Ruben Amorim should be a success at Old Trafford, says Harry Redknapp
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Harry Maguire should be someone Ruben Amorim turns to, Redknapp added
Well I’ve got news for all of them — Sir Alex had the last laugh in 1999 and I’m convinced United’s new manager will do the same.
Not by winning everything in sight, before you think I’ve lost the plot. I am not suggesting three trophies and an open-top bus parade around Manchester in May.
But I do see this as the perfect chance for Amorim to make himself a hero.
It is actually the dream job and the perfect time to take on one of the biggest four or five clubs in the world.
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You see, if you’re at an all-time low, like United are now, there’s only one way to go. It was the same for me when I went to Spurs in 2008.
I took over a side that was rock bottom, without a win after eight games, and where chins were on the floor. But I looked around on that first day and knew we wouldn’t be there for long.
Not with the likes of Luka Modric, a young Gareth Bale, Jermaine Jenas, Aaron Lennon. Top talent all over the place.
Alejandro Garnacho — a player I love — Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford would walk into most sides in the Prem.
Ruben Amorim showed flashes of a young Jose Mourinho is his latest press conference – and teased a big announcement
Obviously results must improve and the manager will want to bring in one or two new faces and make the odd tweak.
But we’re not talking a complete overhaul.
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This isn’t the United David Moyes inherited when he replaced Sir Alex in 2013.
One that may have been champions but — with all due respect — certainly wasn’t anywhere near their finest.
Fergie got them over the line but so many players were nearing the end and a total rebuild was on the cards.
Harry didn’t always have the easiest of rides under Erik ten Hag — and that’s putting it mildly — and a lot of money was spent on new central defenders.
Harry Redknapp
It was nothing like the current squad, one which just needs a bit of fine-tuning. So ignore rubbish about how this season is already a write-off.
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With so many games left, if United go on a run — and there is no reason why not — they could get fourth spot.
Chelsea are probably favourites but no one’s grabbing it by the horns.
Tottenham are in and out and Aston Villa have the Champions League to deal with as well.
The immediate job for Amorim is to bring back the confidence, to make them feel good again, like I had to at Spurs.
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Amorim’s first job will be to install confidence in his squad
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Maguire had a difficult time under sacked boss Erik ten Hag at Man Utd
I remember looking at Jonathan Woodgate, Ledley King, Vedran Corluka and the rest and thinking, ‘If I can’t get this lot playing better, something really is wrong’.
They didn’t need me to tell them it hadn’t been good enough — even though I did!
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I also told everyone it was a level playing field as they were all starting from the same point.
Whoever was out of favour before, it didn’t bother me. This was a fresh start and I’d pick a side based on who impressed me in training.
That was the challenge, and they all took it on.
It’s a tough job, for sure, as tough as it comes. But an impossible one? Not a chance.
Harry Redknapp
I wanted to find the players I could rely on, just as Amorim has to at United. And I’d be amazed if Harry Maguire isn’t top of that list.
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Harry didn’t always have the easiest of rides under Erik ten Hag — and that’s putting it mildly — and a lot of money was spent on new central defenders.
But Maguire kept his head down throughout it all, didn’t cause a fuss, waited for his chance and always gave 100 per cent when it arrived.
There might be more glamorous names at United, but no one gives more, wants to win more, or cares quite as much.
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Maguire has had his ups and downs at Old Trafford during his career
Ruben Amorim leaves Sporting on a high
By Charlie Wyett
RUBEN AMORIM would have preferred to leave Lisbon in a blaze of glory after winning a third Primeira Liga title.
Yet football does not work like that. And in what was surely his final game before taking charge of Manchester United, Amorim prepared to say his goodbyes at a half-empty Estadio Jose Alvalade in a League Cup quarter-final against Nacional.
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Sporting won 3-1 thanks to second-half goals by captain Morten Hjulmand and Viktor Gyokeres, who scored two.
Luis Esteves pulled back for Madeira-based Nacional.
The stadium will be a good deal more lively on Tuesday when Manchester City are here for a Champions League match — although Amorim should by then have his feet firmly under his desk at Old Trafford.
Liverpool and Aston Villa were both interested in Europe’s most sought-after coach. Even City could have been a possible destination post-Pep Guardiola.
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Yet the United job is one Amorim, 39, could not turn down — even if not everyone saw it that way at Sporting last night.
There is clearly a huge split in the Portuguese club’s fan base over their coach leaving at this stage of the season with many believing he should have seen the job through.
Yet Amorim, along with the three-man coaching team who are expected to follow him, leaves a club in a much better state than when he arrived here in 2020.
Inside the stadium, there was applause — albeit muted — when his name was read out before the game along with the line-ups.
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And there did not appear to be any jeers when Amorim shuffled out from the tunnel awkwardly towards the dugout.
So, while his departure is hard to take for some, none of the fans will forget his legacy.
This is a club which is back as the dominant force in Portugal. Even this term, Sporting have won their first nine league games, scoring 30 goals and conceding just two.
