Erik ten Hag made a fatal error that Jurgen Klopp avoided, which could cost him his job at Manchester United.
Manchester United is in disarray. The Red Devils have lost eight of their first 15 matches, their worst start to a season since 1962/63.
Down in eighth place in the Premier League table, eight points behind Liverpool and the top four, defeats to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray have also left them with a lot to do at the halfway point of the Champions League group stages if they are to progress.
Their latest low came on Wednesday night, when they were defeated 3-0 by Newcastle United in the fourth round of the League Cup at Old Trafford. They defeated the same opponents at Wembley in February last year to win the tournament, their first and only piece of silverware since 2017.
That defeat to Newcastle was their second in a row at Old Trafford, having been thrashed 3-0 by local rivals Manchester City just days earlier. As a result, manager Erik ten Hag is now considered one of the favorites to be the next Premier League manager to be fired, with the Times reporting that the Dutchman is ‘on thin ice’ and that the club is considering alternatives. He has only been on the job for 18 months.
Add in the off-field drama, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho being ejected after squabbles with their managers, well-documented much more serious scandals and the accompanying moral quandaries, and the ongoing saga surrounding the Glazers’ ownership of the club and a possible takeover, and it’s clear that all is not well at Old Trafford.
Any club would be distracted by such unwanted headlines off the field. Only Ten Hag and his players know how much of an impact they have on the United dressing room and their performances, as they were booed both at halftime and after the final whistle against Newcastle.
Regardless, the Dutchman has vowed to fight on, insisting that he is the right man to halt Old Trafford’s downward spiral, which has been ongoing since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
Liverpool is bracing for a £64 million storm as a new ‘undroppable’ for Jurgen Klopp emerges.
Darwin Nunez blew away Liverpool fans at the Vitality on Wednesday night after standing firm in the face of Storm Ciaran for 70 minutes.
The ironic cheers from the home fans that greeted the Reds striker’s erroneous first touch were quickly drowned out by the genuine cheers of the 1,300 in the away end on the night, as Nunez shrugged off the mockery by skipping past Chris Mepham before planting arguably his best Liverpool goal to date past Andrei Radu in stunning style.
“It was an amazing goal – cutting inside, top corner, fantastic,” Cody Gakpo said, while Jurgen Klopp said, “Darwin showed his class and pretty much put the game to bed for us.” It was an incredible goal.”
It was enough to secure a 2-1 victory and advance to the last eight of the Carabao Cup, which has opened up nicely for the nine-time champions. If Liverpool can beat West Ham at home in the quarter-finals next month, Klopp will start to see the Wembley arch in the distance ahead of a two-leg semi-final next year.
It also continued Nunez’s general upward trend that began with his late double against Newcastle in August. He is now up to seven goals in all competitions, and he is an important part of a devastating set of attacking options that have already scored 30 goals this season.
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