Ten Hag has had to deal with other tough situations.

Right at the start of his tenure, he had to discipline Cristiano Ronaldo for leaving Old Trafford early after he had been replaced at half-time during a pre-season game against Rayo Vallecano.

The move showed strength but set in place a chain of events that would eventually lead to Ronaldo being kicked out of the club following an incendiary interview with Piers Morgan when he said Ten Hag “doesn’t show respect for me”.

Ten Hag used a lunch with journalists in Spain during the World Cup break to explain his thinking.

“When he is in good shape, he is a good player and could help us achieve the objectives we have, that is quite clear,” said the Dutchman.

“But he wasn’t. I wanted to work with him. He chose another way.”

Ten Hag disciplined Rashford shortly afterwards for missing the start of a team meeting by leaving the England forward on the bench for a game at Wolves. Rashford scored the winner after being introduced as a substitute.

Then there was Jadon Sancho, who was put on a personal fitness programme after United’s coaching staff noted his physical stats were dropping. When he was left out of the squad for a defeat at Arsenal in September 2023, Ten Hag cited the England man’s poor performance in training.

Sancho immediately responded on social media by saying he was being made “a scapegoat”. Sancho deleted the post but refused to apologise.

Ten Hag never picked him for another Premier League game and while he did return to the squad during pre-season, on transfer deadline day, he went on loan to Chelsea.

Last season, Ten Hag had to wrestle with a crippling injury list, on which he had not always received the best advice. With Luke Shaw fit, he was told Tyrell Malacia would be available within a couple of weeks of the start of February last season, so Ten Hag opted to let his on loan left-back Sergio Reguilon return to Tottenham.

But Malacia was soon to suffer a major setback in his recovery and Shaw suffered a hamstring injury at Luton on 18 February. Neither has played a game for United since. Despite a bullish summer statement from the club about a revamped medical department, at West Ham Ten Hag was without seven senior players because of injury.

However, sympathy can only be extended so far.

Ten Hag is a likeable man. On that pre-Christmas trip to Spain, he entertained the media over lunch with stories of his youth and early career. In Los Angeles this summer, arriving more than an hour earlier than initially planned for a series of interviews with UK media he laughed and joked with reporters and even offered advice on the best places to go for coffee near his Cheshire home.

At the recent Football Writers’ Dinner in Manchester, he hung around and spoke to journalists long after he had collected his award for winning the FA Cup.

But during the season, in an official capacity, Ten Hag’s communication was not great. Some members of the media were told by United staff that Ten Hag preferred ‘blunt’ questions because he found them easier to understand and answer.

The problem was, the answers, increasingly, did not stand up to scrutiny.

Before and after the international break, Ten Hag spoke about being on the “same page” as United’s hierarchy. But for all the bullish words it has seemed to be a question of when, not if, he would leave.

One source, who has vast experience at a senior level at United, was surprised Ten Hag did not lose his job at the end of last season. He was incredulous it didn’t happen at some point before the October resumption.

But numerous United figures, both in and out of Old Trafford, agreed with the sentiment that once the boulder starts to roll down the hill, it is a matter of time before it reaches the bottom. Now it has.

Many of United’s players will be sad to see Ten Hag go.

In April 2023, the Daily Telegraph reported, external one of the reasons why Tottenham opted not to try to bring Ten Hag in from Ajax to replace Jose Mourinho in 2021 was because they felt he lacked charisma.

There is an element of that at United.

Multiple sources have confirmed there has been no big bust-up and no growing ill feeling. But there was no connection either. A lack of a basic understanding of what Ten Hag was trying to achieve.

A coach but not a communicator.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes that Formula 1’s backmarkers disobeying blue flags ultimately cost Charles Leclerc second in the Mexico Grand Prix.

Leclerc had a gap of over three seconds to Lando Norris going into the final 15 laps of the 71-lap affair at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but had to watch his advantage dissipate when the two started to lap traffic – encountering Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto.

The Monegasque then cleared the now-lapped with about half of that initial advantage, which Norris was able to close down and begin applying pressure. Leclerc then went wide at the Peraltada at the end of lap 62 and saved his Ferrari from succumbing to a snap of oversteer – which let Norris through.

Vasseur disagreed with an assessment that Norris was faster in the closing stages, stating that Leclerc lost time and tyre temperature wrangling with the traffic – particularly Stroll, behind whom Leclerc lost most of his advantage.

“It’s your analysis [Norris was faster] but I’m not really aligned. I think that Charles had good pace, but we lost three seconds with the guys who were blue-flagged,” Vasseur explained.

“And we also lost a lot of temperature in the tyres at this stage and he made a mistake, but I think from the beginning, the race was under control.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“Charles was not happy yesterday with P3 or P4, but still today he did a good race. I’m a bit upset with the story with the blue flag, it cost us P2. But at the end of the day, it is like it is, but we have to be focused now on the next one and forget this one.

