Erik ten Hag told his £50m Man Utd signing 'just isn't the answer' to club's problems

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17 Feb 2024

Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke is not convinced Andre Onana is the solution to the goalkeeping solution at Old Trafford.
Cameroon international Onana played under manager Erik ten Hag at Ajax and was reunited with the Dutchman over the summer after a spell with Inter Milan. It cost United the best part of £50m to clinch the deal, with moves for the likes of Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund taking the overall summer spending to nearly £200m.

On the pitch, though, Ten Hag's side have struggled. Three straight wins have brought them back into Champions League contention, but they still sit outside the top four ahead of Sunday's trip to Luton.
Onana has made several high-profile errors, including during United's Champions League group stage exit. And former Trinidad and Tobago international Yorke, who won the treble with United in 1999, has explained his concerns with the stopper.
"When I look at Onana, I often look at players who have been successful at Man United and they really embrace being at Manchester United when they arrive," Yorke told Gambling Zone. "The ones who get off to really, really bad starts, you will always have that doubt in your mind from fans and players.
‌"For me now, we have to see how he progresses and for me, I just don't see how he’s the answer. I don’t think he’s done the job that we bought him for but the reality is that it’s so difficult for the whole team right now and playing brilliantly or not, the team is lacking that x factor right now."

9 Liverpool academy kids that Jurgen Klopp has improved: TAA, Jones, Bradley…

Jurgen Klopp hasn’t shied away from giving youngsters a chance throughout his time at Liverpool and we have identified nine academy kids that he has improved.
The Liverpool academy is one of the best in the business and they will regularly produce gems who eventually make a name for themselves in the senior squad.

We’ve picked out nine of the academy kids that Klopp has improved during his tenure at the club so far.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

The most obvious inclusion on this list. Klopp handed Alexander-Arnold his professional debut in 2016 and the rest is history.
Since being handed his first chance, the full-back has racked up over 300 appearances for the club and has amassed a whopping 86 assists in that time. There’s no doubt he’s one of the best in the business right now.
Since being utilised in a hybrid midfield role, the 25-year-old has been one of the best players in the league.
“It gives him much more freedom,” Klopp told TNT Sports when discussing the full-back and his new role.
“Being an eight or six, he will play there eventually, it will happen, but is it a position he has to play all the time or is it better he can demand a game from the right-back position then drop into midfield and on the wing, this kind of freedom?”

Curtis Jones

The midfielder has taken huge strides forward in recent years and Klopp no doubt had a key role to play in his development.
Since being handed his first chance in 2019, Jones has racked up over 100 appearances for the club. He’s made a substantial impact this season too, especially in the cup competitions.
The midfielder recently told TNT Sports: “I came around the team when I was 17, it wasn’t an easy thing, he (Klopp) was calling me in all the time, we were having chats and he was always saying ‘your time will come’
“I’m at the point now where my time’s come and I’m taking my chance.”

Jarell Quansah

Following a series of defensive injuries earlier in the season, Klopp was forced to turn to the academy. He handed Quansah his debut just five months ago and he’s already racked up 18 appearances for the club.
“Quansah, I’m not sure how long we have to talk about him as an Academy [player]. He is, yes, great, but he is now settled I would say [in the senior squad],” Klopp told reporters.
“He can still improve of course because of the age but he is an important part of the squad, like they all are.”
Impressively, Liverpool are yet to lose a Premier League match when Quansah has featured.

Stefan Bajcetic

The 2023-24 campaign has been a frustrating season for Bajcetic, but Liverpool fans are well aware of the talent that they have on their hands.
He was handed his senior debut last season and quickly garnered a reputation for himself within the Liverpool camp. Had it not been for a number of injury setbacks this year, the teenager would’ve been handed plenty more opportunities.

Tyler Morton

Morton has spent the last few years developing out on loan and he’s currently going well with Hull City in the Championship.
The 21-year-old regularly speaks highly of Klopp and is quick to praise the German boss for the role that he played in his development.
“He’s brilliant, he’s probably taught me everything I know because he brought me into professional football,” Morton told Hull Live.
“He gave me a taster of it and I couldn’t speak more highly of him as a manager and as a person. He’s given me the step to go out and play football for Blackburn and now for Hull. I really appreciate him.”

Neco Williams

The Reds eventually cashed in on Williams, but Klopp undoubtedly played a key role in his early development. After handing the full-back his debut in 2019, he went onto make 33 senior appearances before being sold to Nottingham Forest.
“He [Klopp] has played a massive part in my career so far,” Williams told Premier League productions. “To make it under Jurgen Klopp is an extra little boost for me and was a special moment.”

