MONDAY’S BIG STORIES
Bye Ron
Premier League
Ronaldo tears into Rooney and Rangnick in astonishing interview
10 HOURS AGO
Explosive. Bombshell. Juicy. Morgan promised that news desks the world over would have to take note of his exclusive that was around the corner on Sunday night, and it’s safe to say that on this occasion he was right…
“I felt betrayed,” Ronaldo has told Morgan. “Not only the coach but another two or three guys there around the club.” Adding about Erik ten Hag: “I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me. If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you.”
With that alone, it feels very likely we’ll never see Ronaldo in the red of Manchester United again. Given it’s the World Cup break, more on that soon, there are only a handful of games left until January anyway, but openly criticising your current manager? This makes Romelu Lukaku’s Sky Italy interview last year look like child’s play.
It is also just pretty sad in truth. Here is a 37-year-old man clearly struggling to come to terms with the fact this his powers aren’t what they once were, and in order to air these thoughts he has opted to go for the medium of Morgan. He doesn’t hold back, evidently, but tries to keep the United fans on his side… but is he even right here?
“I love Manchester United, I love the fans, they’re always on my side. But if they want to do it different… they have to change many, many things.”
The one thing they have changed, or more specifically Ten Hag has changed, is not pandering to Ronaldo just because he is in the squad, and overall it has produced a better set of results than last term that has propelled them into top-four contention. They’re fifth with a game in hand, and looking far more balanced without him.
He talked the talk with Morgan, he walked the walk down the tunnel. Both his words and actions are clear.
Surely there’s no way back.
Time for a break
When the dust settles on the 2022-23 season, we will almost certainly look back on it as a campaign of two halves, or perhaps three thirds, or five fifths.
Well, you get the point, but regardless of whatever we call this half, third or two-fifths of the season before the World Cup, it will be impossible not to compare and contrast it to what follows from Boxing Day onwards.
And so, while you could take a glass half-full or half-empty view to how this break affect each side – a chance to recharge for those not going to Qatar, a chance to pick up where you left off or start anew – we will only really know what impact this break had come May, when the table is finalised for yet another season.
There are players aplenty that will benefit from the break. Who knows what a recharged Erling Haaland could unleash on the Premier League, Mohamed Salah too if Liverpool start to hit their stride.
And while you would also expect Wolves and Southampton to improve after the break, with Wolves in particular unlikely to be able to play much worse, a tight table suggests the relegation battle could go down to the wire.
One thing we’re pretty confident on, though, is that Newcastle are here to stay as top-four challengers. Without Europe, they are a threat, but still, they have just another half, two-thirds, two-fifths to prove it.
Bravo Bruno
As we head towards a World Cup like no other, the build-up, as we’ve already seen, will be a complicated blend that does not focus simply on football.
“We know the surroundings of the World Cup, what has been in the past few weeks, past few months, about the people that have died on the construction of the stadiums,” Fernandes told Sky Sports. “We are not happy about that at all.
“It’s not exactly the time we want to be playing in the World Cup. I think for everyone, players and fans, it’s not the best time. Kids will be at school, people will be working and the timings will not be the best for people to watch the games.
“We want football to be for everyone. Everyone has to be included and involved in a World Cup because a World Cup is the world. It’s for everyone, it doesn’t matter who. These kinds of things I think should not happen at any time.
“But for a World Cup it’s more than football, it’s a party for fans, players, something that’s a joy to watch, and should be done in a better way.”
IN OTHER NEWS
The best PL flop
Darwin Nunez was written off before the season had even started, with training clips going viral and Jurgen Klopp forced to defend a player who was yet to even kick a Premier League football.
“Really, really good, and not so good” – Klopp on 3-1 win against Southampton
The red card against Crystal Palace did not entirely help, with defenders the country over licking their lips at the prospect of riling Nunez, but it’s time to give credit where credit is due: Nunez is always involved, for better or worse, and when it clicks, it properly clicks.
Of course, there is a long way to go and Nunez must continue to improve, but these are promising signs for Liverpool, particularly as he appears to have channelled that energy that had made him see red. We’ll see what he’s like after the World Cup, where he’s teaming up with a certain Luis Suarez – COMPARISON ALERT – for the perennial “dark horses”, Uruguay. That will be some popcorn football.
IN THE CHANNELS
Refs, eh. What are they like?
RETRO CORNER
Time to dust off those retro kits. Here’s Paul Scholes running the show against Scotland 23 years ago today!
COMING UP
And in case you were wondering, some teams are playing ahead of the World Cup, unlike England. Germany and Argentina are among those in action on Wednesday. We suspect the players will be paranoid to the hills about getting injured in those warm-ups too.
Premier League
‘I feel betrayed’ – Ronaldo blasts Man Utd and Ten Hag
10 HOURS AGO
World Cup
Benzema ‘didn’t want to retire’ until Ballon d’Or win, reveals Ronaldo yet to congratulate him
12 HOURS AGO
