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Poor Cristiano, taking lumps from a middling coach who did not see the world the CR7 way.

Erik ten Hag gave an interview this week delivering an unprovoked attack on the Ronaldosphere. No legs? Couldn’t run? Who is Ten Hag, another spectacular management dud, to judge the greatest player who ever lived? Stick to FC Twente, son, and leave the world stage to those who command it!

This is not me but my inner Piers Morgan talking. With his tweets defending Ronaldo, he speaks for all those apologists who have yet to accept the reality of bio-mechanical decline in humans. Indeed, like Ronaldo himself, the die-hards refuse to see Ronaldo as human at all, but god-like, which is at the root of his post- peak difficulties.

Ten Hag inherited Ronaldo when he became Manchester United manager in May 2022. Ronaldo arrived from Juventus a year prior aged 36. It always felt like a romance too far, United jumping in response to speculation linking Ronaldo to Manchester City.

His tally of 24 goals, 18 in the league, was remarkable when taken in isolation. Powered by Ronaldo United actually went backwards falling from second in the previous season to sixth, and closing under Ralf Rangnick following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal.

Ronaldo appeared just 16 times under Ten Hag, leaving acrimoniously. The end was beautifully choreographed in a woe is me ‘interview’ with Morgan, the critique distilled into two episodes. He felt betrayed by United, did not respect Ten Hag, and was forced out.

Whilst Ronaldo’s criticisms of the hierarchy ring just as true today, there was no acknowledgment of his role in the divorce. No mention of personal decline, which was clear to all despite the goals.

In a characteristically blunt interview with The Athletic, Ten Hag has finally responded, claiming Ronaldo let him and the club down. “I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United. Obviously, he’s one of the best in football history. I respected him a lot. But at that time, as a manager, I had to make a rational decision and keep the players I admire in.”

You can imagine the audience, Ronaldo on his throne, Ten Hag at his feet on one knee, Morgan, the ever-attentive vizier, chuckling behind a curtain at the theatre of it all. Whatever the intentions of manager and player, cordiality could not survive Ronaldo’s growing fallibility on the pitch.

“He ran neither in possession nor out of possession. The reason was because he didn’t prepare himself,” Ten Hag said. “Every top team has to embrace the top player, but the top player has to work for the team.

“He was telling the players, ‘save your legs at the training’. I understand it when you are top fit – you have sessions you can save the legs. But first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels.”

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• Pete Hall: Bruno Fernandes is holding Man Utd back – it’s time to drop him

All of this found an echo with Portugal during last month’s international break, a disbelieving Ronaldo taking personally the legitimate decision of coach Jorge Jesus not to use him for much the same reasons as Ten Hag. For the behaviour that followed, he was given a backdated 30-day ban and £215 fine was handed down this week, the cost of having his eyebrows threaded.

Ronaldo grinds on with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, where the pretence of relevance is maintained by a fawning court. He says this is probably his final year, after all he turns 42 in February.

Juventus was the swansong moment, two Scudetti and the Coppa d’Italia would have been a significant finale to a great career. Instead, vanity compelled him to return to United, and the judgment of a coach waving a stopwatch.

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Preston North End used to be the most mediocre football team in the Championship, 11 straight years without play-offs or serious relegation fears. Now they’re not. Instead they’re the worst football team in the Championship.

After 11 league matches, the signs look impossibly bad. Preston have taken four measly points and there is already a gap to those clubs they would have hoped to finish above: Bolton, Cardiff, Charlton, Portsmouth, Lincoln. Just a bad run? Preston play four of the division’s current top seven in their next five games. Stopping the bleeding is proving a task beyond everyone.

Every element of the team looks broken. Preston have scored nine times in 11 matches because they average the fewest shots on target, have the worst shooting accuracy and rank second worst for converting the low number of shots they do have into goals.

And somehow that’s not the weakest part of the team. Preston have conceded 24 goals in 11 games; they’re on course to reach triple figures. Against Birmingham City last midweek, their defending was abysmal both individually and as a collective. Every mistake breeds another and no player seems able or willing to lead teammates on to be more competent.

