Erik ten Hag says Manchester United are conceding too many goals but refused to blame Andre Onana despite the goalkeeper’s errors at Galatasaray severely damaging their chances of Champions League progression.
Having lost three of four Group A games, Wednesday’s key clash in Istanbul began in dream fashion as Alejandro Garnacho’s early effort was followed up by a Bruno Fernandes rocket.
Hakim Ziyech pulled one back from a free-kick that Onana will be disappointed to have been beaten by and he was guilty of an even worse error after Scott McTominay scored United’s third.
The summer signing somehow failed to deal with another Ziyech free-kick and substitute Kerem Akturkoglu soon lasered past him as a mad match ended 3-3.
The result leaves United bottom of their pool heading into the final round of fixtures, with the concession of 14 goals in just five Group A games the key issue.
“We scored also quickly after each other,” United manager Ten Hag said.
“It’s about the point when you are leading, when you are 2-0 up and you have to manage the game. Not so easy.
“We give free-kicks away and we have to defend them better twice. I have to say also that is Hakim. He is brilliant, I know that. He is extraordinary.
“To give free-kicks, it’s difficult to defend as well. In such areas, we have to be in more control.
“It is always about incidents, always about details and some incidents we can manage better.
“As a team, we have to learn from it because we are conceding too many goals and it is unnecessary and avoidable.
“I am sure our team is experienced enough and capable enough to manage this and we will do better.
“What is enjoyable is the progress we have and the way we play football. We dictated the game, we scored so many goals – it was about plan, creativity, being proactive and brave. That makes me happy.”
United should have scored more but Onana will be under the spotlight after this draw, having also been guilty of errors in the losses away to Bayern Munich and at home to Galatasaray.
While his key stoppage-time penalty save secured a win against Copenhagen, he endured another difficult Champions League night on Wednesday.
“I think as a team we played very well,” Ten Hag said when asked about Onana. “We win and lose together. You see the progress in this team.
“I take many positives from this game. Some mistakes. We played like I want my team to play.
“It was enjoyable to watch that proactive, dynamic, brave and we scored great goals.
“Even after we had some setbacks, we kept going until the end and we should have won with big chances from Scott McTominay and (Facundo) Pellistri.
“Of course, I am disappointed because we should have managed the game better, we will learn from that. Because this team is in development.”
Asked how Onana is, he said: “He is OK. As I said, it is not about individuals.
“Of course, individual errors in football can make a difference and you take responsibility for it but it is always about the team.
“This team is good, all the players in the squad are good and deserve the best to play for Manchester United because they are brilliant players.
“And that counts for the whole squad.”
United are now sweating on their place in Europe, let alone the Champions League, heading into their group finale against already-qualified Bayern at Old Trafford.
“It would be more frustrating if we play poor,” Ten Hag said.
“But the performance is very good, it is enjoyable to watch how we dictate the game, how we create chances, that is actually fantastic.
“But now there is more, if you can sort better the management of the game out then you start playing football.
“The football is good, the performances are good but now we have to learn better how to manage this game.”
Southgate succession plan in place after Euro 2024 despite no approaches for England boss
England have started to plan for life after Gareth Southgate but Football Association executive Mark Bullingham insists no approach has been made for the manager, nor has his future been decided.
The Three Lions boss raised questions over his future after German media outlet BILD published an interview this week from Southgate, who suggested Euro 2024 this month is his last chance with England.
Manchester United were reportedly interested in the 53-year-old as well before reaffirming their commitment to under-fire manager Erik ten Hag.
As the European Championship awaits in Germany, Bullingham sought to ease any fears over the future of Southgate, though reiterated the FA has already thought through a succession plan.
"Gareth has been really, really clear that he wants to talk about that after the tournament," Bullingham said.
"And I don't want to provide any distraction for him and the team, and I want to respect the fact that he wants to talk about the future after the tournament.
"I've seen some things about, 'Have we got a plan, haven't we?' Any organisation has a succession plan in place for their top employees, and we are no different to that.
"A succession plan normally includes everything from what you do for the short-term cover, through to a process you follow, through to [drawing up] a candidate pool. We have that for all our top employees."
