Onana 'one of worst goalkeepers in Man Utd's history': Matic
Lyon's Nemanja Matic had spells at Chelsea and Manchester United (Valery HACHE)
Former Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has labelled Andre Onana "one of the worst goalkeepers" in the club's history, reacting angrily to the shotstopper's claim that the Premier League side are "way better" than Lyon.
Advertisement
Ruben Amorim's struggling United travel to face the French side on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
United are 13th in the Premier League after a miserable season but remain unbeaten in Europe.
Onana said after the Manchester derby on Sunday, which finished 0-0, that overcoming Lyon, fifth in Ligue 1, was "not going to be easy, but I think we are way better than them".
That bullish remark was put to the normally understated Matic on the eve of the first leg in France.
"You know, I respect everyone but to say that then you need to give the answer," said the Serbia international, who also had a spell with Chelsea in the Premier League.
Advertisement
"If you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United's history, you need to take care of what you are talking (about).
"If David de Gea or Peter Schmeichel or (Edwin) van der Sar said that, then I would question myself.
"But if you're one of the statistically worst goalkeepers in Man United's modern history, then he needs to show that before he says (anything). We will see."
bur-jw/bsp
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sky Sports: United ‘expecting offers' for Solskjaer signing with ‘all parties' leaning towards permanent sale
In what'll come as no surprise to any Manchester United fan, Borussia Dortmund have established their interest in another deal for Jadon Sancho. With essentially every club across the continent well aware of the player's situation, United are now 'expecting offers' (Sky Sports) for Sancho in hopes of offloading him as swiftly as possible following his recent return. Advertisement It comes after Chelsea decided against making his loan permanent last week, instead opting to pay a £5 million penalty to bypass their £25m obligation-to-buy clause. Reports suggested talks had taken place to try and negotiate a lower wage packet for the winger, but he was reluctant to budge in his demands. INEOS made to go back to drawing board over Jadon Sancho's future Sancho spent 2024/2025 on loan with the Blues. (Photo by) Alas, Sancho and United are now back to square one in regards to his future. He hasn't played a competitive game for the club since the Community Shield final last August, after which he was omitted from the opening games of the Premier League campaign until he departed for Stamford Bridge. Advertisement The 25-year-old most recently represented Dortmund in the second half of 2023/2024 in the aftermath of his fallout with Erik ten Hag. He reached the Champions League final with the side before they were comfortably overturned by Real Madrid and, like Chelsea, were unwilling to pay up and retain him on a long-term basis. Sancho awaiting approaches from suitors Sancho has enjoyed a slightly revived run of form in London, although his value is nowhere near what it was when he was in his final year with Dortmund. He had quickly made a name for himself as one of Europe's hottest prospects — hence the Reds forking out a ludicrous £73m to add him to the ranks in 2021. Sky's report adds that the Bundesliga outfit would be seeking a deal similar to the one they signed off on in January 2024. However, this won't appeal to United, who are keen to get him off the books once and for all. Advertisement 'All parties' are said to be favouring a permanent sale this summer, with Sancho now also in the final year of his lucrative contract. More Stories / Latest News Sky Sports: United 'expecting offers' for Solskjaer signing with 'all parties' leaning towards permanent sale Jun 9 2025, 6:30 Amorim fears imminent managerial change may sabotage Man Utd's £60m plans Jun 8 2025, 7:16 Not only Amad – Another two Man United must adjust to new roles after double coup Jun 7 2025, 17:51
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Thomas Frank led Brentford to new heights. It's no surprise he is the leading contender for Tottenham job
Thomas Frank has been Brentford's figurehead for just under seven years but the 51-year-old is now the leading contender to replace Ange Postecoglou as Tottenham Hotspur's head coach. Frank has overseen one of the most successful periods in Brentford's history. The west London side were mid-table in the Championship when he replaced Dean Smith in October 2018. He guided them to successive play-off finals and they beat Swansea City 2-0 at Wembley in May 2021 to earn promotion to the Premier League at the second attempt. Advertisement Brentford have flourished in the top-flight despite having one of the lowest wage bills. Frank's side finished 13th in their first year and recorded memorable victories over Chelsea and Arsenal. Ivan Toney, David Raya and Bryan Mbeumo blossomed into superstars under Frank's guidance. After finishing ninth the following