Preston have already made their move. Paul Heckingbottom oversaw a dire run over the second half of last season – six points from 36 between January and March – kept his job despite fan unrest and was then sacked seven league games into this campaign. Is that joined-up thinking?

Heckingbottom’s replacement is club legend Graham Alexander, supported by club legend Chris Lucketti. In any other circumstances, that would whip up a frenzy of nostalgic goodwill that often provides tangible positive impact. But at Deepdale, the suspicion is that the club will drag the heroes down far quicker than it can be dragged up by them. Alexander has lost all three matches and conceded four goals twice already. 

The great irony is that summer promised to knock the club out of its deep rut of apathy, just not like this. Preston spent big, beyond anyone’s reasonable expectations. Five of the top six largest transfer fees paid in the club’s history occurred in July or August 2026. They tried to address the age of the squad – six players aged 23 or under were signed. 

None of it has worked. Last season, Preston’s best was fuelled by three excellent loan signings: Alfie Devine, top scorer Lewis Dobbin and Harrison Armstrong, an exceptionally talented midfielder for the level. Devine has joined permanently but no other signing has impressed. The three loanees – Liam Gibbs, Caleb Wiley, Jusef Erabi, Delano Burgzorg – have offered almost nothing positive of note.

The only caveat for the most stinging criticism is the uncertainty that reigns. A takeover by Saudi businessman Amr Zedan was first reported in January, with Zedan present at a home game in April. That takeover has still not reached completion.

But that’s barely half a defence. In August, a statement from chairman Ian Penrose told supporters that negotiations were still ongoing with parties, but that “this is not an easy and quick process, and there can be no certainty that a sale will be concluded”. It has been nine months – how long can “who knows?” last for?

All the while, Preston get worse and a takeover must seem less viable at the same price. Who wants to buy a club stuck in a spiral of its own incompetence?

Supporters can diagnose the issues – it’s not difficult and they are not stupid. If you have a collection of decision makers and leaders who you felt proved themselves incapable of making rational, sensible calls without spending heavily, what gave anyone confidence that they were the right people to oversee the spending? 

Supporters understandably feel that there is an accountability vacuum. Peter Ridsdale, the CEO, and the recruitment team have questions to answer. Most obviously: how does an emphatically midtable football club embark upon a spree of squad spending after years of atrophy and immediately get far worse?

Except that maybe this is all interrelated. Being a Preston North End supporter has been hard for a long time. It erodes the spirit because it takes so much energy just to generate some excitement after repeated seasons of being disinterested by February at best. Unrequited hope becomes your bedfellow. 

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How often does a magnificent rise actually follow such an extended slump? Instead, it’s far more likely that everybody gets stuck in a pattern of mediocrity that is impossible to dig their way out of. So when significant change finally comes, it is for the worse. Allow drift to consume your club and don’t be surprised when the end result is being sucked down a plughole. 

And when you get there – no surprise – nobody really has the stomach to fight it. New signings have been sold a dream that isn’t real and have less emotional investment because they have just arrived. The old guard are familiar with the struggle but hardly in a good way.

Supporters are all out of anything useful at all bar grim loyalty. Those in charge have proven that they have no handle on how to make this work better. Welcome to Deepdale in 2026, where mediocrity is now the ceiling and the floor doesn’t exist.

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Two months into the new season and Manchester United’s hierarchy are already looking at ways they can overhaul the squad next summer.

The start to the season has been poor even by United’s recent standards. A leaky defence, one of only two in the Premier League yet to keep a clean sheet this season, has been their undoing once more. It’s a result of an unforgivable lack of investment in that area of the pitch.

United elected to spend all their spare funds on midfielders in the summer, leaving an ageing Luke Shaw as the only recognised left-back, 33-year-old Harry Maguire still required to play multiple times per week and Diogo Dalot as first-choice right-back.

There is a recognition, even among senior figures, that the defence should have been addressed in the summer, The i Paper has been told. As a result, the club’s recruitment team have set the wheels in motion to completely transform the rearguard roster.

