Erik ten Hag has said Manchester United signing a proven goalscorer this summer “would help” – while stressing the striking options with which they entered the current season “should have been enough”.
Having last term finished third in the Premier League and won the Carabao Cup in their first campaign under Ten Hag’s management, United have subsequently underwhelmed.
With seven games to go in the league, they lie sixth, 11 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, as well as fifth-placed Aston Villa, and have the lowest goals-for tally in the top 10 with 45.
Twenty-one-year-old striker Rasmus Hojlund has netted 13 times in all competitions since being signed last summer to join an attack also featuring Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
Rashford has eight United goals to his name for 2023-24, and Martial – sidelined since groin surgery in January, with Ten Hag unsure if he will be available again before the end of the season – two.
Asked at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s league trip to Bournemouth how vital it was that United sign a proven hitman this summer, Ten Hag said: “I think it would help.
“In this plan we constructed we should have had enough goals. You count on goals from Rashy – last season he scored 30. You count on goals from Martial – in my first season he played very well and also in very important games he had a high impact on our performances.
“And then bringing a goalscorer like Rasmus Hojlund in, it should have been enough goals.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe became minority owner at United in February, taking control of football operations.
A change was confirmed this week as the club on Tuesday announced John Murtough was stepping down as football director, and United are looking to bring in Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth and Southampton director of football Jason Wilcox.
Ten Hag said with regard to the summer: “We are working in the background on plans with scouting. We are working on our plan, the plan is ready, but it has to execute, and I trust the new ownership that they will work as quick as possible and bring new good structures and that they can execute.
“We have good plans, I think also with quality players. You see now about recruitment: (Andre) Onana is doing very well, Rasmus Hojlund, everyone is seeing his big talent and potential. (Lisandro) Martinez, everyone was hugely happy with him, and there are others.
“So the recruitment is good. But if they (new directors) have even better ideas, we are always open. If you have options but they come with better options we are open.
“But we have a way we want to play, so we know our profiles, so it has to match the profiles we want.”
As well as the changes to the club hierarchy, the season has seen United – currently assessing Rashford, as well as midfielder Scott McTominay ahead of the Bournemouth game – hit by considerable injury problems, while there have also been other issues involving players such as that which led to Jadon Sancho leaving for Borussia Dortmund on loan in January.
Asked about the challenges, Ten Hag said: “The thing is, you have to be realistic – as a manager, it’s like a minister, you don’t have anything in your hands but at the end of the day, and that is what you have to accept, you are responsible for everything. And I take that.
“Some things… it just happens, and then you have to make the best out of it.”
He added: “This business, this industry, is about results and many see only the results, but you have to see also what’s underneath. I see underneath and I see the potential. I see the direction. So I’m positive in the way we want to go, and we will be successful.”
Howard Webb admits Forest should have had penalty in controversial Everton defeat
Howard Webb admitted officials got one of the big decisions wrong in Nottingham Forest's controversial Premier League defeat to Everton this month.
Forest were beaten 2-0 at Goodison Park on April 21 but were left fuming that referee Anthony Taylor did not award a penalty despite three separate calls involving Ashley Young.
Following the game, Forest released a controversial statement on the social media platform X - formerly Twitter - that hinted at the fact VAR Stuart Attwell was a fan of relegation rivals Luton Town and should not have been involved in the game.
Webb was speaking about the incidents on the Mic'd Up TV programme and claimed that while the first decisions were "really subjective calls", the third one , which saw Young challenge Callum Hudson-Odoi, should have resulted in a penalty for Nuno Espirito Santo's team.
"The referee waves away the penalty appeal. The VAR looks at it and asks himself the question, 'Was the non-award clearly and obviously wrong?' and came to the conclusion it wasn't," Webb said.
"He doesn't see a clear action by Young that he considers to be worthy of intervention, one that reaches the threshold of being very clear.
"But we would have preferred an intervention for the referee to go to the screen to make a judgement for himself in this situation and probably would have come out with a different outcome if that would've happened."
