Mainoo told to ‘be careful’ of picking up habits from lazy Man Utd teammate as ‘more energy’ demand
Jamie Redknapp has told Kobbie Mainoo he needs to “be careful” not to be “dragged into” the lazy habits shown by Casemiro at Manchester United, as he feels the youngster needs to have “more energy.”
It’s been a breakout season for 18-year-old Mainoo, whose surge to the top has been aided by injury troubles for Casemiro. The former Real Madrid man spent 13 Premier Leagues on the sidelines beginning in October, and Mainoo played seven of the games the Brazilian was absent for, and has now not missed any of the last 16 league games for United.
He’s shown a lot of maturity in his performances, and two United goals and an England call-up highlight just how useful the youngster has been.
Yet former Premier League midfielder Redknapp feels Mainoo should be wary of Casemiro – who he has often played alongside after the 32-year-old recovered from his injury – rubbing off on him in the wrong way, after the pundit felt the Brazilian was being lazy when Bournemouth scored their second in the 2-2 draw last time out.
“It’s a culture at the club, I see players, multiple Champions League winners, at times walking around the pitch like they don’t care and you can’t have that,” Redknapp said on Sky Sports.
“You look at the second goal that they conceded by [Justin] Kluivert, he’s [Bruno Fernandes] trying to get his team up the pitch and he sees Casemiro walking around and jogging.
“Kobbie Mainoo has got to be careful, he doesn’t want to get dragged into that as well, I want to see more energy from him.”
Related video: Ten Hag on importance of Maguire amidst defensive injury crisis (Dailymotion)
Indeed, Redknapp feels Casemiro could set a great example for Mainoo given his experience – which includes five Champions League medals – but he’s not showing the youngster the right things.
“This is my point with Kobbie Mainoo, he’s got everything, the world at his feet, but you need great role models to get to the top, you need people who you’re going to look up to and aspire to be like,” Redknapp added.
“And at the moment, he’s [Casemiro] not setting the right examples to the young players around him. Like I said, I’m a massive fan, but that isn’t good enough, if you’re sprinting you could’ve stopped that.”
Mainoo is clearly a fantastic talent, and with the right direction, he could become one of the world’s best in his position, and watching Casemiro up close, if he was at the top of his game, would be a great way to learn the ropes.
READ MORE: Ten Hag storms out of Man Utd press conference after six minutes following despicable question
Alf-Inge Haaland accuses Roy Keane of ‘agenda’ after ‘League Two’ jibe at his Man City star son
Roy Keane has been accused of having an “agenda” against Erling Haaland by the Manchester City star’s dad, who had a feud with the Irishman during his playing career.
Keane pulled no punches in his assessment of Haaland’s performance in City’s recent 0-0 draw with title rivals Arsenal. He suggested the striker – who has 31 goals in all competitions this term – resembles a “League Two player” in his general play.
He has since doubled down on that on the Stick to Football podcast, stating that while Haaland is an “amazing striker” he is “nowhere near good enough” in other facets of his game.
Alf-Inge Haaland accuses Keane of agenda
The City star’s dad, Alf-Inge, has hit back at Keane for having a different agenda to others who criticise his son, after Ian Wright backed claims that his all-round game is far below his abilities as a goalscorer.
“Then you have the background of Keane and other experts, who may have a slightly different agenda,” Haaland Sr told ViaPlay.
“They probably think it’s a bit okay to come up with that [the criticism].”
That Keane might be perceived to have an agenda against Haaland no doubt comes as a result of his feuds with his father on a football pitch during their careers.
Haaland Sr once stood over Keane and accused him of feigning injury during a Manchester derby, and the United midfielder got back at him by kicking out at his knee in a later game, injuring him, which some believe contributed to the end of his career.Related video: Haaland 'extremely happy' at Man City despite criticism - Pep Guardiola (Daily Mail)
The father of the City star also suggested that his son’s play is at a good level given he remains the Premier League’s top scorer.
“But the team wins, and Erling is still top scorer, so it can’t have been that bad,” he said.
After the Arsenal draw, Haaland was benched against Aston Villa, but was reinserted to the starting lineup for the following game – a win against Crystal Palace in which he scored.
He followed that up with a goal against Luton in a 5-1 victory, both of those performances highlighting his importance to his side, who went top of the Premier League with the latter.
Haaland has already won five trophies with City, and has the chance at another three more this season, so it’s unlikely he’ll care what people think of him if he keeps banging in goals on the way to more silverware.
READ MORE: The ridiculous stats of Erling Haaland: More Champions League knock-out goals than Neymar
Man Utd show little in Bournemouth draw as 2022 Rangnick quote begs question over Ten Hag sack
Ralf Rangnick’s open-heart surgery comments about Manchester United are aging like a fine wine and Saturday’s fluky point away to Bournemouth is the latest example of this being the case. But should Erik ten Hag fall victim to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s overhaul?