Maguire to stay, Martinez and Shaw could leave

It is understood that Lisandro Martinez, even before his explosive rant at director of football Jason Wilcox and the club’s hierarchy, was considering leaving at the end of the season.

He was heavily linked with a move to Atletico Madrid in the summer. The i Paper has been told there remains interest from Atletico and several other Spanish clubs in the Argentine, who favours a move to La Liga, should he leave.

Martinez’s contract expires next year, but United can trigger a one-year contract extension and then command a fee. Several sources suggested that, when you consider United’s recent track record in the transfer sales market, they may just “cut their losses” and get Martinez’s wages off the books, if he prefers to head for the exit.

Maguire is more likely to stay, with the club set to trigger the extra year option on his contract. The England centre-back is a popular dressing room figure, with leadership qualities helping guide youngsters like Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro through the pressure of being a United defender.

Shaw’s future is less secure. His contract also runs out at the end of the season, but his hopes of earning an extension rest on being willing to accept lower terms than his current £200,000-a-week salary.  

The club will assess how Shaw copes with the more congested calendar this season before they make any decision.

Hall and Truffert targeted, plus at least one centre-back

Everyone at the club, at all levels, recognises United’s hierarchy made a huge misstep in not signing a left-back. Had Lewis Hall been available at a more acceptable price, then he would have arrived early in the summer window.

Newcastle’s price tag and reluctance to sell put paid to any pursuit, but it is understood United will revisit the deal next summer. Sources have told The i Paper that Hall was interested in a move to Old Trafford a few months ago and has not changed that stance.

The pursuit of Hall could bear a resemblance to Carlos Baleba’s signing. United bided their time and got the midfielder for what they feel was a more realistic fee this summer. Co-owners Ineos are keen to maintain their careful approach to the transfer market, given they feel they got their midfield targets for the going rate.

The club are also long-term admirers of Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert, who is tipped to leave the south coast in the summer, as the Cherries’ latest transfer success story. It is understood United are set face plenty of competition for the French full-back’s signature.  

Matthijs De Ligt’s fitness will play a big part in United’s central defensive plans. The Dutch defender’s injury woes have dragged on much longer than anyone anticipated, but he was back in the squad for Sunday’s draw at Leeds.

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Should he return to full fitness before the end of the season, club officials hope De Ligt will return to the form he was showing when injury-free last term.

It is understood United will sign at least one central defensive option, with potentially another one arriving should Martinez leave.

Some of Martinez’s frustration is thought to centre around Heaven being deployed as a full-back in last week’s Atletico defeat, a sign of the club’s lack of investment in that area. Heaven is seen as a long-term central option who, alongside Yoro, will grow this season into the role, and begin to form a new central defensive team.

Should results continue on their downward trajectory, senior figures have not ruled out delving into the January market to strengthen the defence.

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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – A Tottenham welcome worthy of a returning hero. Serenaded onto the pitch, a first start in 17 months. Only not the hero everybody was expecting.

It is astonishing to think Dejan Kulusevski had started a Premier League match more recently than James Maddison, but it gives a sense of the sheer number of fires Roberto De Zerbi has been putting out. At long last, as Spurs claimed a first league victory of the season against Coventry to haul themselves off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone, that changed. Maddison is back. Kulusevski is back, his every touch roared on by 60,000 rapturous voices. Maybe, just maybe, are Spurs back too?  

A lesson in the power of patience, with the help of a little belief. As Maddison curled a stunning opener into the top left after Mohammed Kudus’ superb touch and run past Jay Dasilva, it was hard not to wonder why we rarely see these types of goals anymore.

Later, as Omar Marmoush blitzed one of his own past Carl Rushworth, it no longer looked like a coincidence – even less so when Ben Davies trickled in a third from the edge of the box in stoppage time. Kulusevski’s comeback was miracle enough – Tottenham’s screamers were by design.

How, for example, is it possible that Maddison, a player so beset with injuries, has scored more goals from outside the penalty area than any other player since his top-flight debut in August 2018? There are exceptions, like Brighton’s Diego Gomez on the halfway line spotting the keeper off his line. Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Kudus all tried their luck from distance and it looked like a clear De Zerbi diktat. But why do most players increasingly shy away from those moments?

