World news

Two Premier League managers are under fire on Sunday, with Tottenham boss Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner both facing uncertainty.

Spurs fans directed chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” towards Frank during Saturday’s defeat by West Ham which left the club languishing in 14th in the Premier League.

Glasner, who has already confirmed he will leave the Eagles at the end of the season, said his squad are being “abandoned” by the Palace board following his side’s 2-1 loss at Sunderland.

Meanwhile, in the Premier League today, struggling Wolves host Newcastle and Everton travel to Aston Villa.

At the Australian Open, Cameron Norrie, the only British seed in the men’s draw, reached the second round by beating Benjamin Bonzi.

British No 1 Emma Raducanu, meanwhile, beat Mananchaya Sawangkaew in straight sets.

There are also group stage matches in the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.

Follow The i Paper’s live blog for updates

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/pfvraT6

CITY GROUND – Never mind Ola Aina handling the ball, every time Ben White held the ball you questioned Arsenal’s intentions in this match. 

After Manchester United’s emphatic derby win over Manchester City, Arsenal had the chance to go nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with victory at Nottingham Forest.

But with each lengthy White throw-in, the Arsenal full-back either unwilling to restart a sport he supposedly “hates” or short of options in front of him, the Gunners repeatedly wasted precious seconds that ultimately amounted to minutes in this 0-0 draw.

A point gained? Mikel Arteta brushed off that notion after full-time. “We made a step, a smaller one than the one that we wanted, but it’s a step,” he said.

But a second successive goalless draw in the Premier League, for the first time since 2012-13, suggests at this rate Arsenal may stumble rather than steamroll their way to glory.

Crying outright complacency feels too harsh but there remains a danger of this squad slumbering themselves into submission, particularly as this squad lacks serial winners with just one Premier League winner among them: Gabriel Jesus.

This lack of know-how surfaced in a Forest game there for the taking, with the lack of urgency mystifying and the threatening moments too few as three shots on target came from 15 overall – a miserly return.

To counter this they at least have the league’s best defence, one that is still very likely to win them the title, and arguably they deserve more praise for being where they are without a proper striker.

Viktor Gyokeres may have impressed in midweek against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, but a one-on-one opportunity at Forest left few inside this ground expecting the net to ripple, and when it didn’t, it was another reminder the Swede is certainly not going to be a reason Arsenal take home silverware this season.

Gyokeres’ struggles point towards a wider concern for Arsenal, again an issue that only their defence might dig them out of.

They may be top of the table that matters but you have to scroll well down to find their top scorers in the Premier League this season, with Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard both on five.

Only Sunderland, Everton and Wolves are further down that list, hinting at both a remarkable goal share among Arsenal’s players and yet a glaring hole where someone who is more clinical could have made this a procession already.

So at least, as far as Arsenal are concerned, there is clear daylight, and that is what they need until their trip to City on 18 April. Pep Guardiola’s side may have been outclassed on Saturday, but the arrival of Marc Guehi will only steady a shaky defence, and with 16 games still to go this is far from over yet.

Do not sleep on Aston Villa either, but still it is in the hands of boring, boring Arsenal, who won’t care a jot the manner of how they get there, so long as they do.

It was never going to be smooth. Saturday was a reminder it might not be entirely exciting either.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/ASRf5Yz

Man Utd 2-0 Man City (Mbeumo 65′, Dorgu 76′)

OLD TRAFFORD – Michael Carrick, where do you want the statue? Your sheep can now graze in Stretford anywhere you like. That six-year deal will be on the table on Monday morning, sharp.

Manchester United will, hopefully for their long-suffering supporters, never make that mistake again. The start for the 12th coach, temporary or permanent, to be charged with raising this sleeping giant from its slumber, could, however, not have gone any better.

All it took was correcting the two biggest errors of judgement an intransigent Ruben Amorim continued to make during his ill-fated tenure to turn things around.

