Man Utd face 'tricky task' beyond even Sir Alex as 'bold' Ronaldo reunion prediction made (2024)

Aston Villa are riding the crest of a Champions League wave and Arsenal are back to winning ways. So obviously the biggest news in football this morning is some assorted bits of Manchester United guff.

Eurotrash
Mediawatch is enjoying Aston Villa’s triumphant and joyful return to European football’s top table this season as much as the next snarky football media column. We are just about coming to terms with the fact that ‘to go top of the Champions League’ is a thing people can now say, but while accepting the new format represents a step into the unknown for all concerned, we must surely draw the line at this Times headline:

John McGinn and Jhon Duránsend Villa top of Europe

That can’t be right, can it?

This means Mour
A classic of the ‘technically correct’ genre here from The Sun.

Man Utd face tricky task even Sir Alex Ferguson couldn’t pull off with only one Red Devils manager doing it in 20 years

Not the pithiest of Sun headlines, sure, but easy enough to parse when you know the subject.

The ‘tricky task’ that was beyond even Sir Ferg is this: winning an away game against a side managed by Jose Mourinho.

Erik Ten Hag gets his chance in the Europa League this week at Fenerbahce, which is where things start to go awry. There’s a clue, perhaps, in the identity of the one United manager to succeed in this Herculean task and how he did it: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with a 3-1 win at Tottenham.

It’s almost like winning away games against Mourinho’s Porto and Chelsea teams was an actual ‘tricky task’ and that facing the faded Special One’s current Fenerbahce team – fourth and eight points off the pace in the Super Lig – isn’t quite the same thing.

Take the hint, Pt 1
An unusual case here of the Mirror actually underselling a quote in the headline

Mikel Arteta drops biggest hint yet that Bukayo Saka will miss Arsenal vs Liverpool

‘Not training yet so he won’t be available’ feels like it’s a bit more than a hint, regardless of size.

Take the hint, Pt 2
The full gamut of hints this morning. At one end, we have the Mirror claiming ‘he won’t be available’ is nothing more than a hint. At the other we have the Express with this nonsense.

Thomas Frank drops big hint over replacing Erik ten Hag at Man Utd

We did rather think this might have died down about after Frank fluffed his audition at the weekend, but alas no.

So what’s this (big) hint then?

On an appearanced (sic) with theSports Agentpodcast, the 51-year-old was asked if he tempted (sic) by the prospect of leaving to manage a team like United. “Maybe it is a challenge I need to try,” he said.

Note the ‘like’ there, cleverly buried in a sea of grammatical atrocities. Frank himself doesn’t mention United at all, of course. What he did mention, though, was this:

“For sure if I ever got the offer to go to a big club and I decided to go there, it would probably not make my life better.”

And also this:

“I think we all know that. It is not something I am thinking about. I have sacrificed a lot throughout my life to reach where I am now. In terms of sacrificing, I missed my children’s birthdays for five years in a row because I was with the national team.

“I have been working 60, 70 hours a week for the last 30 years. I have sacrificed a lot of things. You don’t know how it would be if you walked into another job.”

Seems like a pretty big hint. Just not the one the Express are pretending it is.

Slight return
File this Express headline under ‘knowing exactly what they are doing’.

Cristiano Ronaldo team-mate hints at incredible Man Utd return as bold prediction made

The ‘Cristiano Ronaldo team-mate’ is Mikael Silvestre, for what it’s worth. And what’s he said, then?

Silvestre has backed the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to make a second emotional return to Old Trafford further down the line, on the pitch or off it.

On the pitch or off it is already a pretty significant caveat, but let’s see the actual quote, shall we?

“I think it’s only a matter of time before Cristiano Ronaldo reunites withManchester Unitedfans in some capacity at the club, but it won’t be anytime soon,” Silvestre toldNorskebettingsider.

Ronaldo is 39 years old. Not sure even for him there is much prospect of an on-field return if it won’t be happening ‘anytime soon’.

“He is a legend of the club, and it will be amazing if we see him at Old Trafford again, but it’s too early to think about at the moment. Not yet.”

To summarise, then: Cristiano Ronaldo will at some unspecified time in the future be seen at Old Trafford in some unspecified capacity. More as we/they get it.

Man Utd face 'tricky task' beyond even Sir Alex as 'bold' Ronaldo reunion prediction made (2024)
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