"What a strike from James Maddison against his former club!'

James Maddison curls in a beauty to open the scoring against Coventry pic.twitter.com/XOAwWy7Dba

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 19, 2026

There are probably three theories. You can blame the fixation on xG. Players are having their most audacious streaks trained out of them as a result of the data revolution. In the same vein, you can look at Thomas Frank’s reign. Perturbed by what he considered “low-quality” opportunities, he discouraged his side from taking too many long-range efforts. Made in Brentford, Frank was a data devotee to the point of detriment.

Thirdly, you have the general mess which has engulfed Spurs recently. They have not been scoring many beauties because they have not been scoring many goals full stop. 

Nor, unfortunately, have they been keeping clean sheets. If Jack Rudoni’s equaliser was a well-executed Coventry move, it was also a tale of persistent weaknesses from Spurs. Sandro Tonali, too coy for the initial effort into the area. Jan Paul van Hecke, too easily run past. Antonin Kinsky, crumpling like a paper bag at his near post. It is just as well heads did not dip this time – and Marmoush’s strike survived a VAR check for a hand in the face of Milan van Eqijk.

For only the second time under De Zerbi, Tottenham have won a league match at home. You cannot overstate its importance in putting to bed the atmosphere of toxic misery that has felt like an ever-present here.

That is why Maddison putting together a run of games will be just as timely, just as pivotal, as Kulusevski’s return. Maddison, who lasted almost 70 minutes, will be 30 next month and will have 12 months left on his contract by the summer.

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They rose to their feet for his moment of magic. Only Kulusevski inspired the same giddy feeling, even as he donned an orange bib to run out for the first time in 526 days. On their day, the duo are De Zerbi’s most effervescent options. In the half-season before his knee-cap injury, the Swede was creating more chances than anyone at the club.

The impact of being without them has done untold damage. Without them in the starting XI, Spurs have narrowly avoided relegation, run through three managers, made 20 different signings and smashed their transfer record three times.

They may have just broken a curse too – that is even more invaluable.

Tottenham injury news and talking points

• Mateus Fernandes did not start again – he has been on the bench for more than half of Spurs’ league games since his summer move from West Ham. However, this time around, De Zerbi revealed that was because he has a newborn son and has been on a reduced training schedule.
• De Zerbi ditches 4-2-3-1. It is rare to see Spurs operate with a new formation, but he anticipated that Frank Lampard would prioritise Coventry’s counter-attacks through the wide players, as they have been doing away from home since promotion, and shifted to three at the back.
• Mathys Tel’s cameo was impressive, but there were worrying knocks to Marmoush, Andy Robertson and Tosin Adarabioyo . None are thought to be serious.

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Matthias Jaissle has held a meeting with Newcastle’s senior players to ask them for feedback on his “vertical football” style and system and to ensure they feel “comfortable” with the demands it places on a young group.

Jaissle is facing his first bumpy spell as Newcastle boss after back-to-back defeats that intensified concerns about some of the early performances at St James’ Park. There were boos on Saturday as the Magpies slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa that ended Jaissle’s honeymoon period on Tyneside.

A big part of the criticism so far is about his favoured “vertical football” style, which relies on intensity and high press but has left Newcastle looking exposed against opponents who have picked them off.

Critics have suggested it is ill-suited to the Premier League and Newcastle have looked chaotic in spells this season. But the manager believes it needs to be refined rather than ripped up.

Indeed it’s understood Jaissle will not abandon his principles in the face of the first signs of trouble – especially after frequently highlighting to the young group the benefits of playing that way – but he has sought counsel from senior players about the system and how they play their parts in it. The answers that came back were that the team were “100% committed” to the principles – including playing four at the back, a high press and intensity.

Sources close to Jaissle bristle at suggestions he is another Ruben Amorim, who paid the price for being too wed to one system. They stress he is prepared to tweak things and there’s in-built “flexibility” in his tactical set-up. Continued communication with the players – which is already a noticeable part of his strategy – will be a key thread of his approach moving forward and there is some mitigation for what’s happened in recent weeks.

