AMSTERDAM: Ajax are interested in bringing back Erik ten Hag, but face challenges in signing the Manchester United manager.
The Dutch giant put Ten Hag as the main candidate to replace interim manager, John van’t Schip.
However, Ten Hag and his coaching team do not want to leave Old Trafford to return to Amsterdam this summer.
Ajax’s only chance is to hope that its former manager is fired by United.
United’s new owners, INEOS will decide Ten Hag’s fate at the end of this season, after a disappointing campaign.
Ten Hag still has a chance to save his career by winning the FA Cup when he faces Manchester City in the final on May 25.
Apart from Ten Hag, the Ajax board also listed former Chelsea manager Graham Potter and Nice boss Francesco Farioli as candidates.
If Ten Hag is sacked, he will probably look for a club in one of Europe’s strongest leagues, rather than returning to the Netherlands.
After turning Ajax into one of the most entertaining teams on the European football stage, the Dutch club is back to playing as well as Ten Hag left in 2022.
They are currently fifth in the Eredivisie, 35 points behind leaders PSV.
This situation also contributed to the factors that would make Ten Hag not interested in returning to his old club.
LONDON: Manchester United was almost embarrassed by the second division club, Coventry City before winning 4-2 through penalties in the semi-final of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium.
The winner had to be decided by penalty kicks after Coventry, who had previously been three goals behind, made a sensational comeback to tie United 3-3.
Erik Ten Hag’s squad opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Scott McTominay easily finished Diogo Dalot’s pass in the penalty box.
United headed into the dressing room more comfortably after defender Harry Maguire headed in a Bruno Fernandes corner in first-half stoppage time.
Fernandes then doubled the advantage for United by scoring the third goal in the 58th minute, but Coventry managed to close the gap when Ellis Simms finished Fabio Tavares’ pass in the 71st minute.
Eight minutes later, the Red Devils began to suffer when Coventry got their second goal thanks to Callum O’Hare’s goal which resulted from Simms’ pass.
The rise of Mark Robins’ squad continued as they managed to equalize through Haji Wright’s penalty goal in stoppage time after the ball hit Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s hands to drag the match into extra time.
Both teams, however, failed to add a goal during extra time which saw the winner having to be decided through a penalty shootout.
Rasmus Hojlund appeared to be the savior of United’s dignity when he finished the last penalty to take his team to the final after O’Hare and Ben Sheaf failed to complete the kick for Coventry.
The victory allows United to book a clash with neighbors Manchester City in the final stage on May 25.
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool supporters are proposing a new name to replace Jurgen Klopp as manager this summer.
The search for a replacement for the German manager is being actively carried out after Klopp announced he would leave Anfield at the start of last year.
The club’s main target, Xabi Alonso, rejected their offer because he wanted to stay with Bayer Leverkusen, who won the Bundesliga title for the first time.
Liverpool have also been linked with Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim but the manager is furious at the speculation.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is also on Liverpool’s radar, but fans say the club needs to look for another candidate to replace Klopp.
Now the name of Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has become a name after his success in bringing the Midlands club to fourth place in the English Premier League.
When they took over Villa, the club were 14th and struggling for relegation.
Now Emery has managed to take them to the quarter-finals of the Europa League and is getting closer to qualifying for the European Champions League next season after beating his former club, Arsenal 2-0.
Emery has won the Europa League three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal. He also won the French Cup and league treble with Paris Saint-Germain and reached the Europa League final with Arsenal.
MANCHESTER, England: Mohamed Salah scored the equalizer with a penalty kick as Liverpool survived at Old Trafford by a point in a 2-2 draw with Manchester United then level on points with Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Salah struck in the 84th minute for his sixth league goal at Old Trafford, the most by any visiting player in league history, overtaking Steven Gerrard on five goals.
With seven games left in the race for the title, Liverpool and Arsenal each have 71 points with the Gunners ahead on goal difference.
Defending champions Manchester City are third with 70 points while United are sixth.
