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Erik ten Hag vows to fight on ‘together’ with Manchester United
Erik ten Hag vows to fight on ‘together’ with Manchester United
Under-pressure Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is not worried about losing his job after his side’s horror start to the season continued with a Champions League home defeat to Galatasaray. The Red Devils threw away a 2-1 lead to fall to a 3-2 loss at a rain-soaked Old Trafford and suffer their worst start to a season since 1986. They have lost six of their opening 10 games for the first time in 37 years and their chances of getting out of the group stages already look in doubt after just two matches. But Ten Hag, who says there are “no excuses” for his side’s dismal performances, insist everyone at the club is pulling in the same direction. Asked whether he feared for his job, the Dutchman said: “Last season: brilliant, terrific, more than we could expect. “We also knew in this project there would be common gaps. At this moment we are in a very difficult period as everyone can see but we come out together, we are fighting together, we are sticking together and we are behind each other. That is me, the directors, the team, all together we will fight. “This is not us, we know we have to do better, with togetherness we will come out. “If I give an explanation, then you will see as excuses, there are no excuses. We can’t make the errors we are now making. We have to do better, it is a simple fact, we have to win our games.” United had victory in their own hands after two Rasmus Hojlund goals, either side of former United winger Wilfried Zaha’s leveller, put them on course for a much-needed win. But Kerem Akturkoglu again pegged them back and then a woeful error by Andre Onana set them on a path to self-destruction as his abysmal pass led to Casemiro fouling Dries Mertens in the penalty area and the Brazilian was sent off. Mauro Icardi missed the resulting penalty, but made amends three minutes later as he grabbed the winner and sealed a first ever victory on English soil for the Turkish side. Onana also made a costly gaffe in the Group A opener at Bayern Munich a fortnight ago but Ten Hag, who managed him at Ajax, has backed the Cameroonian to come good. “We are happy with our goalkeeping group, definitely with Andre,” Ten Hag said. “He was in one semi-final of the Champions League, last year he was in the final of the Champions League, he has the capablilties to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world. “He has shown that and he will do. We already have seen in games his great capabilites, also his personality after he made mistakes. He will bounce back and I am sure he will in the coming games as well.” Galatasaray were good value for their victory and are now a good bet to progress to the knockout stages, having taken four points from their opening two games. “In the second half I believe we played better, we had more chances,” coach Okan Buruk said. “At the end of the day we are happy, we won against this team, a very important team. “This victory is very important for Turkish football, for us and for our standing in the group.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Rob Edwards disappointed not to take anything from Burnley clash Mikel Arteta defends selecting Bukayo Saka as winger limps off again in Lens Jude Bellingham helps Real Madrid to victory and Bayern Munich hit back to win
2023-10-04 07:23
Jude Bellingham helps Real Madrid to victory and Bayern Munich hit back to win
Jude Bellingham helps Real Madrid to victory and Bayern Munich hit back to win
Jude Bellingham’s dream start to life at Real Madrid continued as his mesmerising solo goal helped the Spanish giants down Napoli to make it two wins from two in this season’s Champions League. Having grabbed a last-gasp winner to see off Union Berlin a fortnight ago, Bellingham first teed up Vinicius Junior to score after Leo Ostigard had put Napoli ahead at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Bellingham then stole the show as he collected the ball on halfway, drove forward into the area and bulldozed his way through Ostigard before tucking into the corner and although a contentiously-awarded penalty scored by Piotr Zielinski pegged Real back, the visitors won 3-2 following Alex Meret’s own goal. Victory sent Real top of Group C, where Union Berlin went down to another stoppage-time goal as Andre Castro sealed a 3-2 triumph for Braga, who hit back from 2-0 down to win in the German