Manchester United have been told to address "elephant in the room" as angry fans are set to hold a protest before their match against Arsenal.

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The 1958 are up in arms about ticket pricesWant them slashed at the earliestPlanned massive protest before Arsenal fixtureFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

In December, United announced that ticket prices for Premier League matches at Old Trafford would rise to £66 per game, with no concessions for children or pensioners. This decision led to widespread discontent, with The 1958 leading a demonstration against the changes at the time. Now, with tensions reaching a boiling point, fans have announced a fresh protest ahead of the Arsenal match, with many accusing the club of exploiting its most loyal supporters.

In a heated exchange last month, a group of furious supporters confronted Ratcliffe, accusing him of "taking the p***" and claiming he was "worse than the Glazers" – a comparison that highlights their dissatisfaction.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT HAS BEEN SAID

The 1958 protest group has been vocal about their grievances, criticizing the club’s lack of transparency and failure to engage with fans on key issues.

A spokesman for The 1958 said: "We have been preparing for this for a few weeks in anticipation. We are angry, the fans are angry and it’s been building for some time. We have all been more than patient. We all know the root cause; we have always known the elephant in the room.

"Yet, this isn’t being addressed. It’s those who can least afford it, have the most emotional connection with our club who are being asked to pay the price in more ways than one. The current owners are trampling over generational support and memories of friends and family. Enough is enough. We need actions not words and it’s not good enough. The club preach fan engagement but the reality is they don’t practice it.

"They can hold meetings with the Fan Advisory Board which is all under NDA. It is supposed to be for the fans yet they can’t tell the fans hardly anything. It’s a disgrace! The silence from the club is deafening. We rise again to defend our club and be warned this will not just be on the street campaigns at the ground. Keep treating the fans with contempt at your peril.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

In an interview with United We Stand magazine, Ratcliffe attempted to justify the ticket price increase by arguing that United tickets should not cost less than those of London clubs like Fulham. However, his remarks only added fuel to the fire, with many fans seeing them as out of touch with reality.

However, following weeks of backlash, Ratcliffe and his INEOS team have met with the  Fans' Advisory Board to discuss the growing concerns. According to reports, these meetings have allowed club officials to gather supporter feedback before making a final decision on whether to approve another price hike.

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DID YOU KNOW?

To highlight the extent of fan frustration, The 1958’s fan representation division, FC58, conducted a large-scale survey regarding ticket prices and the overall matchday experience.

The results painted a damning picture as 92 per cent of fans expressed dissatisfaction with current ticket pricing and a similar percentage criticised the matchday atmosphere, indicating that rising costs have not been matched by an improved experience. Furthermore, 98% of respondents stated that they felt disrespected by the way both the club and the Premier League treat match-going supporters.

Aston Villa have made an impressive start to the new season, after a superb 2023/24 which saw them qualify for the Champions League for the first time in over 50 years. Unai Emery’s side are currently fifth in the Premier League on 14 points, just outside of the top four on goal difference.

Their fast start to the new season has also seen them win two from two games in Europe. That includes a victory away to Swiss side BSC Young Boys, and a famous win at home to Bayern Munich. That man who scored the winner against the Bavarian giants has been one of their best players this season, Jhon Duran.

Duran’s 2024/25 season so far

There are few strikers who are as clinical across Europe’s big five leagues this season as 20-year-old Duran. The Columbian has quickly become one of the deadliest strikers on the continent and has scored six goals in ten games already.

To break that down further, the former Chicago Fire striker has found the back of the net four times in seven Premier League games, and once in both the Champions League and Carabao Cup.

He is currently the joint-fifth top goalscorer in the Premier League, alongside several other players, but has played far fewer minutes. The Columbian has not started a game in the top flight yet this term, playing just 184 minutes which equates to two full 90-minute games. The most minutes he has played in one game this term in the league is just 29.

This has been a real feature of the Columbian’s game since moving to the Premier League for £18m in January 2023. He has developed a reputation for goals off the bench and has become a game-changing substitute for Emery.

As per Statmuse, the Villa number nine has nine goals in 42 Premier League games but has made just three starts.

Stat

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

Matches

12

23

7

Starts

0

3

0

Minutes

126

462

184

90s

1.4

5.1

2

Goals

0

5

4

Goals per game

0

0.97

1.95

Duran is not showing any signs of slowing down and will be no doubt targeting double-figure goals this season. If he manages to avoid injuries, he could be a key player for years for the Villans, given he recently signed a new contract until 2030.

Scarily, the Midlands side may well have someone even more dangerous in the academy who could go on to be better than Duran.

