Tweet:

Manchester United agree deal with Newcastle United to appoint Dan Ashworth as sporting director. Move delayed by #MUFC & #NUFC struggling to compromise on compensation package but switch now sanctioned + 53yo expected to start immediately @TheAthleticFC

Article:

Manchester United have agreed a deal with Newcastle United to appoint Dan Ashworth as their sporting director.

Ashworth’s move to Old Trafford was delayed by the clubs struggling to compromise on a compensation package.

But more than four months after he was placed on gardening leave and it looked as though an independent hearing would be needed to break the deadlock, Ashworth’s switch has now been sanctioned.

The 53-year-old is expected to commence his position in the new-look Manchester United structure with immediate effect.

Ashworth intended to take Newcastle to arbitration to help facilitate his move with, as reported by The Athletic, Manchester United supporting his bid and pledging to pay his legal costs.

He is set to have overall responsibility for football performance, recruitment and operations at the 20-time champions of England, with technical director Jason Wilcox reporting to him.

Ashworth will himself report into Sir Dave Brailsford, who Ratcliffe has tasked with undertaking a review of the United’s football operations.

go-deeper GO DEEPER

Why Manchester United want Dan Ashworth

Former football director John Murtough stepped down in April after a decade’s service, paving the way for Ashworth’s appointment.

He will become the latest high-profile appointment under Ratcliffe. Omar Berrada is scheduled to arrive as chief executive from Manchester City later this month, while Wilcox’s arrival as technical director was confirmed in April.

Ashworth joined Newcastle United after resigning from his post as technical director at Brighton & Hove Albion in February 2022.

He moved to Brighton in 2019 following a spell as technical director at the Football Association — where he started in 2012 after a spell with West Bromwich Albion — and helped develop the men’s and women’s national teams.

He was credited with playing an influential role in England’s World Cup victories at under-17 and under-20 level in 2017.

Ashworth has generated a strong reputation in areas such as player recruitment and the building of high-performance structures.

Article has quite a few short videos, so it's better to follow the link. Basically, setup isn't getting the best out of players and is wearing them out.

Here's the text:

Manchester United were this close to stealing a thoroughly undeserved win on Saturday. Mason Mount’s 96th-minute winner against Brentford looked as if United were going to steal three points in a match where they were dominated in every facet of the game.

At the beginning of the season Grace Robertson tweeted, “A lot of people primarily watch football for an excuse for a good moan.” Football fans love a good moan, but what they love even more than moaning, is pointing the finger at something.

Football discourse in 2024 needs to blame someone or something for what’s happened. The way the news cycle and social media work these days when something happens there’s no time for a detailed explanation. Instead, there needs to be a sudden visceral reaction. This is the fault of x. When a goal is scored

A defender's job is to prevent goals from being scored. If a goal is scored that means someone didn’t do their job. Therefore the goal is their fault. Even if there’s a whole chain of breakdowns it’s typically the last action that will be blamed, unless you’ve got an agenda against one of the players in the chain, then a screenshot will be taken of the mistake that player made - stripping out all context - and laying the blame at his feet.

For whatever reason, not everyone is a fan of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Therefore when United conceded a late equalizer to Brentford on Saturday, it wasn’t surprising to see the following image popping up all over social media blaming Wan-Bissaka for playing Ivan Toney onside to set up Brentford’s equalizer.

That screen shot make it look like Wan-Bissaka is a complete idiot, undoing all the work of the rest of United’s defense. The screenshot strips out all context. It’s just a one second look at a sequence that had multiple breakdowns from multiple players.

How did this goal happen?

When you start to dig deeper to try to answer that question you see that the tactical choices United made over the course of the full match lead them to this moment. The choices United made over 90 minutes will have different effects on different players, culminating in this entire sequence.

We’re not hear to break down what United’s tactical plan was and whether it was good or not. Rather we’re just looking at what they did, and how that’s going to affect players.

For instance, once again United went with the narrow high press they always use but never works, where they leave the wide man open.

Every team in the league knows to break this press all you have to do is get the ball to the wide man, and it’s not particularly difficult to do that.

Once you get it to the wide man you’ve got a free run up the pitch to run at United’s defenders.