Caoimhin Kelleher

The role of a backup goalkeeper isn’t easy, but Kelleher has always impressed when given a chance in the cup competitions.
There have some some doubts over his long-term future as the shot-stopper has been tipped to go in search of first-team football elsewhere. Time will tell if he does stick around at Anfield.

Conor Bradley

Liverpool’s latest academy prodigy. Following an eye-catching loan spell with Bolton last season, Bradley has taken his chance under Klopp this season.
The stats speak for themselves.
Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp, left, speaks with Liverpool's Conor Bradley
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READ: 7 incredible stats behind Conor Bradley’s remarkable Liverpool breakthrough

Nathaniel Phillips

Phillips was a late bloomer compared to a lot of the other players on this list as he was 23 years old by the time he was handed his first Premier League start under Klopp.
The defender was drafted into the Liverpool side following an injury crisis in 2020–21. He’s still on the books at Liverpool today and is currently out on loan with Cardiff.
READ NEXT: Liverpool’s goal-getting young gun is rapidly firing his way into Klopp’s first-team
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Spaniard to play for Liverpool in the Premier League?

The path for Arsenal to sign Mbappe, and the unfairness around Dan Ashworth’s defection to Man Utd

The Mailbox highlights why the ‘red club cartel’ will never be broken while FFP is in place. Also: how Kylian Mbappe signs for Arsenal; blue cards; and the difference with Spurs…
Get your views in to theeditor@football365.com…
FFS, FFP
With the news Dan Ashworth is likely off to Man Utd, it’s another example off the shackles that FFP is placing on teams looking to break the big 6 stranglehold (and in particular the red clubs). If it were to happen i’d obviously be disappointed, as the man seems to have a great rep, and we waited a long time to get him for Brighton only for him to immediately jump off at the first better offer he got elsewhere.

But I understand this is an opp too good to refuse. The huge budget to spend and awaken the Man U sleeping giant after years of transfer nightmares. But the thing is….Newcastle and many others (West Ham, Villa, Everton being some other examples) WANT to spend this money, develop their club and make the league more competitive. It’d mean more talent, more excitement in the Premier league.
Imagine you started a say, PR firm. You’re worth £1 Trillion and you want to have all the best tools and talent but you’re told no, you have to spend less than the Competitor down the road who currently has higher revenue than you, as they’ve spent years building it up. Oh and they led in making these rules. It’d be lawsuit central and rightly so, as it’s anti-competitive. I totally understand NUFC & City can’t be given free reign to spend Billions, but I also know other people on this site have talked about some kind of spending cap. On the basis that FFP does not seem to keep clubs from going under, why are we not modifying FFP to a top level cap rather than limit spending from Owners who want to bring Billions into the game and the economy.

Related video

four straight wins, sixteen goals,

It’s clear – the ‘Red Club’ cartel. Keep the rules as they are, parasitically suck money out of the club but still be able to outspend Competitors simply as they’re controlled. Dividends galore, while still maintaining that beautiful Champs League £. Make them sell their best players to you to ensure they can never overtake you. Ensure the food chain stays the same. Can any other Contributors help explain why a spending cap, equal for all clubs would be worse than the current system?
Tarqs, Woolwich, NUFC

Getting Mbappe to Arsenal
I’ve been around long enough to know that every once in a while, the stars align in the great transfer symphony of our beloved sport, and a window approaches where the best player in a position is available, and your club is in the market for that exact position. And when it’s a striker – that most prized of positions – well, it’s fun to be a kid again for a few moments.
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Yeah, Mbappe is going to Real. But ‘what ifs’ are great to pass the time, and I believe Arsenal are the best poised out of the English clubs to land him. If Klopp was staying, no doubt it would be Liverpool, but with the unknowns of who takes over from him, and City having Haaland…
If the following three things happen, he’ll be a Gunner by pre-season:
He actually does leave on a free transfer. It currently looks that way, but PSG might get him to sign something so they get a bit of a return.
Arsenal are willing to reshape their wage structure. If they can get him on a free, I don’t see why not for a player of his calibre.
Arsenal win the Champions League this year. Without it, it’s hard to see that Arsenal would have the money and Mbappe takes the chance on the project.
Probably end up getting Obafemi Martins.
Tom
Read more: Kylian Mbappe: The ridiculous stats which show why Arsenal and Liverpool should break the bank

Un-Vale Mbappe
Did you hear the good news? Mbappe has finally announced to PSG that he’s leaving at the end of the season.
Only a few months till we can see him doing keepy-uppy and eating oatcakes at Vale Park, in the black and white of the Valiants!
After all, we have exactly the same chance of signing him as Liverpool, Arsenal or any of the Premier League’s big beasts.
Ta,
Dave (and that chance is sweet FA.) PVFC