"The game is played by human beings, it's officiated by human beings. And obviously our job is to try to ensure that we have a positive impact on the game by identifying correct decisions on the field. This wasn't one.
"But of course they're humans making judgements as well, so we always are trying to reduce the number of errors that we that we make."
Webb also said referee Michael Oliver will have been "really disappointed" to have not originally spotted a foul by Declan Rice on Ben Davies as Arsenal beat Tottenham 3-2 in the North London derby on Sunday, with a VAR intervention eventually awarding a spot-kick.
"I know Michael [Oliver] will be really disappointed," added Webb.
"He had a really good game. He's one of our top referees and one of the top referees in the world."
Champions League success does not define Bayern move, says Kane
Harry Kane refuted suggestions Champions League glory this season will decide the success of his Bayern Munich move, after Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in the semi-final first leg.
Kane scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 to Bayern early in the second half, just four minutes after Leroy Sane had levelled with a thunderous finish at Allianz Arena.
Having finished with his usual ease from 12 yards, Kane became the first English player to be directly involved in 11 goals in a single Champions League campaign.
Kane is the joint-top scorer across Europe's big five leagues in all competitions this season (43 – level with Kylian Mbappe), while the England captain now has the most combined goals and assists of any player (54 – 43 goals and 11 assists).
Regardless of whether Bayern can overcome Madrid in the second leg next week and go all the way in the final, Kane insists his move to Germany is a long-term mission, rather than a one-year aim for success.
When asked on TNT Sports if winning the Champions League would define his Bayern move as a success, Kane responded: "I don't think so.
"I'm here for many years, it's not just a one-off year that I've come for. Of course, the expectation at the start of the year was to win trophies and it hasn't gone our way in the Bundesliga or the cup, but the Champions League is the biggest one of them all.
"If we can somehow get our hands on that one, it'll be an amazing season, but there is a long way to go.
"These are the big games under the lights [that I'm here for]. The atmosphere was incredible. I'm sure at the Bernabeu it'll be the same. It's exactly why I’ve come, I wanted to play in these big games, these big moments, and it's no bigger than next week.
"It'll be tough, we know their history in the competition, but we can take a lot of positives from today. There's a couple of small details that we need to get right because we can get punished in a couple of quick moments, but we can take a lot from this game."
Kane now has 401 goals for club and country, having moved past the quadruple-century mark with his double against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Including his well-taken penalty against Madrid, the former Tottenham striker now has a personal-best 43 goals in all competitions this season as well.
Yet his focus remains solely on the next game, with Stuttgart to come on Saturday before the return visit to Madrid.
"It's been a good season [personally] so far, but it's always about the next game, the next big game, and it's next week, away from home against Real Madrid," he added.
"Everything we're fighting for this year is in this competition, so we've got to find a way to get it done. It's going to be tough, the Bernabeu, Real Madrid in the Champions League, but we go there with full belief, it's 0-0 and we go there for the win."
Kane's second-half strike on Tuesday came after Sane had cancelled out an opener from Vinicius Junior, whose late penalty then ensured the shares were spoiled at Allianz Arena.
With the pressure on Bayern's spot-kick, Madrid's Jude Bellingham appeared to offer Kane a few words of advice – though the Bayern striker was in his own space preparing to face Andriy Lunin.
"I don't know what he was saying," Kane added on his England team-mate's quiet word. "I saw him there, mumbling something, but I'll have to ask him what he said.
"Once I'm in that zone I'm just trying to block everything out – I'm sure he was saying something to try and put me off. Thankfully it didn't do anything."
Waterhouse peaking at the right time; take seven-match unbeaten run into semis after blanking Tivoli Gardens
It is often said that it is not how you start, but how you finish that counts. Waterhouse, by virtue of their current vein of form in the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League, has embodied that saying.
In fact, to say that the Drewsland-based team is rising to the occasion when it matters most would be an understatement, as they recovered from an inconsistent run in the preliminary stage, where they placed sixth, and are now in the semi-final.