capital. Sheraldo Becker’s brace put the hosts in charge but Sikou Niakate and Armindo Bruma drew the Portuguese side level before Castro struck in the fourth minute of time added on to break Union hearts. Bayern Munich avoided a banana skin after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Copenhagen, with Jamal Musiala and substitute Mathys Tel cancelling out Lukas Lerager’s goal. The Bundesliga side top Group A, where Manchester United’s stuttering start to the campaign continued after an error-strewn defeat at home to Galatasaray. Rasmus Hojlund scored a superb second after his opener was cancelled out by Galatasaray’s grinning former United forward Wilfried Zaha, only for Ten Hag’s men to spectacularly unravel. Kerem Akturkoglu equalised and summer signing Andre Onana’s atrocious pass out straight to Dries Mertens led to a poor Casemiro recovery challenge that saw the Brazil midfielder sent off and a penalty awarded. The goalkeeper was relieved to see Mauro Icardi strike the spot-kick wide, but he swiftly made amends as United fell to a third Old Trafford loss of the campaign. It was a forgettable night for Premier League teams as Arsenal lost 2-1 at Lens in Group B. Gabriel Jesus put the Gunners ahead but Adrien Thomasson and Elye Wahi gave Lens all three points. Jordan Teze’s stoppage-time goal lifted PSV Eindhoven to a 2-2 draw at home to Sevilla, who twice went ahead through Nemanja Gudelj and Youssef En-Nesyri only to be pegged back. Luuk de Jong’s penalty looked to be vain until Teze popped up in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Marcus Thuram gave Inter Milan a 1-0 Group D victory over Benfica, while Mikel Oyarzabal and Brais Mendez ushered Real Sociedad to a 2-0 win at Red Bull Salzburg. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Danny Care: England taking inspiration from Europe’s Ryder Cup win at World Cup Kieran Trippier aims to ruin Kylian Mbappe’s Newcastle trip even if son is upset The Oscar goes to referees – Pep Guardiola says players must be main attraction
2023-10-04 06:26
Mikel Arteta defends selecting Bukayo Saka as winger limps off again in Lens
Mikel Arteta defends selecting Bukayo Saka as winger limps off again in Lens
Mikel Arteta defended his decision to play Bukayo Saka as the Arsenal winger limped out of their Champions League defeat to Lens. The Gunners had taken the lead through Gabriel Jesus but Adrien Thomasson levelled following a David Raya error before Saka hobbled out of the game. Lens would go on to win 2-1 courtesy of a second-half strike from Elye Wahi but it was the injury to Saka that will have concerned Arteta more. Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City visit the Emirates Stadium in five days and Saka’s involvement is now in doubt with the England forward having been forced off in the last three games. Asked if he regretted picking Saka following his issues against both Tottenham and Bournemouth, Arteta replied: “No. It was a knock that he had the other day and he was perfectly fine. It was a back-heel, an action that can produce that kind of injury. “Let’s see what the extent of it is and afterwards it’s too late. The last few were more knocks than anything else. “He hasn’t really missed games. We gave him a break against Brentford (in the Carabao Cup) last week and that was all. “He tried to backheel a ball in the first half and felt something muscular. He felt uncomfortable to carry on so we had to take him off. “We don’t know anything more. It was big enough not to allow him to continue to play the game and that’s a worry for us. “He was really looking forward to playing like every player. It was a big Champions League night. I painted a picture and the type of scenario we were going to face today and they all knew about it. “But this Champions League is so difficult to win away from home. Today we take a big lesson.” The defeat ended a forgettable 24 hours for Arsenal after bad weather grounded Arteta and his players at Luton airport for five hours on Monday as their journey to France was delayed. Now their hopes of avoiding a bumpy ride in qualifying for the knockout stages have also suffered a setback after a turbulent night at a rocking Stade Bollaert-Delelis. “No, let’s not put excuses,” Arteta said when asked if the preparations for the game had impacted on a poor team performance. “First of all, congratulations to Lens. They are a really good side. Really well coached. We knew it was going to be a really tough match. “In the boxes we had four or five chances we