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Man United boss Ten Hag must learn from Mourinho to ensure Carabao Cup win is just the start
“We want more. My contract is long, so hopefully I can win something more.”
These words sound a lot like something Erik ten Hag could have said in the aftermath of Manchester United’s Carabao Cup final victory against Newcastle on Sunday, but they belong to Jose Mourinho, who had been sat in the same seat in the Wembley news conference exactly six years earlier.
Like Ten Hag, Mourinho lifted the League Cup in his first season as manager at Old Trafford and then spoke about wanting more. There was more to come from Mourinho in the elongated vase of the UEFA Europa League three months later, but a little over a year after that, Mourinho was gone, sacked in December 2018 following a series of disagreements with the board over transfers and a run of miserable results.
The 2017 League Cup, secured with a 3-2 win over Southampton, wasn’t the platform it was supposed to be, and it has since been consigned to history as a rare good day during the post-Sir Alex Ferguson slump. Ferguson used the cup competitions — particularly success in the FA Cup in 1990 and the League Cup in 2006 — to trigger periods of sustained success. The question for Ten Hag is simple: how will his 2023 League Cup triumph be remembered?
It’s easy with the benefit of hindsight but there were signs, even during the celebrations at Wembley in 2017, that all was not well with Mourinho at United. In fact, the second question in his winners’ news conference suggested as much.
“Jose,” it started, “for someone who has just won a trophy, you don’t seem hugely exuberant or happy.”
“I am very happy,” came Mourinho’s reply, delivered while wearing the face of a man who was anything but. “I am very happy. It’s important for the fans and for the players. I always try to put myself in a secondary position, but the reality is that it’s also important for me. It’s a relief.”
The difference in Ten Hag’s demeanour on Sunday could not have been more different. After dancing on the pitch with Antony and Lisandro Martinez, he sat down for his news conference wearing a wide grin. He said broadly similar things to what Mourinho had said six years before — “If we keep going and working then we can win even more” — but he was in a buoyant-enough mood to make a joke, as he left having nearly forgotten to take the trophy with him.
Ten Hag has cracked down on squad discipline since taking over last summer, but he has also ensured he has built a bond with his players and the fans, something it seemed Mourinho always struggled to do.
In line with Carabao Cup rules, clubs do not have to hold prematch news conferences for any round prior to the semifinals and for the first time this season, United used the time to invite supporters to come to the training base at Carrington and put their own questions to Ten Hag. Fans from all over the world took up the opportunity and each time, it went down well.
Mourinho might have understood his task at Old Trafford, but Ten Hag, it seems, understands the club.After winning the League Cup and the Europa League in his first season, Mourinho finished second in the Premier League in his second year and lost in the FA Cup final to Chelsea. It was at that point, however, that his reign began to unravel. He had already lost patience with star player Paul Pogba and during the summer of 2018, he became increasingly frustrated by the club’s transfer business.
Having decided he wanted to move on Anthony Martial, Mourinho was convinced the idea was blocked because the French forward was club co-chairman Joel Glazer’s favourite player. Mourinho also asked to sign a new centre-back, but was told that targets Harry Maguire and Jerome Boateng were too expensive and too old and injury-prone, respectively. Transfers can be contentious for any manager and Ten Hag will have to be careful in the way he navigates the summer window so as not to fall into the same trap as Mourinho.
After making such a huge step forward in his first season, there will be an expectation for United to make a genuine title challenge and the Dutchman will quite rightly want a squad capable of delivering. Ten Hag has not been shy in pushing for more players — winger Antony last summer, forward Wout Weghorst and midfielder Marcel Sabitzer in January — and will do so again, but as Mourinho learned to his cost, there can be danger when you overstep the mark.
Because of financial fair play concerns, United are planning a summer spend of between £100m and £200m, and it will be football director John Murtough’s job to balance Ten Hag’s demands with the club’s financial constraints. A new striker, in particular, is vital if United are going to reach the next level.
Mourinho thought the League Cup would provide a first taste of success for a team destined for bigger and better things and the fans at Wembley that day probably thought the same. That it didn’t provides an apt reminder for Ten Hag — not that he needs one — that there’s work to do to complete his Old Trafford revolution and get United back to the top table in both England and Europe.
Mourinho’s League Cup turned out to be nothing more than a brief highlight. Ten Hag wants his to be the start of a series of them. (ESPN)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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