Bryan Mbeumo. Stretford End. ERUPTION! pic.twitter.com/v1RbPqcs9q

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 17, 2026

In a way, there was something incredibly admirable about Amorim’s stoicism, what he was trying to do. He had his way of playing, and given carte blanche to do what he wanted by the United overlords, he did everything he could to do things his way, having earned the right to do so.

There had to be some give, of which none was forthcoming. United’s greatest hopes, of the present and future, Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo, were the victims of that malady.

For no longer. Back in his market-leading No 10 role, Fernandes did what he does best and steered a rudderless ship to victory. His classy deckhand Mainoo there to provide additional quality in midfield conspicuous by its absence entrenched in Amorim’s systems. Something Carrick knows plenty about.

The result was a potentially season-saving derby victory. Amazing what you can do when starting your best players, deployed in the most effective roles.

A(nother) new era began just as the 12 previous epochs had – in optimistic earnest.

Carrick strode down the Old Trafford touchline, not looking like he had aged a single minute since he received an Old Trafford guard of honour upon hanging up his boots in 2018, making sure he completed the new-manager-introduction bingo card.

Having issued his rallying cry in the programme notes, he donned the football manager’s go-to wool coat, applauded all corners of the ground, waved his arms to gee up support, before standing in the technical area alone, surveying his new kingdom.

With Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo back, the Premier League’s most dangerous strikeforce, in terms of number of shots at goal, had that fearsome look once more.

But it was the brilliance from deep that proved the catalyst for success. Fernandes sees passes no other player can. Remarkably, even from deep in an Amorim midfield two, he still has created more chances this season than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.

His first-half pickout for an early Patrick Dorgu opening was one of those pickouts no other player’s radar could spot.

Mainoo and Casemiro were complementing each other perfectly. The veteran Brazilian’s guile and timing in the tackle thwarted City breaks time and again, with Mainoo offering the perfect quick outlet to instigate attacks.

The link-up between Fernandes and Mainoo as a pairing was particularly telling. For the past 14 hellish months, there was no outlet for the captain, shoehorned into a deeper role. He had to look for the spectacular passes all the time, with so few other bodies in and around him.

Without being at all hyperbolic, in a performance more complete than anything Amorim could conjure, United kept the might of Manchester City on the back foot for 90 minutes.

The best all-round performance since the 2024 FA Cup final victory over City. The best at Old Trafford since well beyond that, even as far back as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time at the club. Erik ten Hag masterminded some huge victories, but not with the dominance of what unfolded on Saturday.

For all their superiority, however, the chances kept coming, and going. Harry Magurie should have scored from point-blank range, Casemiro somehow contrived to miss when it looked more difficult to do so, while the linesman’s flag ruled out two goals.

A cool head was needed to stop profligacy setting in. Step forward captain fantastic.

Carrying the ball forward on the counter, Fernandes had options either side 65 minutes in. The Stretford End expected. The pass through from Mbeumo for the goal that set the hosts on their way to victory was, as it always is, inch-perfect in its weight and accuracy. A resurgent Mbeumo did the rest.

In moments like this, Amorim’s more positive showings fell flat. The difference was that he didn’t have Fernandes in the positions to affect the biggest occasions.
And there’s only one man to blame for that.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/RD37bKc

So welcome Marc Guehi, signing number 21 for Manchester City since the jaw-dropping moment the Premier League slapped the club with 130 charges of breaching competition fair play regulations.

It feels quaint now, looking back at some of the headlines. You couldn’t help but feel like the tectonic plates of the Premier League were shifting in some way on that February morning back in 2023 but a line sticks out. “Business as usual” was what City sources said. But it’s been nothing of the sort.

When Guehi joins from Crystal Palace, he’ll join Antoine Semenyo, Tijani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, James Trafford, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sverre Nypan, Marcus Bettinelli, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Savinho, Juma Bah, Ilkay Gundogan, Josko Gvardiol, Matheus Nunes, Jeremy Doku, Mateo Kovacic and Claudio Echeverri in a recruitment drive as aggressive and relentless as any club in Europe.

