The decision to scrap FA Cup replays is further evidence of the EFL and its clubs being “marginalised”, the league has said.

The Football Association announced on Thursday it had reached an agreement with the Premier League on the future format and funding of the competition, which would include all replays from the first round being abolished.

A number of EFL clubs have criticised the changes and insisted they were not consulted, with the FA releasing a statement on Friday saying it understood those concerns and would share details with them about how any shortfall in lost replay revenue may be made up.

However, the EFL said this was just the most recent example of how the league and its clubs were being sidelined, with the Premier League clubs having also decided to halt discussions over a new financial settlement with the EFL.

“This latest agreement between the Premier League and the FA, in the absence of financial reform, is just a further example of how the EFL and its clubs are being marginalised in favour of others further up the pyramid and that only serves to threaten the future of the English game,” the EFL’s statement on Friday afternoon said.

“The EFL today calls on both the Premier League and the FA, as the governing body, to re-evaluate their approach to their footballing partnership with the EFL and engage more collaboratively on issues directly affecting our clubs.”

Wolves v Arsenal: ‘What we still have to play for is beautiful’ – Arteta

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta set out to remind his team that they still have something “beautiful” to play for despite their Champions League exit.

The Gunners slipped out of UEFA’s flagship club competition in midweek when they went down 1-0 to Bayern Munich, losing 3-2 on aggregate.

That defeat followed on from a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa last Sunday – a reverse that significantly dented Arsenal’s title hopes, with the Gunners now two points behind Manchester City who, after this weekend, will have a game in hand.

Arsenal face Wolves on Saturday and, with City in FA Cup action, a win would see them move back to the top of the table, at least temporarily, so Arteta offered a reminder that all is not lost.

“I can guarantee you we are fully focused on Wolves and everybody's lifted,” he said following the loss in Munich.

“What we still have to play is beautiful and I said before, it's time to be next to our players and in this moment, not when you win 10 in a row and a draw, that's easy to prize our players and to be behind them and to say really nice things. The moment is now to be next to them.”

On Friday, in his pre-match press conference, Arteta added: “As an experience, [the Champions League was] the best one.

“I am now fully focused on the times ahead of us. We are now behind Manchester City and will give it a good go. The context is clear. If we win we are top of the league.”

Wolves sit 11th, though they could do with snapping a four-game winless streak in order to get their European hopes back on track.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Wolves – Matheus Cunha

Cunha has been involved in nine goals in his last nine Premier League games, scoring six and assisting three. His 11 goals overall this season is the fourth most by a Wolves player in a single Premier League campaign after Raul Jimenez (17 in 2019-20, 13 in 2018-19) and Steven Fletcher (12 in 2011-12).

Arsenal – Bukayo Saka

Saka has been involved in eight goals in his last seven Premier League away games, scoring seven and assisting one. His 13 away goal involvements overall this term (eight goals, five assists) is the most by an Arsenal player in a single Premier League campaign since Alexis Sanchez’s 20 in 2016-17.

MATCH PREDICTION: ARSENAL WIN

Arsenal lost a Premier League game for the first time in 2024 against Villa last time out. Since the start of last season, only twice have the Gunners suffered consecutive league defeats, doing so in May 2023 (v Brighton and Nottingham Forest) and December this season (v West Ham and Fulham).

Wolves are winless in their last four Premier League games (D2 L2), though they have won their last two at Molineux against sides starting the day in the top two of the table, beating Man City 2-1 in September and Spurs by the same score in November.

Arsenal have scored in their last 32 meetings with Wolves in all competitions.

Wolves have now lost each of their last five against the Gunners, failing to score in both home defeats in that run.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Wolves – 21.5%

Arsenal – 51.2%

Draw – 27.3%

Home
/
Manchester United
Alejandro Garnacho apologises for liking posts criticising Erik ten Hag
Garnacho was seen liking two posts on X criticising Erik ten Hag after 2-2 draw with Bournemouth
Situation bore similarities to Jadon Sancho's public comments on the manager
Ten Hag keen to move on from any drama

By Tom Gott
Apr 19, 2024
Garnacho has apologised to Ten Hag
Garnacho has apologised to Ten Hag / Michael Regan/GettyImages
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed he has received an apology from Alejandro Garnacho after the winger liked two social media posts criticising him.

Garnacho was screenshotted liking the posts after United's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, both criticising Ten Hag's decision to substitute him at half-time and his comments about the Argentine's performance after the game.


The situation bore a resemblance to the drama involving Jadon Sancho, who publicly hit out at Ten Hag on social media. His refusal to apologise led to a four-month exile and a January loan to Borussia Dortmund.

Ten Hag is keen to move on this time, however, confirming Garnacho has apologised for his actions.

"Alejandro is a young player. Has to learn a lot," Ten Hag said. "He has apologised for it and we move on."


The situation came about in the same week that Sancho helped Dortmund reach the Champions League semi-final, where Ten Hag reiterated that his move away from Old Trafford was nothing to do with his on-field talent.

Jadon Sancho
Sancho did not apologise for his post / Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/GettyImages
"We know [Sancho] is a fantastic player. That is not a surprise," Ten Hag said of the loanee. "That is not the issue."

United face Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday looking to end a four-game winless streak - a run that Ten Hag admitted has left his team feeling frustrated.


"Yes, of course we want to win every game so when we don't win we are disappointed," he said. "We are frustrated but we know also we can beat the best teams. We drew twice against Liverpool, we beat them in the FA Cup, we played very good against Chelsea. When we play to our levels we can achieve really high highs.

