Premier League
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gets three-game ultimatum to save career
The United hierarchy are prepared to stick with Solskjaer for now following the humiliating defeat against Liverpool, but his position could become untenable in the near future
Through a fixed stare and with an upper lip that could cut glass, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted that Manchester United were getting “close to what he wants” after the Liverpool humiliation.
The reality is that he is closer to his final curtain call than he’s ever been before.
Solskjaer will be in charge for Saturday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur, but that could well be the start of his final week as United boss.
The beginning of the end perhaps came long ago, as his team have floundered and confused their way through a series of matches – even during last season’s run to a second-place Premier League finish in a behind-closed-doors campaign that often threw up the unexpected.
This season has brought expensive new additions but with that an increased expectation on the manager.
United were probably never going to win the league up against Manchester City’s millions, Liverpool’s return to what they knew and Chelsea’s coming force, but they could have done with at least looking like they could, instead of whatever it is that Solskjaer has served up, particularly in the last two league matches.
Now his side face Spurs, Atalanta and then City in the seven days from Saturday, each opponent representing the potential to be the toughened glass which allows one more step along the elevated bridge, or the flimsy surface that will lead to doom.
It is now widely expected that the axe will fall on the United boss if he presides over defeats in all three matches, but it could come even sooner than that.
If Atalanta have learned how to hold onto a lead then it could be the Italians who administer the final blow, or if Harry Kane has got his shooting boots on then maybe it comes via a disorganised defeat at Spurs?
Most worryingly for the United boss is the fact that his team could win both of those matches, but then they’ll face a City side who could easily do what Liverpool did to them, and this time show no mercy.
That will place them back at square one, a location that Solskjaer can surely lay claim to residency in such is the frequency of his visits.
And with the international break looming, there would be serious questions for the club’s board.
For now there remains the backing of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, managing director Richard Arnold and crucially Sir Alex Ferguson, however non-plussed he looked with events against Liverpool.
It will be Joel Glazer who makes the final call, but as long as those three named above are all on the same page then there is unlikely to be any movement unless something dramatic happens in these next three games.
It is said that Solskjaer also retains the goodwill and the backing of the vast majority of the playing squad, even if they have misgivings about some of his tactical approaches – or the lack of them.
Those are the issues that are now being openly dissected by the manager’s friends in the media too, with the likes of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes all suddenly less shy to come forward and pick apart the setup and structure of their former club.
Even despite all that there has been a desire to point out that this is not akin the poisonous final days of the Jose Mourinho reign, when players were alienated and the club’s Carrington training ground became a hostile place, and you can imagine that to be true
No-one inside of United will be taking any pleasure from the situation if we are about to head into Solskjaer’s final week, and the same goes for the vast majority of the United supporters who might now be coming to the collective realisation that the club legend just doesn’t have what it takes – but won’t be too hostile in their criticism.
That is an admirable approach, as is Solskjaer’s continuing defiance in the face of unfolding failures.
You only get so many of those though, and the United manager might have reached his limit very soon.
–Mirror
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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