It’s a £711m spend in just shy of three years – £500m net – and that only skims the surface of what has been going on. Erling Haaland has renewed his contract for 10 years, Pep Guardiola for another two.

Man City’s five biggest signings since charges

• Josko Gvardiol £77.5m
• Antoine Semenyo £65m
• Omar Marmoush £65m
• Jeremy Doku £55.5m
• Matheus Nunes £53m

Work continues on the super-sizing of the stadium and to East Manchester’s skyline has been added a world-class indoor arena that will also help fund City’s ballooning commercial revenue. If there is a sense of impending doom at the Etihad, those in charge are hiding it very well.

City’s line has always been that the club are innocent of all charges, reassurances that have been relayed to every single prospective signing and Guardiola himself.

That conviction has been enough to persuade some of the best players in Europe to commit themselves to the club, adding to the surreal feeling that the independent commission into City’s alleged wrongdoing exists in some parallel universe.

It doesn’t, though. For all that City look like a club without a care in the world, they have no idea which way the verdict is going to go and no one else does either.

Despite the speculation that has surrounded the case since 2023, information around it is very scarce. We don’t even properly know what the club are accused of, much less what the specifics of the case are.

It’s a farcical situation that reflects horrendously on one of the most prestigious sporting competitions in the world. Supporters of rival clubs talk about unfairness and as City hoover up some of the brightest talents on the market, it will always feel like an asterisk next to their name.

For City, too, there’s a weariness. There have been plenty of false alarms around the verdict being imminent, with football finance experts being put on red alert so many times that they’ve stopped taking the whispers seriously.

Guardiola himself said the decision was coming in Spring – only for another six months to pass with radio silence.

These things take time – we get that. The independent commission has had to wade through 250,000 documents. But even those familiar with this sort of thing think a year is a long time to come to a conclusion.

As Guehi steps through the door at City, certainty is what we all crave. Without it, the credibility of the Premier League is being eroded slowly.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/MI4ebyz

Oliver Glasner’s departure from Crystal Palace has not improved his prospects of becoming Manchester United manager, with Roberto De Zerbi and Thomas Tuchel the current leading picks.

Glasner was identified by some United executives as being a candidate to succeed Ruben Amorim on a permanent basis in the summer following the Portuguese’s sacking.  

The 51-year-old has impressed at Palace since his arrival two years ago, but The i Paper has been told that a recent run of nine games without a win in all competitions has seen his stock fall. That streak included the greatest shock in FA Cup history as his side were beaten by non-league Macclesfield.

Glasner revealed on Friday that he would be leaving Palace at the end of the season. That was widely expected anyway and is not understood to have altered United’s thinking.

The United hierarchy have looked at a host of names, with Michael Carrick in place as head coach until the end of the season.

Enrique not interested

Tuchel and De Zerbi are among the top contenders, with sources telling The i Paper that senior figures want a manager who can bring bold and innovative ideas, work within a structure, and who unlike Amorim has Premier League experience under their belt.

There was plenty of talk United would go all out for Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique after rumours suggested he was seeking a new challenge and fancied a crack at the Premier League, given he speaks near-perfect English.

Sources in Paris played down those reports, insisting Luis Enrique is happy where he is and still has unfinished business with the European champions. He is also expected to extend his contract beyond his current deal, which expires in 2027.

Tuchel’s future

Some see Tuchel as unattainable, given he has only been England coach for just over a year, and has already turned down United once.

Other sources believe Tuchel would be open to the challenge, especially after the upcoming World Cup when his contract runs out. Someone with the German’s intensity may not be willing to wait around for two years for the next major tournament.

Tuchel also has experience of working under directors of football in the club structure Ineos are determined to stick with – something that eventually became too much for Amorim.