didn’t put away and we didn’t defend the boxes well enough. “It’s true there were moments in the second half we struggled to be more threatening in the final third and find spaces. “They defended with those numbers really good. That’s something to take for the next game.” Lens had started the season slowly but won their two Ligue 1 games leading into a first Champions League home game in 21 years and defender Kevin Danso was delighted with the outcome. “We gave it our all today in front of our own fans,” he said. “It was a difficult game, Arsenal had a lot of quality and made us sit back really deep, but we kept defending and kept our concentration. Luckily we won the game. “At home we know how strong we are, in front of our fans. That’s what we always try to do: win at home. I’m a bit gutted about the clean sheet, but we’ll take the three points definitely.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Jude Bellingham helps Real Madrid to victory and Bayern Munich hit back to win Danny Care: England taking inspiration from Europe’s Ryder Cup win at World Cup Kieran Trippier aims to ruin Kylian Mbappe’s Newcastle trip even if son is upset
2023-10-04 06:15
Burnley secure first Premier League win with late victory at Luton
Burnley secure first Premier League win with late victory at Luton
Jacob Bruun Larsen’s dramatic winner snatched Burnley their first Premier League win of the season – a 2-1 victory at Luton Town. The Dane’s goal-of-the-season contender came after Lyle Foster’s opener had been cancelled out by Hatters striker Elijah Adebayo. Rob Edwards’ side were left to rue missed chances once again as they failed to build on Saturday’s 2-1 win at Everton. Carlton Morris set the tone in the opening seconds when he closed down goalkeeper James Trafford’s clearance and minutes later his strike from inside the box went narrowly wide as the hosts looked for an early opener. Burnley were second-best for the first 20 minutes, but Vincent Kompany’s men rode the storm and began to enjoy some success. Clarets forward Zeki Amdouni tested Thomas Kaminski with a header from a corner that forced an acrobatic save from the Belgian to keep the score level. This came shortly before Josh Brownhill had fired a warning shot from distance which narrowly avoided Kaminski’s top corner. The chance of the half came in the 33rd minute. Alfie Doughty found wing-back partner Issa Kabore and he sent over a cross in search of Morris but the ball fell kindly for Chiedozie Ogbene, whose diving header was inches away from nestling inside Trafford’s post. However, it was Burnley who struck first in time added on in the first half. Sander Berge did well to find Foster and he beat Tom Lockyer in a foot race to tuck his effort away. The Hatters almost equalised when Doughty’s inch-perfect corner found the head of Morris and his glancing header went inches wide. Substitute Adebayo found the head of Jacob Brown who was denied by Josh Cullen on the line as the tide began to turn with 25 minutes to go. After Morris was denied a penalty, his header missed the target once again as it started to feel like it was not going to be the Hatters’ night. But it was Adebayo who grabbed Luton the goal they deserved after 84 minutes. Reece Burke got on the end of a deep cross and provided the knockdown to the striker, who sorted his feet out and tapped home to level. But their joy was short-lived as Burnley scored a second a minute later to stun Kenilworth Road into silence. Bruun Larsen cut inside and produced an outstanding curled effort which found the top corner in front of the away fans. Luton searched for a second equaliser during seven added minutes but it was not to be and Burnley held on for the win to move up to 18th in the table. Read More That’s wrong Daz – panicked VAR recording of Luis Diaz disallowed goal released Kieran Trippier aims to ruin Kylian Mbappe’s Newcastle trip even if son is upset PGMOL release audio and review after Diaz’s disallowed goal for Liverpool Liverpool to be sent audio from VAR controversy before it is released publicly Liverpool request VAR audio of match-altering Luis Diaz goal decision Mauricio Pochettino’s faith in Mykhailo Mudryk is exactly what Chelsea need
2023-10-04 05:48
Arsenal suffer shock defeat in Lens as Bukayo Saka limps off again
Arsenal suffer shock defeat in Lens as Bukayo Saka limps off again
