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Today, we have exclusive details on Manchester United and Erik ten Hag choosing to stay together.
Plus: A Gio Reyna interview and a special investigation into Newcastle United sponsor Noon.
Ten Hag Stays: United in talks with multiple managers — before Ibiza meeting with Dutchman
(Visionhaus/Getty Images)
It’s been torturously slow in coming but the news broke last night: Erik ten Hag stays at Manchester United. The club have chosen to stand by him, for want of a far better phrase.
This is the culmination of United’s end-of-season review, which promised to determine if Ten Hag — on the back of a dismal season rescued by winning the FA Cup — was in or out.
The issue for United? They cannot pretend their faith in Ten Hag is absolute. Laurie Whitwell’s definitive version of events for The Athletic calls the partnership a marriage of convenience. Here’s why:
- The board at Old Trafford originally resolved to dismiss Ten Hag last month
- Initial talks took place with Thomas Frank, Ruben Amorim, Marco Silva and Mauricio Pochettino
- Negotiations with Thomas Tuchel and Roberto De Zerbi (below) went so far that they reached the point of discussing finances
- After belatedly pivoting back to Ten Hag, United were forced to meet him on the Spanish island of Ibiza to clear the air first. No wonder.
It’s a paper-thin vote of confidence — though the club now intend to give the 54-year-old their full backing and resource and, in Ten Hag’s defence, lifting the FA Cup at Manchester City’s expense was a triumph of motivation and strategy.
That Al Pacino team talk from Any Given Sunday? Maybe it saved his job.
What now?
For some reason, I’ve long remembered a brilliant turn of phrase used by a journalist with more talent than me to describe the demise of Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea in 2012.
The Portuguese, he wrote, was more and more like General Custer: “Arrows in his hat, waiting for the end.”
Ten out of ten for imagery.
Many of us thought the same was true of Ten Hag; that he was grimly marking time until United put him out of his misery.
But no. Far from getting the sack, he’s talking about extending his contract. How INEOS got here is quite the drama. But another go with Ten Hag is where it’s at.
Problems to fix
For this decision to work, certain things have to change.
Nobody is pretending injuries did not tie Ten Hag’s hands but they only go so far in explaining 14 Premier League defeats last season and 58 goals conceded.
As a basic starting point, Ten Hag needs to address the structure of a team whose defensive and forward lines can be so far apart that they might as well be on different pitches.
In tandem, United’s recruitment must improve drastically too. Why on earth did anybody sanction spending £86million ($110m) on Antony? How does Casemiro have two years left on his contract? The misjudgements are plentiful.
Our latest Transfer DealSheet had a telling remark in it: that United made a play to sign Tosin Adarabioyo as a free agent from Fulham… but only after he had already agreed to sign for Chelsea.
With organisation like that, what chance do they have?
News Round-Up
Reyna exclusive: USMNT star opens up on Berhalter row
The Copa America is nigh and for Gio Reyna, you can only hope it goes better for him than the 2022 World Cup did.
There’s stacks in this Paul Tenorio interview with the USMNT firebrand but I’ll forgive you if you home straight in on the political ruck waged between U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, Reyna and the player’s family during and after the tournament in Qatar.
It certainly appears Berhalter and Reyna have buried the hatchet. Here’s what Reyna had to say:
📺 International friendly: USMNT vs Brazil, 7pm ET (U.S. only), Fubo
Special Investigation: Newcastle United sponsor Noon and shocking allegations of worker mistreatment
If you’ve watched Newcastle United, you might have noticed a yellow square on their shirt sleeves.
It’s the logo of sponsor Noon, an online retailer based in the Gulf which came on board at St James’ Park after Newcastle’s Saudi takeover. Sleeve deals are big business in the Premier League, and this one is reported to be worth £7.5million ($9.5m) a year.
Noon also has an ongoing partnership with Manchester City.
An investigation by The Athletic into the firm, published today, after speaking to 12 workers involved, has uncovered allegations of mistreatment of staff by Noon and of physical abuse and withholding of wages by some of the agencies supplying Noon with workers.
Noon refutes the claims made against it, saying they “are grossly inaccurate misrepresentations”. Newcastle and City, who both did due diligence on Noon, declined to comment.
The report poses a pertinent question: when good money is on the table, do clubs look hard enough at the companies offering it?
Around The Athletic FC: Euros players like a fine wine
(Top picture: Getty Images)
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