Luis Diaz got Liverpool’s first goal in the 23rd minute when Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross from a corner found Darwin Nunez who headed the Colombian’s volley from close range.
But Bruno Fernandes scored the first attempt on target in the 50th minute past goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Kobbie Mainoo delighted the fans at Old Trafford with a powerful strike into the corner of the goal in the 67th minute.
Liverpool were however awarded a penalty when Harvey Elliott was brought down in the penalty box.
LONDON: Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal’s stars to remain humble in the race for the English Premier League title and he is willing to forget his ideology of winning at any cost.
Arsenal only controlled 27 percent of the game and had two accurate attempts in the goalless draw against Manchester City last Sunday.
Ahead of tonight’s home game against Luton, Arteta commented on the statistic: “It’s because you have to adapt to the situation to resist. Put ego and ideology aside, do what it takes to win.
“The mentality of the team is very strong and the way they played (against City) was very smart. When you think you can win, you will be disappointed when you draw. But we are smart enough to accept the result in certain circumstances.”
Arsenal have eight games this month, and Arteta will have to rely on the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson.
“Our job is to be ready to play at any time. Look at Reiss. His best moment for Arsenal (97th minute winner against Bournemouth last season), he only played a few minutes and made a big impact.
“It was one of the best days of his life as an Arsenal player. People won’t remember whether he started the game or came off the bench,” he said.
MARSEILLE, France: Olivier Giroud was among the scorers as France came back from a goal down to claim a 3-2 win over Chile in an international friendly at the Velodrome, Marseille earlier this morning.
The Euro 2024 favorites were left unlucky when they conceded a goal after just eight seconds in their match against Germany in Lyon last weekend, which saw them beat 2-0.
This time they fell behind after six minutes following Marcelino Nunez’s goal, but recovered with goals from Youssouf Fofana, Randal Kolo Muani and Giroud, before Dario Osorio grabbed Chile’s second goal of the match.
The decision eases some of the doubts that have shrouded the French squad after their lackluster display against Germany, as they prepare for the European Championship next June and July.
However, this squad is a far cry from France’s main squad, with captain Kylian Mbappe and midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni two players retained in the starting line-up as coach Didier Deschamps made nine player swaps.
Among Marseille’s selections include right-back Jonathan Clauss and Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, both of whom were sent off in the first half through injury, leaving their respective clubs in doubt.
“If we want to do well this June, we need to do better than this,” admitted Deschamps as France face the Netherlands, Austria and Poland in the group stage at Euro 2024.
“I’m not going to jump for joy tonight. It’s good that we won this game after a bad start and often it’s good to get three goals, even if we give up two goals.
“We need to do things differently (at the Euros),” he said.
“We have energy, we have passion, but we also need freshness which we lacked a bit tonight.”
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his team was denied a second penalty in their Premier League match against Manchester City at Anfield.
After equalizing through Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty kick at the start of the second half, Klopp was confident his team deserved a second penalty kick when Jeremy Doku’s foot hit the Argentinian’s chest in stoppage time.
“Hit his chest. Did he touch the ball before that? Yes. Does it make a difference, anywhere on the pitch, if the leg goes up like that?
“You can kick the ball before that, but when the foot is here (Klopp points to his chest) and you miss,” Klopp said.
John Stones opened the scoring for Manchester City in the 23rd minute before Mac Allister equalized early in the second half.
The draw keeps Arsenal at the top of the Premier League on goal difference over Liverpool, while Man City are third with only a point difference.
However, the referee did not consider Doku’s foul as a penalty offense and VAR did not intervene to confirm the decision.
MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United received another blow in their bid to qualify for the Champions League late last night but the nature of neighbors Manchester City being the demise is secondary, said captain Bruno Fernandes.
United’s 3-1 defeat to City at the Etihad Stadium left them 11 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa with 11 games remaining.
“Every time you don’t win a match it’s a loss at this club,” said Fernandes. “We know what this club wants and we want to win every game we face.
“We didn’t get three points today but there’s still a long way to go. We know it’s not all in our hands because other teams need to lose points and we need to do our job perfectly.”
