The Peoples Person

Manchester United have set their sights on Tottenham Hotspur star Heung-min Son, as per reports.

United forwards Marcus Rashford and Antony are showing their attacking talents elsewhere. Ruben Amorim, meanwhile, is having to deploy midfielders in attacking areas.

The Red Devils avoided another embarrassing defeat in the Premier League as second-half goals from Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte helped them share points with Everton, who sit a place above the Mancunian giants in the Premier League table.

How the 15th-placed United will finish the season remains unclear but if INEOS want Amorim to succeed in the long run, they need to strengthen his attack. A report in Spain has mentioned an intriguing name in that regard.

Manchester United want to sign Son Heung-Min

According to Fichajes, United are “going all out” to sign Son from Tottenham.

He will enter the final year of his contract at Spurs at the end of the term. However, the Spanish outlet suggest he could depart north London in the coming months.

United want to add a proven goalscorer to their ranks and see the Spurs captain as an ideal fit.

Son is known for his incredible pace and decisiveness in the final third, having scored an incredible 172 goals for the Lilywhites after moving to the Premier League from Bayer Leverkusen.

It is understood that United would be willing to make a “significant offer” to convince Spurs to part ways with their talisman, who is into double figures for goals and assists this season.

The 32-year-old’s profile is similar to Rashford, as both left-wingers like to use the space behind the defence to make a difference.

However, we are skeptical that Daniel Levy would let Spurs’ most important attacker join United. Further, INEOS have so far shown a desire to sign young players capable of adding intensity to Amorim’s side.

Recently, the Peoples Person relayed a report claiming United could trigger Wolverhampton Wanderers superstar Matheus Cunha’s (25) release clause to reinforce their attack.

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Manchester United’s co-owners INEOS are reportedly in negotiations with Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur over the termination of their sponsorship agreement.

Since completing a partial investment in United a year ago, INEOS have implemented a number of measures aimed at cutting operational costs designed to ensure the business runs as a leaner unit.

Last week New Zealand Rugby confirmed they were taking legal action against Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS firm after they prematurely exited a £3.7 million-a-year sponsorship deal which is not due to end until 2027.

In response, INEOS issued a statement, blaming the “deindustrialisation of Europe” as one of the reasons behind their decision to end the partnership with the All Blacks.

The petrochemicals company also ended a partnership with Sir Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup team. Additionally, there have been suggestions that there is a chance INEOS will part ways with Mercedes’ Formula 1 team in the near future.

According to Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail, INEOS is reportedly moving forward with plans to reduce its involvement in multiple sports and is currently in discussions with Tottenham to terminate their sponsorship agreement.

It’s understood that talks – which have been described as amicable – are already underway.

The deal was signed in 2022 and was set to run for five years, until 2022. INEOS are the official 4 x 4 partner of Tottenham via their Grenadier vehicle.

The organisation’s logo featured prominently at Tottenham’s stadium during matches, including when the Red Devils lost 1-0 in North London on Sunday.

Keegan notes that the agreement between the two parties runs to “several millions per season.”

It recently emerged that INEOS are planning further redundancies at United in a bid to free up more cash for Amorim to spend on bolstering his squad.

United are back in action on Saturday when they face Everton at Goodison Park. Kick-off is at 12:30 GMT.

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Another week, another loss in the Premier League for Manchester United with Ruben Amorim’s side going down by a solitary goal to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

This was the Red Devils’ 12th league defeat of the campaign, the most number of losses at this stage of the competition since the 1973/74 campaign in which they got relegated.

Most of the big names struggled once again with Andre Onana once again culpable for the goal while Casemiro, handed a rare start due to the injuries in midfield, struggled to deal with the pace of the game.

With Rasmus Hojlund’s goal drought extending to 15 games now, it seemed like the Portuguese tactician would turn to his youthful bench in order to try and grab something from the game.

Chido Obi debut

Instead, Amorim failed to trust the youngsters and only threw on academy sensation Chido Obi in added time with the 17-year-old hardly having any time to affect proceedings.

His league debut was the only silver lining in what was yet another disappointing day for the club with the Dane becoming the 252nd academy graduate to make his first-team debut.

In the process, Chido Obi (17 years, 2 months, and 18 days old) also became United’s third youngest Premier League debutant behind Angel Gomes (16y, 8m, 20d) and Shola Shoretire (17y, 19d).

After the game, the former Arsenal starlet headed to Instagram to send a message to the club’s supporters in which he thanked Amorim for handing him his debut for the club.

Message to Amorim

“Disappointed with the loss, on a personal note thanks to the gaffer & the club for making a dream come true for me and my family,” he wrote.

It was only a matter of time before Amorim turned to him given the struggles of Hojlund up front. The Denmark youth international has been on fire for the academy, netting 12 goals in as many games including seven strikes in three FA Youth Cup games.

