'He had so much courage' - Ferguson pays tribute to Law
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Daily Mirror
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
'I regret leaving Man Utd for Everton - I was impatient after losing myself at Old Trafford'
Morgan Schneiderlin was one of the Premier League's best defensive midfielders when signing for Manchester United, but he lasted just 18 months at Old Trafford before opting to leave Morgan Schneiderlin admitted his regret for ending his Manchester United career early, revealing he lost himself in his short stint at Old Trafford. The Frenchman spent seven years at Southampton and had established himself as one of the Premier League's best defensive midfielders during his time on the south coast. His impressive performances saw him sign for the Red Devils in a £24million transfer in 2015, with Louis van Gaal keen to solve his side's midfield issues. Schneiderlin started 25 league games and played in 39 matches across all competitions in his debut season but never quite met the expectations that were placed upon him. He would make only eight more appearances for the club before deciding that his time at Old Trafford was to come to an end. With Jose Mourinho replacing Van Gaal in the summer of 2016, the Frenchman was a bit-part player under the ex-Chelsea boss and requested to leave in the January transfer window of 2017. Looking back on his decision to end his Manchester adventure, Schneiderlin, whose old sides United and Everton clash in pre-season today, admitted he was too hasty to leave in order to reunite with his former Saints boss, Ronald Koeman, at Goodison Park. "I learned a lot from my departure from Manchester United," the now 35-year-old told L'Equipe in 2022. "I had played 40 matches the previous season with Manchester. When I come back from the Euros, I take ten days off and I play very little for three, four months. "Then, I have Ronald Koeman and Everton who are pushing hard to get me, every day, from October. I will remember it all my life: I should have played against Liverpool, starter, and the coach (Mourinho) comes to see me. "He tells me he doesn't feel me inside the group. I tell him that indeed, with what has happened in the last three months, I am not in it and I want to go to Everton. I regretted it very quickly. "Even if it went very well at Everton, when you play for Manchester United, when you're at a club like that, it's not for a moment of doubt that you have to question everything. Look at Ander Herrera: the first year I arrived, he was on the bench; he persevered, and today he is at PSG." While he did win the FA Cup in his debut campaign - which was the first honour of his career - Schneiderlin admitted he struggled executing Van Gaal's instructions on the pitch which left him feeling like he lost himself as a player. "I was too affected by what Louis van Gaal was asking from me," he explained. "I lost me as a player. It was not me on the field. It was not just the manager's fault; it was my fault, too. My role was not the one I had at Southampton. I felt restricted in my game. I felt they wanted to change things in me. "I was not thinking as me, I was thinking about what pleased the coach. When you reach that point, every pass you make, everything you do, you don't play free. Something stopped me from being who I was. I wanted so much to do well, and it is one of the most frustrating things ever." Schneiderlin spent three years with Everton and left in 2020 to return to his native France with Nice. After departing in 2023, he enjoyed brief stints in Australia, Turkey and Greece before retiring from the sport last year. Ruben Amorim's side will take on the Toffees in their final fixture of the Premier League Summer Series on Sunday. The match - which takes place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta - will be broadcast on Sky Sports, with kick-off set to commence at 10pm UK time.
Daily Mirror
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
The most pivotal transfer in Premier League history has lasting effects 10 years on
Premier League clubs have long searched for the bargain signing which would change the competition on a number of levels but only a few of them have been successful There are many transfers which can lay claim to the most important of the Premier League era. Eric Cantona's 1992 move to Manchester United paved the way for their early dominance, while Sergio Aguero's Manchester City switch ushered in their era at the top, Both of those deals were critical to the success of one team and, by extension, the lack of success of their rivals. When it comes to lasting effects across the board, though, it's hard to look past Leicester's move for N'Golo Kante. It was 10 years ago today that Leicester signed Kante from Caen for £5.6million. It arguably wasn't even the most talked-about deal involving a Premier League team that day, with Manchester United's sale of Rafael to Lyon attracting more attention. That was probably fair enough, too. A 24-year-old midfielder with one season of top-flight football, moving to a side which narrowly escaped relegation in May? Hardly a leading contender for the 'signing of the summer' crown. A decade on, though, and few of us could have imagined the impact such an unheralded deal might make. And the repercussions are still being felt in 2025. It's hard to imagine now, but Kante wasn't an automatic starter for Leicester at the beginning of Claudio Ranieri's tenure. Andy King and Danny Drinkwater were paired together in the first three games as the Foxes picked up seven points, with Kante coming off the bench for a combined 48 minutes across those fixtures. He started 33 of the next 35, though, as Ranieri's team completed a fairytale run to the title. Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez might have scored the bulk of the crucial goals, but plenty recognised Kante's contribution as being just as important. "This player Kante, he was running so hard that I thought he must have a pack full of batteries hidden in his shorts. He never stopped running in training," manager Ranieri told The Players' Tribune. "I had to tell him, 'Hey, N'Golo, slow down. Slow down. Don't run after the ball every time, okay?' He says to me, Yes, boss. Yes. Okay.' "Ten seconds later, I look over and he's running again. I tell him, 'One day, I'm going to see you cross the ball, and then finish the cross with a header yourself.'" Leicester would have to launch their title defence without Kante after Chelsea swooped in with a £32m summer bid. And, while the 2015-16 title remains the only time Leicester have topped the Premier League table, Kante instantly added another title at Stamford Bridge. The Blues' success under Antonio Conte was built off the back of a league record 13 straight wins between October and December. Kante missed one of those games through suspension, but completed the full 90 minutes in the other 12 to show how valuable his energy and quality were to Conte's side. Kante's form in England had made it impossible for France boss Didier Deschamps to ignore him. The midfielder hadn't played a single minute for Les Bleus when he joined Leicester, but earned minutes at Euro 2016 - albeit not in the final defeat to Portugal - before making it into Deschamps' squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. There, he started every game as France went all the way. The midfield balance of Kante and Paul Pogba proved key, and one wonders whether the same would have been possible if Corentin Tollisso or Steven Nzonzi had occupied the spot alongside Pogba in the middle - especially when it came to stopping Argentina in the round of 16. 'He had a very precise role,' Deschamps said after the 4-3 win over the Albiceleste. 'It is true that we didn't really see much of Lionel Messi when he played against us.' A decade on from his move to Leicester, Kante has called time on his Premier League career. And yet his impact continues to be felt. Kante's final trophies at Chelsea came in 2021, when he starred in the Blues' Champions League final win over Manchester City and went on to add the Super Cup and Club World Cup. On top of that, though, the European title sealed Chelsea's qualification to the expanded Club World Cup in 2025. Chelsea's four seasons since winning the Champions League haven't been the best, but they made up for that in the United States by winning the 32-team tournament and securing a hefty financial bonus. Just two players remain from the 23-man squad which came out on top in 2021, but the latest rebuild wouldn't be possible without the other 21. The Premier League and world football could well look very different had Leicester not brought N'Golo Kante to England 10 years ago, It just goes to show how one relatively tiny deal can have a huge impact.
