15/08/2025

SPORTS FRIDAY | AUG 15, 2025

29 Devils ‘in no man’s land’ Man United never really evolved after Ferguson, says Rashford M ARCUS RASHFORD has revealed what he believes to be the biggest problem at Manchester United as the club, who he says are stuck “in no man’s land” as they try to bounce back from their worst season in decades. (RM174m) in 2026. His time at Old Trafford came to a bitter end, having not played for his boyhood club since last December after being dropped by Amorim and spending the second half of the 2024-25 season on loan at Aston Villa. principles or be able to add to these principles. “Whereas at times I feel like United have just been… we’re hungry to win, so we’ll always try to adapt and to sign players that fit this system. But it’s reactionary. English football. And while United fans will undoubtedly not want to hear this, Rashford believes the club can learn from how Liverpool handled the beginning of the Jurgen Klopp era. “When Liverpool went through this, they got Klopp, they stuck with him,” added Rashford. “They didn’t win in the beginning. Ű BY LUKE BAKER

“If your direction’s always changing, you can’t expect to be able to win the League. Yeah, you might win some cup tournaments, but it’s because you do have a good coach and you do have good players and you have match winners in your team – you’re not there by accident. “This is what some people forget. So yeah, we’ve been way below where we deem United to be. But then if you take a step back, which I’ve been able to do, especially over the last six months – what do you expect? “People say we’ve been in a transition for years. To be in a transition, you have to start the transition. So it’s like the actual transition’s not started yet.” While United have faltered over the past decade, rivals Manchester City and Liverpool have thrived, with the pair largely dominating

The forward now becomes the first England men’s international to sign for Barca since Gary Lineker in 1986 and sat down for an interview with Lineker and The Rest is Football co-host Micah Richards to discuss the issues at United, where he highlighted their biggest issue. “Show me a successful team that just adapts,” said Rashford. “When Fergie was in charge, not only the principles for the first team – the whole academy set up so you could pick players from 15 years and over – that’s a full generation. And they’d all understand the principles of playing the Man United way, right? “You see it with any team that’s been successful over a period of time – they have principles that any coach that comes in, any player that comes in, has to align to these

“People only remember his final few years when he was competing with City and winning the biggest trophies – he certainly didn’t win for three years. “To start a transition, you have to make a plan and stick to it. So this is the thing that I feel – it’s not easy. “Because if it’s not going well, the fans demand (change). But this is where I speak about being realistic with what your situation is. “I feel like we’ve had that many different managers and different ideas and different strategies in order to win… you end up in the middle of – you end up in no man’s land.” – The Independent tournament, he still needs Niemann to finish third or worse to earn the championship again. “He’s a fantastic competitor, fantastic golfer, great person as well,” Rahm said.“It’s a lot of fun to share the stage with him. “He’s obviously been playing great golf, and even though I was able to get the best of him last year, he certainly made the job hard this year.” LIV has a half-dozen other scenarios drawn out to determine who wins the individual crown depending on other finishing places. Winning the Indianapolis event would remove the need for any calculations for Niemann, a 26-year old from Chile who has won five times to set a LIV single-season record. He attributes his success, in part, to his frequent pairings with Rahm. “It’s been a lot of growing in my game. I feel like playing against Jon – I’ve been playing with him for probably 60, 70% of my pairings this year (and) he’s a great competitor,” Niemann said. “He’s always there. He never gives a shot away. It’s fun to play with someone that pushes you to be better and to go back home and try to get better and come back here and try to beat him.” – Field Level Media month at Bethpage Black. Scheffler, JJ Spaun and Schauffele are mathematically locked in, and Nos. 4-6 are currently Russell Henley, LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English. A victory in Maryland would be enough to propel a number of contenders into that top six, such as No. 7 Justin Thomas, No. 8 Collin Morikawa, No. 9 Ben Griffin… or No. 10 Keegan Bradley, the US captain. If Bradley isn’t an automatic qualifier, he’ll have to consider using one of his six captain’s picks on himself, the subject of months of speculation. “I’ve been saying all year, you can’t expect to be on the team unless you’re in the top six,” Bradley said. “My goal is to go out there, whether I was Ryder Cup captain or not this week, and play well and play well next week at the Tour Championship as well. “I still have a lot to prove, just as well as everyone around me on the list.” – Field Level Media