This style forces the attackers to do a ton of useless running that simply serves to tire them out. This hangs the defense out to dry. They can’t keep their high line because they have no protection. The ball carrier has all the time in the world to pick out a runner if they don’t retreat. They’re forced to play on their heels and get their ass back.

As the opponent now can attack with pace, the bypassed forwards have to high-tail it back to help out their defenders. When they get back on defense they get all the way back. United have nine outfield players in and around their own box

Having all the forwards come all the way back to the box thus prevents United from being able to launch counterattacks because for one, they don’t have an outlet high up the pitch, and two, they’re too freakin tired. They’re wasting their energy with the pointless running.

Then when they do finally get some space to run into, the fatigue starts to set in. They’re a step slower. There’s less power behind their shot. Rather than having that burst of pace that they should have they opt to pass the ball and it ends up being a poor ball. Physical fatigue leads to more mental errors.

As United can’t counter, they need to build up and attack the slow way. With Erik Ten Hag that means getting men forward. and having your wingers - who happen to be your best goal scorers - get as wide as they can on the touchline while your fullbacks attack the dangerous half-spaces.

Occasionally it will also mean having one winger come over and overloading one side. But this doesn’t free up your second winger to get into a dangerous position. No, your wingers still end up glued to the touchline, while your fullback - who is not known for his attacking ability - can push up and join the forward line.

It’s hard to see how this setup is going to yield strong attacking results. What’s most likely to happen is eventually someone is going to get frustrated and try to dribble through people themselves and lose the ball, or someone is going to make a bad pass or take a bad touch and lose the ball. Once you lose the ball, since you have so many people forward it only takes one pass to get the ball behind you - leaving a whole team of players having to hustle back.

In United’s dumbass attacking setup, it’s often their best attackers like Bruno or Rashford who are the deepest players and now are the ones who need to run back the hardest to defend, further tiring them out for their next foray forward.

Meanwhile, while the forwards get back to do the initial defending, the fullbacks still have to spring back on defense to get back into position. Then when United eventually win the ball back, they’ll need to run forward again because they have an important position to get to at the top of the attack.

Back and forth back and forth. This is... a lot of running that the fullbacks have to do over the course of a 90-minute game (which is even longer due to added time). It’s incredibly tiring. You can’t expect a fullback to have the same energy levels that he has in the 15th minute in the 75th minute, let alone the 95th minute. It wears you down as the game goes on.

That takes us to injury time and how the equalizer came about. United scored to take a 1-0 lead. Brentford kick-off and immediately launched a long ball down the left side. Without facing any pressure, United dropped their whole team deep. So deep that when United wins the initial ball, the header goes beyond their front line and is easily scooped up by Brentford.

It’s hard for United to close these guys down because, well they’re tired. They’ve been doing a lot of useless running all game to wear down their legs. Stopping, changing direction, and starting again is difficult to do on tired legs.

At this point, we have the culmination of several themes United often display. They’ve dropped everyone deep, yet there are still about five Brentford players who are pretty free. The most open of them all is the far-side winger. Of course, he is. United have been leaving the wide player open all season long!

Brentford plays the ball out wide and Wan-Bissaka steps out to pick up the man and initially blocks Mbeuno’s cross. That’s when Mbeuno gets some help from Mads Roerslev on the overlap. Initially, AWB stays with Mbeuno while Casemiro tries to step out and pick up Roerslev, but Casemiro’s legs went a long time ago. Roerslev easily beats him down the byline and is free to whip in a cross. This is where all of United’s problems begin.

As you can, United has seven men inside the box plus Casemiro and AWB just out wide of the box. Their furthest player forward is Rasmus Hojlund who is just outside the box. Everyone is back.

United win the initial header from the cross but of course, it easily goes beyond any United player allowing Brentford to easily keep up the pressure.

There’s a failure there. A header was never going to get this ball out very far. There are so many players back deep that there’s no one on the next line to help get the ball clear. Rather than putting out the attack, you’re giving the ball back to Brentford and saying “Come again.”

Wan-Bissaka jumps to block the cross and ends up as the deepest United player when he lands. As soon as the ball gets headed away he starts running out along with the rest of his teammates. But he’s got more ground to cover, Brentford takes one touch before on their next touch they cross it back in.