Aston Villa’s next centre-forward prospect

The player in question here is Villa’s young Scottish striker Rory Wilson. The 18-year-old made the move to Villa Park from Scottish giants Rangers in July 2022 and has since gone from strength to strength in that famous Claret and Blue shirt.

The youngster, who has played three times for Scotland’s under-21 side, has a superb record for the Villa academy. He has scored 36 goals and has four assists to his name in 53 matches for the under-21s, under-18s and in the UEFA Youth League.

His goal in Europe came in his first, and to date, only appearance for the Villans against Young Boys in a 2-1 defeat. The 18-year-old had an astounding record in the under-18s Premier League last term, with 16 goals in just 13 appearances.

The former Rangers player was once described as “one of the best young strikers in Europe” by Scotland under-17s manager Brian McLaughlin in 2022, just before he moved to Villa. That was a campaign where he scored a whopping 49 goals, joining the Premier League side as a result.

Wilson is a player with lots of composure and finesse in front of goal. Take this superb chip as an example, which he scored at Villa Park. He makes a clever run in behind the opposition defence, getting on the end of the pass and delicately clipping the ball over the goalkeeper.

With an age gap of just two years between Wilson and Duran, it would not be a surprise to see them both in the same side soon enough.

Perhaps the young Scottish striker will become an even bigger star than Duran as he gets opportunities in the first team.

Aston Villa have struck gold on "absolute star” who's worth more than Duran

He was signed by Emery in 2023

ByJoe Nuttall Oct 10, 2024

انتهت مباراة المصري وزد بالتعادل الإيجابي 1-1، في اللقاء الذي جمع بينهما ضمن منافسات بطولة كأس الرابطة المصرية “كأس عاصمة مصر”.

وأقيمت المباراة بين المصري وزد، على أرضية استاد السويس الجديد، وذلك في إطار لقاءات الجولة الثانية من مرحلة المجموعات ببطولة كأس الرابطة “كأس عاصمة مصر”.

وأحرز جون إيبوكا هدف المصري في الدقيقة 77 من عمر اللقاء، بينما أحرز رشيد أحمد هدف التعادل لزد بالدقيقة 81. أهداف مباراة المصري وزد اليوم في كأس الرابطة

وبهذه النتيجة يحتل فريق المصري المركز الثالث في جدول ترتيب بطولة كأس الرابطة ولديه نقطة وحيدة، بينما يتواجد زد بالمركز الرابع بنقطة وحيدة أيضًا.

ويتواجد المصري وزد في المجموعة الثانية من بطولة كأس الرابطة، بجوار غزل المحلة والبنك الأهلي وسيراميكا كليوباترا.

New Zealander hadn’t opened in T20s before this week, now he’s put India on the brink

Matt Roller31-Oct-20213:30

Moody: NZ don’t do anything more than they need to do, and they do it very well

Twenty of the 22 players involved in India vs New Zealand in Dubai have played in the world’s premier franchise league but the highest-scoring batter’s overseas T20 experience extends to half a season in the Vitality Blast for Middlesex.Until a week ago, Daryl Mitchell had never opened the batting in T20 cricket, but he was the only man to overcome a slow Dubai surface, making 49 off 35 balls to set up New Zealand’s cruise to victory and ensuring that their destiny in the T20 World Cup remains in their own hands.Nobody had expected Mitchell to open in this tournament, not least the man himself after a career spent scrapping in the middle order in this format. “I pride my ability to be able to adapt to whatever position that I have to bat at – No. 3-4 or in the middle or late overs,” he told ESPNcricinfo in the build-up to the World Cup. “Especially in international cricket, you need to be able to adjust to different situations and different scenarios at any batting position from No. 1 to 7. It’s never the same every innings.”New Zealand had not planned for this either. They spent the vast majority of the five-and-a-half years between World Cups using Colin Munro as Martin Guptill’s partner, with Tim Seifert replacing him a year ago after his contract stand-off with NZC, and Rachin Ravindra, Tom Blundell and Finn Allen all trialled in the role in the last eight months.Watch cricket live on ESPN+

Sign up for ESPN+ and catch all the action from the Men’s T20 World Cup live in the USA. Match highlights of India vs New Zealand is available here in English, and here in Hindi (US only).