Marcus Rashford gave United an unexpected lead in the eighth minute with a powerful shot traveling at 116 kilometers an hour.
His goal came days after he responded to criticism in a column for The Players Tribune and was the only player to intervene for United, who had just three tries to City’s 27.
The defeat intensified ongoing talk about manager Erik ten Hag’s future, which has only intensified since new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe took over football operations with changes expected off the pitch.
United have lost 11 of their 27 league games this season, two more than last season. The previous two seasons with 12 league defeats (2013-14 and 2021-22) led to the manager’s dismissal.
United had not lost in their previous 143 league games when leading at the break with 123 wins and 20 draws – a stunning run that ended late last night.
Ten Hag referred to the nature of Rashford and Jonny Evans being injured last night.
United also lost striker Rasmus Hojlund, who scored in six consecutive league games before being ruled out with a muscle injury along with defender Harry Maguire.
“It was clear they were fighting, the togetherness and performance was very good,” said Ten Hag. “On another day we might have won this game – a narrow win.”
Ten Hag said the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Fulham last week was more disappointing. United had not lost in five consecutive league games before that.
“This year we have really improved and you need to get points back,” he said.
“Any team can beat any team and things can change in the blink of an eye. Number five (in the league) can also be a position to qualify for the Champions League so we need to fight to get it.”
LONDON: Liverpool has officially been crowned as the most successful club in the history of English football.
Yesterday, Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 after extra time in the English League Cup final, also known as the Carabao Cup.
Captain Virgil van Dijk’s 118th-minute header proved to be the difference at Wembley, as Jurgen Klopp entered the final year of his nine years as Liverpool boss with another championship trophy.
Van Dijk’s header – his 42nd attempt of the match – not only helped his club to the title but also made history.
Liverpool have now collected 68 trophies in their history, including domestic and international competitions and the Super Cup.
Before yesterday, Liverpool were tied with arch-rivals Manchester United with 67 trophies, but now Reds fans can officially declare their club the most successful in English football history.
United are level with Liverpool on 67 when they won the final of the same competition last season, after Erik ten Hag’s men beat Newcastle United 2-0 at Wembley.
Liverpool are in a comfortable position to continue their dominance as the most successful club in England.
Klopp’s team currently tops the English Premier League, one point ahead of Manchester City and among the favorites to lift the FA Cup.
In Europe, Liverpool will face Sparta Prague in the last 16 round of the Europa League.
Several young players played a key role in yesterday’s victory at Wembley and made the victory even sweeter for Liverpool fans.
With the likes of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai unable to feature due to injury, Klopp turned to inexperienced youth players including Conor Bradley, Bobby Clark, Jayden Danns, Jarell Quansah and James McConnell to overcome Chelsea.
MUNICH: Bayern Munich are monitoring former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as caretaker manager in case they sack Thomas Tuchel, according to reports in Germany.
The Bavarian giants suffered three successive defeats which saw them fall eight points behind in the Bundesliga and face a one-goal deficit in the second leg of the last 16 of the Champions League.
Tuchel faced a lot of criticism with yesterday’s 3-2 defeat at Bochum increasing the pressure on the former Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund boss.
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso has been linked as a long-term replacement, while former manager Hansi Flick has also been touted for a role until the end of the current campaign.
However, according to Sky Germany , Solskjaer appears to be another name on the radar to take over at the Allianz Arena.
Journalist Florian Plettenberg alleged last night that the 50-year-old coach was being scouted as a potential replacement, even though the club bosses are still trying to keep Tuchel at this level.
There is no concrete agreement between the two parties but Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund has ‘followed Solskjaer’s every step for many years.’
The news is somewhat surprising considering Solskjaer’s lack of management experience, including his failure to manage his former club.
The Norwegian citizen has not had any coaching duties since being sacked at Old Trafford in 2021 following a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Watford which completed his record of seven defeats in 13 matches.
Solskjaer now serves as UEFA’s technical observer, attending Champions League matches and providing reports throughout the season.