His most recent appearance in the FA Youth Cup saw him net a hat-trick against Chelsea and his exploits had seen fans clamouring for the coach to give him minutes to address the team’s lack of goals.

Amorim did praise the youngster after the game, claiming he can be dangerous in the box and hopefully, he will place more trust in him moving forwards.

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Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen has torn into the club’s defenders after yesterday’s loss to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Red Devils’ defence of Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui was breached after just 13 minutes when James Maddison put Spurs in front to give them a 1-0 lead they would not relinquish.

United switched to a back three in November when Ruben Amorim was named manager of the club but it has hardly helped the team look any better defensively.

While 35 goals conceded in 25 league matches compares quite well to the majority of the league, it is the team’s inability to hold out defensively in key moments that has frustrated numerous fans and pundits this season.

Speaking to Premier League Productions (via The Metro), Owen revealed what bothered him most about his former side.

The pundit claimed, “what frustrates me more than anything about the Manchester United team is that those centre-halves do nothing during the game.”

“They hardly pick up any players at all, yet when you ask them to do one job – stop the guy who’s shooting – they’re sleeping at that as well.”

The former striker asserted that this was not an issue for just the goal but it was prevalent throughout the entire game.

“We’ve seen so many clips in the first half when there’s nobody to pick up, there’s three of them literally doing nothing. They won’t push in, they won’t go and mark anybody, they just sit there.”

Owen stated that he did not understand the need to play so many defenders when they seemingly don’t mark anybody and that the position must be the “easiest position on the pitch.”

In contrast, the 45 year old stated that, “the midfield for Manchester United has to be the hardest place to play in the Premier League and the defence should be the easiest because they literally mark no one, ever.”

He argued that the imbalance caused by the sheer number of defenders means they are consistently outnumbered over the rest of the pitch.

Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images

Manchester United slumped to their 12th Premier League defeat of the campaign on Sunday as Tottenham Hotspur completed a league double over the Red Devils thanks to a 1-0 win at their home ground.

Spurs had not won at home in 105 days prior to Sunday and Ruben Amorim’s side gifted them all three points. This was the Portuguese’s eight league defeat in 14 games since taking over from Erik ten Hag.

It was once again a familiar tale both at the back and up front with Andre Onana committing yet another error in goal, palming a relatively weak effort towards James Maddison instead of away from goal.

The former Leicester City star made no mistake and his 13th minute strike proved to be the difference on the day. That was not to say the 20-time English league champions did not have chances of their own.

De Ligt rues finishing

Alejandro Garnacho was guilty of spurning the most gilt-edged one, skying over from 10 yards out with only the goalkeeper to beat.

The Argentine saw two other attempts on goal saved while Rasmus Hojlund looked lost up front. And despite the Dane’s struggles, Amorim did not look to the bench to change things.

Matthijs de Ligt was asked about the defeat by MUTV after the game and the centre-back bluntly claimed that the team was nowhere good enough both defensively and offensively.

“I think in the end, finishing the chances is a big thing in football and we were unlucky we couldn’t finish them today,” he said.

“If you lose, a lot has to improve. We are not where United belongs and if I knew the solution I would have said it and we would win games but a lot needs to improve and we have to look to ourselves to be responsible.

“We have to stick together because if we are out there on our own, we would never get results.”

It has been a recurrent theme throughout the season and with the club languishing in 15th position and with Amad ruled out for the rest of the season, a painful conclusion awaits all fans.

Concerningly, United have now lost as many times in this campaign as they did the last time they got relegated.

Hopefully, the team can pick up some points in the remaining games to stave off the very real threat of relegation and subsequently can focus on the remaining cup games to salvage what has been a poor season.

United conceding too many easy goals

“It is not enough for United. We are not winning enough or scoring enough chances. We are conceding too many goals,” the Dutchman added.

“There are a lot of things we need to improve and hopefully it will get better soon.”

Kobbie Mainoo will also be missing for over a month while both Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer also missed the Spurs game due to injury.

Leny Yoro and Christian Eriksen were sick and hence had to remain at home and United’s bench on Sunday had eight academy products out of nine.

Hopefully, Amorim starts trusting Carrington from now on. They surely cannot play any worse than the underperforming first-team regulars.

Feature image Alex Pantling via Getty Images

Manchester United slumped to a narrow defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, which leaves them languishing in 15th place in the Premier League.

There was just one goal in it, James Maddison’s first-half strike proving to be the difference between the two struggling clubs on Sunday.

The result laid bare once again United’s troubles in front of goal, where missed chances and a sloppy final product let them down badly.

As always, Bruno Fernandes was at the heart of everything good Ruben Amorim’s side tried in the final third, playing four key passes – nobody on the pitch made more – and creating one big chance.