Arsenal and loss
I just wanted to respond to John Matrix AFC and send him my sincere condolences on his loss. I want him to know he is not alone, and that supporting his club will be different, but will be rewarding again. If he can, please try to stick with it.
I lost my dad suddenly, 6 days after Arsenal completed the double in 1998. I was 16, and had been going up to Arsenal with him since I was 2, following an (admittedly somewhat demented) family tradition and lineage that went back to the 1940s. I thought I could never celebrate anything again, let alone football. The following season was the hardest I have ever known, as everything was the same, but irrevocably altered.

There is not a day that goes by still where I don’t think of him, and miss him. I still wish I could talk to him about the team, the hopes and dreams, to look forward to the weekend with him. I occasionally sneak into Highbury and gaze at where our old season tickets were and feel sadness. But over time I have developed wonderful, lifelong friendships with other supporters. I now go to the games with my wife and her Arsenal mad dad. It means so much and I thank my Dad for every single moment watching the Arsenal. If it was not for him, I would not be experiencing such communal joy – it was something that he gave me and that I now share with others, and I am so, so grateful. The greatest gift of all. That connection between Arsenal and you and your brother will never leave you, and I hope it is a gift you are able to cherish for years to come, no matter how impossibly hard that seems to be right now.
John Foster, Brighton.

…I remember Arsenal winning the league in 1998, running down to Highbury with a mate and just drinking in the Spring air against a backdrop of over celebrating gooners.
That summer spent watching Arsenal thrash United in the Charity Shield at Wembley with my best mate in the whole world, my uni lecturer having to stop a seminar to point out my Arsenal shirt as he was a gooner as well, and the Islington town hall parade will live long in my memory. But it’s the people that make those memories so special.
I hope we win the league for your brother John – I know that’s not your real name. I’m a big fan of the movie Commando too. Sincere condolences on your loss. I hope we all get to party like it’s 1998 come May.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

VAR, VAR, VAR
IFAB are displaying the behaviour of stale old men rapidly losing relevance and desperately flailing around trying to find something, anything, to justify they waning influence and prolong their undeserved involvement. The recent (all failed, nod to Klopp) rule changes are evidence of this, and blue cards are (hopefully) the nadir.
Every club has numerous examples of their own – I picture Nunez being hauled down in the centre circle by Gabriel, having turned him, ready to sprint clear and hammer the ball into row zed as is his wont. Nunez doesn’t get the call, and throws an imaginary tennis ball at the ref to express his disquiet. Bam – immediate yellow card for dissent. Imagine if he had been sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes? Bedlam. Simply put – you can only punish dissent if every single decision is correct, which it can never be – hence blue cards are the sh*ttest idea since, oh I don’t know – anything ever done to the handball rule since saying it no longer had to be intentional to be a handball.
Good point from SC, Belfast about the rules, and punishments for breaking them, being fit for purpose, and that the refs shirk their responsibility for applying them in order to avoid being accused of spoiling the spectacle. Football / elite sport being the modern replacement for the coliseum, I did wonder if we plebs should vote on referees performances each weekend, with the lowest scoring ref going on to Gladiators the following weekend, but I digress.
I’ve written before that the rule changes and VAR are putting additional pressure on referees, who are already doing an incredibly high pressure job in an increasingly untenable environment (manager influence before and after games, abuse on the pitch, from the stands, on social media etc etc), which is leading to the increasing error rate – they are only human after all. Which is why I think we should roll back the clock and rerun the fun a little bit.
Clearly this cannot happen though, we cannot roll back VAR entirely – too much has been invested in it, and Howard Webb would never allow himself to be the figurehead of such a craven climbdown unless Sir Alex himself told him to. So how to square this circle?
Leave VAR as it is, but remove its involvement during the game completely. Keep the VAR room and the VARious support staff (see what I did there?) employed but they do not intervene during the game in any way, under any circumstances. Leave the game fast, furious, and most importantly subjective. The officials on the pitch are best placed to make the subjective decisions as they are closest to the action.
BUT, and this is how we stop the diving, tactical fouling etc – the VARs are constantly recording examples of foul play, and following the game, review this with the on-pitch officials, and then divvy out suspensions for persistent offenders. Think about it – this is the best of both worlds – the game itself returns to its unsullied magnificence, but c-nuts like Rodri know that they will be held to account and punished for their dark arts. Guardiola would have to change everything he knows about “tactics” and would end up managing Wigan by the end of the season.
We’ve been told that VAR mustn’t re-ref the game, but in fact that is exactly what it should do – just not during the game itself!
Gofezo (complaining about incorrect decisions is infinitely better than waiting for them)