season, they placed 16th in 2023-24 as they struggled with injuries. But this season they bounced back to record a top-10 finish, coming close to qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club's history. Brentford's rise under Frank has been meteoric, and it is no surprise that Spurs have him in their sights. Spurs lifted their first piece of silverware in 17 years after beating Manchester United in the Europa League final on May 21, but their awful domestic form has been impossible for chairman Daniel Levy to ignore. They suffered 22 defeats and ended Postecoglou's second season 17th in the Premier League. The decision to sack Postecoglou was made on Friday. Frank would need to quickly win over any doubters among the fanbase, but he has endured slow starts in his last two jobs as a head coach. Brondby failed to win any of his opening eight games in charge, while he lost eight of his first 10 matches with Brentford. Frank initially joined Brentford in December 2016 as an assistant and the long-term plan was for him to replace Smith. Two years later, Smith moved to his boyhood club Aston Villa and Frank was promoted. Brentford finished 11th in the 2018-19 campaign and they came third in Frank's first full season. They won eight consecutive games and looked destined to be promoted automatically until they lost their final two matches, which allowed West Bromwich Albion to finish as runners-up behind Leeds United. Brentford lost the 2020 Championship play-off final to local rivals Fulham in extra time. Advertisement They finished third again the following season and lost 1-0 at Bournemouth in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final. Before the start of the second leg, Frank ran around Brentford's entire stadium in an attempt to whip the crowd up. When Arnaut Danjuma scored in the fifth minute to give Bournemouth a 2-0 lead on aggregate, Frank smashed a bin on the touchline with his foot. Brentford recovered to win 3-1 and then beat Swansea in the final. He is a much more animated head coach than Postecoglou. He barks out instructions from the technical area and often gestures to his players. He claps when his team cut through the opponent's press. He frequently talks to his assistants and, during breaks in play, will sometimes pull out a tactics board to visually show what he wants from the players. Frank plans his substitutions in advance for each game. He was sent off after Brentford lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 2022 after confronting Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves. The referee Peter Bankes booked Frank, who responded, 'You may as well show me the second yellow (card).' Apart from that incident, he is calmer after a defeat than Postecoglou. Frank will say, 'My body is burning', but he tends to be measured and thoughtful with his responses. Postecoglou was guilty of being grumpy and created unnecessary drama at times. Frank celebrates victories with a glass of red wine and has a strict rule that, whether his team wins or loses, they are given 24 hours to process their emotions before focusing on the next task. He has a 'no d***heads policy', which means a potential new signing's personality is equally as important as their ability. Throughout his reign at Brentford, he repeatedly told the squad about the importance of being 'confident but humble.' Apart from a 3-2 defeat by Everton earlier this year when he experimented with a back three due to an injury crisis, Postecoglou always stuck with a 4-3-3 formation at Spurs. Brentford switched between a 3-5-2 system and 4-3-3 across their first two years in the top-flight under Frank. He would use a 3-5-2 with aggressive wing-backs, which would morph into a back five out of possession, against quality teams who were expected to dominate possession, including Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. Advertisement For example, left wing-back Rico Henry pushed forward and created multiple goalscoring opportunities in their famous 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad in November 2022. They had a lot of success with goalkeeper Raya pumping the ball long for Toney, who would flick it on for his strike partner Mbeumo. Frank would sometimes switch to a 3-4-3 if Brentford were losing but rarely uses this tactic now. Yoane Wissa moved to the left wing, Josh Dasilva pushed up on the right and Mbeumo operated as an offensive right wing-back. Frank used this system when Brentford were losing 2-0 to Leicester City on the opening day of the 2022-23 season. Toney scored midway through the second half and Dasilva equalised in the 86th minute. Frank prefers to use 4-3-3 but recognises when subtle tweaks need to be made to benefit everybody. Mikkel Damsgaard excelled and recorded 10 assists this season, operating as the advanced central midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Damsgaard thrived playing quick balls in behind to the rapid front three of Wissa, Mbeumo and Kevin Schade, who all reached double figures in the league. 