But their management saw something in Mitchell’s straightforward technique and ability to hit sixes – no-one has hit more in their domestic tournament, the Super Smash, since the start of 2016 – and recognised that exploiting the fielding restrictions would be crucial on slow pitches. After a brief trial in the warm-up games, he was backed to open against Pakistan in Sharjah and showed enough signs in an innings of 27 off 20 balls – featuring sixes off Hasan Ali and Imad Wasim – to keep his place ahead of Seifert when New Zealand opted to bring in an extra batter.His innings was one of calculated aggression. At first, he let Guptill take the majority of the strike and attack India’s new-ball bowlers, Varun Chakravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah, pushing his way to 5 off nine balls. But when Ravindra Jadeja came on to bowl the final powerplay over, he lofted his second ball over mid-on for six, then latched onto him when he dragged his length back, carving him through midwicket then cutting him through the gap at cover-point.Daryl Mitchell hooks one away•Getty Images

Within the space of three shots, any pretence of scoring pressure had been removed. The rest of the innings was a cruise, and he seized upon Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur when they erred in length, both too short and too full. He fell one short of a first T20I half-century, foxed by Bumrah’s cutter, but had effectively sealed the win long before; that he hit more sixes in 35 balls than India did in 120 told the story of the game.”I think it’s phenomenal,” Ish Sodhi, adjudged player of the match after removing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, said afterwards. “Just speaking to him then, it was his second game opening the batting in Twenty20 professional cricket, facing one of the best bowling attacks in the world.”It’s a huge testament to his character, and the backing he’s receiving from our camp, who believe in his ability immensely. It was never going to be an easy chase – they were always going to come out, be aggressive with the ball. The conditions, we didn’t quite know how they were going to play, [but] the way that he played that game was definitely the icing on the cake.”Related

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Few players epitomise New Zealand cricket better than Mitchell, a 30-year-old allrounder who adds plenty of value to his teams but who must rarely be stopped on the street for photos or autographs. His main claim to fame before tonight was that his father John played rugby for the All Blacks, and until recently, searching his name on ESPNcricinfo returned the profile of Worcestershire’s former opening batter.Mitchell’s promotion to open the batting in this tournament was a calculated gamble, but appears to be paying off: if he can lead New Zealand into the semi-finals at India’s expense, it will begin to look like a masterstroke.

Looking to compete with some of Europe’s best both on and off the pitch, Monchi now reportedly wants Aston Villa to sign a player who’s been compared to John Obi Mikel ahead of Chelsea.

Aston Villa transfer news

The Villans proved in the summer that they’re here to stay when it comes to competing for a European place in the Premier League and they’ve since backed that up in the form of results. Losing just once in their opening seven league games – sitting fifth as a result – and even defeating European giants Bayern Munich in between in the Champions League, things can’t get much better for those at Villa Park.

They won’t want to stop there under Unai Emery, however. Whilst they’ve got the chance, there’s no doubt that Aston Villa will want to put their Champions League status to good use by adding further reinforcements to their side in 2025.

Aston Villa wonderkid who earns 3x more than Duran is "wasted" at new club

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Joe Nuttall

Oct 18, 2024

According to Graeme Bailey for The Boot Room, Monchi now wants Aston Villa to sign Mario Dorgeles ahead of Chelsea after scouts compared the Nordsjaelland midfielder to former Premier League star John Obi Mikel. It’s not just Chelsea that the Villans will be competing against, however, with Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Brentford also reportedly keeping tabs on the 20-year-old in a busy battle for his signature.

Having won the race to sign Amadou Onana from Everton a few months ago, Aston Villa should be confident in their pursuit of yet another reinforcement and perhaps one that will complete Emery’s midfield once and for all. When 2025 arrives, Dorgeles will be one to watch.

Why Dorgeles is a man in-demand

After making an excellent start to the campaign at Danish side Nordsjaelland, Dorgeles has become a man in-demand around European football. At just 20 years old, his best is still to come in what is an exciting thought given that only four midfielders in world football managed better ball retention than the Ivorian in the 2023/24 season.

What’s more, if he is to follow in Obi Mikel’s footsteps, then swapping Scandinavia for the Premier League certainly makes sense with Villa left hoping that he decides to add a fresh twist by moving to the Midlands instead of Stamford Bridge.

It’s in the Midlands that Dorgeles could form an impressive partnership with current Villa star Onana. The Belgian has got off to the perfect start at Villa Park, quickly becoming one of Emery’s most important players, and could now receive a boost in the form of a midfield partner when 2025 arrives.

With so many of Europe’s top clubs keeping tabs on his progress, Dorgeles has the ultimate decision to make next year. Whether that ends in another vital addition to Emery’s ever-advancing Aston Villa project remains to be seen, however, as they continue to take strides on and off the pitch.

