Manchester United and under-pressure boss Erik ten Hag are preparing to face Everton this weekend as an interview from former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes headlines
Manchester United are in action against Everton in the Premier League on Saturday as they try to put their derby defeat behind them.
This weekend’s fixture will be particularly important for Erik ten Hag, who has pressure building around him. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival as co-owner has sparked major changes behind the scenes, with his INEOS team looking to hire key personnel to join Omar Berrada as chief executive.
Behind the scenes, United are working to hire Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth, Crystal Palace’s Dougie Freedman and Southampton’s Jason Wilcox into important roles. On the pitch, United are sixth in the Premier League, a whopping 11 points off the top four and have lost 11 of their 27 matches.
Ten Hag knows his future as manager is in peril and some of his own players think he is going to get the sack. News moves fast at Old Trafford so allow Mirror Football to give you a comprehensive round-up of the latest.
Solskjaer speaks out over leaks
Former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given an insight into the state of the dressing room at Old Trafford. The Norwegian spoke about the difficulties of man-management and explained why players leak confidential information to the press when they’re unhappy.
“I felt we had a very good rapport with the players, but there are always one or two in a squad that leak things because they are unhappy,” Solskjaer said on the Stick to Football podcast. “Being a manager, you play a game Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, you sack about 14 players every game and the next morning you have to tell them they have another chance.
“There are only a certain amount of times you can say, ‘I’ll give you that game, you’ve got a chance’. In the end, they go sour, we had a big squad with too many players. If you have too many players, they get unhappy.”
Relationships strained with Rashford
Marcus Rashford’s ill-advised night out in Belfast has had a knock-on effect with some of his team-mates. Rashford went on a 12-hour tequila-fuelled bender in the capital of Northern Ireland in January and subsequently missed United’s game against Newport in the FA Cup.
He has since been reintegrated into Ten Hag’s squad, but the forward, who scored a stunning goal against Manchester City on the weekend, has damaged relationships with his team-mates. He has a professional working relationship with Ten Hag, but some of his colleagues are frustrated.
Although he scored in the derby, Rashford has just six goals and six assists in 33 appearances across all competitions this season – way down on his record 30-goal 11-assist effort in 2022/23.
Ratcliffe wielding the axe
INEOS chief Ratcliffe may be a United fan, but he has still bought the club for business reasons. The petrochemicals billionaire is planning to cut costs at the club, with a quarter of jobs at risk.
Ratcliffe had his head of sport and right-hand man, Sir Dave Brailsford, carry out an audit of United and is convinced he can streamline things at the club. United currently employ around 1,200 staff – considerably more than their rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, who all have fewer than 1,000 staff.
He will ask his consultants to focus on improving United’s commercial, merchandising and match day departments. He has previously outlined his belief that United are a sleeping giant, who are vastly underperforming, both on and off the pitch.
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Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