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Tottenham need to find a way to capitalise on legacy of trailblazer Son
Just as opposing fans in the Premier League have experienced feelings of dread over the past decade when Son Heung-min picked up the ball on the edge of their area, there had been a summer of worry among his millions of followers in Asia that his time in England was coming to an end. As the South Korean's legs slowed last season, reports of a move elsewhere gathered pace. His 10 years at Tottenham may have ended with a trophy, the Europa League in May, but the legacy had been in place for some time. The 33-year-old has changed the way Asian players are perceived around the world and much more besides. 'It was the most difficult decision I have made in my career,' an emotional Son said at a Seoul press conference on Saturday before Sunday's pre-season exhibition against Newcastle. 'Such amazing memories. It was so hard to make the decision. I need a new environment to push myself. I need a little bit of change – 10 years is a long time. I came to north London as a kid, 23 years old, such a young age. I leave this club as a grown man, a very proud man.' Son has been the pride of Asian football for years, the first player from the continent to become a genuine Premier League star, a legend at his club. There had been compatriot Park Ji-sung who won titles and respect during seven years at Manchester United, but he was never an automatic starter and, unfairly for a technically excellent and intelligent player, old Three Lungs was praised more for his running, work-rate and stamina. Shinji Kagawa looked like he may reach the next level at Old Trafford but was soon back in Germany. So it was Son, signed from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015, who went on to appear on billboards in north London, Seoul and a lot of cities in between as one of the best-known faces of the world's best-known league. There were 173 goals in 454 competitive games, including the 2020 Puskás Award for that strike against Burnley. In the 2021-2022 season, he scored 23 in the league, sharing the golden boot with Mohamed Salah, another milestone for Asian football. When Harry Kane left Spurs for Bayern Munich, Son stayed and was made captain, and while last season was a relative struggle, for team and player, it ended on a high. Some thought he may stay for one more crack at the Champions League, after doing so much to help Spurs to the final in 2019, but it was not to be. In 2022, I went to Tottenham's sparkling training ground on the northern outskirts of the capital to present the Chuncheon-born native with the Best Footballer in Asia award, a trophy handed out by Titan Sports in China, a country that is not known for its love of Korean football but one that has the utmost respect for Elder Brother Son. He had received the prize in all but three of the 12 years since it became a thing. We discussed our favourite food from his homeland while he tried not to laugh at the Korean language attempts of Hugo Lloris in the next room as the goalkeeper recorded a video message to fans in the Land of the Morning Calm before the club's visit a few weeks later. Tottenham are there once more. 'It's very clear that Sonny will start and lead the team out as captain,' the new Tottenham manager Thomas Frank said. 'If that is the last game for Sonny, what a place to do it here in front of his home fans. It could be a beautiful ending.' And an emotional one. His Premier League performances will be missed in Korea, not least by those bars that hang huge televisions in their windows, showing Tottenham games with a tiny image of his smiling face in the top corner of the screen to show their idol is on the field. Playing time is a big thing for Korean fans after most of Son's predecessors struggled. Park Chu-young joined Arsenal in 2011 but managed just seven league minutes in the red and white corner of north London, inactivity that caused some resentment back home. Son's experience was the opposite. Playing regularly, becoming a star for so long and then captain at a major club also helped grow Tottenham's global fanbase. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion While European estimates of their fans in Asia are unconfirmed, it was claimed in 2022 that there were more than 12 million Spurs supporters in Korea. Whatever the accuracy of that number, there has never been such a popular player – Son has advertised more than 30 brands in his homeland – to play in such a popular league for such a length of time. Tottenham will need to find a way to build on his legacy in Korea and the rest of Asia. For now, though, they just have to find a way to live without Son on the pitch. And fans of the player on the world's biggest continent will also have to get used to Premier League action without the forward. A Chinese journalist once said that Son showed the world that Asia can produce a player as exciting as any from Africa or South America. As legacies go, that's pretty good.