They are also eighth in the Champions League table, which is one hell of an effort.
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In contrast, Lisbon was not exactly hit by League Cup fever last night.
Amorim made lots of changes, which saw Sporting’s star man Gyokeres, the former Coventry striker, start on the bench.
There was, however, a first appearance in six weeks for former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards.
He is certainly one player who has been transformed by Amorim since arriving at the club from Vitoria in 2022 and will be sorry to see the coach leave.
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While he changed his team, Amorim stuck with his tried and trusted formation of a back three.
It will certainly be something Manchester United’s fans will have to get used to over the coming months.
But looking at the Premier League table, none of them will be complaining about the change.
KAI HAVERTZ was forced off with a bloodied face in the dying embers of Arsenal’s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Inter Milan.
The Gunners’ star was involved in a horrid head collision with an Inter Milan player, leaving him with blood pouting down his face.
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Kai Havertz was left covered in blood after a sickening head collisionCredit: TNT SPORTS
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Havertz jumped up to try and win a header at a cornerCredit: BEINSPORTS
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He clashed heads with Yann Aurel BisseckCredit: Rex
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Both players were left on the floor after the collisionCredit: PA
Arsenal were pushing for a late equaliser against the Italian giants when Havertz committed to a header in the box.
Unfortunately for the German, Inter defender Yann Aurel Bisseck was just as enthusiastic to clear the ball and the pair clashed heads in the air.
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It was Havertz who came off worse as Bisseck’s head bashed straight into his eye.
The 25-year-old needed immediate medical attention from the Arsenal staff as blood poured down his face.
Mikel Arteta was ultimately forced to withdraw his centre-forward.
But in a silver lining to a horrid moment, Havertz was replaced by Martin Odegaard – who returned to the pitch for the first time since suffering an ankle injury on international duty for Norway in September.
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But even the return of Arsenal’s captain and playmaker couldn’t get the Gunners over the line with any points to bring back to North London.
Arteta’s side were unable to find the back of the net and lost their first Champions League game of the season, conceding their first goal in the competition this term too.
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Havertz was covered in blood after the head clashCredit: Getty
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He was removed from the pitch by Arsenal medical staffCredit: Getty
Inter were awarded the spot-kick for a handball offence by Mikel Merino, but Arsenal fans and players were convinced that the Spaniard was too close to the initial contact for it to be given.
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But Uefa’s handball rules meant that Merino was deemed to have handled the ball with his arm in an unnatural position and Hakan Çalhanoğlu dispatched the resulting penalty.
There’s no rest for Arsenal now either with a trip to face Premier League rivals Chelsea next up this weekend.
Fresh off the heels of UFC Edmonton, the world’s leading MMA promotion heads back to the APEX for a historic event: UFC Vegas 100, headlined by a welterweight matchup between Neil Magny and Carlos Prates. And No Bets Barred is back to break it all down.
Host Jed Meshew runs solo this week to break down this legendary event with all his favorite plays. Topics discussed include Prates’s incredible run through 2024 and whether Magny can pull off the upset yet again, how much does former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt have left in the tank, the return of “Brazilian Killer” Nicolas Dalby, and the debut of Jed’s boy, former two-division ONE Champion Reiner de Ridder.
And speaking of ONE, they also have an event taking place this weekend with ONE 169 going down on Friday, headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Anatoly Malykhin and Reug Reug. Jed also breaks down the big fights from ONE, plus the latest edition of “THE CLIMB” and more on this week’s episode.
Tune in for episode 107 of No Bets Barred.
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New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.
Match of the Day’s Theo Walcott and Stephen Warnock analyse two key penalty decisions which helped shape Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat by Inter Milan in the Champions League.
Watch Match of the Day pundits Theo Walcott, Stephen Warnock and Julien Laurens analyse Real Madrid’s poor form since the arrival of summer signing Kylian Mbappe after their 3-1 defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League.
THE San Siro once played host to one of Arsenal’s greatest ever European victories.
In November 2003, Arsene Wenger’s majestic Invincibles smashed Javier Zanetti’s Inter Milan 5-1 thanks to a Thierry Henry-inspired away-day Champions League masterpiece.
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Hakan Calhanoglu converts from the penalty spotCredit: Getty
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It was enough to separate the sidesCredit: Getty
Yet 21 years on, this was anything but as Mikel Arteta’s Gunners fell to a miserable third defeat in six games in all competitions – one more painful bump in the road this term.
In the new 36-team league format, with four games still to play, this first Euro defeat – thanks to Hakan Calhanoglu’s first half injury time penalty – is not fatal in their quest to qualify.
Instead, it simply acts as another confidence-shattering and pressure-heaping result for a group of players that look weighed down by expectation.
Arteta’s Arsenal are not in a good place. Their belief drained, their optimism fading, all before what now looks to be a serious season-definer away at Chelsea on Sunday.
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Lose that, and they could be TEN points off leaders Liverpool. Title race over in mid-November?
