Sports
Manchester United Will Not Press The Panic Button – Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that Manchester United would not press the panic button just because they were knocked out of the Champions League.
The 3-2 defeat at RB Leipzig last Tuesday extended United’s poor recent record in the competition.
It also brought more questions about Solskjaer’s ability to get the best from his squad.
United sources have continued to insist the club is fully behind their manager and the forward trajectory is solid.
But it is not a message that has gone down well with some fans, who feel a change is required.
United’s hierarchy rejects that view completely and the message of stability was reinforced by Solskjaer as he looked ahead to an Old Trafford encounter with Manchester City last night.
“It is important not to press the panic button every time because in football you cannot win every single game,” he said.
“There are games you lose that hurt more than others and some losses have more consequence than others.
“We have handled setbacks quite well and the reality is we are out of the Champions League for the rest of the season. We have to move on and get back into it.”
Solskjaer was also supportive of goalkeeper David de Gea, who was criticised by former United midfielder Paul Scholes for his part in RB Leipzig’s decisive third goal on Tuesday.
And the United manager avoided answering a question about Paul Pogba, whose agent Mino Raiola said the France midfielder wanted to leave the club in an interview that was published on the eve of the Leipzig defeat.
“I speak to my players on daily basis and Paul Pogba is no different,” said Solskjaer when asked if the paid had spoken in the aftermath of the Champions League exit.
“Whatever anyone’s representatives say can’t affect me. I have said all I want to about that.”
Manchester United won three of the four meetings between the sides last season including doing the Premier League double over their neighbours for the first time in a decade.
But City manager Pep Guardiola insists the result of last night’s game would not define either club’s season
“It is not a knockout game, it is three more points,” he said. “That is important, of course, for the quality of the opponent, but there are a lot of fixtures to come and we will try to win our games.”
Guardiola also expects his opposite number to handle the scrutiny.
He added: “I don’t have to give him support because he is strong enough and knows how this job works. [People say] when we win we are a genius and when we lose we have to be sacked.
“It happens at United and all around the world, it is a reality.”
On 19 December it will be two years since Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho as boss.
Although there are plenty of observers who say they still cannot see a coherent plan from a side that has gone behind in eight out of 10 Premier League matches this season, the Norwegian disagrees.
“I feel we are getting better and better and looking more like the Manchester United team I want,” he said.
“We have fast, dynamic attackers and good players with individual qualities. Everyone says we don’t have consistency but we have won the last four in the league, so hopefully we can carry that on.”
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.