Sport
Bruno Fernandes says Alejandro Garnacho’s ‘attitude’ meant he had to wait for United chance
Despite breaking a 58-year-old record, United’s stand-in captain hinted at why he’s had to be patient up until now.
Manchester United failed to top their Europa League group despite a 1-0 win on Thursday night, but the main takeaway from the match was youngster Alejandro Garnacho’s first goal for the club.
However, while fans and his teammates are no doubt elated for the teen finally getting minutes and a first goal to show for it, captain Bruno Fernandes had more to say on why he hasn’t been used more thus far.
While youngster Rico Lewis broke his own record over on the other side of Manchester the day prior and was praised for his hard work by Pep Guardiola, it would seem that Garnacho’s breakthrough into the first team has perhaps been more of a struggle.
Speaking to BT Sport after full-time, the ‘Portuguese Magnifico’ told reporter Becky Ives that the Spanish-born Argentinian youth “didn’t have the best attitude” at the beginning of the season and, as a result, has had to wait for game time.
As Fernandes goes on to explain, he and others at the club felt the 18-year-old didn’t apply himself in the right way on the pre-season tour but has since changed that, adding that “he’s getting his chances now because he trains better… has a different attitude and is now he’s deserving his chances”.
Conversely, former player turned pundit Chris Sutton slammed the comments on BT, labelling them “totally unnecessary” and insisting that he “could’ve used different language” given manager Erik ten Hag is trying to create the impression that the club is “harmonious.”
He wasn’t the only one either as former Liverpool and Villa striker Dean Saunders said the midfielder’s comments were “bang out of order” and he should focus on his own attitude.
Many fans have also agreed, with several commenting along the lines of, “Who does this guy think he is?” and “talk about throwing a young kid under a bus.”
On the other hand, doesn’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and the Dutch coach himself has already revealed that he wasn’t happy with fast forward earlier in the season, citing one incident involving untied shoelaces, specifically.
Regardless, it seems like Garnacho is now breaking into the team and bagging his first goal by breaking the record for the club’s youngest non-English scorer in European football certainly won’t have hurt.
Here’s how he did it:
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Garnacho beat the one and only George Best by netting against Real Sociedad, aged just 18 years and 125 days. One of the legendary United trinity, Best’s record had stood since 1964.
Once again, United failed to top the group as intended – requiring two goals on the night to do so – and will now have to face one of seven teams eliminated from the Champions League in a playoff round to progress in the competition.
The teams they could face following the draw on Monday, 7 November are Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus; RB Salzburg, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk; Sporting Lisbon and none other than the ten Hag’s former club Ajax.
You can just see the narrative playing out already.
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Featured Image — Alejandro Garnacho (via Twitter)
Sport
Manchester Futsal Club mop up Team and Coach of the Year awards after stellar season
Danny Jones
Manchester Fustal Club have picked up a pair of impressive awards following a brilliant season, winning both Club of the Year and Coach of the Year awards.
The Manchester side finished as runners-up in this year’s National Futsal League campaign, winning nine, drawing two and losing just three of their 14 games all season.
Despite finishing behind this year’s champions Bloomsbury in the men’s first tier, the promising young side and Manchester Futsal Club Women‘s team have been both recognised for their progress over the past year, with the Greater Manchester girls taking a year out as part of a big development drive.
With one of the lowest average ages in the league, the squad’s stellar second-place finish looks to be a sign of even better things to come next season.
Better still, the accolades didn’t stop there as player turned coach (for this season at least), Ryan Williams, won the National Futsal Series Tier Two Coach of the Year award at the 2023 Grand Finals as well.
After suffering a heavy ACL injury, Williams decided to spend his year coaching the B team, which he also led to second position, finishing just six points behind league leaders Derby and only just missing out on a place in the Futsal Champions League preliminaries.
At just 23, Ryan is one of the youngest to have ever won the award and having studied at Ashton Sixth Form College, the school passed on a “huge well done” to the youngster, adding that “the Sport and Public Services department, in particular, are hugely proud of your achievement.”
Writing on social media, Williams also heaped massive praise and credit on co-owner Ilya Ovechkin and coach Raducio King, among many others, who helped him on his coaching journey.
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Speaking to The Manc, he went on to add: “It was my first season working with this squad and the competition was high.
“There was never an easy game with a lot of other great coaches across the country in Tier 2, so to win Coach of the Season is my greatest achievement as a coach. Manchester Futsal winning Club of the Season also goes to show our club values and how well the club is run from the academy right up to the first team.
“It shows how much work all the staff have put in this season to make us the best club in the country.”
With two teams finishing as runners-up in the two highest leagues in the country, and the women’s team beginning to shape an exciting new squad ahead of returning to the fold next season, it’s been a brilliant year all-round for Manchester Futsal Club. We’re excited to see what comes next.
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Featured Image — Manchester Futsal Club (via Twitter)
Sport
Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim gives Manchester United an ultimatum after submitting fifth bid
Danny Jones
Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has issued Manchester United an ultimatum after submitting a fifth and supposedly final bid to buy the club.
Entering his fifth revised bid to buy Man United outright on Wednesday, the Middle Eastern banker and member of the Qatari royal family is reported to have told the club he is willing to pay “no more than £6 billion” for the takeover, an offer which sees him become the first to match the Glazer’s asking price.
However, in trying to give the negotiations a much-needed jolt — with Sheikh Jassim said to have grown frustrated with the long, drawn-out bidding process — his latest proposal also came with an ultimatum, telling the owners that they have until Friday, 8 June to accept his offer or else he will walk away.
So, rather than being strung along by the Glazers any further and potentially being dragged into another round of bidding with an arbitrary deadline, he has now given them until the end of the week to return their decision.
As Sky Sports‘ Kaveh Solhekol went on to explain, Sheikh Jassim is now “frustrated and fed up” with how the bidding process has gone thus far, noting that talks first began almost seven months ago and there have been multiple so-called ‘deadlines’ that have led to little consequence or progress.
As a result, his bidding team have told the Glazers, board members and the Raine Group officials overseeing any potential deal that he will “no longer engage with the process” if the fifth bid is not accepted by Friday.
The chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) who spent time in England whilst being educated at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst also wants to get the deal done as quickly as possible in order to clear the debts and properly fund the project at the earliest opportunity ahead of next season.
In addition to clearing United’s debts which are estimated to be just under £1bn, the sheikh will reportedly pump sizeable funds into redeveloping the stadium (or building a new one) and investing in the squad. While his exact net worth is not known, his family’s wealth is estimated at around £275 billion.
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As for whether the Glazers will actually adhere to Sheikh Jassim’s deadline and accept his fifth and final bid, it remains to be seen, but it looks like someone needs to take charge in these negotiations if they actually going to move forward.
Gary Neville has already warned that the “shoddy” bidding process could end up jeopardising next season if it continues to go on any longer and many fans think the Qatari prince’s all-or-nothing offer is the only option to finally get rid of the Glazers.
The only other remaining bidder is still Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS Group, whose last bid was said to be for controlling interest of the club but would still leave the door open for the Glazers to keep a minority share.
However, the message from the fans has always been clear: “green and gold until the club is sold”, i.e. full sale only.
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Featured Image — Wikimedia Commons