Arsenal suffered a turbulent night in the Champions League as Bukayo Saka hobbled off during defeat in Lens. Bad weather grounded Mikel Arteta and his players at Luton Airport for five hours on Monday as their journey to France was delayed. Now their hopes of avoiding a bumpy ride in qualifying for the knockout stages have also suffered a setback after Lens came from behind to record a 2-1 victory at a rocking Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Gabriel Jesus thought he had given the Gunners lift-off when he broke the deadlock with his 22nd Champions League goal. However, hopes of an easy night veered off course as an error from goalkeeper David Raya led to Adrien Thomasson levelling before Saka limped off hurt for the third time in nine days. Elye Wahi then hit the winner with 20 minutes to go to open up Group B as Arsenal now face a tricky trip to Europa League holders Sevilla later in the month. This was a first home Champions League game in 21 years for Lens and their fans were not going to miss the opportunity to enjoy the occasion. A huge tifo, flares and a wall of sound greeted kick-off and their team certainly set about Arsenal in the opening exchanges, with Kevin Danso firing just wide after collecting a corner. Despite the rapid start from the hosts, Arsenal struck first through Jesus’ tidy finish into the bottom corner after Saka had been gifted the ball by a sloppy backpass. The noise inside the stadium remained despite Lens falling behind and the vociferous support were rewarded with an equaliser. Raya, stood outside his box, looked to play a ball into midfield but the Arsenal goalkeeper’s pass was intercepted and moments later he was beaten by a fine curling strike from Thomasson to level the contest. For the third game in a row, Saka then limped off injured having gone down off the ball. He recovered after coming off late against Tottenham and Bournemouth but was replaced by Fabio Vieira here with the visit of Manchester City just five days away. Leandro Trossard forced a smart save out of Brice Samba in the Lens goal at the start of the second-half as Arsenal looked to retake the lead. The Ligue 1 side, though, started to take control of the game and Abdul Samed’s shot into the side-netting just after the interval was a warning for the visitors. With the game opening up, Takehiro Tomiyasu had a great chance to turn home a corner but could only shoot straight at Mendy. Lens would take the lead through Wahi, whose sweeping finish past Raya came after another break down the right flank. Arteta responded with an immediate triple substitution as Ben White replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko with the ineffectual pair of Trossard and Kai Havertz taken off for Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson. Despite the alterations, Samba was largely untroubled for the remainder of the night, punching clear a Smith Rowe drive with Arsenal unable to create a clearcut chance to rescue a point. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Danny Care: England taking inspiration from Europe’s Ryder Cup win at World Cup Man Utd’s poor form continues with damaging Champions League loss to Galatasaray Burnley secure first Premier League win with last-gasp victory at Luton
2023-10-04 05:23
Man Utd’s poor form continues with damaging Champions League loss to Galatasaray
Man Utd’s poor form continues with damaging Champions League loss to Galatasaray
Manchester United fell to a jaw-dropping, error-ridden 3-2 defeat at home to Galatasaray as Erik ten Hag’s side saw their start to the season go from bad to worse in an embarassing Champions League collapse. Having lost their Group A opener at Bayern Munich and fallen to a fourth defeat in seven Premier League matches on Saturday, the Red Devils reached a new low on a wet Tuesday night at Old Trafford. Rasmus Hojlund scored a superb second after his opener was cancelled out by Galatasaray’s grinning former United forward Wilfried Zaha, only for Ten Hag’s men to spectacularly unravel. Kerem Akturkoglu equalised and summer signing Andre Onana’s atrocious pass out straight to Dries Mertens led to a poor Casemiro recovery challenge that saw the Brazil midfielder sent off and a penalty awarded. The goalkeeper – guilty of a costly gaffe in Munich – was relieved to see Mauro Icardi strike the spot-kick wide, but the striker swiftly made amends as United fell to a third Old Trafford loss of the campaign Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live
2023-10-04 05:15
Indiana And Kentucky Set to Resume Basketball Rivalry
Indiana And Kentucky Set to Resume Basketball Rivalry
Kentucky and Indiana are set to resume their annual rivalry series.