'He is very methodical in the way he works, and the level of detail he goes into is the most I've been involved in,' Ben Mee told The Athletic's audio documentary Access All Areas: Brentford in July 2023. 'Technically, tactically, he wants players to know every part of their job and is good at getting his point across. 'He's approachable in ways that maybe others wouldn't be. He's open to ideas, which is great, he's always trying to take things on board from players but ultimately he's got a lot of knowledge about the game. 'I remember speaking to Thomas when we were either losing or drawing in a game. I looked over to him to say, 'Shall I go up for a throw-in?' He said, 'Yeah, always go every single time, no doubt about it.' That is refreshing for me.' Frank used to be a teacher and started his coaching career in Denmark's youth system. He worked for Frederiksvaerk, Hvidovre, B93 and Lyngby before being appointed head coach of Denmark's Under-16s. At Lyngby, Frank crossed paths with Johan Lange, who became Tottenham's technical director in November 2023 after holding a similar position at Aston Villa. While at Villa, Lange had been keen on hiring Frank to replace Steven Gerrard in October 2022. Nearly two decades after they first met, Lange and Frank could be reunited at Spurs. Advertisement Frank managed Denmark at the Under-17 European Championship in 2011, and his squad included future Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Brentford captain Christian Norgaard. They reached the semi-finals after beating England, who had Raheem Sterling and Jordan Pickford in their starting XI. He has a track record of developing talent, and if he joins Spurs his focus would turn to helping their young stars, including Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Mikey Moore, fulfill their vast potential. At Brentford, Frank converted Ollie Watkins from a winger into a centre-forward, helped Toney, Mbeumo and Wissa evolve into elite strikers and persisted with Damsgaard after he struggled with injuries during his first two years in Brentford. Frank has also improved experienced players, including Mee and Pontus Jansson. He even helped former Sweden international Jansson overcome superstitious rituals he followed before matches. The biggest question mark around Frank if he moved clubs would be how he handles the step up in attention and expectation in north London. Tottenham have a packed fixture schedule next season following their qualification for the Champions League. They played 17 more games than Brentford in the 2024-25 campaign, while Frank has no experience of coaching in a European competition apart from the preliminary qualifying rounds of the Europa League with Brondby. His coaching methods will be tested and might require further adaptation. Frank's job has never been under threat during his time at Brentford, even when they went on an eight-game winless run during their first year in the Premier League. He has an excellent relationship with owner Matthew Benham, director of football Phil Giles and technical director Lee Dykes, and admitted once that lots of managers could be a success at Brentford due to the infrastructure, environment and culture which has been led by Giles. Frank did give serious consideration to joining Villa three years ago, and last year he was interviewed by Chelsea and admired by Manchester United. Tottenham have burned through four permanent managers since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in November 2019 — nobody has lasted more than two years — but Frank has always been ambitious.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Benfica struggling to meet financial demands of a João Félix deal — report
Benfica are said to be interested in bringing back João Félix, preferably before the start of the Club World Cup, but in an entirely expected development, they are struggling to meet the financial demands of this proposition — even though both player and club are pushing hard for the reunion (and Chelsea are more than willing to make it happen, for a reasonable price). According to A Bola, Benfica initially asked for a loan, but Chelsea are adamant about authorizing only a permanent move. We have asked for €30m to make that happen. Benfica are willing to go as high as €25m, so the gap in valuation is certainly not huge — though €25m would be the third highest transfer fee paid in Benfica history, so it's already a considerable investment for them. However, the bigger hindrance is the salary. Félix is rumored to be earning around €8m per year, which is twice as much as Benfica's wage structure allows. So if he truly wants this reunion to happen, he will have to take a significant pay cut. More from Thibaut Courtois wins Premier League Golden Glove What is your favorite memory of Chelsea's Champions League final victory in Munich? Nathan Ake, Kurt Zouma receive surprise national team call-ups Chelsea to continue building around Eden Hazard Chelsea 4-3 Watford, Premier League: Tactical Analysis Chelsea 'making progress' on €90m Romelu Lukaku — reports Conte wants six new signings at Chelsea for next season's Premier League and Champions League title push Sign in to access your portfolio