Drifting out wide, the Portuguese whipped in 11 crosses, four of which found their man, and an impressive 13 of his 17 attempted long balls were accurate.

As usual, Fernandes’ role as United’s playmaker-in-chief yielded a fairly low passing accuracy as he tried the risky ball to try and make things happen.

Today, he completed 54 of his attempted 69 passes giving him a passing accuracy rate of 78%.

With Amorim’s squad suddenly decimated by injuries, Fernandes started further back, as part of a midfield pairing with Casemiro, and this seemed to alter the dynamics of United’s build-up.

No player touched the ball more than the United captain, who took 103 touches – numbers usually associated with one of the centre-backs.

Fernandes is no stranger to getting involved defensively and today was no exception. His six tackles were bettered only by Casemiro’s seven, and he made two interceptions and two clearances.

The result was a hammer blow to United’s league progress, making it just two wins in their last six games in the competition.

Next up is a difficult trip to a resurgent Everton, who leapfrogged United in the league this weekend.

All stats taken from sofascore.

Feature image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images

Manchester United suffered through yet another disappointing afternoon as they fell to a 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

It was a challenging afternoon for Ruben Amorim’s men, given the wave of injuries and illness that hit his camp. As a result, the bench was filled with academy players, with Victor Lindelof as the sole substitute who has actually amassed Premier League experience.

While Man United showed sparks of promise, the team’s finishing was yet again of a poor standard, with just six of their 16 shots finding the target.

It was this issue that prevented United from clawing their way back into the game after going behind just 13 minutes into the encounter.

For United legend Dimitar Berbatov, however, it was the team’s defence that let them down, especially when failing to defend James Maddison’s goal.

“It’s a great save from Onana, to be honest,” Berbatov said of the initial save by the United keeper following Heung Min-Son’s initial shot before continuing: “But the reaction from the defender is basically, none because it’s really difficult and Maddison is lively, on his toes, anticipating the game, reading the game, where to be.”

“I think that communication between the defenders in United’s backline is crucial, and I don’t think it’s at the level that it should be,” Berbatov continued.

“If you see someone free, tell your colleague, ‘push wide, go cover him.’ Son was like two minutes alone, and nobody saw that.”

“And because of Son – it’s not a great shot on the ball – but still, that started from there,” the retired Bulgarian striker concluded.

Berbatov’s observation seems like something that Amorim and his coaching staff should have been paying attention to, yet this issue remains unresolved.

United have struggled at the back throughout the Premier League campaign, with recent performances showing no signs of improvement.

The team has conceded seven goals in their past five league matches, slumping to three losses and managing two wins.

If Amorim hopes to improve United’s fortunes in order to save some face as the business end of the season approaches, he would be wise to heed Berbatov’s words in order to patch up United’s weaknesses.

Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images

Manchester United suffered their third defeat of the season in all competitions against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, with the North London club clinching a 1-0 win in the Premier League on Sunday.

Spurs have been awful this season and yet, they have now done the league double over the Red Devils with Sunday’s win being Ange Postecoglou’s first home league victory in 105 days.

The team from Old Trafford have now lost eight of their last 12 in the league and 12 overall, the most since the 1973-74 season in which the club had got relegated.

James Maddison’s 13th minute strike proved to be the difference in the end with Alejandro Garnacho squandering multiple chances with one particularly glaring miss from 10 yards out in the first half.

United let down by big names again

Andre Onana was once again culpable for the goal as he managed to palm a relatively easy shot straight to the former Leicester City star who made no mistake.

The 20-time English league champions were struck by a major injury crisis before the game with Amad Diallo and three of their midfield regulars suffering injury while a few were also ruled out due to sickness.

As a result, United’s bench had eight academy graduates and Victor Lindelof was the only senior player among them.

Casemiro, who has hardly played under the Portuguese tactician, started alongside Bruno Fernandes and his rusty side was on full display during the game.

Despite the midfield often being easily bypassed, Amorim did not change things. In the second-half, the game got stretched and his players struggled to create and looked tired.

Lack of bravery shown by Amorim

Yet, the former Sporting Lisbon boss did not make any substitutions. With Rasmus Hojlund once again struggling, it looked clear that a change was needed to freshen things up.

Yet Amorim persisted and only brought on academy sensation Chido Obi in added time. Given the club’s poor form and with the game in the balance, some bravery could have been shown by the coach.

Throwing youngsters into the deep end might not be the right step to take but in a season where the seniors have underperformed and the club is languishing in 15th position, surely youthful energy and bravery would have helped.

United are famed for their academy and for trusting in youth and even if things would not have worked out positively in this game, it was worth the risk after picking eight of them. But clearly, Amorim did not get the memo.