“When you do five corners when the guy has a solid blue, it’s not unfortunate. It’s a mistake of the guy.”

Elaborating further when speaking to Sky Sports F1, Vasseur stated that “[Leclerc] lost three or four seconds into the traffic with some idiots. Norris came back, Charles pushed a bit too much. Perhaps he lost also a little bit of temperature in the tyres when he was with these guys.

“Honestly, they have to respect the blue flag and I don’t understand why the FIA didn’t give them a penalty. We had four seconds on Norris. And after the three guys, we were 1.2 or 1.3 ahead.”

Leclerc suggested that he had “no chance” of beating Norris when the McLaren driver began to close, stating that his clash with Max Verstappen had helped Ferrari build something of a buffer.

“Lando was flying, and I think as a team, we’ve been pretty lucky that whatever happened with Max and Lando at the beginning of the race, slowed him down massively.

“His second stint was very, very impressive. On my side, there was no way that I could stay in front. I knew that it would be very difficult.

“I knew that I had to have an incredible exit out of the last corner, so I tried to put everything to have a really good exit, went over the limit, lost the car and lost the position, but I felt it was a question of laps or corners before I lost that position.”

The Ballon d’Or ceremony 2024 will start at 1:15 am IST on October 29, Tuesday. Meanwhile, hours ahead of the much-awaited football ceremimony, multiple reports claimed that the prestigious event will not be attended by any players or management representatives of Real Madrid including Vinicius Junior.

Real Madrid’s Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr was unofficially declared the winner of the Ballon d’Or 2024 by several media outlets, quoting a “leaked report.” However, latest reports confirm that Vinicius will not travel to Paris as he is convinced that he will not win the coveted prize. 

Vini’s Real teammate Jude Bellingham of England was also named among possible frontrunners to win the honour created by France Football. However, multiple reports confirm that like Vni Jr, Bellingham will also give the event a skip along with his manager Carlo Ancelotti and president Florentino Perez.

THE WEEK had earlier said that Manchester City’s Spanish CDM Rodri was better suited to lift the prestigipus golden ball over Vinicius. While the winger was undoubtedly the best attacker last year, Rodri has had a more impactful and complete year in football.

As the curtain twitches in readiness for it being brought down on another season of MotoGP action, even with two rounds remaining it certainly isn’t premature to brand Pedro Acosta’s rookie campaign a roaring success.

It’s a statement that could justly hang on the strength of results alone, his five trips to the grand prix podium, four sprint top-three finishes and Japanese GP pole position at the very least ensuring some TV time for those sponsors that didn’t default to Ducati – thoughts and prayers to the others that sided with Honda and Yamaha.

More than that though, while he may be the only fresh face on the grid this year, in some ways it feels as though he has been around for much longer.

Granted this could be a trick of the mind permeated by that fresh face having received plenty of attention prior to his MotoGP graduation or because it’s easy to mistake his GasGas KTM Tech3 machine for a Ducati from a certain distance, but it’s also primarily a measure of how at home he has appeared in MotoGP since day one. Indeed, some quick turns out of the box in pre-season testing was enough for Acosta to skip the recipe instructions and get stuck into the mix.

The same was on show in Thailand where, in his first fully wet MotoGP race, Acosta learnt on the job to power to the podium only behind title fighters Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin.

“I was struggling a lot to warm up the brake disks and, I don’t know why but since I am in MotoGP, it is taking me a bit more time compared to, for example, Jack and Brad,” Acosta said after the race. “Also I was not having the best feeling with the rear tyre, out of Turns 5 and 6 I was spinning a lot and it was like riding on ice. It was quite tough to analyse in my head.

Acosta’s late-race charge in Thailand saw him return to the podium

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“I started to push to take out everything and it was quite tough at the beginning, also I ran wide at Turn 3 and Turn 1, but it is true that with five or six laps to go it was like I pulled a switch and I started to go fast. It is difficult to understand, but we were in the right direction.”

It’s therefore little wonder Acosta will graduate to full factory orange for 2025 as part of KTM’s line-up alongside Brad Binder, though the jury is perhaps still out on whether the promotion is more symbolic than reward in performance terms.

At the very least, Acosta’s switch will give KTM pride – and possibly a touch of smugness – at seeing the fruits of its investment in the youngster reap rewards, not least because it puts some faith back into the firm’s esteemed junior development after misfiring with Remy Gardner, Raul Fernandez and Augusto Fernandez in recent seasons. But next season will see a turning of the tables that will shift the onus back towards KTM to reward Acosta with his investment in the manufacturer for taking him onto the next step, or more accurately the top step of the podium.