There’s a belief, for example, that injuries and the lack of a specialist defensive number six – vital for his system – is part of the reason for some of the issues.

Time on the training ground and getting key men back should help. But there’s also probably a need for some understanding about what a difficult summer means for a team that deliberately lowered the age of their squad with “targeted” recruitment in the close season.

The i Paper understands that Jaissle has told his players of the need for “calm” and to try and disregard the “noise” after a week in which the team lost to Coventry and Aston Villa and some alarming tactical trends emerged.

He is unhappy and frustrated at the way the last two games have gone and recognises there are issues to address. But his pre-season warning that patchy runs were to be expected during a season of “transition” stands.

The club share many of those sentiments. The i Paper understands Jaissle met CEO David Hopkinson at 7am at the club’s KNOX training base on Monday to assess a bruising week. Newcastle’s players had a day off but the German has already begun preparation for what now feels like a crucial game against Crystal Palace.

Injuries have been a double whammy – depriving Jaissle of some of his key men but also leaving him without his most influential voices. Having sold their talisman Bruno Guimaraes in the summer, this is now an inexperienced group and new leaders have yet to emerge on the pitch. Insiders have noted it is a “quiet” group, which means having the likes of captain Dan Burn, Joelinton and even Anthony Elanga is crucial.

While Burn and Joelinton are now over their injuries they are still some way off match sharpness – and the i Paper understands that even though Amar Dedic was on the bench on Saturday, he was not considered match fit.

He may return at Selhurst Park but it is not believed he could play the full 90 minutes if he does feature. Dedic is important to Jaissle’s style and Newcastle’s other right-back – Tino Livramento – is still some way off full fitness.

A bigger problem at the moment is the midfield balance, with Jaissle’s system requiring a more defensive-minded number six to play a “sitting role” and soak up pressure. But so far in almost all of the games the midfield pairing has not worked as it should – with both players trying to press and getting pulled out of position. Sean Steur is hugely highly rated by Jaissle and Newcastle but that perhaps explains his omission in the last two games.

Finding an answer to that will be critical to Newcastle having more structure and organisation at Selhurst Park and beyond. But given the Magpies recruited extensively in that area over the summer, it does suggest one of their existing players may have to get used to playing deeper in the future – or adapt to a new role.

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He will benefit from patience from the club’s key decision makers, at least. They describe the mood as “calm” – even if they are not satisfied by what’s happened over the last seven days.

While the Leeds game was viewed as unacceptable, there are bits to pick out of the last two matches that they can build on. The number of errors and wrong decisions – especially in the final third – are alarming, but could be rectified.

There has to be an element of understanding given the “2.0” project is a major change of direction. “We’re going through an adjustment period,” one senior source admits.

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Sarina Wiegman has extended her contract as England Women manager until the end of Euro 2029.

Wiegman’s deal was due to expire at the end of the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, for which her side still have to qualify in December’s two-legged play-off against Ukraine. It is understood to be the biggest contract that has ever been offered to a Lionesses head coach.

There had been an expectation from some around the Lionesses camp that next year’s tournament would mark the natural end of a cycle for a coach who has already led England to two European Championships, one World Cup final and a Finalissima. The extension has therefore come as a surprise, but a welcome one. FA CEO Mark Bullingham described the Dutchwoman’s impact on English football as “immense”.

How will Wiegman navigate England 3.0?

The big challenge after next summer’s World Cup will be how Wiegman regenerates a new-look England. It is set to be Lucy Bronze’s final major tournament, though much of the groundwork has already been laid with the emergence of Maya Le Tissier.

In the Wiegman era, England have already navigated several major retirements – Jill Scott, Ellen White, Fran Kirby, Mary Earps, Millie Bright. Grace Fisk, Freya Godfrey and Lexi Potter all made their debuts over the recent international break.

There is no shortage of options when it comes to promising young attackers, but familiar problems in defence continue to plague the Lionesses and there are still question marks over the make-up of the midfield, with Ella Toone currently out of favour.

Who will lead England after Wiegman?

