List of All Articles with Tag 'sons'

With snow piled high on the roadsides, Italian outsider Davide Bais won stage seven of the Giro d'Italia from a breakaway on the highest peak...

Oak Hill is no stranger when it comes to hosting major events

Tottenham are expected to complete the permanent signing of Dejan Kulusevski this summer, the PA news agency understands. The Sweden forward moved to Spurs from Juventus on an initial 18-month loan in January of last year and enjoyed a strong finish to the 2021-22 season. Kulusevski has struggled for form this season and reports in Italy this week suggested there were doubts over his long-term future at Tottenham. When Kulusevski joined from Juve, an obligation for Spurs to make the transfer permanent for 35million euros at the end of this campaign was inserted should Tottenham qualify for the Champions League this term. Tottenham’s difficult season means a top-four finish is no longer attainable, but the option to sign Kulusevski for 35million euros (£30m) remains and it is understood the club are still set to secure the services of the attacker on a long-term deal. Spurs acting head coach Ryan Mason admitted he was not involved in any talks over what the future holds for Kulusevski but backed the 23-year-old to bounce back from a tough campaign. A hamstring injury sidelined the former Atalanta player for a large chunk of the first half of the season but he has only scored twice in 34 appearances where he has been in and out of the starting line-up. “The general feeling is that Deki is a Tottenham player so those conversations, like many other conversations about other players, will come at the end of the season,” Mason said. “I love Deki as a player. I think he’s got so much room to grow and be a top, top player, even though he already is a top, top player. “At the same time when you play for a club like this, I feel it’s important that you feel you have to earn the shirt in every moment. “Naturally when you play for a club like this there’s competition. At the moment, last week, you could see he was on the bench but he came on and helped the team get the result. That’s important.” Kulusevski has scored seven goals and provided 15 assists in 54 appearances for Spurs overall.

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Manchester United will have Raphael Varane available for selection for the first time in a month when they face Wolves in the Premier League.

While the playoffs roll on, the Suns are already reportedly planning to shop Chris Paul. Also, Ja Morant lost $39 million and Mark Jackson was big wrong.If the Basketball Gods favor us, we could end up with a trio of Game 7s between Sunday and Monday. But while you're waiting to find out wh...

Ryan Mason believes Harry Kane is right to highlight Tottenham’s lost values in recent seasons. Spurs travel to eighth-placed Aston Villa on Saturday knowing victory will virtually secure them a place in the Europa Conference League next season with hopes of a top-four finish long gone. It is a far cry from Tottenham’s best years under Mauricio Pochettino when they were regularly in the Champions League and one of the best clubs in the country. Kane has taken part in various interviews during the past week where he has spoken about the club losing the values they had under Pochettino and how he is determined to restore a strong culture and environment despite uncertainty over his future with only one year left on his contract. “Yep, absolutely I am fully with him on that 100 per cent,” Spurs’ acting head coach Mason responded when quizzed on Kane’s comments. “We can talk a lot about players but I think the environment, culture, it’s everyone, everything, the small details. We have to have many people driving that, not just one or two people. It has to be driven from within. “I agree with him because I was part of probably the change in setting new standards and a new culture within this place. “You can spend years trying to build something but at the same time it doesn’t take long to lose it. “Thankfully for us we still have many, many good people within these walls who know and feel what good looks like and probably more importantly want that as well. It is something we absolutely strive for. “It is important, it’s vital and it’s crucial that everyone who comes in here is pulling in the same direction and want the same things. I think that goes for every single football club as well. “We need that. Every club needs that, we need that. I agree with him. “I am happy that he has said it because he is one of the people I want to drive it because he is important to us, in terms of his stature at this football but also his understanding that there’s many people that can contribute as well.” Harry is still a Tottenham player and we are still focused on him achieving more great things for this football club Ryan Mason With speculation rife over Kane’s future, fans have taken comfort in his recent comments seemingly suggesting he would be at Tottenham next season. Last month, chairman Daniel Levy revealed his hope for Kane to have a statue outside the stadium one day, but Mason admitted it was premature for now. “I think that is probably a question to answer when he is not playing here because then you can recognise and appreciate the work he has done,” Mason admitted. “Right now it is probably a bit premature because the reality is, Harry is still a Tottenham player and we are still focused on him achieving more great things for this football club. Hopefully he can do that. “Our focus is on Harry until the end of the season – like it is for every player – and then we realise at the end of the season there are some decisions to make for different people and players.” Meanwhile, Mason called for punishment to be handed out to the spectator at last weekend’s home match against Crystal Palace who allegedly racially abused Son Heung-min. He added: “If there is anyone stepping out of line, they need to be punished.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Roy Hodgson ready for first meeting with former transfer target Gary O’Neil Eurovision Song Contest has disrupted Man City’s schedule – Pep Guardiola Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal focus to be on title charge instead of player futures

