Excellent news😍: Erling Haaland, UK side chick, gave birth to a boy last week and named him after Pep Guardiola 🥰…

Excellent news😍: Erling Haaland, UK side chick, gave birth to a boy last week and named him after Pep Guardiola 🥰…

Richard Arnold’s comments on Man City that left staff ‘baffled’ sum up old Man Utd regime
Richard Arnold stressed to Manchester United staff members back in September that the club were making progress in their attempts to “chase down” Manchester City

Richard Arnold left Man United earlier this year (Image: Getty Images)
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ByDan MarshSenior Sports Reporter
20:23, 1 May 2024
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Former Manchester United chief executive Richard Arnold is said to have left staff bemused after claiming they were “chasing down” their neighbours, Manchester City, prior to his departure from the club.

Arnold, 53, became the first person to depart in the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-Ineos era when it was announced back in November that he was standing down from his role. He officially left Old Trafford just weeks later after 16 years of services across numerous roles.

Ratcliffe and his team have already implemented significant changes since acquiring a controlling stake in the club. Ineos poached the highly-regarded Omar Berrada from City to replace Arnold as CEO and have made other astute appointments.

The previous regime at United, including part-owners the Glazer family, have been heavily criticised by fans and pundits alike as a result of the club’s decline over recent years.

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Erik ten Hag handed Man Utd lifeline as Sir Jim Ratcliffe left ‘unimpressed by alternatives’
During that same period, Manchester City have evolved into the Premier League’s most dominant outfit. However, a fresh report has outlined that Arnold felt United were closing the gap on their neighbours – something that left several staff members ‘baffled and exasperated’.

Those comments, as relayed by The Athletic, were made in September, just months after City had won the treble. United, by contrast, won the Carabao Cup last season and finished third under Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman has struggled this year and the club will miss out on qualification for the Champions League as a result of their disastrous league campaign.

Shortly after taking charge of football operations at Old Trafford, Ratcliffe has expressed a desire to bring in a number of “best in class” personnel behind the scenes in a bid to drive an improvement in United’s on-field performance. He’s also admitted that recent years had been “difficult” as a fan of the club.

Join the debate! What have you made of the changes Ratcliffe has made at Man Utd? Let us know here.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already shaken things up since becoming a part-owner of Manchester United ( Image: Getty Images)
He said in an interview with the BBC: “It has clearly been a difficult 11 years since Alex Ferguson and David Gill retired. It’s not switching a light switch, not just about a new coach or a simple short-term fix. We have to walk to the right solution not run to the wrong one. Short term issue is we want to get into the Champions League for FFP. Real challenge is it’s a two-to-three season challenge to get the organisation and environment right to get the performances on the field right and winning football matches. That involves the organisation, the design and structure of the organisation being correct.

“At the moment the coach reports to the CEO – that doesn’t make any sense. You need to populate the organisation, you need to invest in class. It will be a very exciting challenge and it will attract the best people in the world in my view.

“We have to find the best people in the world, ensure they have right character and personality to work positively in the structure – we don’t want disruptors or egos. And then create the right environment for elite sportspeople to be successful, all we’re doing here is trying to drive performance on the pitch.”

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BARCELONA: TRANSFER RUMORS & NEWS
Pep Guardiola said to be missing İlkay Gündoğan
The German international has left a hole at Manchester City.

By Luis Mazariegos@luism8989 May 2, 2024, 5:18am CEST 0 Comments / 0 New
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FC Barcelona v Valencia CF – LaLiga EA Sports
Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images
Pep Guardiola has reportedly noted the hole left in their squad by the absence of İlkay Gündoğan, who now plays for FC Barcelona.

Mateo Kovačić and Matheus Nunes have been used in his absence but neither has quite measured up to the German international.

Gündoğan was Guardiola’s first signings when he arrived at Manchester City, and one of the captains of the team. Guardiola has always been an admirer of his, but he was eventually allowed to leave on a free transfer.

There are some who say that Gündoğan would have changed the fortunes of the English club this season if he were available to play against Real Madrid. Regardless, City were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League on penalties.

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+¹Happy birthday to the king of football Erling Haaland.