Liverpool are unrecognisable from the football team that Jurgen Klopp picked up from the wayside in 2015. That said, Arne Slot’s Liverpool side have more than a soft semblance to that of his predecessor’s.

Slot inherited a squad of high-class quality, and he’s been afforded that through Klopp’s lasting hot streak in the transfer market, both ruthless and pinpoint with additions and outgoings.

While the Reds have long been lauded for their ability to turn low-priced signings into megastars, there’s praise to be handed out for cashing in on players at just the right time.

Klopp's ruthless sales at Liverpool

Net spend is a term that Liverpool’s Premier League rivals like to scoff at, but there’s something wonderful about the Anfield side’s ability to collect hefty sums for disused parts and reinvest in what, in hindsight, proves to be a significant upgrade.

Be it Southampton’s £20m purchase of Danny Ings in July 2019, a forward who had never really got going on Merseyside, or the £19m sale of Dominic Solanke to Bournemouth, now a high-profile star with Tottenham Hotspur, signing for £65m this summer in what saw prudent Liverpool claim a sizeable sell-on fee.

While we’re talking of strikers, Christian Benteke, who has just beaten Lionel Messi to the 2024 Major League Soccer season’s top scorer, was sold to Crystal Palace for £27m under Klopp’s wing, despite a middling year at Anfield after joining from Aston Villa.

Forwards weren’t the only ones that Liverpool were able to shoo out the door for a healthy sum. Indeed, Mamadou Sakho was a polarising figure at Anfield, but he was sold for a pretty penny in the early phase of Klopp’s Reds tenure.

Mamadou Sakho was sold at the perfect time

It’s been more than a decade since Liverpool completed the £16m signing of Sakho from French giants Paris Saint-Germain. It was a coup: the Frenchman had been bestowed the Young Player of the Year award in France during 2010/11 and had also become the youngest captain in PSG’s history, wearing the armband aged just 17.

Brendan Rodgers had described him as a “monster in training”, and in fairness, there was plenty to admire about the centre-half, whose muscular physique and ball-playing ability set him apart from the lion’s share of up-and-coming Premier League defenders.

While Sakho had played a central part in Liverpool’s football prior to Klopp’s arrival, the German tactician was not a fan and ostracised him from first-team action following numerous disciplinary issues, only fielding him 29 times across the almost two seasons that the pair’s paths crossed.

Thus, it’s quite something that Klopp and Michael Edwards were able to get Crystal Palace to play to the tune of £26m in 2017, with the Eagles indeed purchasing the former France international after he spent time on loan at Selhurst Park during the 2016/17 season for a £2m fee.

It was the perfect time to sell Sakho, who made 64 Premier League appearances over four years for the south Londoners but of which just 18 came over the final two years.

Now, according to Football Transfers, the 34-year-old is worth just £300k marking a steep decline in the years since he plied his trade at Liverpool.

Once hailed as a ‘monster’ by his Liverpool boss, Sakho would have been a detriment to Klopp’s illustrious reign – but then, isn’t that why he was swiftly sold?

He's like Vini Jr: Liverpool could sign "10/10" Salah replacement for £50m

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By
Angus Sinclair

Oct 29, 2024

Clearer weather is expected on days three and four, but there is more rain forecast for day five

Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Dec-2021

Persistent rain washed out day two at Centurion, with the umpires calling off play at 1.55pm local time. There had been overnight rain in the Centurion area, and intermittent showers through the morning and afternoon ensured there was no possibility of play.The weather relented twice, causing the umpires to announce inspections at 11.30am – with an early lunch taken – and 12.45pm, but rain returned on both occasions to dampen hopes of a resumption.Related

Covid-19 after-effects, hamstring niggle forced Duanne Olivier to sit out Centurion Test

Clearer weather is expected on days three and four, but there is more rain forecast for day five, meaning there is likely to be further time lost and a diminished chance of a decisive result. Conditions so far have not been conducive to flurries of wickets, with the pitch playing flat apart from the occasional instance of inconsistent bounce.Given the state of the game, the washout has probably caused more frustration in India’s camp than South Africa’s. At stumps on day one, the visitors had laid a strong platform, moving to 272 for 3 with the centurion KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane at the crease, having already put on 73 for the fourth wicket.Rahul was also involved in stands of 117 for the first wicket with Mayank Agarwal, who made 60, and 82 for the third wicket with Virat Kohli. Lungi Ngidi was the only wicket-taker for South Africa, ending day one with figures of 3 for 45.As such, day two’s biggest development came off the field, with CSA confirming that Duanne Olivier had missed out on selection owing to the lingering effects of Covid-19, which he tested positive for a few weeks ago, and a hamstring niggle. The left-arm seamer Marco Jansen, chosen in Olivier’s place, endured a tough start to his Test career, ending day one with figures of 0 for 61 in 17 overs.

