Month: October 2021

Categories
football Slides Sports News

SOLSKJAER FRUSTRATED WITH LUNCH TIME KICK-OFF AGAINST EVERTON

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants his Manchester United players to carry the momentum of Wednesday’s Champions League win over Villarreal into Saturday’s clash with Everton – but voiced frustration that the two games are so close together.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s stoppage-time strike at Old Trafford saw United come from behind to register their first points of this season’s Champions League campaign.

Having lost three of four games going into the fixture, United might have wanted to bottle that feeling at full-time and move quickly on to the next one. Just not, Solskjaer said, quite as quickly as this.

“The boost and energy you get in the group after a win like this has to be built on,” he said.

“It’s a very, very quick turnaround, Wednesday night and Saturday morning, but the players are not going to get caught out by it and we need to start as we finished on Wednesday night.”

Solskjaer’s frustrations are nothing new. United faced an even more difficult situation against Everton last season when they played away in Turkey in the Champions League on the Wednesday night, losing 2-1 to Basaksehir, but flying home and winning 3-1 at Goodison Park in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off.

“We had no explanation, but it’s TV of course,” Solskjaer said. “There’s no common sense at all. We had the same scenario last season when we were in Turkey and came back and played.

“We had that joy last year and we have to make it happen. The crowd are going to have to help us.

Us and Chelsea both played on Wednesday and could have easily played on Sunday while City-Liverpool could have been on Saturday.

“Common sense might not be so common.”

Solskjaer was not the only one feeling frustrated at United, with Donny van de Beek’s despair at a lack of playing time growing as he was left on the bench again on Wednesday night, instead seeing Jesse Lingaard and Fred brought on as substitutes.

Last year’s £40 million signing from Ajax has started only two of nine games this season. Though Solskjaer said there was no problem with the 24-year-old showing some frustration, he warned it could not go too far.

“I’ve been a sub more than anyone at this club probably, and you have to be ready all the time,” he said. “I’ve been unhappy a few times. I understand the frustration. Every player is keen to play, that’s got to be built into energy and determination for when you get on and show me.”

“It’s not just Donny, it’s all players. I’ve got a squad of internationals and if we’re going to be successful we need positive energy, no sulkers.

“Donny has never affected his team-mates negatively. As soon as I see players affecting the team negatively then that’s a different scenario and I’ll probably be firmer.”

Though Harry Maguire will miss the Everton clash and perhaps Luke Shaw too, United got good news on the injury front on Friday as Marcus Rashford took part in full training for the first time since his shoulder surgery, though he still needs time to build up fitness.

“Marcus trained fully for the first time today with contact,” Solskjaer said.

“There were a few tackles flying in on him, but he seemed OK, which was nice to see.”

Categories
football Slides Sports News

MAN UNITED TO APPEAL WAN BISSAKA’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BAN

Following a statement from manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, released on their official website, Manchester United are set to appeal the recent red card issued to full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Wan-Bissaka, 23, was sent off during the Red Devils’ opening Champions League group game against Young Boys last month.

The full-back’s tackle, which saw him shown a contentious straight red, subsequently meant he missed his side’s most recent European fixture against Villarreal.

However, prior to the Red Devils’ home tie against the ‘Yellow Submarine’, it was confirmed that UEFA had increased the 23-year-old’s suspension from one game to two.

The news meant Wan-Bissaka will also miss the Red Devils’ next group fixture against Atalanta, however, following official word from manager Solskjaer, the club plan to appeal the decision.

“[I am] shocked,” Solskjaer told MUTV. “Yeah, we’re going to hand an appeal in of course, because he ends up almost with a three-game ban.

“It’s two-thirds of the game he got sent off in, that one [against Villarreal at Old Trafford], and an extra one.

“If you look at other tackles in the Champions League, I can’t see any reason why he should have two games, or almost three as I said.”

The club ended their communication by stating that although they do not know when they will receive the decision regarding their appeal – they are hopeful they will hear back before they face Atalanta on October 20.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

WE WON’T NEGLECT PREMIER LEAGUE FOR EUROPE – DAVID MOYES

West Ham boss David Moyes is loving life in European football but has vowed not to take his eye off the ball in the Premier League as he bids to juggle a packed fixture list beyond Christmas.

The in-form Hammers continued their Europa League adventure with a 2-0 win over Rapid Vienna on Thursday evening, a repeat of the result they achieved at Dinamo Zagreb a fortnight ago.

Last season’s surprise sixth-placed finish has placed greater demands on the London club, leaving Moyes with a tricky balancing act.

But the experienced Scot, who must swiftly switch his attentions back to domestic duties ahead of Sunday’s visit of Brentford, insists he is relishing the challenges posed by the hectic schedule.

“We want European football – I wish it was the Champions League because it would mean we had Wednesday-Saturday (fixtures) – but if we’re getting Thursday-Sunday, I’m taking that all day long,” he said.

“We’re loving being in the European competition. We’ve got a lot of players who have not been in European football before.

“I’d like to be in European football after Christmas time, that’s my goal with this competition at the moment.

“I can’t take my eye off the ball with the Premier League, but I’m doing my best to juggle the squad and give everybody minutes and hope to try and win the games by using as may players as I possibly can.”