Ratcliffe has some job on his hands. He is making some very productive moves off the pitch and Ten Hag’s position as manager is quite rightly under threat. There are arguments for both keeping the Dutchman and getting rid of him. On one hand, is changing another manager really going to change much? On the other, this team is only regressing and nobody knows what Ten Hag’s philosophy is. The latter point feels like it heavily outweighs the first.
Saturday’s entertaining 2-2 draw provided further evidence of Ten Hag’s lack of style and just how disjointed this Manchester United team is.
READ MORE: Ten Hag storms out of Man Utd press conference after six minutes following despicable question
Credit goes to Bournemouth, though. Andoni Iraola’s side are completely transformed from their early-season woes and even at 2-1 up against the Red Devils, it was them pushing for the next goal.
Their first lead came after Willy Kambwala channeled his inner Micky van de Ven and became the second ‘Big Six’ defender to eat grass as the opposition striker found the back of the net today.
Dominic Solanke looked like he did not know what to do with the ball and with acres of space, he chose to set himself on the edge of the box instead of closing in on Andre Onana. He expertly smashed the ball into the bottom corner and the goalkeeper had no chance.Related video: Erik Ten Hag reacts to United 2-2 Bournemouth (English Football Channel)
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Bruno Fernandes equalised with a thunderous close-range volley but United were only level for five minutes thanks to Justin Kluivert’s deflected strike, which put the Cherries ahead at the break.
You would expect Manchester United to come out flying in the second half after some hairdryer treatment from a bald man but it was Bournemouth who dominated proceedings until conceding a soft penalty. It looked quite dubious as the ball flew towards Adam Smith’s arm but his reaction to the spot-kick being given was almost enough to convince VAR it wasn’t worth checking a replay.
Captain v captain, Fernandes sent Neto the wrong way in the 65th minute and that was all she wrote in terms of goals. It became a lot more even after the equaliser, with neither goalkeeper being tested in the last half-hour.
United did step things up when they realised the game was there to be won but they did not do nearly enough to get all three points. In fact, they were rescued by VAR deep into stoppage time after the referee gave a penalty following a Kambwala challenge on Ryan Christie. The foul was adjudged to have been committed outside of the box and once again we were left scratching our heads about what a ‘clear and obvious’ error is. Is something clear and is something obvious when it takes two to three minutes to review? Probably not.
Regardless, it was still a dangerous free-kick but Enes Unal could only hit the top of the wall and win a corner. After wasting said corner, Manchester United broke and looked for a winner that did not come and would have been a travesty if it had.
It will be seen as more of a missed opportunity in the home dressing room, with Bournemouth’s season in danger of petering out. Having 42 points after 32 matches is a great situation to be in, mind. Iraola will be delighted his side are safe with so many games to spare.
Manchester United, meanwhile, still have lots to play for this season, even if they never seem to take advantage of their rivals dropping points.
Newcastle United’s 4-0 mauling of Tottenham has suddenly made us stand up and think that the Magpies have a decent chance of qualifying for the Champions League, especially if the Premier League are awarded the fifth slot. Unfortunately, this midweek’s action hints that they will not.
READ MORE: How Premier League teams qualify for Champions League and Europa competitions for 24/25
Aston Villa are expected to leave Arsenal empty-handed on Sunday and wins for Newcastle and United would certainly have them looking over both shoulders, but another timid display from the latter means there is slightly less pressure on them heading into the final five matches of the season.
Is anyone surprised, though? When push comes to shove and when faced with adversity, this team does not seem to have the mentality to succeed, which stems from the man in charge. A couple of injuries and Ten Hag gets all defeatist and insists he and his players are fighting a losing battle. The Champions League was an absolute shambles, and this team has far too many ineffective players.
Alejandro Garnacho has probably been United’s best player this season but was hooked at half-time. Marcus Rashford, meanwhile, had another anonymous 90 minutes and proved again he cannot impact a match without getting on the scoresheet. Casemiro’s name was not mentioned much, which is a positive for him these days. Overall, there was no creativity in the final third and United benefitted from a handball and their No. 8 latching onto a second ball from six yards out.
Champions League qualification is probably beyond this team now given Newcastle’s favourable fixtures and the point differential between themselves and Aston Villa and Spurs (10).
And after such a productive debut season under Ten Hag, the current situation will be tough to take for many United fans. While there are those two aforementioned arguments for keeping or sacking the Dutchman, the Bournemouth draw is another sign that he should be part of Ratcliffe’s open-heart surgery on the club.