Bullingham also assured that Southgate's future will not be dictated by success at Euro 2024, with the manager's contract set to expire in December.
"[The team] could go further but be playing poorly or have a really unlucky result where you get a couple of red cards and hit the woodwork three times," the FA chief added.
"I think setting an arbitrary figure isn't the right way to go. I think we step back and look at everything after the tournament."
In a staunch defence of Southgate, Bullingham lauded the job the former England international has done, guiding the Three Lions to the Euro 2020 final and World Cup semi-finals in 2018.
"I would say I think the world of Gareth, I think he has done a phenomenal job," Bullingham said.
"I think he has transformed the fortunes of our team, and that's not just off the pitch, and you can see the culture, but also the performances on the pitch.
"Since 1966, he has won about half of our knockout games, which is a measure we really use, so we value him massively."
Should Southgate leave, Bullingham remains open to bringing in another homegrown talent to manage England.
"We have two senior coaches," he continued. "One of them is English, one of them [England women's boss Sarina Wiegman] is not.
"Any federation in the world would always want to have a pool of top homegrown talent playing and managing at any time."
The Numbers Game: Euro 2024 hosts Germany aim to get off to a flying start against Scotland
Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday as Germany take on Scotland in Munich, and a flying start is on the agenda for Julian Nagelsmann's team.
Scotland, in their fourth appearance at the European Championships, would probably have been hoping for an easier start than going up against the hosts in the tournament's opening match.
Steve Clarke's team qualified in second place, behind Spain and ahead of Erling Haaland's Norway, from their group.
Germany, meanwhile, have picked up form under Nagelsmann since he was appointed as Hansi Flick's successor, and the former Bayern Munich coach has plenty of talent at his disposal, even if the Euro 2024 hosts are not considered to be among the biggest favourites.
Mats Hummels, Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka are three big-name absentees from Germany's squad, while Bayern youngster Aleksandar Pavlovic had to withdraw from the squad on Wednesday due to injury.
But in Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Leroy Sane, Kai Havertz and Borussia Dortmund's Niclas Fullkrug, Germany have an exciting attack, while Toni Kroos will anchor the midfield before he heads off into retirement.
This is Nagelsmann's first major tournament as head coach. Jupp Derwall was the last Germany boss to win a major tournament with them at the first attempt (Euro 1980).
Here, we use Opta data to preview the Euro 2024 opener.
What's expected?
It's no surprise to see that Germany are the overwhelming favourites to win this match, with Opta's supercomputer ranking their chances of victory at 58 per cent.
Germany and Scotland are facing each other for the third time at a major tournament. Germany won the two previous encounters, in the group stages of the 1986 World Cup (2-1) and Euro 1992 (2-0).
Indeed, Scotland have won only one of their last 13 matches against Germany (D4 L8); it was in April 1999, with Don Hutchison scoring the only goal in a Bremen friendly (0-1).
After losing to Turkiye and Austria, Germany have gone unbeaten in their last four matches. That being said, they were not particularly impressive in their warm-up matches.
Following a 0-0 draw with Ukraine, Germany beat Greece 2-1 last time out, though they mustered a disappointing 0.88 expected goals (xG), in contrast to their opponents' 2.14.
The scoreline is the statistic that matters at tournaments, with Havertz grabbing an equaliser midway through the second half before Pascal Gross secured a late victory, but it should give Scotland some hope, even though they are handed just a 21 per cent win likelihood, with the draw threat also at 21 per cent.
Scotland won their first five Euro 2024 qualifiers but then failed to win any of their final three (D2 L1), conceding seven goals in those games after only shipping one goal in their first five games.
They beat Gibraltar 2-0 and then drew 2-2 with Finland in their warm-up friendlies, though they head into Euro 2024 without some key players, with full-backs Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson, and striker Lyndon Dykes, out due to injury.
Germany have won only one of their last five matches played in Munich (D3 L1), a 4-2 victory against Portugal at Euro 2020, so while the smart money is on the hosts, Scotland should not go into this one without confidence, with captain Andrew Robertson and midfield duo John McGinn and Scott McTominay offering a threat, too.
Home hopes
This is the fourth time that Germany are sole hosts of a major international tournament, reaching the final four in each of the previous three editions: champions at the 1974 World Cup, semi-finalists at Euro 1988 and third place at the 2006 World Cup.
