Carrick ‘proud’ of United’s diversity
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will not be charged by the Football Association over his claim that the United Kingdom has been “colonised by immigrants”.
Manchester United’s co-owner made his controversial claim in a Sky News interview last week, prompting the FA to consider whether he had brought the game into disrepute. The governing body has decided not to take any action other than to remind Ratcliffe of his responsibilities when taking part in media interviews.
Ratcliffe did offer a qualified apology, saying he was sorry if his “choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe”.
Earlier, Michael Carrick refused to comment directly on Ratcliffe’s claims but insisted that Manchester United stand for diversity and respect. “Sir Jim made his statement and the club made a statement on the back of it,” United’s interim manager said. “It is not my place to add to that. Enough has been said in that regard.”
Carrick then spoke about his 12 years as a United player and previous three as a coach. “I have been around this club many years and we always make a huge impact globally and we are really responsible for that,” he said. “Throughout the years, as a player and member of staff and as a supporter, we are really proud of the environment and culture we’ve got at the club.
“Equality and diversity and respect for each other is something we look to carry through every day. I have travelled the world and know what this club means to an awful lot of people. I am fully aware of the responsibility and we try to carry that out every day. I am proud of what the club stands for and has done for so long.”
United travel to Everton for Monday’s 8pm kick-off, having drawn 1-1 at West Ham in their last league outing. Jamie Jackson
Mourinho made ‘huge mistake’ – Kompany
José Mourinho made a “huge mistake” in his post-match comments following alleged racist abuse of the Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior, believes the Bayern Munich head coach, Vincent Kompany.
The Brazilian reported an instance of alleged racial abuse to the referee François Letexier after scoring in Tuesday’s Champions League playoff tie against Benfica, with the Spanish club later singling out Gianluca Prestianni as the subject of the complaint. Prestianni denied making racist comments in a post on Instagram, while his club spoke of a “defamation campaign” against him. Letexier activated anti-racism protocols, suspending play for 10 minutes, and Uefa has initiated an investigation into the incident.
Mourinho, the Benfica head coach, was criticised for his post-match comments, saying that “something happens, always” in matches where Vinícius plays.
Kompany, the former Manchester City defender and Burnley manager, addressed the issue before Bayern’s Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt, and issued an impassioned defence of Vinícius, stressing his reaction “cannot be faked”.
“For me, even worse, is what happens after the game,” said Kompany, who recalled his own experiences of racism as a young player which included Real Betis fans “doing monkey chants” at him and his then Anderlecht teammate Cheick Tioté.
“After the game, you have the leader of an organisation, José Mourinho, who basically attacks the character of Vinícius Júnior by bringing in the type of celebration to discredit what Vinícius is doing in this moment. For me, in terms of leadership, it is a huge mistake. It is something we should not accept. I am very clear on that.
“The one thing you can’t do is dismiss a person and attack the character of a person who’s complaining about something he experienced and something that must be very painful to that person. There is something that needs to happen.”
Kompany added: “I know 100 people who have worked with José Mourinho. I have never heard a person say anything bad about José. I understand he is fighting for his team and his club. You cannot be a bad person and have all the ex-players you have had talk so positively about you. I don’t need to judge him as a person but I know what I have heard and I understand maybe what he has done, but he has made a mistake.”
The Brazilian football confederation meanwhile has written to Uefa and Fifa stressing the need to “identify and punish” anyone guilty of racially abusing Vinícius. It has been reported that the Uefa inquiry, headed up by an ethics and disciplinary investigator, could take up to three weeks to conclude. That means Vinícius and Prestianni could come face to face again in the second leg of the playoff at the Bernabéu on Wednesday with the case still unresolved. PA Media
Guardiola: City rushed Rodri back too soon
Pep Guardiola has admitted Manchester City rushed Rodri back into action too soon after a cruciate ligament injury. The midfielder has struggled to rediscover his best form, hindered by further injuries.
The Spaniard’s performances have improved of late, helped by greater support in midfield. Rodri, who was charged with misconduct by the Football Association for comments after the draw at Tottenham, remains available for Saturday’s visit of Newcastle.
“In our desire to get him back, we came back too early and that’s why it took longer [to find form],” Guardiola said. “It’s a good lesson. There are players that can recover earlier, like Bernardo [Silva] for example, or Phil [Foden]. And others need more time. He needed proper time to recover. He’s a special player.”
Rodri sustained his knee injury against Arsenal in September 2024 and did not feature until the final game of that season. He then played at the Club World Cup, where he had a setback. The 29-year-old, who has 18 months on his contract, has missed 28 games through injury this season.
Guardiola is eager for Rodri to extend his stay. “I would love it desperately,,” he said. “A player like he is, as much age as he has, he’s wiser, understands the game more. There are players that are defined on the bigger stages, in the difficulties and Rodri is one of them.”
