Manchester United's Erik Ten Hag dilemma
Hello! It's May 27th, and in today's newsletter: will United sack their manager despite FA Cup final win? Plus all the news from the weekend in Europe and the MLS.
The Daily Soccer - Don’t search for soccer news - read it
The script was supposed to be - Manchester United’s miserable season concludes with another defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup final. Erik ten Hag says his goodbyes and shuffles off back to Holland. And Jim Ratcliffe launches his new era at Old Trafford with a new, fresher face in charge.
Except United were actually pretty good beating City with the players looking fully motivated and the supporters seemingly backing Ten Hag to stay on and this poll from the editor the main fanzine ‘United We Stand’ backs up that feeling.
Ten Hag himself was in bullish mood. "If they don't want me anymore, then I'll go somewhere else to win trophies,” he said.
United fans chose to vent at Alan Shearer for daring to ask Ten Hag why such performances had been so rare this season and the former England forward snapped back at them on twitter.
Now, the Ratcliffe regime are taking their time to decide on their next steps and are to conduct a review of the season.
Rob Dawson at ESPN says Ten Hag still thinks he could be sacked, despite winning the Cup final.
You can see how he might reach that conclusion given the newspapers continue to hedge their bets with claimsthat Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Frank, Kieran McKenna and Thomas Tuchel are all still contenders for the job…..
Mark Ogden of ESPN rightly calls it a “confusing situation” but suggests the Dutchman will ultimately be jettisoned:
Time will tell, but a club statement on a quiet day in the weeks ahead thanking Ten Hag for his efforts would be no surprise. That's how football works, and he knows that as well as anyone who has earned a living from the game.
MLS Monday:
Inter Miami decided that the 12-hour round-trip flight to Vancouver for Saturday’s game against the Whitecaps was too long for Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez and without the ex-Barca trio they still managed a 2-1 win. (Miami Herald)
Predictably, fans in Canada were upset at forking out for tickets to see the GOAT and getting Robert Taylor instead. Some are demanding apologies and refunds for the ‘broken promise’.
No complaints about value for money in Toronto though after a seven-goal thriller ended with Cincinnati winning 4-3 with a stoppage time winner. Former Italy striker Lorenzo Insigne had a potential equalizer disallowed.
Plenty of drama in Texas too as Real Salt Lake came back from 3-0 down to earn a 3-3 draw at FC Dallas. (ABC4 Sports)
Matt Doyle’s incredibly anal Armchair Analyst column goes into all the details on the weekend.
Big week ahead for Columbus Crew who face Pachuca in Mexico in the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup on Saturday - but they might be without their star striker Cucho Hernandez. (Brianna Mac Kay Columbus Dispatch)
Philadelphia’s Argentine striker Julian Carranza could be heading to Feyenoord reports ‘The Gringo Fabrizio Romano’ Tom Bogert.
TDS Digest….
Your Daily Soccer Transfer Round-up: The managerial magic roundabout continues unabated with Kieran McKenna no longer a contender for the Chelsea job, while Roberto De Zerbi, Leicester’s Enzo Maresca, and Brentford’s Thomas Frank are. Paulo Fonseca set to replace Stefano Pioli at AC Milan. Adam Lallana could return to St. Mary’s, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis has had his £20m loan obligation triggered after winning promotion with Southampton in the play-off final.
In Other Soccer News:
Jack Grealish recaptures his form from last season by almost falling off the back of the City parade bus. (BBC)
Leeds are falling apart again, and again: their Wembley play-off curse continues after losing to Southampton 1-0 (Guardian) in the richest game in football; while the £200m windfall would’ve gone some way to wiping out the £190m they owe in transfer fee installments due this summer. (Kieran McGuire)
Where are all the elite coaches? (Guardian)
Garnacho’s bicycle kick wins Premier League goal of the season. (@premierleague)
UEFA Women’s Champions League: Barcelona beat Lyon, the competition's now-former queen, 2-0 to claim a second consecutive European title.
In pictures: comparison in attendance of the UEFA Women’s Champions League Final between 2014 and 2024 - followed by the obligatory mansplaining in the comments, obviously. (Reddit)
At least Harry Kane will win something this season even if it is the European Golden Shoe/Boot. (Sporting News)
The question on everybody’s lips: When will Pep Guardiola leave Man City? Will it be next summer as per The Daily Mail? Or could it be this summer as per The Guardian? Not that we’re saying he couldn’t make a fist of it in the Northern Premier League if City did get relegated for PSR breaches.
Your Daily Soccer Quote:
“Don't waste your time with comparison between me and Kobbie Mainoo…”
“He is 10 times the player I was at 19”.
"Just love the way he receives ball, calmness, awareness of what's around him and big goals in big games. He’s special and he's f*cking Red!" - Paul Scholes modestly assesses the talent of Kobbie Mainoo
Soccer Stream of the Day:
UEFA U-17 European Championship including England v Spain and Portugal v France. (In USA on ViX, in UK on BBC Red Button/Iplayer)
We’ll be back Tomorrow with more.
Oh and if you find a free, daily newsletter about everything that is going on in the global game to be useful - subscribe and tell your friends!
Seriously - do that for us would you?