Sports

Neville -Man Utd ‘now getting the pain they deserve’

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are paying the cost for the board having “cocked it up” over recruitment.

Matty Longstaff’s goal on his Premier League debut for Newcastle saw the Red Devils beaten 1-0.

United boss Solskjaer was left facing more questions following an 11th successive game without an away win which leaves his side in 12th place – just two points above the bottom three.

Neville, who was at St James’ Park in his role as co-commentator and pundit, felt it was a tough performance to stomach – and one which had been a long time in the making.

“Away from home, they’re not set up to win in a sense of the mentality. They let games drift, I think they play OK in games, but they’re not ruthless, they’re not clinical,” he said on Sky Sports.

“The quality is not right, the depth of their squad is not good enough and they have taken a step back.

“Their recruitment has been bad now and woeful for many years, they have been all over the place, with different styles of managers and ways of playing.

“They need five or six top players into that squad, and they are going to cost a lot of money.”

Neville added: “(The board) have cocked this up over many years. They cocked it up, they are responsible for this. Poor recruitment, poor selection of managers, going with them and then pulling off them.”

The former United full-back accepted the process was going to be painful.

He said: “Manchester United are now getting the pain they deserve for poor decisions at board level.

“They have got to make sure they get high-quality players into the club, the players out that remain in that dressing room who don’t want to be there and do it as quickly as possible – there is no quick fix.”

Former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness believes the current United crop fall well short of past teams.

He said on Sky Sports: “This is Man United – one of the biggest football clubs in the world.

“Where they are now to where they have been, up to the past four years, for the last 25 years prior to that, they are a world away from that.”

Sports

UEFA with official press release for the founders of the Super League, Juve, Real and Barca

UEFA has decided to terminate disciplinary proceedings against Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona “until further notice”.

Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the only three clubs that have not yet withdrawn from the Super League.

UEFA has threatened to exclude them from the Champions League, but such a thing is claimed that it will not happen, not for now.

A disciplinary procedure has been opened for the founding clubs of the Super League, but UEFA a few moments ago issued an official statement announcing:

“Following the opening of disciplinary proceedings against Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid for a violation of the legal framework of UEFA in relation to the so-called ‘Super League’ project, the UEFA Appeals body has decided to terminate the proceedings until another announcement “, it is said in the announcement of UEFA.

Sports

Douglas Costa will complete the transfer to Gremio within 48 hours

Douglas Costa is expected to complete his move to Gremio within 48 hours, said the vice-president of the Brazilian club.

The 30-year-old joined Bayern Munich on loan from Juventus this October, but the Bavarians had informed the Serie A giants that they would not buy the player.

The Brazilian is now expected to return to his former club Gremio on a free transfer.

“Negotiations are underway. Juventus have officially authorized us to make a deal with the player,” Gremio vice-president Marcos Herrmann told Globo Esporte.

“We are waiting for the documentation, which should arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday, and there is enough time to register the player before the deadline. We are optimistic.”

Douglas Costa’s contract with Juventus expires in 2022, but the Bianconeri will end the deal with the Brazilian winger a year ago.