Manchester United have lost the air of invincibility which characterised Alex Ferguson s trophy-laden reign at Old Trafford.
That is the view of former England striker Emile Heskey, who sees Erik ten Hag s Red Devils as a group of expensively assembled individuals, rather than a coherent team.
United have made an underwhelming start to their second season under Ten Hag, sitting eighth in the Premier League table after 11 matches despite Saturday s last-gasp 1-0 win at Fulham.
In Europe, the Red Devils began their Champions League group-stage campaign with back-to-back defeats to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray before needing Andre Onana to save a stoppage-time penalty in a hard-fought 1-0 win over Copenhagen.
With Ten Hag attracting criticism from supporte…
Sadio Mane made up for an earlier penalty miss with the decisive spot-kick as Senegal claimed their first Africa Cup of Nations title with a 4-2 shoot-out win over Egypt.
The Lions of Teranga were beaten in the 2019 final by Algeria, but they belatedly got their hands on the trophy at Olembe Stadium on Sunday with a dramatic shoot-out victory after a largely dour goalless 120 minutes.
Mane saw an early penalty saved by Mohamed Abou Gabal and he was fortunate to still be on the pitch for the spot-kicks having avoided a second yellow card for a clear dive.
The Liverpool forward had the last laugh, though, powering low past Abou Gabal after Edouard Mendy had kept out Mohanad Lasheen s tepid effort from 12 yards to send the travelling Senegal fans into raptures.…
Harry Redknapp believes Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard should be on the FA s list to be the next England manager.
Gareth Southgate stepped down as the Three Lions boss earlier this week following their Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain in Germany.
Since then, speculation over who will become the next England manager is rife, with Eddie Howe and Graham Potter among the candidates on the FA s list of targets.
Mauricio Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have also seen their names linked to the vacant position.
However, Redknapp believes two names are being excluded from discussions about Southgate s successor due to their struggles in the Premier League.
Gerrard is currently managing Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq following his departure fr…
In a heavyweight showdown on Tuesday night, Bayern Munich clinched back-to-back Champions League victories thanks to a 2-0 win against Barcelona.
While the German giants might have put in a sluggish first-half display on home soil, the Bavarians certainly laid down a real marker here as a quickfire brace from Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane clinched all three points.
Now holding a three-point buffer at the top of Group C, Bayern also extended on their remarkable European record against a high-flying Barcelona side.
Handing the former Spanish champions their first defeat since opening the 2022/23 campaign, we have taken a look at the key talking points following Tuesday s superstar battle at the Allianz Arena.
A much-needed boost for Nagelsmann
While Baye…
Trent Alexander-Arnold is Liverpool s assists king – and he emphasised his creative threat when setting up Diogo Jota for an early equaliser at Manchester City on Sunday.
The attacking right-back played Andy Robertson s cross back to striker Jota, who beat Ederson to cancel out Kevin De Bruyne s deflected fifth-minute strike.
The 13th-minute leveller meant Alexander-Arnold has now had an assist for a Liverpool goal against all 19 of their current Premier League rivals.
He is the only player to have completed a full set of assists against the current group of teams in the English top flight, Opta said.
It was his 12th assist of the Premier League season, which is a league high, and meant he was one short of matching his best tally in the competition (1…
Thomas Tuchel has spoken of his admiration for Ousmane Dembele amid reports the Barcelona outcast could be a transfer target for Chelsea.
Dembele looks to be on his way out of Barca due to a contract stand-off that has turned sour.
The France winger warned the Catalan giants that he would not be giving in to any blackmail after Barca director Mateu Alemany ordered him to find a new club immediately .
Dembele is only under contract with the Blaugrana until the end of the season and Alemany declared he expects the 24-year-old to move on before the transfer window closes at the of this month as we want to have players committed to the project.
Tuchel saw Dembele s talent first-hand when he played under the Blues boss at Borussia Dortmund in the 2016-1…
The 2022 trade deadline day proved a historic one for the NFL.
Teams struck 10 deals on Tuesday prior to the 16:00 EST deadline, with a total of 12 players traded, the most ever on deadline day.
None were of the level of the San Francisco 49ers blockbuster trade for Christian McCaffrey on October 20.
However, there were still several deals that will have significant short and long-term impacts for some of the franchises involved.
So what can we glean from the hive of activity at the deadline? Stats Perform dug into the advanced data around the trades to answer that question.
Dolphins crank up pressure on opponents, and Tua
The Miami Dolphins made the headline move of trade deadline day, sending a package that included the 2023 first-rou…
Gareth Bale looks set to get another chance at Real Madrid after he was named in their starting XI for the opening LaLiga game of the season at Celta Vigo.
Bale seemed certain to depart Madrid after six seasons with coach Zinedine Zidane, whom the Wales star has a rocky relationship with, making it clear during pre-season he wanted the forward to leave.
But, after a move to Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Super League collapsed and no other realistic suitors emerged, Bale has been reintegrated into the Madrid squad.
The Cardiff-born forward has consistently delivered across a trophy-laden spell, but he often lived in the shadow of the imperious Cristiano Ronaldo – who was worshipped above all others at the Santiago Bernabeu before his departure to Juventus last y…
Ex-Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has labelled incredible Real Madrid winger Eden Hazard the laziest of all his former team-mates.
Hazard and Mikel, now of Trabzonspor, shared the Stamford Bridge dressing room for over four seasons.
The Belgium international arrived in 2012 and went on to make 352 appearances for the club, scoring 110 goals.
In June, he completed a coveted €100million move to LaLiga giants Madrid.
Mikel raved about the 28-year-old s undoubted ability but gave a less positive assessment of his work ethic when asked to name the laziest player he trained alongside.
Hazard has incredible talent, the Nigerian told beIN SPORTS in Turkey.
Maybe not as good as [Lionel] Messi, but he can do whatever he wants with the ball a…
Ange Postecoglou has confirmed Yves Bissouma has been suspended for Tottenham s opening game of the Premier League campaign against Leicester.
Bissouma, who made 28 appearances last season, posted a video of himself inhaling nitrous oxide on social media last weekend.
The incident occurred hours after Spurs final pre-season clash, where they lost 3-2 to Bayern Munich in the Visit Malta Cup.
The 27-year-old later issued an apology, saying: I want to apologise for these videos. This was a severe lack of judgement.
I understand how serious this is and the health risks involved, and I also take my responsibility as a footballer and role model very seriously.”
Action from our final pre-season friendly
Highlights: Spurs 2-3 FC Bayern
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