While KTM has provided the platform to get Acosta to MotoGP, it is now up to the manufacturer to springboard him towards race victories he is evidently capable of achieving

Acosta has also conceded he has to “bite my tongue” and bank finishes in order to gain race data and experience with an eye on the future – having crashed out of the Thailand sprint race to go alongside his two grands prix crashes at each Misano round, the Japanese GP main race and the Australian GP sprint which ruled him out of the next day’s full-distance event.

“I have to focus on finishing races even if I have to bite my tongue and finish fifth,” Acosta said after crashing out of the Thailand sprint on Saturday. “Many times we are at a point where we push and we don’t crash because that’s the way it goes, and many other days we push to be with them [Ducati] and we crash. Now the goal is to finish races, which will be important to start well next year.”

It’s by no means a foregone conclusion either. While KTM has readily earmarked itself as a familiar frontrunner ever since its breakthrough season in 2020, it hasn’t been matched with so much race-winning silverware.

KTM’s last grand prix win came two years ago in Thailand

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Miguel Oliveira brought about its most recent win at the 2022 Thailand GP, this weekend marking an unhappy two-year anniversary, and while he achieved four of KTM’s six victories to date, his form elsewhere was patchy. Binder on the other hand – winner of the other two – has established himself as a steadfast racer rather than an out-and-out contender for victories each weekend.

Of greater concern however is that while KTM has avoided the slump in competitiveness experienced by Honda and Yamaha, it has made only modest progress over the past four seasons amid a deluge of well proven Ducati bikes.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed, of course, with the big axe being wielded at a senior level to remove Francesco Guidotti a year before his contract expires. In his place comes Aki Ajo, a shrewd choice with impressive credentials cultivated by his eponymous team’s success in Moto2 and Moto3. More importantly, however, he is someone who shared KTM’s vision for Acosta long before he reached the heady heights of MotoGP.

Even so, while KTM has provided the platform to get Acosta to MotoGP, it is now up to the manufacturer to springboard him towards race victories he is evidently capable of achieving.

This brings us to another more engaging trait of Acosta’s: His ambition. Indeed, for all of his confident swagger on track, Acosta exerts similarly bolshie determination off it.

For a manufacturer not adverse to the odd contractual bungle, credit then to Acosta for being the one to issue the ultimatum of a guaranteed KTM seat in 2024 or he’d head elsewhere. While KTM sensibly bowed to his demand, it’s indicative of the issues it may face in the future in retaining him if it can’t find those precious few tenths that will make the difference between victory and making up the numbers in MotoGP.

For the most part though, KTM isn’t prepared to rest on its laurels for 2025. In addition to Ajo’s appointment, there is talk Dani Pedrosa will assume a more senior management role in addition to continuing to provide his invaluable development intel.

Can Acosta reuniting with team boss Ajo provide KTM a spark to reignite its MotoGP form?

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Plus, while Tech3’s new line-up of Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini is at odds with KTM’s desire to promote young talent, their experience and success with other manufacturers ensures the Austrian firm has arguably the most intriguing rider line-up among its four riders.

No rider is bigger than the team it races for but in this case, KTM is very aware of the potential it has racing with Acosta.

As for whether KTM has the ability to realise Acosta’s full potential? That remains the lingering question mark…

Can KTM provide Acosta and co with the bike to fight Ducati in 2025?

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

REAL MADRID are set to BOYCOTT tonight’s Ballon d’Or ceremony amid reports Vinicius Jr has NOT won, according to reports.

The Brazilian winger, 24, has long been tipped to win football’s most-prestigious individual award after a stellar year.

2

2

Advertisement

However, shocking reports are now claiming Vinicius Jr has NOT won.

And Real Madrid officials are not taking the news well.

Paris-based RMC Sport claim: “The first consequence of this upcoming twist at the Ballon d’Or, and not the least, is that the Real Madrid delegation has cancelled its visit to Paris.

“Madrid president Florentino Perez is furious.”

RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins earlier claimed: “Vinicius Jr’s entourage are now convinced that the Real Madrid forward will NOT be named as the #BallonDor winner.

“Everyone in Madrid has this feeling.”

Manchester City star Rodri is now tipped to win the gong, with Vinicius Jr second and the latter’s club-mate Jude Bellingham in third.

As well as leading Pep Guardiola’s side to a fourth straight Premier League title – and sixth in seven seasons – midfield linchpin Rodri guided Spain to the Euro 2024 title, beating England in the final.

CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS

Vinicius Jr also enjoyed a glittering year, helping to lead his club to the LaLiga and Champions League titles in 2023-24.

The red-hot forward scored six and assisted four more in just ten Champions League games as Real won their 15th European crown.

The Brazilian even scored the second in the 2-0 final win over Borussia Dortmund.

Vini Jr was also involved in 20 goals in just 26 LaLiga games last season.

MORE TO FOLLOW…

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..

The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheSunFootball and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.