"Last season was last season. We want to achieve every season, we want to win trophies, we have a big opportunity. We are in a semi-final but it's a huge challenge."

READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
•
Premier League Gameweek 34 & FA Cup semi-final predictions
•
Ajax forward names three European giants as dream destinations for €80m summer move
•
Zinedine Zidane 'monitoring Erik ten Hag's future at Man Utd' amid Bayern Munich links
•
The Champions League semi-final stars set for summer moves
•
Man Utd announce appointment of Jason Wilcox as technical director
Related Topics
Erik ten Hag
FA Cup
Manchester United FC
Liverpool FC
Chelsea FC
Erik ten Hag 'addresses' Alejandro Garnacho feud following social media controversy
Erik ten Hag is said to have spoken to Alejandro Garnacho over social media activity after Saturday's draw at Bournemouth
Garnacho was substituted against Bournemouth at half-time of 2-2 draw
Winger was caught liking posts on X questioning Ten Hag's decisions

Katie Catherall
By Katie Catherall
16 Apr 2024
Garnacho had seemed unhappy with Ten Hag
Garnacho had seemed unhappy with Ten Hag / Sebastian Frej/MB Media/GettyImages
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has dealt with Alejandro Garnacho after the winger was caught liking posts on social media undermining his manager, according to reports.

The 19-year-old was taken off at half-time of United's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on Saturday. Ten Hag admitted he felt the team needed more quality down the right wing and so brought on Amad Diallo in Garnacho's place.


After the game, Garnacho was caught liking posts on X from United fan and broadcaster Mark Goldbridge that criticised the manager's choices, insinuating Ten Hag was "scared of upsetting the bigger earners".

Garnacho has since removed his likes, and multiple reports claim Ten Hag has dealt with the matter internally.

Bruno Fernandes
Garnacho provided an assist for Fernandes against Bournemouth / Charlie Crowhurst/GettyImages
As part of the Manchester Evening News' reporting, United did not clarify whether more action will be taken, but it is not the first time they have had to take action after players rushed to social media to imply they are unhappy. Ten Hag criticised Jadon Sancho's work ethic towards the start of the season and the winger was removed from the first-team after describing comments from his manager as "completely untrue" following a 3-1 loss at Arsenal.

When asked why Garnacho was taken off on Saturday, Ten Hag said: "I think we had to repair over the right side. We didn't play well, the spaces were there. In possession, we had to bring a sub there. Garnacho was not training during the week. We thought to bring some energy and bring some more quality, quality in the sense of ­cooperation and togetherness on that right-hand side."

Garncho has become a key player in the Unitedsquad, starting the previous 30 matches and providing nine goals this season. He also came up with the assist for Bruno Fernandes' first equaliser against Bournemouth, but did give away the ball for the opening goal scored by Dominic Solanke.

READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
•
Premier League Gameweek 34 & FA Cup semi-final predictions
•
Ajax forward names three European giants as dream destinations for €80m summer move
•
Zinedine Zidane 'monitoring Erik ten Hag's future at Man Utd' amid Bayern Munich links
•
The Champions League semi-final stars set for summer moves
•
Man Utd announce appointment of Jason Wilcox as technical director
Alejandro Garnacho likes social media posts criticising Erik ten Hag decisions
Ten Hag called out Garnacho after withdrawing him at half-time during Man Utd's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth
Argentine winger appeared to make feelings known on social media
19-year-old is second on United's goals and assists charts

Tom Gott
By Tom Gott
15 Apr 2024
Garnacho made his frustrations known on social media
Garnacho made his frustrations known on social media / Marc Atkins/GettyImages
Alejandro Garnacho liked two posts on social media that criticised manager Erik ten Hag in the wake of Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.

The 19-year-old was withdrawn at half-time of the game, with Ten Hag later singling Garnacho's performance out after the game by admitting he felt the team needed more quality down the right wing.

United fan and broadcaster Mark Goldbridge took to X after the match to criticise Ten Hag's decision to call out Garnacho, who is behind only Bruno Fernandes on United's goals and assists charts, and claim that the United boss was "scared of upsetting the bigger earners" in the squad.

Garnacho was seen liking both posts before eventually removing his reaction.

This is not the first time Garnacho has liked posts involving Ten Hag's decision to substitute him. Earlier this month, he liked a post questioning his withdrawal from the game against Chelsea, and that reaction remains active at the time of writing.

Ten Hag repeatedly highlighted shortcomings on United's right side after the game before admitting he substituted Garnacho to "repair" his side.

Alejandro Garnacho
Garnacho was withdrawn against Bournemouth / Marc Atkins/GettyImages
"That [Dominic] Solanke was dropping in, we didn't anticipate, something to do with our organisation, that is something I point to, you need some coaching there then you stop it at the source," he explained.

"In the second phase it was too easy, on the right side there was a big gap and Kluivert should never get that ball there but if [he does] then we have to close it, that's clear and obvious.

"I think we had to repair over that right side. We didn't play well, the spaces were there in possession, we had to bring a sub there.

"Garnacho was not training during the week, only yesterday, we thought bring some energy, bring some more quality, quality in the sense of co-operation, togetherness over that right side."

READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
•
Premier League Gameweek 34 & FA Cup semi-final predictions
•
Ajax forward names three European giants as dream destinations for €80m summer move
•
Zinedine Zidane 'monitoring Erik ten Hag's future at Man Utd' amid Bayern Munich links
•
The Champions League semi-final stars set for summer moves
•
Man Utd announce appointment of Jason Wilcox as technical director