Erik ten Hag is back where he started. In one respect, anyway. The Dutchman lost his first two games as Manchester United manager and has lost his last two. He inherited a team in the Europa League, went on a marathon run in the Europa League and, suddenly and despite a run of 30 matches that produced 63 points, could face next season in the Europa League. Talk of the title at Old Trafford has given way to worry about Liverpool – if not from Ten Hag. But the pain of finishing fifth would be exacerbated if United are leapfrogged by their enemies. Ten Hag left West Ham on Sunday sounding rational. “If you look at the table we have everything in our hands,” he said. They do. Win three of their last four games and Liverpool’s results become irrelevant. Three of those four matches are at Old Trafford where United are unbeaten in the league since August, dropping just six points. None of their remaining opponents are in the top nine, and United have a lone defeat to bottom-11 sides this season; it was, though, that most recent outing, at West Ham. United are the team who first had and then lost momentum. They are the side who seemed relentless during the lengthiest fixture list in Europe this season until they now look like running out of steam. They were the squad who seemed transformed under Ten Hag and now appear reliant on overworked, potentially exhausted individuals as faultlines in the group have become more apparent. They may need Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford to drag them over the line. Fernandes is 54 games into his season, Rashford 53 into his. Factor in international commitments and the Portuguese is up to 63 appearances already. There is a sense that exertions are taking their toll. United have only won one of their last six games in all competitions, though a penalty shootout triumph against Brighton has also taken them into the FA Cup final. They have three goals in six; three in 584 minutes. They have lost their way later in matches, giving up 2-0 leads to Sevilla and Tottenham, conceding a 99th-minute winner to Brighton. Ten Hag built a team with a new spine but it has been fractured and frayed. They can count the cost of Sevilla’s visit to Old Trafford; the loss of two goals was accompanied by the loss of two centre-backs, with Lisandro Martinez’s season over and Raphael Varane sidelined ever since. Take each out and United are less secure, less confident, less capable of playing out from the back. It has felt a reversion to the problems Ole Gunnar Solskjaer bequeathed: Harry Maguire had a harrowing outing in Seville and, partly because of suspension and injury, has not started since. Victor Lindelof has at least been decent as a deputy; United have only conceded in the last three games because of individual errors, though Luke Shaw’s late handball at Brighton and David de Gea’s almost inexplicable inability to save Said Benrahma’s tame shot at West Ham cost two points. But De Gea has had twin terrible nights in the last month, following his disastrous night in Seville. Now there seems a soft underbelly. Further forward, the relief of seeing players making swifter-than-expected recoveries from injury has given way to questions if they were rushed back when neither has regained form. Christian Eriksen was excellent against Nottingham Forest but has been more subdued since. Rashford scored one and made another against Spurs but has otherwise had five fruitless outings since returning in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Which has assumed a greater importance, given the way he carried United through winter, through an inspired run of 18 goals and four assists in 19 games. It makes it a still greater indictment of his teammates that United only have 49 league goals and could yet end up with their second lowest in the Premier League era, ahead only of Louis van Gaal’s self-defeatingly dull team of 2015-16. A tally of 98 in all competitions at least sounds healthier but others have scarcely eased the burden on Rashford: Anthony Martial has no goals in his last eight outings, Wout Weghorst none in 12, Antony one in 14, Jadon Sancho one in 17. The supporting cast have offered too little support. Finishing is a problem for a team struggling to end the season in style; they have underperformed their expected goals in ten of their last 11 league games. The need for a striking signing was apparent long before Weghorst descended into utter ineffectuality, but United’s budget could depend in part on qualifying for the Champions League. And when one route was closed off, it felt less of a blow than it may now prove to be. United were shocking against Sevilla, providing the latest addition to a series of terrible displays that have punctuated their season. But they were six points ahead of Tottenham and 12 clear of Liverpool then. A top-four finish still appeared overwhelmingly likely. Now the gap to Jurgen Klopp’s team is down to one and it has been downgraded to just probable. Ten Hag has placed great faith in United’s bouncebackability: every time after August they suffered a setback, they had an immediate response. Until they lost at Brighton and then at West Ham. Now it is Wolves, Bournemouth, Chelsea and Fulham amid the danger that, after a season that has offered grounds for optimism and plenty of evidence of improvement, the league table could make talk of progress look an illusion. Read More Is Vinicius the best player in the world right now? 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Mikel Arteta says "everything is still to play for" as he prepares his title-chasing Arsenal team to host Brighton in...