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Manchester United suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur to drop down to 15th place in the Premier League table.

James Maddison took full advantage of a mistake from Andre Onana to tap the ball into the back of the net from close range in the 13th minute of proceedings.

The Red Devils had some chances to restore parity and possibly mount a comeback but they couldn’t make any of them count.

United have now lost 12 top-flight matches this term and it’s also the first time Tottenham have beaten them both home and away in over 35 years.

There were several players who were poor but Patrick Dorgu was not one of them. The January signing made his debut for the club in the 2-1 win over Leicester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup, demonstrating very encouraging signs of the player he is and what he can bring to Old Trafford going forward.

Against Spurs, Ruben Amorim deployed him at left-wing-back and Dorgu didn’t disappoint, despite not getting on the ball as often as he’d have linked.

During the time he was on the pitch, Dorgu touched the ball 54 times and managed to find his teammates with 23 of the 29 passes he attempted. Two of his passes were key passes.

The 20-year-old managed to connect with only one of the five crosses he dispatched.

Dorgu was brilliant defensively, winning an impressive seven of the eight ground duels he delved into and coming out on top in the one aerial challenge he contested.

The Dane drew three fouls and made one clearance. He also put in four tackles.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

It was another positive display from Dorgu, who is slowly but surely finding his feet at United.

Up next for Amorim and his players is a Saturday away trip to face David Moyes’ resurgent Everton side. That match kicks off at 12:30.

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Manchester United fell to a frustrating 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday evening.

With both sides suffering from poor recent runs of form, Man United would have surely been looking to take advantage of a cataclysmic Spurs defence in order to come away with a result.

Unfortunately, their finishing proved to be a problem yet again, with no one in Ruben Amorim’s lineup managing to convert any of their chances into goals.

The opening minutes saw Tottenham dominate possession. While they were camping in United’s third, the hosts posed little danger, struggling to create any goalscoring opportunities despite their advanced position on the field.

On the stroke of 10 minutes, United were on their first attack which happened to be a blistering one. Rasmus Hojlund took a shot that was well-saved, with Alejandro Garnacho pouncing on the rebound. His shot was also blocked, with Diogo Dalot picking up the loose ball afterwards. He took a shot from the right of the goal, but yet again, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was on form. Some promising signs from an injury-rocked United.

Sadly, United’s promise was forgotten soon after. 12 minutes in, the hosts broke the deadlock. Lucas Bervall took a shot from the edge of the box that Andre Onana parried. An alert James Maddison breezed past the United defence to pounce on the loose ball and slot it into the back of the net.

It was a poor response by Onana, who should be catching shots like those with relative comfort.

Then, Garnacho completely scuppered a close-range shot, firing the ball ridiculously high over the top. Clearly, he needs to do more work on his finishing on the training ground.

Four minutes later, Heung-Min Son cut the ball back to Mathys Tel in the centre of the box, who fired a threatening shot goalwards that Onana parried.

In the 40th minute, Casemiro was shown a yellow card when he clattered into Son. It was an unnecessarily reckless challenge by the Brazilian.

While United entered the break trailing, it was a somewhat decent performance by Amorim’s team, who produced some quick, attacking football. Sadly, finishing remained a problem, meaning that United would need to improve in this metric in order to find a way back into the contest.

Seven minutes after the restart, Tel ballooned a prime scoring opportunity over the crossbar, allowing United to breathe a sigh of relief.

Soon after, the action returned to the opposite end of the field, where Garnacho’s shot was stopped by the keeper.

Garnacho took another shot in the 57th minute, which was parried by Vicario yet again. United were showing some great initiative on the attack, yet their finishing still seemed to come up short.

In the minutes that followed, Tottenham were glued to the ball, making it seemingly impossible for United to get a touch. Still, their efforts were wasted when Jedd Spence fired a long-range effort high and wide.

With 19 minutes to go, Noussair Mazraoui picked out Joshua Zirkzee in the box with a sublime cross. Unfortunately, Zirkzee’s header glanced wide of the far post.

As the match wore on, United showed little sign of improvement. The team’s energy continued to drain, with manager Ruben Amorim seemingly unwilling to bring on fresh legs.

Casemiro then got on the end of a cross, directing his header goalwards only for the keeper to catch his shot.

Just then, Amorim changed his tune, substituting a jaded Casemiro for Chido Obi, who was making his senior debut for the club.

Sadly, there was to be no moment of redemption for United, who failed to get in on any further action before the full-time whistle.

It was yet another disappointing match for Amorim’s side, who simply appear to have given up on turning their Premier League season around altogether.

Starting XI: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Maguire, Fernandes, Hojlund, Zirkzee, Dorgu, Garnacho, Casemiro, Dalot

Subs: Chido

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