Guardiola is boosted by the return of Erling Haaland and Savinho as City look to close the gap to the leaders, Arsenal, who play Tottenham on Sunday, to two points. Arsenal drew at Wolves on Wednesday, meaning City will be champions if they win their remaining games, including against the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium in April.
“Arsenal dropped points but they can win a lot of games in a row,” Guardiola said. “That’s why my focus is not to change. If we win these 12 games we will be champions; it’s good news, but who knows? I could not assure you in the past when it happened against Jürgen [Klopp], both teams winning a lot of games.” Will Unwin
Howe happy with Gordon’s selfish streak
Eddie Howe has told the in-form Anthony Gordon to carry on being selfish following his Champions League heroics in Qarabag. The 24-year-old England forward plundered four goals in Wednesday’s 6-1 playoff first-leg victory in Baku to take his tally in this season’s competition to 10, making the most of his deployment as a central frontman.
He completed his haul with a second penalty at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, having waved away exhortations from his captain, Kieran Trippier, to allow Nick Woltemade to take it, just as Alan Shearer had done to the youngster Paul Robinson as he scored five in an 8-0 Premier League victory against Sheffield Wednesday in September 1999.
Asked if he wanted Gordon to have a selfish streak, Newcastle’s head coach said: “There were really big positives to take from that incident. Moments like that get blown out of all proportion, it was a very minor issue. It was great from Anthony that he’s got that strong enough resolve that he wants to score in every moment – and you’d want that from any player – so I’ve got no issue with him.
“I’ve got no issue with Kieran also, trying to think of the team and trying to lead in his way and be the aspiring leader that he is in every moment. I actually thought it was a real positive on all sides. The good thing is we scored the penalty, so that in itself is another positive. I think it showed that all the players care and we want to do well.” PA Media
Moyes set for season’s toughest run
David Moyes wants to use the most difficult spell of Everton’s season to prove they are a club who have put relegation worries behind them and can challenge for Europe. Monday’s visit of Manchester United starts a spell of nine matches in which they face five of the current top six – there are other games against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City – plus Newcastle.
The team head into the weekend in eighth on 37 points, only five points behind their Merseyside neighbours in sixth, and Moyes has no worries about avoiding the drop. “This time last year, the nine games I had to play I’d have been saying; ‘My goodness, how am I going to get any wins to stay in the Premier League?’” the manager said.
“I think we’ve probably got over that completely and the challenge now is, can we change mentality? Can we change the whole direction we are going in so we’re not going to be that team any more. At the moment we are in a batch of big games. We have got everyone fit bar Jack Grealish so we’re probably in as good a physical shape [as possible], as far as that goes.
“We have a bit of disruption with game times, in terms of when we’re playing. We might have 10 or 12 days off and then we might have three games in eight days so we haven’t a particularly consistent calendar but we’ve certainly got hard games to come.” PA Media
Emery still wants to be No 1
Unai Emery says Aston Villa are still dreaming of winning the Premier League. Villa were in the thick of the title race after a brilliant run before Christmas in which they beat Arsenal and Manchester City. They have stuttered since but could move to within five points of the Gunners if they beat Leeds on Saturday.
“Of course, we are feeling so, so comfortable, third in the league,” Emery said. “We are so, so happy but we know we must be so, so demanding to keep it and to dream. To dream in football, and to dream expecting to achieve something important, is very important as well, and to have this objective or this motivation I like a lot.
“Of course, if we are winning tomorrow we are closer with Arsenal but how they are performing, how they are showing everybody their power, not only Premier League. Of course they draw against Wolverhampton but Wolverhampton is a good team and we beat them here but we struggled a lot, and we are playing next week against them, it’s a good example.
“And in the Champions League, how they are performing and winning matches, I think the power they have now and the favourites they are now, Arsenal, no doubt. And then it’s City. City always is performing fantastic and being so, so consistent.” PA Media
Murillo has faith in Pereira’s survival skills
Murillo says there is “light at the end of the tunnel” as Nottingham Forest began life under Vítor Pereira in style. The defender was on the scoresheet along with Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White as they thumped Fenerbahce 3-0 in the Europa League playoff round first leg.
Pereira is the fourth manager of the season, following in the footsteps of Nuno Espírito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche, and Murillo says it has been a challenging season. However he is confident Pereira, the former Wolves manager, can keep them up.
“We know how difficult it is because four managers, four different ideas, it’s difficult,” said the Brazilian before Sunday’s visit of Liverpool. “But now I think Vítor is going to stay with us until the end of the season and I think he can give his idea to overcome the bad moment that we were going through. Now I think it is the light at the end of the tunnel. We can see it. I think just believing in him is important.
“We have to keep working hard, that’s the main point, run a lot, more communication inside the pitch. We did this [at Fenerbahce]. Believing in his work is most important. We had some problems with the last gaffers but now we have to keep looking forward and grab his [Pereira’s] idea so that we can come back towards the top again.”
