was distracted from preparing Sporting for Manchester City on Tuesday, he will be more aware of a United squad bereft of confidence. United’s first 60 minutes against Chelsea saw them fumble pathetically for creativity. Not even the presence of one of the club’s greatest strikers has lifted the finishing quality in a group low on goals. Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford were both bereft of touch and instinct; substitute Joshua Zirkzee’s signing remains a mystery. There was something of Van Nistelrooy in Rasmus Højlund winning Bruno Fernandes’s penalty, and the goalscorer’s knee slide towards the tunnel at the Stretford End. But there was to be no Ferguson-era ecstatic denouement. This United don’t do them. Van Nistelrooy has two games remaining until United seek the progressive future postponed by mistakenly retaining Erik ten Hag. John Brewin
Match report: Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea
Match report: Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal
Match report: Tottenham 4-1 Aston Villa
Match report: Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Match report: Wolves 2-2 Crystal Palace
Match report: Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester City
Continue reading...Vampirism meets overspend to make death-football of late-stage capitalism
Manchester United and Chelsea demonstrate that boredom is a key part of the sport and an element of its beauty
Well, something definitely happened there. But what exactly? There is an affectionate joke about good, punchy Australian sports writing, which basically involves saying Here’s The Thing, right, then spelling out exactly what The Thing is in 800 brutally frank words, pounding The Thing into submission, shaking hands with The Thing, then, ideally, going off for a quick drink with The Thing.
What was the thing here? Trapped energy. Drift. Ennui. A good goal by Moisés Caicedo. The death-football of late-stage capitalism. Casemiro lying down a lot, often to surprisingly good defensive effect.
Continue reading...‘I feel responsible’: Fernandes apologises to Ten Hag over United sacking
- ‘It is easier to get rid of a manager than 15 players’
- Midfielder scored from spot in 1-1 draw with Chelsea
Bruno Fernandes has revealed he apologised to Erik ten Hag for any part he may have played in the Dutchman’s sacking as the manager.
Speaking on Sunday after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford, the club captain said: “It is easier to get rid of a manager than 15 players. I spoke to the manager and apologised to him. I was disappointed he has gone and I tried to help him. I wasn’t scoring goals, we are not scoring goals and I feel responsible.”
Continue reading...Fed-up Manchester United fans know latest saviour faces ‘a lot of problems’
But at least there’s a new bounce and hopes of a brighter future under Rúben Amorim after recent ‘misery’
“I’m excited for it because it’s new, but then you’re always excited for a new manager, aren’t you?” says Siobhan grinning. She and her sister Shauna are heading to their perches in Old Trafford’s North Stand with a spring in their steps. A sort of not-quite-but-soon new head coach bounce, if you will.
With the ink now dry on Rúben Amorim’s contract, thoughts, imaginations even, of Manchester United supporters are future-facing. A future, everyone hopes, that will be significantly brighter than the present.
Continue reading...Moisés Caicedo’s stunner secures draw for Chelsea at Manchester United
It has come to feel like a collector’s item – a Manchester United goal in the Premier League. When it came, Bruno Fernandes scoring from the penalty spot on 70 minutes, the celebrations were suitably wild. Especially from Ruud van Nistelrooy, the United interim manager who is keeping the dugout warm for Rúben Amorim.
Van Nistelrooy pumped his fists, he ran down the line, he jumped up and he punched the air. It was like the old days when he led the United line, and the release of emotion was understandable because there had been plenty of frustration about the team’s performance.
Continue reading...Manchester United v Chelsea: Premier League – live
- Updates from Old Trafford (4.30pm KO GMT)
- Get in touch: email Rob with your thoughts
We interrupt the Manchester United news cycle to bring you an association football match from Old Trafford: United v Chelsea in the Premier League. The focus will be on United, as it tends to be when they’ve just sacked another manager, but it’s probably a bigger game for Chelsea. A win would take them fourth in the table*, five points behind the leaders Liverpool, and set them up for an even bigger game at home to Arsenal next weekend.
All logic says Chelsea won’t be title contenders until next season at the earliest, although this isn’t a club that cares much for logic. And they have Cole Palmer, whose imagination and brilliance are making even the most level-headed neutral get carried away.
Continue reading...Ruud van Nistelrooy ready for criticism from ex-Manchester United teammates
- ‘They want the club to do well and have their opinions’
- Interim manager backs Joshua Zirkzee after difficult start
Ruud van Nistelrooy is not expecting an easy ride from his former Manchester United teammates in the media during his spell as interim manager.
The voices of former players such as Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Rio Ferdinand, members of the all-conquering Sir Alex Ferguson side that also featured Van Nistelrooy, have become prominent in the discussion around United in recent years.
Continue reading...Rúben Amorim has the Ferguson aura but will the United job eat the rising star? | Jonathan Wilson
Old Trafford’s muddled succession planning has seen a host of talents flop but the Sporting manager shares that outsider glow
Forget the details, forget the noise. Forget the specifics. Imagine you run a big club on a losing streak. You are looking to appoint a new manager. What do you want, ideally? You want a young manager on the way up, someone fresh, with vision and drive and personality. Someone who could perhaps still be leading the club a decade later.
At the very highest level, most managerial careers are relatively short. The notion of a “proven winner” is a consoling but meaningless shorthand. There is no such thing; everything is fluid, everything is contingent; there is always a context; every career has an arc.
Continue reading...