That does not stop England being among the favourites for Brazil 2027 even before they have qualified. They are only in the play-offs due to a convoluted new system whereby only one member of their group qualified automatically – after finding themselves placed alongside world champions Spain, they finished as runners-up. So there is no cause for alarm on that front.

Wiegman is the world’s most successful big tournament manager and England had long hoped she would lead them to South America. The problem of who eventually succeeds her has now been pushed even further down the road – and it’s probably just as well.

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There is currently no standout candidate, not least because of a lack of experienced female coaches. Particularly English ones. The WSL has just three English female managers: Crystal Palace’s Jo Potter, Charlton’s Karen Hills and Birmingham’s Amy Merricks.

Former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes is now in charge of the US, while Emma Coates – previously with the England youth set-up – is also managing in America with Bay FC. Casey Stoney, who played 130 times for the Lionesses, is in charge of Canada Women.

Tying down Wiegman was essential if England are continue on their current run. She maintains her position as one of the best-paid coaches in women’s football – though her new deal is not expected to match the contract of her England Men’s counterpart Thomas Tuchel.

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CITY GROUND — If Arsenal are going to do this again, it will be through fine margins. They were unwatchable for long periods of this gritty, grim win, scoring with their first shot on target after 80 minutes of dirge. It was heavily deflected past Matz Sels, as if to reinforce that such a miserable game could contain nothing pure.

Winning is everything, Mikel Arteta stressed after the match with the serious face of a man who knows that this isn’t good enough.

Arsenal have proven themselves capable of managing all scenarios. It’s just that everything looks such hard work. Is the mark of champions to play poorly for 90 per cent of a match?

The comparative dearth of Arsenal set-piece goals is now the pattern. Before Sunday, the team that looked to have perfected the art of corner-kick movement had scored 21 goals this season; 20 of them were from open play. The cheat code, the VIP pass to a one-goal lead, has evaporated quickly.

But doesn’t that create reason to play with greater urgency, not less? If you know that you are less likely to score via previously established means, it would suggest that hurrying to find an alternative one might be a good idea.

Arteta does not seem to have got that memo, or at least does not care to read it. In seven Premier League matches in 2026-27, Arsenal have scored three first-half goals. Two of those came on the opening night of the season at home to Coventry City, when Arsenal were electric. They have been distinctly analogue since.

Even by these new standards, Arsenal were laboured for extended periods at the City Ground. The absence of Morgan Gibbs-White in red should have facilitated Arsenal to push on further, faster and in larger numbers without fear of counter-attack reprisals. They didn’t do that either.

If there is any cause for concern in a title-celebrating fanbase, it is the question of what to do about the left-wing problem. The simple maths of selling two players and signing one – unproven, if with bags of potential – were flawed. Christos Tzolis’s injury is unfortunate, but in a sense is karmic punishment for leaving yourself short.

Of course, Arsenal possess an attacking midfielder who is supposed to be comfortable as a No 10, as the left of a midfield three or drifting in from the left wing. After all, that is surely why Eberechi Eze was picked by Thomas Tuchel during the recent international break.

At Nottingham Forest, Eze was anonymous from the start and taken off at half-time, presumably for his complete absence of urgency or incision.

Three or four times he was given the opportunity to take on Jair Cunha or Daniel Munoz. Each time he threatened to, turned back and played the ball back into midfield.

Perhaps that is merely the instruction, but if so, it sells both Eze and Arsenal short. In the same way that Jack Grealish was plucked out of a system that enabled him as a glorious maverick and had those rough edges smoothed at Manchester City, Eze looks forlorn as a worker bee in a machine. The irony is that Arsenal lacked creative spark and unpredictability.

Read more

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Noni Madueke was Eze’s replacement and the matchwinner. He was signed as backup, competition and relief for Bukayo Saka, forced into an unfamiliar role and ultimately making it work. He deserves credit for that, even if few teammates can share his credit.

For now it just about doesn’t matter. Arsenal are finding a way. But they are rarely secure and only ever in control when it comes without penetration. Winning the title is supposed to be liberating. So why does everything feel so tight again?

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