Acknowledges that India’s failure to win a global event under him could have led to his removal as short-format captain

Shashank Kishore15-Dec-2021Virat Kohli has said that Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid would have his “absolute support and contribution” in whatever vision they set for India’s white-ball teams going forward.”My responsibility is to push the team in the right directions, something that I’ve always looked to do even before I became captain,” Kohli, said in press conference on Wednesday. “So that mindset has never changed and it will never change.Related

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“Rohit is a very able captain, and very, very tactically sound. We’ve seen that in the games he’s captained for India and in the IPL [with Mumbai Indians] as well. And along with Rahul , who is a very, very balanced coach (and) great man-manager. Both of them will have my absolute support and my contribution in whatever vision they set for the team.”I will be there to support that 100% and continue to be a guy who can push the team in the right direction going forward in ODIs and T20Is.”Kohli also rubbished reports of a rift with Rohit, now India’s overall white-ball leader, saying that “there are no issues” between the two.”Between me and Rohit, I have already addressed this on several occasions, there is no problem at all,” Kohli said. “Honestly from the last two or two-and-a-half years I have been clarifying regularly and I am now tired clarifying this point that because that question is repeatedly asked of me. I can say one thing with guarantee that any action of mine, any communication, won’t be to put the team down till I play cricket. That’s my commitment to Indian cricket.”Kohli’s removal as ODI captain brought an end his five-year tenure at the helm in the format. While his record makes for excellent reading – of the 60 captains to lead in 50 or more men’s ODIs, only three have a better win-loss record – India failed to win an ICC tournament under him.They finished runners-up at the 2017 Champions Trophy and were losing semi-finalists at the 50-over World Cup in 2019. In Kohli’s only T20 World Cup as captain, in October-November in the UAE, India crashed out after the group stage following back-to-back losses to Pakistan and New Zealand.3:28

Kohli – ‘The one thing that remains constant is the work you put in’

Kohli acknowledged that those results could have prompted the BCCI’s decision to replace him.”Reasons, obviously we have not won an ICC tournament. Reasons I can understand. There was no debate about whether the decision was right or wrong. The decision BCCI took was from a logical point of view, which is totally understandable and I can understand that. As far as the other events that transpired and the way I was communicated, I’ve already told you.”About captaincy, one thing I can say is, I’ve been honest to the responsibility and done it to the best of my ability. That’s my assessment of my limited-overs captaincy. The batting, when you know you’ve been doing well at the international level, you know how to perform. Those things won’t go away from you. It’s about understanding your roles.”Kohli is currently ranked seventh, second and 11th in the ICC rankings for batters in Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively, and averages over 50 in all three formats. But he hasn’t scored a century since November 2019, a statistic that has been of some concern to some observers. Could not being white-ball captain free him up as a batter?”Well, I can’t comment if me not being captain will leave a positive impact on my batting, those things no one can predict,” he said. “I have taken a lot of pride in performing as a captain for the team and I’ve done the best that I could. I think what I know is my motivation levels to perform won’t dip at all, I will always be prepared and eager to perform in the same manner.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Autor do gol que abriu o placar no Raulino Oliveira, contra o Audax, o atacante Gabriel Barbosa, do Flamengo, comemorou com o tradicional gesto antirracista, levantando o braço e cerrando um dos punhos. A comemoração acontece dias após o camisa 9 do Fla relatar ter sofrido uma ofensa racial no clássico com o Fluminense, no último domingo. O TDJ-RJ abriu inquérito para apurar o o caso.

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HOJE TEVE! O GOLAÇO DE @gabigol PELAS LENTES DO ESTAGIÁRIO! QUE COISA LINDA! 🤩 #AUDxFLA #VamosFlamengo pic.twitter.com/fyt5kaMiL2

— Flamengo (@Flamengo) February 10, 2022

Na saída do gramado do Fla-Flu, Gabi ouviu provocações de torcedores do Fluminense. Contudo, em um vídeo repostado pelo jogador, é possível ouvir uma ofensa racista. O camisa 9 denunciou a atitude nas redes sociais – veja!

A diretoria do Flamengo repudiou o ocorrido, demonstrou apoio ao atleta e cobrou a Ferj e o TJD-RJ após mais um caso de racismo no futebol brasileiro.

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