Germany are taking part in their 14th Euros, more than any other team. They have won the trophy three times, the joint-most alongside Spain.
Nagelsmann has been happy to lean on inexperience for his squad selection, and in Wirtz and Musiala, he has two of the most exciting youngsters in world football at his disposal.
Wirtz scored 11 goals and added 11 assists during Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten Bundesliga title-winning campaign to claim Player of the Season honours in Germany's top tier.
Musiala, meanwhile, scored 10 goals from an xG of 7.9 in the league.
Behind them, the returning Kroos brings plenty of experience, alongside Ilkay Gundogan, who created the second-most chances of any player in Europe's top five leagues in all competitions in 2023-24, with 132.
Havertz is likely to lead the line with support from Fullkrug, but Thomas Muller is another weapon in Germany's arsenal. He has scored 10 goals in 19 appearances at the World Cup (36 shots), but he has never scored in 15 appearances at the European Championships (31 shots).
Will it finally be Muller time?
At the other end of the pitch, though, Germany do have some issues. On paper, Jonathan Tah, Nico Schlotterbeck and Antonio Rudiger are a fine trio to choose from in the centre of defence, while Joshua Kimmich can play at right-back, but Nagelsmann needs to make sure the team's defending is better than it was against Greece. Perhaps Hummels' experience would have been useful?
Germany have conceded at least one goal in each of their last 12 games at major international tournaments. The last time they kept a clean sheet was against Slovakia in the round of 16 at Euro 2016.
Fourth time lucky?
This is Clarke's second major international tournament as a manager, after Euro 2020. He is the first Scotland boss to lead the team into two consecutive Euros.
Scotland have never reached the knockouts of the Euros in any of their three previous appearances at the tournament.
They have won just two of their nine Euro matches, with those victories coming over CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) in 1992 and Switzerland in 1996. Scotland have failed to score in six of their nine games at the European Championships.
While Germany are one of the toughest possible opponents to face first up, if Scotland could get something from this match, then they would be in a great position ahead of meetings with Hungary and Switzerland.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Germany – Toni Kroos
Kroos' presence in midfield will be a major boost to a team that averaged 59.3 per cent possession at Euro 2020 – second only to Spain (66.8 per cent).
The 34-year-old came out of international retirement to feature for Germany in their home tournament, though of course, it will now mark the final competitive event of his career.
Kroos – who won his sixth Champions League with Real Madrid this month – played more line-breaking passes (214) and passes leading to final-third entries (69) than any other player in UEFA's flagship club competition in 2023-24.
Scotland – Scott McTominay
A strong defence helped get them through qualifying, with a sprinkling of quality from McTominay, who was the top scorer in qualifying Group A with seven goals – one more than Manchester City superstar Haaland managed for Norway.
McTominay's goal tally is the joint most by a Scottish player in a Euros/World Cup qualifying campaign, along with Steven Fletcher (Euro 2016) and McGinn (Euro 2020).
And what is even more impressive, is that McTominay's goals came from just 1.77 xG, an overperformance of 5.23.
Juventus confirm Motta appointment as Allegri successor
Juventus have confirmed the appointment of Thiago Motta as their new head coach.
The former Bologna boss has signed a three-year deal at the Allianz Arena, and comes in as Massimiliano Allegri's replacement following his sacking on May 17.
Allegri was relieved of his duties with immediate effect last month, with the club citing his behaviour during their Coppa Italia final win against Atalanta as a factor in their decision.
Motta was immediately linked with the vacancy after he opted not to renew his contract with Bologna, having led the Rossoblu to a fifth-place finish in Serie A and Champions League qualification for the first time in their history.
And following the announcement on Wednesday, the 41-year-old cannot wait to get to work with his new employers.
"I am really happy to begin a new chapter at the helm of a great club like Juventus," he told the club's official website.
"I thank the owners and the management, who can be sure of my ambition to keep the Juventus flag flying high and to please the fans."
Motta's first senior managerial role at Genoa in 2019 ended after two months, but he bounced back by steering Spezia to Serie A safety in his only full season in charge before moving to Bologna.
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