Wan-Bissaka doesn’t get out of the danger area fast enough. Could he have run harder? Sure, but we also can’t forget, it’s the 98th minute and he’s been running up and down the pitch for all those minutes. All that running back and forth to join every attack and then high tail it back to prevent a transition has taken a toll on his legs. That quick burst you might expect to have on your first step isn’t there anymore. Not to mention, this was just the second game he’s started since January! His body isn’t fully used to this again.

Of course, it’s not like Ivan Toney brought the ball down and scored right away. There were still several breakdowns that occurred after the cross was played. Lisandro Martinez did his usual let the attacker bring the ball down then try to make the tackle rather than fight for the header only to then woof on the tackle not once but twice.

Furthermore, go back to where everyone was when the cross was initially played and AWB is playing everyone onside. Look at where Diogo Dalot is in relation to goal scorer Kristoffer Ajer.

Merely five seconds later Ajer is alone in the middle of the box, not a United player anywhere near him.

All it takes is one simple pass, and United concede from a simple cutback just like they’ve been doing all year.

Thomas Frank knew exactly what United was going to do on Saturday and had a plan to exploit it. Erik Ten Hag had no answers as the 16th-placed team in the league ran rampant over United. Brentford is the second-worst finishing team in the league and that lack of finishing was the only reason this match was even close after 30 minutes.

United didn’t drop two points Saturday because Aaron Wan-Bissaka played Ivan Toney onside. They dropped two points because they had a poor tactical plan, never adapted to Brentford, and ran their players into the ground. What happens at the end of a match isn’t just caused by what’s happening at the end of the match. The decisions you make early on in the match can affect the end just as well. It all adds up. Against Brentford, all those decisions throughout the game culminated with one sequence that gave Brentford an equalizer.

Article:

Forward’s lacklustre pressing betrays how he’s lost his way, regardless of issues off the field. No longer is he guaranteed a starting place at Old Trafford – or England

Marcus Rashford has reached a crossroads. He’s still relatively young, 26, but his career drifts. He’s not a guaranteed starter for Manchester United or England any more. England have alternatives. United struggle, badly needing their No 10 in form and focused, but he isn’t. Rashford is losing the faith of the Stretford End, who loved watching a kid from Wythenshawe tearing up games but now mourn the decline in performances.

Talents such as Rashford get to reclaim the narrative, rewrite the headlines, and let’s hope he does. Only Rashford can stop the drift. Whatever the state of his relationship with Erik ten Hag, Rashford has a duty to the team, the club and the support to give everything off the field to be ready when the whistle goes, and then perform in and out of possession at the elite level that he can. He has the ability.

Any discussion of Rashford comes with caveats. Any story garners heightened focus because he plays for the biggest club in the country, and because of his elevated public profile after his vital campaign tackling child food poverty. The activist-athlete concept annoys some people, especially small-minded ones who prefer socially conscious footballers “to stay in their lane”. Yet many of the country’s schoolchildren, and their parents, owe Rashford a debt of gratitude for forcing an about-turn in government thinking. He was appointed MBE. He is likeable, conscientious and he is allowed a social life.

But even those of us who have long admired Rashford’s work on and off the field can see the drift. Last week’s trip to Belfast sparked controversy, not least after Ten Hag’s terse comment that he would “deal with it” and the sight of Rashford and his brother Dwaine Maynard, who is the player’s agent, driving into Carrington on Monday morning for high-level talks ended with a club statement that “Marcus has taken responsibility for his actions”.

Elements of the story portray Rashford in a good light: wanting to use his days off to support an old Fletcher Moss Rangers and United friend, Ro-Shaun Williams, at his new club, Larne. Rashford spent time with the academy youngsters there. So far, so thoughtful.

Rashford doesn’t always think things through fully. How will a trip to a nightclub look? Is it clever timing with the team labouring? And with his own form poor? Perceptions matter. He was out on Wednesday night but his sympathisers insist he wasn’t on Thursday, and that he reported for training on Friday as expected but was ill. He was also ill on Saturday morning. He missed Sunday’s perilous FA Cup tie away to Newport County.

