Latest news with #AseanAllStars
Daily Mirror
04-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Man Utd star could leave on loan one year after Erik ten Hag signed him
Sekou Kone is one of the most highly-rated prospects at Manchester United after joining for £1million last summer and now the club are ready to give him some valuable minutes on loan to boost his development Manchester United could loan out youngster Sekou Kone this summer, reports claim, just a year after the talented youngster arrived at Old Trafford. Kone was signed from Malian club Guidars FC for around £1million by Erik ten Hag and there are high hopes for the midfielder. The 19-year-old is yet to appear for the United senior side but was included in Ruben Amorim 's squad for their post-season tour of Asia, coming on as a substitute in both games against Asean All Stars and Hong Kong. Kone was introduced in the 32nd minute for Casemiro in the 1-0 loss to Asean All Stars before being hooked again for Toby Collyer at half time. Amorim used a similar tactic against Hong Kong to stagger his game time, bringing him on in the 27th minute before subbing him again at the interval, with Manuel Ugarte replacing him. Kone has also been named on the bench by Amorim on a handful of occasions in the Premier League against Tottenham in February and against Everton and Forest. Now United are eager for him to pick up more minutes to get him up to speed at the highest level and are ready to sanction a loan move for the exciting prospect, according to the Manchester Evening News. The report claims the club have placed Kone on their list of players who are available for loan ahead of the 2025-26 season, after initially taking his first steps at United in the Under-21 side. He played nine times in the Premier League 2 for United's youth team, scoring once. His Under-21 coach Travis Binnion recently commented on his progress, admitting he struggled for fitness at first but is now at the level where he can play a string of games each week. Binnion admitted Kone still had "a long way to go" before he was ready for first team action under Amorim but remained upbeat over his future prospects. "We have a long way to go," he told MEN in April. "He broke down at Huddersfield, whereas now he can get through three games in a week. At the next level, first-team level, he wouldn't be able to because he's not quite there yet, but his decision-making will make that easier for him physically. "If he's not in the right position or he makes the wrong decision, the game then opens up and it's harder to be consistently in the right positions. It's a long-term project with him, but his ability is there for all to see. "I think the position he plays in on the pitch requires a lot of discipline, and we're working on that discipline and decision-making. He is a really good player, but you can see tonight he's had three, four or five shots and it's like, there aren't too many No.6s who are getting into the areas he is. "You don't want to stifle that completely, but if he's not in the right area of the pitch, then it's harder for the team to function and it's harder for him to develop, so he's working really hard through training and language support."
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Manchester United's debacle in Asia boosts case against post-season tours
As the dust settles on Manchester United's post-season tour of Malaysia and Hong Kong, the question must be asked: was it worth it? United may have pocketed around £10m from their six-day, two-match visit to Asia but what they lost was arguably worse. And no, we're not just talking about their 1-0 defeat against the 'Asean All Stars' in Kuala Lumpur, a scratch, invitational side that had never previously played together. Omar Berrada, United's chief executive, had excitedly hailed the tour as an 'opportunity for us to collaborate with our valued commercial partners, and to deepen relationships with our fans'. That vision probably didn't include Amad Diallo sticking his middle finger up at supporters, a gesture for which he refused to apologise, the winger insisting he did it in response to insults about his mother. Nor did it allow for Alejandro Garnacho sulking and yawning through his various off-pitch duties. It remains to be seen how many key performance indicators were met by the Argentinian, who finished the tour by posting a one-word caption on the runway as United departed home to Europe: 'finally'. Advertisement Related: PFA chief Molango voices concern over effects of post-season tours on players At least Matthijs De Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee, Ayden Heaven and Patrick Dorgu put on a brave face, smiling and waving through the sparsely-attended open-top bus tour of Kuala Lumpur, as an accompanying PA system blared out 'Glory, Glory, Man United'. Hours later, United lost their first match of the tour, against the All Stars. Ruben Amorim did little to spin the defeat into anything positive. 'The boos from the fans, maybe it is something we need because every game that we lost in the Premier League they were always there,' the Portuguese manager said. 'We don't have it in us not to choke in every exercise, in every game – that is what happened. We should win these kind of games, no matter what.' United went 1-0 behind against Hong Kong on Friday but rallied to win the second match of the tour 3-1. Advertisement After a disastrous season in which United finished just above the relegation zone, this was meant to be a money-making charm offensive – the club promising 'a summer like no other' – but the tour seems to have done more harm than good. It ended up as another opportunity for defeat and derision, enforcing the idea that United are a spent force, and widening the gap between the team and their supporters. There were thousands of unsold tickets, while fans hoping to watch the first game in Kuala Lumpur on the club's YouTube channel were treated to extensive buildup and the first 35 seconds of the match before being redirected to a pay-per-view MUTV broadcast. Amid all the selfies and handshakes and suggestions of 'glory', there is a sordid and calculated underbelly here. Yes, money was made, but is £10m worth it to a team that is about to spent £62.5m on a new forward? The disastrous nature of United's jaunt to Asia brings into question the viability of post-season tours in general. In a world where elite clubs are all too vocal in complaining about fixture congestion and injuries, these tours add mental and physical fatigue to already exhausted bodies, not to mention needless air miles with adverse environmental impact. United's players left for Malaysia on 25 May, just hours after their final Premier League of the season, against Aston Villa. Having landed on Saturday, most of the senior squad will now report for international duty before World Cup qualifiers this weekend. United's senior players will not have any meaningful break until mid-June and are expected back for pre-season in early July, before the club's pre-season tour to Sweden and the US. United are not alone in these missteps. Tottenham and Newcastle embarked on post-season tours to Australia this time last year and played each other in Melbourne on 22 May 2024, three days after the final day of the 2023-24 season. Kieran Trippier, who captained Newcastle in that Melbourne fixture, admitted the trip was 'not ideal' before his commitments with England at Euro 2024, a tournament in which the right-back struggled for fitness. Advertisement Injuries and fatigue plagued Tottenham's start to the season, too. And if Spurs' post-season tour wasn't directly responsible for that it certainly didn't help, while Daniel Levy's comments at a Tottenham fans' forum in September that he 'would like to see less games, but higher-quality games' were subsequently difficult to stomach. It is difficult to determine exactly how big the environmental impact is for these tours. The pre-season before Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a stake in Manchester United, the club offset 450 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions to cover the necessary air travel by players and staff to the US. