Premier League
Manchester United’s in-coming coach, Amorim rates Man City’s Guardiola as ‘best coach in the world’
Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim, who will take over at Manchester United next week, hailed Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as the best in the world on Monday.
The Portuguese title holders face City in the Champions League on Tuesday in Amorim’s penultimate match in charge of Sporting.
“(City have) the best team in the world and the best coach in the world,” Amorim told Sport TV on Monday.
Manchester City beat Sporting 5-0 on aggregate in the last 16 of the competition in 2022 and Amorim said despite improving as a coach since then, there is still a gap between him and Guardiola.
“I feel like I’m a better coach (now), unfortunately what I feel is that Pep Guardiola has also become an even better coach, so the gap remains,” Amorim told a news conference.
“Pep Guardiola was an inspiration to many of us coaches, as well as others.”
City have won the Premier League four seasons running and record 20-time English champions Manchester United last won it in 2013, when managerial great Alex Ferguson was at the helm.
Guardiola lifted the Champions League with City in 2023 and has led United’s rivals to six league triumphs.
Manchester United paid Sporting 11 million euros ($12 million) to secure “one of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football,” they said after announcing Amorim’s future arrival.
The Red Devils, currently 13th in the Premier League table, sacked Erik ten Hag a week ago before appointing the 39-year-old to try and bring the club back to their glory days.
‘New Alex Ferguson’
Amorim led Sporting to their first league title in 19 years in 2021 and then won it again last season.
He said a defeat against City might even help reduce the inevitable pressure on him when he arrives at Old Trafford.
“If the result is very negative, expectations will drop and I don’t think that’s a bad starting point, when you begin at Manchester United,” explained Amorim.
“If we win tomorrow, they’ll think the new Alex Ferguson has arrived, which is very difficult to maintain.
“What matters to me is winning the game, having a good farewell in Alvalade (stadium), winning in Braga and then starting a new life in Manchester.”
He said the Champions League clash in Lisbon will be heavily scrutinised because of his move to the north of England.
“I’m fully aware that I’m going to be judged as a manager on this game, and only on this game, and I realise what (people) can take from this depending on the result,” added Amorim.
“Losing a game, especially to City, is not a failure.”
Amorim will be in charge for one further league game after City, away at Braga on Sunday.
“We want to show that we no longer need Ruben,” said Sporting captain Morten Hjulmand, hoping his team could rise to the challenge of losing their coach midway through the season.
“I felt sad when I heard that he was leaving me and Sporting, but in football opportunities like this arise.
“It’s a normal part of the game, I hope he feels proud to receive such an offer.”
-AFP
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
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
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
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
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
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- OBITUARY5 days ago
BREAKING: Nigerian Goalkeeping Legend Peter Rufai is dead
- Nigerian Football4 days ago
Football Agent John Shittu Demands Retraction and ₦250 Million Damages from Samson Siasia Over Bribery Allegation
- WAFCON3 days ago
Nigeria, Tunisia Set for High-Stakes WAFCON 2024 Clash in Casablanca
- OBITUARY5 days ago
Peter Rufai looked lean when I last saw him, says mourning NFF President, Gusau
- OBITUARY3 days ago
Peter Rufai and I, Ike Shorunmu, pays tribute to late mentor
- OBITUARY4 days ago
Family issues statement on Peter Rufai
- IMMEMORIAL4 days ago
Peter Rufai’s Death Adds to Long List of July Tragedies in Nigerian Football
- WAFCON2 days ago
WAFCON 2024: At last, Super Falcons break opening match losing streak