At the very least, the debate over whether Rashford was ill, ill-disciplined or both is all a distraction that Ten Hag doesn’t need. He’s got new co-owners scrutinising him, some home fans questioning him, away fans singing of his imminent sacking and a media scenting vulnerability. It’s frustrating for Ten Hag that progress in the cup, and good displays from Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Bruno Fernandes and Lisandro Martínez, gets overshadowed by the Rashford story. He’s trying to instil discipline and then this happens. Rashford is not a kid any more. He’s a senior pro.

Rashford is no longer guaranteed his England place despite his 59 caps, with alternatives available for Southgate for the Euros

The reaction of some United supporters during such episodes is often to reflect: “What would Sir Alex have done?” Ferguson would have defended the player to the hilt in public, set the hairdryer to full blast in private, and challenged him to improve. If not, get rid. But Ten Hag doesn’t have the personality or power base of Ferguson, United are short of attacking options and Rashford has a long contract. He’s in a strong position. Even a two-week fine wouldn’t hurt.

It’s sad. Rashford should be what United are about: home-grown, hungry, quick, talented, exhibiting swagger on the pitch and humility off it. He’s not at the moment. He’s lost his way. To watch him press is to see that. Rashford appears to have mastered the art of not quite closing down, also a technique practised occasionally by Arsenal’s Kai Havertz. They run hard and fast towards a defender on the ball, and then ease up. Either they expect the ball to be laid off or they don’t want to risk contact. It’s become symbolic of the drift in Rashford’s career. Not fully committed.

Melanie Rashford worked three jobs to support Rashford and his brothers

Rashford has to re-engage and reignite his career. He has a duty to his remarkable mother, Melanie, who made so many sacrifices when he was growing up, working three jobs to feed him and his brothers, to make sure he had boots and got to training. He has a duty to the coaches at Fletcher Moss and in United’s academy who helped him reach for the stars. Ultimately, Rashford has a duty to himself and his footballing gifts to make the most of them. Don’t waste them.

Because he is, at present. In 32 appearances this season for club and country, Rashford has scored five times. This time last year, Rashford had played a similar number of games (34, some central) and scored 21 times. Rashford finished the season scoring against North Macedonia in June with 34 goals in 63 appearances. He should have kicked on even more this season, pushing for truly elite level. That requires dedication, concentration and consistency.

Rashford has 59 caps, has done so much for England, but he must know he’s putting his involvement at Euro 2024 at risk, even taking into account Gareth Southgate’s loyalty and his ability to cover for Harry Kane. If Bukayo Saka has the right-wing position nailed down, the left is up for grabs now. Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon and Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze are enjoying better seasons than Rashford. Jack Grealish will be in the squad. Phil Foden can play off the left. Rashford is truly at the crossroads. It’s up to an underperforming talent to get back on the right track.

Manchester United is pleased to announce the appointment of Omar Berrada as its new CEO.

The Club is determined to put football and performance on the pitch back at the heart of everything we do. Omar’s appointment represents the first step on this journey.

As one of the most experienced football executives at the top of European football, Omar brings a wealth of football and commercial expertise, with a proven record of successful leadership and a passion to help lead change across the Club. He is currently serving as Chief Football Operations Officer for City Football Group overseeing 11 clubs across five continents and, prior to this, held senior roles at Barcelona.

It is our stated ambition to re-establish Manchester United as a title-winning club. We are pleased that Omar will be joining us to help achieve that goal, so that, once again, United fans can see, in the words of Sir Matt Busby, the red flag flying high at the summit of English, European and world football.

Omar’s start date will be confirmed in due course; in the meantime, Patrick Stewart will continue as interim CEO.

Manchester United plc reaches agreement for Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, to acquire up to a 25% shareholding in the Company.

Acquisition of 25% of the Class B shares held by the Glazer family

Offer to acquire up to 25% of all Class A shares

The Glazer family and Class A shareholders will receive the same price of $33.00 per share

Further investment of $300 million in the Club

INEOS delegated responsibility for management of football operations

Completion of this deal is subject to receiving all necessary regulatory approvals including from the Premier League

I didn't know what to post, so I panicked.

Image says:

"You don't know what fun is until you've witnessed a drunk on the Edinburgh to Glasgow train screaming "A fucking hate hedgehogs, come at me ya jabby wee cunt" while angrily circling a hairbrush that's been dropped on the floor..."

By: Nicki@AwkwardAndOdd