De Zerbi’s style of football

De Zerbi is another that fits the Ineos bill. The Italian has been on United’s radar ever since his Brighton teams regularly outplayed United during his time in the Premier League.

The Marseille manager has continued to impress in France, finishing second last term behind PSG while playing an attacking brand of football United supporters would love to call their own.

De Zerbi has always been popular among his players and uniting dressing rooms is said to be his speciality – a trait United could currently do with.

Other options

Maurico Pochettino, Marco Silva, Xabi Alonso and Xavi are on a long list of others who have been looked it, but as it stands sit below De Zerbi and Tuchel in the pecking order.

While Carrick is aware he is only in the role on an interim basis, there is always the chance that he may be offered the role permanently if he guides United back into the Champions League next season. After all, the club has previous, doing so with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

It is understood that eventuality is not currently on Ineos’ radar and is one of many previous failings they are hoping the club can learn from and not repeat.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/jENfpod

Oliver Glasner has confirmed he will leave Crystal Palace at the end of the season.

The Austrian won the FA Cup – the first major trophy in the Eagles’ history – last May but leaves amid ongoing tensions with the board over player sales.

Glasner’s exit was announced as centre-back Marc Guehi nears a move to Manchester City.

He is one of a number of candidates favoured by Manchester United for the permanent role when interim boss Michael Carrick steps down in the summer.

More to follow.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/HSLAw5W

If they were all like Antoine Semenyo, it would be a dream.

Semenyo was a saga in the summer but cut and dried by January, a rare example of transfer common sense. Bournemouth’s honesty, constructing a contract with a clause that worked for all parties, was repaid in spades by a player whose output never dropped, even in his final weeks in red when the Manchester City move was all wrapped up. The Cherries have time to source a replacement so in the words of one person involved it is “almost the perfect January transfer”.

But if you ask around, it might be one last flourish for a transfer window that is on its last legs. “Absolutely dead” was the verdict of one football executive asked about the market this week. “No-one is doing anything – but we knew they wouldn’t,” said another.

The three clubs most thought would go big – West Ham, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur – haven’t done much yet, barring the latter taking a player whose availability was long flagged.

As for the rest, there has barely been an enquiry gone in from at least half of the Premier League.

It all feels a far cry from 2023, when a record £815m was spent. That crashed to £100m in 2024 before City drove an increase to £310m last year. But those days seem behind us, if voices are to be believed.

The reasons for this are well-established now. Most of the 20 clubs think they need something but most came to the conclusion long ago that they can’t – for very modern reasons.

Time constraints on sourcing a replacement mean that clubs are reluctant to sell their best players, which means prices go sky high and in the world of profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) every penny counts.

A lack of liquidity in the market means everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet – that they are ready to act, but only for the right player.

What that means is everyone gets upset.

Managers – and Ruben Amorim won’t be the last boss to torpedo his career at the altar of being told he can’t strengthen mid-season – players who can’t get the move they want and, most pertinently, supporters.

I have lost track of the number of times I have seen the meme with the stick man poking a club badge asking them to do something.

So who is this month really serving? One director of football with experience in the top flight summed it up succinctly in mid-week: “They should really just scrap the whole January window farce.”

Is he so wrong? Maybe not about shutting the opportunity for clubs to invest – having just a single, jumbo summer window would lead to elite clubs stockpiling players – but definitely about putting the January window out of its misery.

We could be creative about what could replace it. In France they have a “joker” system where every club in the top two divisions can broker one domestic-based transfer outside the January and summer windows.

It seems to work well, draining the urgency out of the winter window and allowing clubs the chance to add some impetus to their season.

The beauty of that system is it would allow clubs in financial trouble extra time to raise funds. It would also mean injury crises – unpredictable by their very nature – could be prevented by a judicious signing.

Out-of-the box thinking can reinvigorate mid-season recruitment. Without it, we are all just sat waiting for something to happen.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/y6WDshu