2023-10-04 04:23
‘A loss of focus’ – VAR recording of Luis Diaz disallowed goal released
‘A loss of focus’ – VAR recording of Luis Diaz disallowed goal released
The audio recording of the discussion between the match officials that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed has been made public, with VAR Darren England swearing twice upon being told of his mistake. Diaz was incorrectly adjudged to have been offside on the field after netting in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday, a decision which was not over-ruled by England and his assistant Daniel Cook. Liverpool asked for a recording of what happened and Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has taken the step to publicly release the communication into how the bungled verdict was reached. PGMOL said England “lost sight of the on-field decision” due to “a lapse of concentration and loss of focus”. In the recording, England says “check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect” before the replay operator and then Cook question whether the correct decision has been made. England swears upon realising the error and then says “they’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything” as the replay operator makes repeated calls to delay the match. England then issues another expletive before the tape finishes, the end of an incident in which PGMOL, the referees’ body, admitted immediately after the match that a “significant human error” had occurred. Liverpool said “sporting integrity has been undermined”, while they released a statement the following day indicating they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution”. PGMOL said in a statement accompanying the audio: “After the on-field officials had disallowed the goal for offside, the checking phase and process started and was carried out correctly by the VAR. “In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on-field decision and he incorrectly communicated ‘check complete’, therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR (assistant VAR). “The match then restarted immediately. After a few seconds, the replay operator and then the AVAR queried the check-complete outcome with the VAR and asked him to review the image that had been created, pointing out that the original on-field decision had been offside, but this was not communicated to the on-field team at any point during the match. “The VAR team then gave consideration as to whether the game could be stopped at that point, however the VAR and AVAR concluded that the VAR protocol within the laws of the game would not permit that to happen, and they decided intervention was not possible as play had restarted.” England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures. The pair had already been replaced for the remainder of their matchweek seven duties – England was due to be fourth official at Nottingham Forest v Brentford on Sunday, with Cook scheduled to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash. PGMOL has vowed to learn from this incident, stressing accuracy over all else, including efficiency, to its video match officials and, from now on, a VAR must confer with their AVAR in the check process before relaying the final decision to the on-field officials. The Premier League announced a wider review of VAR, amid scathing criticism in the fallout of what happened at the weekend, is set to be held in conjunction with the PGMOL. A Premier League spokesperson said: “It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future. It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. Premier League spokesperson “However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL, supported by other stakeholders, and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented. “We have communicated fully with Liverpool FC on this matter and have shared PGMOL’s findings and relevant footage of the incident with all Premier League clubs.” England and Cook have come under further scrutiny since Saturday after it was reported they were part of a refereeing team in the United Arab Emirates two days before the Tottenham-Liverpool match. PGMOL added: “PGMOL and The FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Kieran Trippier aims to ruin Kylian Mbappe’s Newcastle trip even if son is upset The Oscar goes to referees – Pep Guardiola says players must be main attraction Reece Topley ‘undercooked’ as England prepare for World Cup opener
2023-10-04 03:48
Manchester United vs Galatasaray LIVE: Champions League goals, score and latest updates as Wilf Zaha starts
Manchester United vs Galatasaray LIVE: Champions League goals, score and latest updates as Wilf Zaha starts
The Uefa Champions League continues with matchday two starting on Tuesday night, as Manchester United get their first chance to play in front of their fans in the competition this season. They’ll be hosting Turkish side Galatasaray and looking to kick-start their European campaign having been beaten 4-3 by Bayern Munich in their opener. At the same time, Galatasaray fought back from two goals down against Copenhagen to pick up a point, leaving Man United bottom in Group A after the first round of fixtures. While the Red Devils therefore are in sore need of a victory, the form guide is strongly against them doing so - they’ve lost four of the last six including a home weekend defeat to Crystal Palace. Follow the latest news and updates from Man United vs Galatasary below and get the latest odds and tips here. Read More Sheikh Jassim makes Manchester United takeover decision as Sir Jim Ratcliffe considers new bid Raphael Varane reveals formula for Manchester United to claim Champions League glory
2023-10-04 03:21
Devon Witherspoon stole the show in huge Seahawks win over Giants
Devon Witherspoon stole the show in huge Seahawks win over Giants
Devon Witherspoon stole the show in huge Seahawks win over Giants
2023-10-04 02:49
PGMOL releases audio of VAR decision that wrongly saw Luis Diaz goal ruled out
PGMOL releases audio of VAR decision that wrongly saw Luis Diaz goal ruled out
