leave to secure first-team football
and improve his chances of playing
in the World Cup with Holland,
but the United manager wants the
midfielder to stay.
“I had a long conversation
with him last week about that
and, again, of course it’s difficult
for him right now because he
also wants to play for the Dutch
national team,” Rangnick said.
“He wants to play in the
World Cup in Qatar and in
order to do that he needs
to get game time here. But
I still believe we should
keep him.”
Martial, who has only
scored once this season,
was left out of the squad for
the 3-1 win over Burnley after
telling Rangnick that he wants
to leave and he is unlikely to
feature in today’s match against
Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Seville want to sign the 26-
year-old Frenchman on loan.Palace, who spurned a succession of
chances, finally fought back in the
final moments through Odsonne
Édouard and Michael Olise, but West
Ham held on, demonstrating, in
Antonio’s view, one of the ways in
which Moyes has made an impact
as manager.
“That is one thing the gaffer has
instilled in us, the resilience,” he
added. Antonio believes that quality
will prove essential if West Ham are
to maintain their challenge for a
top-four place.
“It is not done and dusted until the
season is over. That is one thing
about us, we’ve got that resilience. If
you look at our record for 2021, there
are only five teams who got more
points than us. If we can do that in a
calendar year, why can’t we do that in
the season?”
Moyes admitted that he
would like to strengthen his defensive
options this month, while Antonio
said that he would welcome the
arrival of another forward to
provide competition.
“The time I went eight [league]
games without scoring a goal maybe
someone could have stepped in and
given me that little push so that I
could hit the back of the net and that
something would happen,” Antonio
said. “I am not a person that would
shy away from a challenge, I would
embrace someone coming in.”
Olise’s eye-catching contribution
from the bench suggested the 20-
year-old, who has started only twonot Spurs flair
the times | Monday January 3 2022 1GG 11
thegame
Rangnick: Cavani
is going nowhere,
we need his goals
Ralf Rangnick has told Edinson
Cavani that he will not be allowed to
leave Manchester United this month.
Cavani, who is wanted by
Barcelona, is one of a number of
United players who are willing to
leave the club in the January transfer
window. Rangnick does want to trim
his squad, which contains more than
30 players, but United’s interim
manager has told the 34-year-old
striker that he is too valuable to
discard at present.
Cavani will therefore have to wait
until his contract expires in the
summer before completing a move to
the Nou Camp, although Barcelona
— like any other foreign suitor —
are now able to sign a pre-contract
agreement with the Uruguayan.
“Edi knows that I will definitely not
let him go,” Rangnick said. “We have
had quite a few conversations in the
last couple of weeks. He [Cavani] is
probably the player with whom I have
spoken most.
“I told him from the very first
day that, for me, he is a highly
important player. He is
probably the only one who
can play as a striker with
his back to goal and face
to goal.
“His professionalism,
his work ethic, is just
amazing, and I told him
that I desperately want
him to stay until the end
of the season.
“We are still playing in
three competitions, so we
will definitely need Edi.”
Anthony Martial, Dean
Henderson, Jesse Lingard,
Donny van de Beek and
Phil Jones could all leave
this month. “I know from
some players that they
want to leave,” Rangnick, 63,
said. “Our squad is maybe a
little bit too big with regards
to numbers but we still have
Covid [to deal with], we have
three competitions.”
Van de Beek has told
Rangnick that he wants toOld Trafford
Kick-off 5.30pm
TV: Sky Sports Main Event,
Radio: BBC Radio 5 Live Referee M DeanMan United (probable; 4-2-2-2)Wolves (probable; 3-4-3)D De GeaSaD Dalot R VaraneH Maguire L ShawMarcal Moutinho Neves HoeverPodence Jimenez TraoreSaiss Coady KilmanFred S McTominayM Rashford B FernandesC Ronaldo E CavaniMAN UNITED V WOLVESleague games since arriving from
Reading in the summer, is capable of
stepping up for Crystal Palace in the
absence of Wilfried Zaha and Jordan
Ayew, who head to the Africa Cup of
Nations this month.
“He will have the space obviously
with Jordan and Wilf going on
international duty and it will be up to
him to show how good he is and to
take his chances,” Patrick Vieira, the
Palace manager, said. “But obviously
the plan is to work with him to help
him progress. I think today he
showed all his talent.
“The plan is for him to play more
games in the second half of the
season. But the number of games that
he plays will be up to him, [depending
on] what he shows in training.”scoring touch, says Antonio
PAUL HIRSTCavani has scored 19 goals
subdued by the Watford right back in an improved display by the home side, who face Africa Cup of Nations absentees in 24 starts for United
JOE TOTH/COLORSPORT/SHUTTERSTOCKEFL ‘puts players at risk’
Neil Critchley, the Blackpool
manager, has accused the EFL of
endangering his players with its
removal of match-day Covid-19
testing and has recommended that
the Professional Footballers’
Association look into the matter.
Blackpool enjoyed a 1-0 win
over Hull City in the Sky Bet
Championship on Saturday, courtesy
of Gary Madine’s first-half penalty.
But Critchley was angered that
the new EFL rule of not ordering
mandatory testing on match days —
to avoid last-minute postponements
— could have put his players at risk
after their previous match against
Middlesbrough, who experienced anoutbreak of their own after that game.
“You don’t need to test your players
on match day, and I find that
absolutely ludicrous,” Critchley said.
“What you are saying is testing is
important six days a week and you
can catch Covid on the seventh day.
“Chris Wilder [the Middlesbrough
manager] said they had the outbreak
on the bus on the way home, which
means our players are at risk because
we can’t test players on match day. We
wanted to, but the EFL said we can’t.
“Middlesbrough had an outbreak
and had their game called off but we
carried on. I wonder what the PFA
think about that. They [the EFL] are
putting the players in their union at
risk.” The EFL has said that clubs are
still free to test players displaying
Covid symptoms on the day of games.IAN WHITTELL8
Games unbeaten in
the Premier League
for Spurs since
Conte took over
(W5, D3)2
Goals for Sánchez
in his past five
Premier League
games — more than
in his first 108