West Ham have so far coped impressively with the packed programme, with a narrow top-flight loss to Manchester United their only defeat of the campaign to date.

They sit seventh going into the weekend, two points and as many places above their newly-promoted visitors.

The fixture will see Hammers forward Said Benrahma reunited with the club he left just under a year ago.

Algeria international Benrahma took 31 games to score his first United goal but has already struck four times this campaign, including the clincher in the Rapid Vienna victory, prompting praise from Moyes.

“Since he’s come to us, he’s taken a bit of time (to adapt) but I say this quite often about the players who come up from the Championship and even players we bring in from abroad, coming into the Premier League is not an easy one to step into and hit the ground running,” said the manager.

“Some players do, some don’t.

“I think it’s taken Said a little of time to understand his roles and how he has to play at this level.

“But we’ve been really pleased with him, he’s been a big positive for us since the start of the season.”

Categories
football Sports News

BRENTFORD MANAGER, THOMAS FRANK BACKS IVAN TONEY TO MAKE ENGLAND SQUAD

Brentford manager Thomas Frank is “convinced” that Gareth Southgate has his eye on Ivan Toney as a potential future member of the England squad.

The 25-year-old was born in Northampton but is eligible to play for Jamaica and St Vincent through his parents’ heritage.

Southgate recalled Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins for the World Cup qualifiers against Hungary and Andorra, but Toney has two goals and two assists from the opening six Premier League matches.

“If Ivan continues to perform as he’s done so far I think he will definitely be in there,” Frank said.

“I think Gareth is already looking at him, and I would expect that.

“Gareth has done a fantastic job as England manager, the results he’s got speak for themselves, he’s a very detailed man and I am convinced that he’s looking at Ivan and then it’s that balance between who you’ve already got in the squad, different types and all that.

“But Ivan’s performance, if he continues like that, he will be a player that will be in the run for a position in the squad.”

Brentford travel to West Ham on Sunday as they look to improve on their impressive start to the season which included a draw against league leaders Liverpool.

West Ham are also going well, with three wins from six in the league, and they are leading their Europa League group.

Frank was full of praise for David Moyes, saying: “What he’s done at West Ham is fantastic. He’s taken them to the second best position, the way they play, they have solid players in all positions, they got into the top six ahead of Tottenham and Arsenal, which is remarkable.

“They just continued this year and now they have six points in the Europa League, so I think it was a remarkable job and I think he deserves so much praise.”

West Ham’s Michail Antonio is the Premier League’s joint-top scorer with five goals, plus three assists, and Frank has likened the forward to Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku.

“We faced them (West Ham) in a friendly and Antonio is such a handful, and I said ‘you’re going to score 20-plus this season’, and if he keeps avoiding injuries, 100 per cent. He is a handful, very difficult,” the Brentford boss said.

“He is a little bit like Lukaku in terms of the power and speed but also a very good finisher, so I think he is a very interesting player.”

Categories
football Slides Sports News

MARCELO BIELSA INSISTS LEEDS CONFIDENCE DESPITE WINLESS START TO SEASON

Marcelo Bielsa insists confidence remains high as Leeds bid for their first Premier League win of the season on Saturday against Watford.

The Whites will kick off at Elland Road in the relegation zone — and without injured striker Patrick Bamford — after taking three points from their opening six matches.

Defeats to Manchester United, Liverpool and latterly West Ham have prompted anxious debate among some Leeds fans on social media, but Bielsa assured them self-belief in his camp has been unaffected.

“The players haven’t lost confidence, so there’s no need to give something that’s conserved, that’s already there,” he said.

“What we do in every case is to perceive the errors and to try and correct them.

“I sleep normally, and I’ve always had the hope that we’re able to win our games.”

Bielsa felt last week’s 2-1 home defeat to West Ham was harsh on his players after Michail Antonio’s last-minute winner.

Leeds produced some of their best football of the season in the first half and the head coach believes several performances so far have gone unrewarded.

He acknowledged victory against Watford before next week’s international break could be psychologically significant.

“It’s always important to win, especially when you’ve gone six games without winning and if you occupy one of the last three positions in the table, even more so,” Bielsa said.

“The other reference is the performances, that go in the opposite direction to these negative aspects, and it’s (about) the support (to the players) to come back from this situation.”

Bamford has not recovered from the ankle injury which forced him to miss out against the Hammers and Rodrigo is expected to start again as the central striker.

There have been growing calls for Joe Gelhardt to be handed his first Premier League appearance after the former Wigan prodigy’s six goals in as many games for the Under-23s this season.

But Bielsa suggested Gelhardt still had some climbing to do in the pecking order.

“When Gelhardt is better than Bamford, Rodrigo and Tyler (Roberts), that will be a triumph for the work what we’ve done,” Bielsa added.

“What I’m looking for, what I want, is for (Gelhardt) to verify that he is good, not to verify that he doesn’t have the level to play.”

Raphinha is available despite aggravating a slight hip problem against West Ham and Spain defender Diego Llorente is back in contention after recovering from a muscle strain.

Bielsa confirmed right-back Luke Ayling will be out until after the international break as his knee injury requires minor surgery and both Adam Forshaw (muscle strain) and Robin Koch (pelvis) were still out.