Straight to the comments! Should Manchester United stick with Erik ten Hag?
Dalot suggests conceding 20 shots every game not part of plan despite ‘ridiculous’ Ten Hag claim
Diogo Dalot has suggested it is not actually part of the plan for Manchester United to concede the most shots of any team across Europe’s top five leagues.
Bournemouth had 20 shots and had to be pegged back twice by Manchester United in a 2-2 draw which left Erik ten Hag’s side seventh and contemplating the club’s worst finish in Premier League history.
Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert uncovered the defensive frailties which have already long since been laid bare at Manchester United, who have now conceded the most shots across Europe’s top five leagues this season (568).
Ten Hag previously denied that was a problem, calling the use of such statistics “ridiculous” after the baffling 4-3 defeat to Chelsea.
“We showed we were fourth-ranking goals in conceding and everyone is talking to each other after, we are good and we have good defending as a team and a good goalkeeper. I can do nothing with such stats,” he said then.
MAILBOX: Manchester United and Spurs torn to shreds as Ten Hag sack demanded to save three players
Since that game, Manchester United have drawn with Liverpool and Bournemouth by the same 2-2 scoreline, conceding a combined 48 shots.
Ten Hag justified his apparent tactical approach after the win over Everton in March – the only victory in their last seven Premier League games – by saying “we are defending low-quality chances” after facing 23 shots at home to a side fighting relegation.Related video: Ranked! The 10 Best Manchester United Players Ever (FourFourTwo)
That poor run of form includes a 1-1 draw against Brentford, who had 31 shots. Ten Hag said after that game that he was not worried about the trend “as long as we get results”.
“I explained it once more, we defended low at times and because Brentford are very direct we lost many many second balls and we had to defend the box,” he added.
“We had a great goalkeeper, he was brilliant tonight, we have to say that also. Our results are quite consistent from January on but we concede shots, but we don’t concede so many goals.”
They conceded the same amount of goals as Arsenal last season (43), and twice as many as the Gunners this campaign (48 to 24).
As a key part of such a porous defence, Dalot hinted after the damning Bournemouth draw it is not actually part of the plan at all to just let every team have loads of shots.
“It’s been one of our concerns,” Dalot told said about the volume of shots Manchester United have conceded. “Maybe try to be more compact as a team – don’t try to make the gap between defenders and midfield too big.
“Sometimes it is, and they counter on the counter-attack. It’s something we have to improve because it’s been nowhere near good enough for the level of this club.
“We’ve been showing belief through the season, coming back from down moments. Too many this season. We have to control more and have the game under control, we lose it too many times. That’s the aim for the next couple of games.”
Speaking later to MUTV, Dalot added: “We knew it was going to be a really tough game, really physical, a lot of duels, one-vs-one situations and I think we did actually start well with the ball.
“However, we lost control some times building up from the back in situations that we shouldn’t and we gave them a little bit of confidence to score two goals. The big positive from today is that we fought for the result, coming from behind to get a result.
“There are some things that we need to take responsibility for, we cannot hide from it. The standards are always high at this club and we have to be really, really accountable for these types of mistakes that we are making as a team that we cannot if you want to fight for the big trophies and the big competitions.”
Tata Martino explains why inspired Lionel Messi performance was ‘comforting’ for Inter Miami
Inter Miami coach Tata Martino has explained that his side’s latest win, inspired by a top Lionel Messi performance, was “comforting” for him at the end of a “tough week.”
Inter Miami started the season strong, with two wins and a draw in their opening three games. Messi bagged three goals and an assist in that run, before he was sidelined for the next four games.
Of those four, Miami lost two and drew one, only beating DC United, who finished 12th in the Eastern Conference last season.
But Messi returned to the fold two games ago, scoring off the bench in a draw against Colorado, before he bagged a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win against Sporting Kansas City, putting Miami top of their conference.
Manager Martino detailed that the performance was of comfort to him, especially given it puts his side at the top of the table.
“Being first in the standings is comforting, especially with a long week ahead,” he said after the game.
“It was very important for us to get out of that rut of getting ties, losses, making mistakes, and we were able to do that, to regain the feeling that we can win at the end of a long, tough week.”
Miami will hope that run can continue in their next few games, which should be easier on paper, with 14th-placed Eastern Conference side Nashville up next, before a trip to 15th-placed New England the following game.Related video: Soccer fans fill Arrowhead to watch Sporting KC take on Messi, Inter Miami (WDAF-TV Kansas City)
Parking lots were full of soccer fans hours before the
Those precede a big tie at the top of the Eastern Conference, when Miami face second-placed New York Red Bulls, though Miami will hope to have built up a head of steam by that point after facing two of the weaker teams in the current standings.
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