Colour blind
Has no one flagged the biggest problem with the proposed blue cards (other than the fact that anyone with half a brain can see they won’t achieve anything positive and will ultimately add to VAR chaos)? They represent a halfway between a yellow and a red card… so why aren’t they orange??
Anyone with a basic primary school education in mixing primary colours knows that, so who at FIFA decided they should be blue? Absolutely ridiculous!
On a more serious note, all my best to mailbox regular John Matrix AFC. I can’t pretend to know how you’re feeling, but football is so much more than partisan tribalism, so if I – a Spurs fan – do find myself having to see Arsenal win the league this year, I would take some solace in the hope that it takes away a modicum of the pain you’re feeling.
Chris Bridgeman, Kingston upon Thames

Docked for dissent
Okay, so this may not be a good idea, but what better place to roadtest it than in the mailbox?
I do not think that blue cards are a good idea at elite level. However, I do think it is important to eliminate dissent.
At a grassroots level, I think sin-bins make sense. Good teachable moment, you’ve let your side down, be better in the future.
At the elite level however I agree with Ange – it would ruin football. The mailbox has already told us why multiple times and even John Nicholson’s fence-sitting article about blue cards seemed to come out against them.
My grand idea then… Dissent Cards! When the referee judges a player has been disrespectful, they wave the dissent card at them. What happens is precisely… nothing. You can get as many dissent cards in the game as you like. EXCEPT that each one is worth a fine of one week’s wages. Clubs might opt to take the fine for the player, but that would effectively mean paying a serial dissenter double. Or the player might themselves have to take the hit to the wallet – I wonder how quickly they’ll stop yelling when they suddenly lose a month’s wages in a single game? Referees can wave the card as much as they like knowing they’re not “ruining the spectacle” by sending someone for an early bath. To keep it fair, the refs can be mic’d up – if a player appeals, a panel can judge whether he said “respectfully Sir, I disagree with your decision but, to paraphrase Voltaire, will defend your right to make it”, or “effing jeffing reffing useless naughty word” and decide whether the fine stands.
Doesn’t solve cynical fouls, which are more subjective. Clearer guidance on yellows needed here, and maybe a red for very very obvious ones.
Anyway – Dissent Cards. Have I solved football? Or will the mailbox tell me to eff jeff off?
Luke, Spurs, London

Funding Spurs
Interesting narrative starting to build regarding Tottenham apparently being included in the term ‘cartel clubs’ by supporters of mismanaged football clubs, most notably, Everton.
These fans are pointing to our net spend on transfers in the last 5 years as though this is the sole measure of FFP, or PSR, or whatever we’re calling it these days
A cursory look at the revenue of the two clubs over the last seven seasons up to and including 21/22 season (spurs haven’t released 22/23 yet) and the two clubs revenue for those 7 years are as follows:
Everton : £1120m
Tottenham : £2730m
During those 7 years, Everton have consistently spent over 70% of their annual revenue on wages (it’s currently 93%) and spurs haven’t been above 55% (currently below 50%)
We’ve spent more than Everton on transfers in the last four years, but our revenue is triple what they generate, due to come out around £540m, compared to £181m
Matchday revenue each season
Everton – £17m per season
Tottenham – £105m per season
Our growth has taken a long time, often with zero net spend on transfers and growth driven from selling our best players and reinvesting. Carrick, berbatov, Modric, bale, Kyle Walker, Kane etc.
I do genuinely feel sorry for fans of clubs that are mismanaged, but it needs pointing out in strong terms that not all clubs are funded by petrol states, regimes and money launderers.
RossH THFC fan

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou
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Postcard from Ireland
Here we go again!! The League Of Ireland is back. It has seen attendances soar year on year since Covid and season ticket sales for the upcoming season are at record highs for most clubs. Sadly, this has nothing to do with the FAI or Government support. Respective clubs working within their communities have driven that. A record 44,000 fans turned up at The Aviva Stadium last November for the FAI Cup Final between Bohs and St Pats thanks to the hard work of both clubs on Social Media and within their localities. However, they need the financial support to sustain the progress. Horse racing and Greyhound racing receive more financial support from the Irish Government despite the latter only having a fraction of the attendances football gets. For the record I can see Shamrock Rovers ground from my house but it will be a cold day in hell before I support them. My heart and arse will be in Richmond Park, Inchicore, home of St Patricks Athletic. Go on the Super Saints
Seán (Jon Daly’s Men Are Bouncing Again) Dublin