Among those San Siro legends in red and white were Henry, recently departed Sporting Director Edu and Robert Pires. Generational heroes.
There were none on show last night against Simone Inzaghi’s brick-wall Inter set-up. An Arsenal team that once sparkled is beginning to lose its shine.
Arsenal are now at the backend of their injury ‘crisis’ with skipper Martin Odegaard on the bench – his first squad involvement since August 31 after a prolonged ankle issue.
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However, Declan Rice was watching this one from home with a foot problem, allowing Thomas Partey to slot back into midfield and Ben White to return to right back.
The visitors tried to start on the front foot only to be hit by an early scatter gun of Inter chances. Denzel Dumfries controlled a cross in the box before unleashing a cannon of a volley off the bar.
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Calhanoglu then skimmed a bobbled shot from range just wide of David Raya’s right-hand post. The Spanish keeper was coming under attack from all areas.
The hosts could smell blood, as could the brilliantly mad supporters filling this cathedral of noise. Partey was soft again but Mehdi Taremi’s cross was just cut out.
Arsenal were being made to fight for every opening, but even when they were presented with a chance, it was scrappy and unconvincing.
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Frustration brewed. Before a rare foray forward and a first corner, Gabriel was booked – as well as his marker Lautaro Martinez – for a pretty petty shoving match.
There were soon signs of life, Saka showing incredible strength on the halfway line against Yann Bisseck to send Gabriel Martinelli on a gallop down the left.
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The Brazilian’s cross was a yard too heavy for the incoming Mikel Merino. Saka then had some space to attack down the right, firing a shot of his own straight at Yann Sommer.
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Another Martinelli cross was more accurate as Merino showed bravery in the air. As a reward, he was clobbered by a heavy-fisted Sommer.
Merino did well to get back up quickly while Sommer awaited a VAR check. The Swiss shot-stopper appeared to get a slight glance on the ball before taking Merino’s head off.
Inter looked to be content with sitting in as Arsenal’s influence grew.
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Merino was adjudged to have handled it
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Calhanoglu’s spot kick separated the sidesCredit: AFP
Three successive corners towards the end of the half came to nothing and Inter countered forcing William Saliba to put in a surprisingly unpunished timely foul.
Taremi’s flick on hit Merino’s arm and in response, referee Istvan Kovacs pointed his arm to the spot as the clock ticked over to first half injury time.
Merino looked baffled, and rightly so. His arm was barely outstretched and had little to no time to react or get out of the way from such close range.
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This was a harsh call, but one we have come to expect in the Champions League with European officials in charge, even if VAR did take their time in deeming it fair.
It was an agonising wait for Calhanoglu with the ball on the spot, not that it showed in his finish down the middle.
Raya was the hero in Bergamo with his spot-kick double-save to earn a 0-0 draw at Atalanta in Arsenal’s opener, but he could not produce a similar rescue act here.
Arsenal trudged into half-time. To get anything, they would have to score against a side with more Champions League clean sheets than any other side over the past three seasons.
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Arteta sought a reaction, bringing off Merino for Gabriel Jesus and shoving Kai Havertz back into midfield, and got just that apart from the final finish.
Saliba and Gabriel came close from corners, the latter seeing a flicked effort cleared off the line, and a dinked curler from Havertz almost caught out Sommer.
Havertz then found space in the box with a snatched volley superbly deflected wide by Bisseck. Inter stood firm and were typically Italian in their slowing down of the game.
It made Arteta irate, booked for his protests. The pressure is mounting to turn this around, and he knows it.
Former two-division ONE Championship titleholder de Ridder (17-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his anticipated entry to promotion when he takes on all-time middleweight finishes and submissions record holder Meerschaert (37-17 MMA, 12-9 UFC) at the UFC Apex (ESPN+).
“Finally, after all these years of talking about the top guys, to finally be close to getting them is very cool,” de Ridder told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 247 media day. “The most important this is Gerald first. It’s a very cool matchup. It’s cool that it’s here. … Let’s see what I can do.”
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At 34, time is of the essence for de Ridder. He said he feels fresh and healthy after lots of time off during his final years under the ONE Championship banner, and is keen to “make up for lost time” now that he’s in the UFC.
In order to get the opportunities he wants, though, de Ridder knows he can’t scrape by with a win. He needs to do something emphatic against Meerschaert, and that is exactly his intentions.
“A win is not enough – the top dogs finished Gerald and I want to prove I’m one of them,” de Ridder said. “To be honest, if I can ever get close to one of the records he holds, it would be amazing. So cool to see him fight, I’ve always watched his fights and that’s a great thing for this fight as well. There’s so much tape to study. He has so much fights. He has a really difficult style.
“The ways he finishes fights, there’s a few things he’s very dangerous at, there’s a few things he does that I think I can really capitalize as well. But it’s a great matchup. I’m very happy that they’ve given me him for my first fight because he’s a veteran, he’s a real name and I think if I can put a stamp on this one, I have some leverage to start calling out some bigger names.”
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