United finished a dismal 15th in the Premier League last term, their lowest top-flight finish since they were relegated back in 1973-74, and failed to win a trophy – although they did reach the Europa League final before losing to Tottenham. Ruben Amorim has a big task to turn things round at Old Trafford, with the club largely struggling by their high standards since last winning the league back in 2013. Rashford won’t be there to try and help spark an improvement after joining Barcelona on an initial 12-month loan, with the Catalan giants having the option of signing the 27-year old on a permanent basis for £30 million PIN HIGH DeChambeau craving podium finish AS LIV Golf crowns its 2025 individual champion this weekend in Indianapolis, Bryson DeChambeau will be thrilled to hang on to third place. DeChambeau can’t catch leader Joaquin Niemann of Chile or closest pursuer Jon Rahm of Spain, who will battle for the individual title at The Club at Chatham Hills in Indiana. He can, however, secure his highest year-end finish after placing fourth in 2023 and eighth in 2024. “I put myself in a solid position for the podium,” DeChambeau told reporters yesterday. “I want to finally get on that podium. That would be awesome to do. I had a chance last week to win and have a chance to win the overall, but it didn’t happen. It is what it is. “But this week, I’m focused on my own game, hitting the best shots I can for the team, and hopefully getting on the team podium as well.” DeChambeau declined to speculate on whether Niemann or Rahm would be victorious. “Whoever wins – I’m not going to say – but it’s going to be an awesome feat and historical year for either one of those individuals.” McIlroy shot down captain’s role MASTERS champion Rory McIlroy said yesterday he rejected the suggestion he could serve as playing captain at a Ryder Cup “sometime soon,” saying he thinks combining roles is too onerous. “I’ve been asked to do that, and I’ve turned it down,” the Northern Ireland star said as he spoke to reporters prior to the US PGA Tour BMW Championship in Maryland. Luke Donald will captain the Europeans and the US captain is Keegan Bradley, whose strong form in 2025 has the 39-year-old in 10th place in the qualification standings. McIlroy says the demands on the captain are too great to mesh with a playing role. “The idea of me being a playing captain sometime soon has come up, and I’ve shot it down straight away,” McIlroy said. “Because I don’t think you can do it. “I just think the commitments that a captain has… there’s a lot of things that people don’t see that the captain does the week of the Ryder Cup, especially now that the Ryder Cup has become so big.” Scottie focused on Championship SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER’S famed singular focus is trained on one thing this week: the BMW Championship in Maryland, Baltimore. Perhaps that’s why the world’s No. 1 golfer had his patience run thin after fielding a half dozen questions from reporters yesterday about next month’s Ryder Cup competition. “I love answering questions about the Ryder Cup, but this is ridiculous,” Scheffler said. “We’re at the BMW Championship. “The Ryder Cup is over a month away. If you want to talk about this week, let’s talk about this week. If not, I’ve got practise to do. I’m getting ready for a golf tournament.”

Rahm, Niemann set for LIV title showdown JOAQUIN NIEMANN and Jon Rahm will go head-to-head this weekend for the LIV Golf individual title at the regular-season finale, LIV Golf Indianapolis, and both said yesterday they are ready for the next round of their respectful rivalry.

Joaquin Niemann. – REUTERSPIC

Niemann enters the 54-hole tournament with a lead of 12.27 points. Thanks to LIV’s well explained scoring system, Rahm knows exactly what he must do to overtake Niemann and defend his individual championship. Rahm took home a bonus of US$18 million (RM76m) last year with his season win. Niemann (Torque GC captain) and Rahm (Legion XIII captain) are the only players still in the running for the individual championship.

Niemann will win the title with a finish of first or second at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Indiana. If Rahm wins the

Precious points at BMW Championship

GOLF fans will be engrossed by two separate points chases at this week’s BMW Championship: the top 30 in the FedEx Cup race and the top six of the US Ryder Cup standings. When the penultimate leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs tees off overnight at Caves Valley Golf Club, the Scottie Schefflers of the world will feel secure where they sit but a host of other big names will have everything to play for. The Tour Championship will no longer utilise a staggered “starting strokes” format, so the race for second or third in the standings is de-prioritised this week. The top 30 players after the BMW will advance to next week’s season finale, their points wiped clean so that the winner after 72 holes claims both the tournament and the season-long cup. For three-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy, it meant skipping last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship had no material effect on his second-place

standing, though it ruffled a few feathers on tour. McIlroy yesterday suggested that the PGA Tour will need to consider making each playoff leg mandatory or convert to a true playoff system where regular-season points don’t carry weight. “I mean, if you want to try to make it straight playoffs and elimination, I think that would be a good way to go,” McIlroy said. Sitting in 30th place entering the week is Lucas Glover, with players like Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup (26th) and Norway’s Viktor Hovland (28th) also on the bubble. Notable names hoping to leap from the 40s into the top 30 this week include England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (40th), Xander Schauffele (43rd), Australia’s Jason Day (44th) and Rickie Fowler (48th). Also Sunday, the top six Americans in the Ryder Cup standings will automatically qualify for the team that will compete next