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Manchester United and under-pressure manager Erik ten Hag are preparing to face Everton this weekend as an interview with former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes headlines.
Manchester United will play Everton in the Premier League on Saturday as they try to put the derby defeat behind them.
This weekend’s match will be particularly important for Erik ten Hag, who has more and more pressure around him. The arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe as co-owner has led to major changes behind the scenes, with his INEOS team looking to hire key staff to join Omar Berrada as chief executive.
Behind the scenes, United are working to sign Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth, Crystal Palace’s Dougie Freedman and Southampton’s Jason Wilcox for important roles. On the field, United are sixth in the Premier League, 11 points off the top four and have lost 11 of their 27 games.
Ten Hag knows his future as a coach is in jeopardy and some of his own players believe he will be fired. News moves fast at Old Trafford, so let it mirror football to give you a complete rundown of the latest.
Solskjaer speaks out on leaks
Former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given an insight into the state of the dressing room at Old Trafford. The Norwegian spoke about management difficulties and explained why players leak confidential information to the press when they are not happy.
“I felt we had a very good relationship with the players, but there are always one or two in a team who leak things because they are not happy,” Solskjaer said on the Stick to Football podcast. “As a coach, you play a game on Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, you dismiss about 14 players in each game and the next morning you have to tell them that they have another chance.
“There’s only a certain amount of times you can say, ‘I’ll give you that game, you have a chance.’ In the end, they get bitter, we had a big team with too many players. If they have too many players, they will be dissatisfied.”
Tense relations with Rashford
Marcus Rashford’s ill-advised night out in Belfast has had a ripple effect on some of his team-mates. Rashford went on a 12-hour tequila drinking spree in the Northern Ireland capital in January and subsequently missed United’s game against Newport in the FA Cup.
He has since rejoined Ten Hag’s team but the striker, who scored a spectacular goal against Manchester City at the weekend, has damaged relations with his team-mates. He has a professional working relationship with Ten Hag, but some of his colleagues are frustrated.
Although he scored in the derby, Rashford has just six goals and six assists in 33 appearances in all competitions this season, well below his record of 30 goals and 11 assists in 2022/23.
Ratcliffe wielding the axe
INEOS boss Ratcliffe may be a United fan but he still bought the club for commercial reasons. The petrochemical billionaire plans to cut costs at the club, with a quarter of jobs at risk.
Ratcliffe has had his sporting boss and right-hand man, Sir Dave Brailsford, carry out an audit of United and is convinced he can streamline things at the club. United currently employ around 1,200 people, considerably more than rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, who have fewer than 1,000 people.
He will ask his consultants to focus on improving United’s commercial, marketing and match day departments. He had previously expressed his belief that United are a sleeping giant, underperforming both on and off the pitch.
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