Waterhouse confirmed their spot in the final four on Monday after they downed Tivoli Gardens 2-0 in second leg quarterfinal action, for a 3-1 aggregate scoreline, at Sabina Park.
Javane Bryan (14th) and Andre Fletcher (45+6) were on target for Waterhouse, who has booked a semi-final date with reigning champions Mount Pleasant FA. First leg action is scheduled for Sunday at the same venue.
With his side taking a seven-match unbeaten run into that contest, Waterhouse’s assistant coach Damion Gordon is confident, but aware that they will be up against a Mount Pleasant team with great attributes, quality and real individual talent. Waterhouse last made a deep run in the league in the truncated 2021 season, when they lost the final to Cavalier in a penalty shootout.
“I think our chances of winning are just like any other team before the game is played. So, we just have to prepare as best as we can for Mount Pleasant, which is a very difficult team, but again, at this stage of the tournament, you just have to bring your A game and come Sunday I think the better team will win,” Gordon said.
Reflecting on the performance, he lauded the team for character and fight shown on the day.
“We are grateful, we always take a hungry step towards everything and tonight (Monday) we did that. I think we started very well; I still think that we had some more chances that we should have capitalised on, but we are grateful for the win nonetheless. Hats off to Tivoli, I think they really pressed us, and I think they forced us in terms of testing our defensive shape and fortitude which came to the fore,” Gordon noted.
The contest started in a sombre manner, as Tivoli Gardens lost young starlet Nickalia Fuller with what appeared to be a broken right leg, after he went into a tough challenge with Waterhouse’s Shamarie Dallas. The physical and psychological impact of that challenge later took effect on Dallas, who wept openly as he also left the field soon after.
Still, Waterhouse maintained their composure, and later found the lead when Bryan fired home his 16th goal of the season from close range, after sloppy play by Tivoli Gardens captain Odean Pennycooke allowed Revaldo Mitchell through on goal to get off the initial effort that was blocked.
Tivoli Gardens came into their own and tried to play their game, but were unable to make their half chances count, as Alton Lewis fired wide from inside the 18-yard box, in the 28th minute.
Nine minutes later, substitute Lennox Russell, who entered the contest for Fuller, had Tivoli’s best chance of the half, as his well-struck right-footer from an angle, was kept out by Kemar Foster at his near post.
Waterhouse regained their attacking fire at the backend of the half, and found a second in time added, when Leonardo Jibbison’s cross found an unmarked Fletcher, who made no mistakes with a well-taken left-footed finish for his 12th of the season, which put the two-time champions 2-0 up at the break.
Needing a goal to stay in the contest, Tivoli Gardens went straight to work on the resumption and almost pulled one back a minute in, but Russell’s strike was again kept out by Foster.
Waterhouse went close to a third in the 63rd minute, but Denardo Thomas’s powerfully struck effort from inside the 18-yrd box, just went over the crossbar.
From there, it was all Tivoli Gardens, as the West Kingston team launched a series of marauding attacks in a sustained spell of pressure, but they found Waterhouse defence in a defiant mood, as they braved the incursion.
Besides Waterhouse’s resolute defending, Tivoli Gardens were left down by a lack of composure in the final third at times, as Justin Dunn hit the upright in the 70th minute, while Rodico Wellington’s freekick in the 85th minute was again blocked by Foster.
Tivoli Gardens Head coach Jerome Waite cursed his team’s luck on the day, but in the same breath, expressed delight with how the season went.
“The youngster’s leg is broken, which is really sad, and I am not one to bash referees, but we all saw what happened. Besides that, we created chances throughout the second half, but faulty execution resulted in us not scoring, and we also have to give Waterhouse’s goalkeeper credit as well,” he said.
“In the end, Tivoli Gardens had an extremely outstanding season. This is not something that anybody looked forward to, so I have to give the guys credit,” Waite added.
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