The audio that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed by VAR in Liverpool’s defeat at Tottenham has been released publicly by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited. VAR Darren England and his assistant Daniel Cook did not over-rule the incorrect on-field decision of offside after Diaz had scored at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. PGMOL said in a statement on Tuesday evening that “standards fell short of expectations” and it has identified three key learnings “to mitigate against the risk of a future error”. Liverpool said on Sunday they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution” and PGMOL has provided a detailed report alongside the audio to the Premier League, which has in turn shared with Liverpool and the other 19 top-flight clubs. PGMOL will stress the importance of accuracy ahead of efficiency to its video match officials, while a “new VAR communication protocol will be developed to enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and the VAR team in relation to on-field decisions”. PGMOL added in a statement: “As an additional step to the process, the VAR will confirm the outcome of the VAR check process with the AVAR before confirming the final decision to the on-field officials. “We recognise standards fell short of expectations and acknowledged the error to Liverpool immediately after the conclusion of the fixture.” England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures. It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. Premier League spokesperson The pair had already been replaced for the remainder of their matchweek seven duties – England was due to be fourth official at Nottingham Forest v Brentford on Sunday, with Cook scheduled to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash. A Premier League spokesperson said: “Having reviewed all relevant footage of the disallowed Luis Diaz goal during the Tottenham Hotspur FC versus Liverpool FC match on Saturday, and PGMOL’s report into the incident, it is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. “We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future. “However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL, supported by other stakeholders, and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented. “We have communicated fully with Liverpool FC on this matter and have shared PGMOL’s findings and relevant footage of the incident with all Premier League clubs.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live The Oscar goes to referees – Pep Guardiola says players must be main attraction Reece Topley ‘undercooked’ as England prepare for World Cup opener Jonathan Humphreys urges Wales not to ‘go off-script’ against Georgia
2023-10-04 02:28
The Oscar goes to referees – Pep Guardiola says players must be main attraction
The Oscar goes to referees – Pep Guardiola says players must be main attraction
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has accused referees of stealing the spotlight from players following last weekend’s VAR controversy in the Premier League. The 52-year-old has sympathised with rivals Liverpool after the Reds had a goal against Tottenham incorrectly disallowed for offside following a VAR review. It was arguably the most contentious of all decisions taken since the technology was introduced and prompted the Merseyside club to issue a strong statement saying “sporting integrity” had been undermined. Guardiola is concerned that such incidences are detracting from the game’s main actors. He said: “I understand completely how upset Liverpool must be in that case. “They will have to find a system where the main roles are the players and the game itself. In all the countries, not just here. The referees and the VARs are the leading roles. And the Oscar goes to. “They have to make a step back, be more humble and leave the players to do what they have to do, and they will be better.” Guardiola did not have any suggestions himself on how the system could be improved. “I am not a professional at that,” the Spaniard said. “I rely on the people and we have to apply it as best as possible. I am not involved and I don’t care. They will have to find a system where the main roles are the players and the game itself. In all the countries, not just here. The referees and the VARs are the leading roles. And the Oscar goes to. They have to make a step back, be more humble and leave the players to do what they have to do, and they will be better Pep Guardiola on referees “Everyone knows they made a mistake and Liverpool suffered the big consequence of that. In this type of game it is so important. But, no worries, the consequences will dictate the players and the managers.” Guardiola was speaking to the media via a Zoom call after City were forced to rearrange their travel plans for Wednesday’s Champions League game at RB Leipzig. He had been due to hold a pre-match press conference at the RB Arena on arrival on Tuesday afternoon but their flight was rescheduled for evening due to strong winds in the German city. Guardiola brushed off the impact of the disruption ahead of the Group G encounter. He said: “It’s no problem. That it’s safe to fly and land, that’s the important thing.” John Stones and Bernardo Silva were due to travel with the squad having recently returned to training following injury. Stones has not played since the Community Shield due to a thigh problem while Silva has missed the last three games with a knock. Guardiola said: “They feel better, Bernardo better than John. Both travel and we’ll decide tomorrow. We’re really happy they’re back.” Rodri, who still has one game of a domestic suspension to serve, will feature before being given time off ahead of the upcoming international break. The Spain midfielder was sorely missed in last weekend’s defeat at Wolves and his absence will again be felt at Arsenal on Sunday but Guardiola hopes some good can come from the situation. He said: “You always have to take the positive. Rodri’s going to play the game tomorrow and then I’ll give him a rest, go to the Maldives for four or five days before joining the national team.” Guardiola, wearing a black armband, also paid tribute to former City player and chairman Francis Lee, who died this week. He said: “We are here (because of) people like Franny Lee, Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell, part of the generation that created a part of this organisation, this club. “On behalf of the team, to his wife and all the family, a huge hug.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Reece Topley ‘undercooked’ as England prepare for World Cup opener Jonathan Humphreys urges Wales not to ‘go off-script’ against Georgia Pep Guardiola says Manchester City flight to Leipzig being delayed ‘no problem’
2023-10-04 01:52
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