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a club that is now part-owned by a company with interests in everything from petrochemicals to mass plastic production, there has been no mention of offsetting emissions for the trip to Malaysia and Hong Kong, which included 14,000 air miles for the team alone. The Professional Footballers' Association's sustainability champion, David Wheeler, has spoken of the harm caused by such tours. 'It's not only irresponsible from a climate point of view, but from a player care point of view, physically and mentally,' Wheeler said. 'They are human beings. They get paid very well, as we know, but they have a limit to what their bodies can take and how they cope with it from a mental health point of view'. The organisation's chief executive, Maheta Molango, has also 'expressed concern about these post-season tours'. Despite the arguments to the contrary, post-season tours look here to stay, part of a new footballing landscape almost nobody asked for. And there will be plenty of other clubs that plead poverty and set sail for distant lands in the future. For now, we have to find something else to watch before the start of the Club World Cup in a couple of weeks' time – a month-long tournament absurdly relaunched by Fifa, with a $1bn (£775m) prize pot. Manchester United must wish they had an invite.
Free Malaysia Today
03-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Vendors hoping to score again after Man Utd windfall
A stall selling Manchester United memorabilia outside the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on the evening of the United-Asean All-Stars match. KUALA LUMPUR : On a normal day, Nur Maisarah Othman considers it a good haul if she earns RM500 selling turmeric fried chicken with rice from her humble food truck. But she is giddy with excitement whenever a major foreign artiste or international football team is in town, as that means the possibility of raking in RM10,000 in a single evening. Nur Maisarah Othman. 'One day operating outside this stadium is almost the same as operating elsewhere for a whole month,' said Maisarah, who was busy attending to customers when met outside the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here on June 28. Some 72,550 fans converged on the national stadium that day to watch English football giants Manchester United take on the Asean All-Stars, which ended in a 1-0 defeat for the Premier League club. While United fans may have been let down by their team's display, many petty traders outside the stadium were grateful for the windfall brought by the tens of thousands who came to watch. Amirul Haziq Darus, who operates a small business selling United memorabilia, told FMT his tiny stall was overrun by fans of the 19-time English champions. Amirul Haziq Darus. 'At regular events, we can make RM40,000 in a week, but when there's an event like this with a capacity of over 70,000 fans, we can earn that amount in just a day,' he said, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. For a group of supporters who flew all the way from Indonesia to watch their beloved club in action, the stalls set up around the stadium provided a feast of Malaysia's diverse gastronomical fare. 'Nasi lemak, nasi kandar, teh tarik… we plan to try it all,' said one of them. Keropok lekor seller Lynn Mohamad said this was why she would grab the opportunity of opening a stall at such major events whenever organisers offer spots. Maya Mohammad Mazlan. 'These are economic opportunities. The government should hold more such mega events to help us,' she said. Maya Mazlan, who only recently started selling her self-brewed coffee, did not expect her brand, Janecof, to grow in popularity so quickly after becoming a vendor at several events. 'On a normal day, it would be a tall order to earn RM3,000. But by early this afternoon, we had already earned more than RM1,000,' she said when met before the game. Abu Sofian Yaacob. Economist Abu Sofian Yaacob of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan said the government should continue to support event organisers by offering incentives, easing the process of acquiring permits, and upgrading venues to attract even more mega events. He said a strategic partnership with event organisers would allow the ecosystem to grow, leading to an economic spillover for petty traders and food vendors.
New Straits Times
01-06-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Vietnam stay calm amid Harimau's war dance
KUALA LUMPUR: As Malaysia procure more and more naturalised players, their rivals, Vietnam are just their natural selves — staying cool. Harimau Malaya's neighbours calmly go about their training, which began at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre on Saturday. Malaysia's latest announcement is that Colombian-born striker Rodrigo Holgado has joined their team for the Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on June 10. Vietnam Football Federation vice president Tran Anh Tu and general-secretary Nguyen Van Phu had met with head coach Kim Sang Sik — who guided Asean All Stars to a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Bukit Jalil on Wednesday — and their players, and talked about the importance of tactical discipline. The Vietnam team appear confident, and the country's veteran football commentator Quang Huy said that Sang Sik has a core of experienced players well-versed in their national team's playing style and tactical requirements. "I believe Vietnam can secure at least one point in this away match, then aim for victory at home in the return leg," Quang Huy reportedly said. Vietnam have brought in newly naturalised French-Vietnamese defender Cao Quang Vinh Pendant who used to play in France's Ligue 2 and former national striker Nguyen Cong Phuong after a two-year absence. Cong Phuong told the Vietnamese media: "I can feel the strong spirit and desire to contribute from everyone in the team." Vietnamese football pundits believe the limited time that Malaysia's naturalised players have spent together could affect the team's chemistry.
Malay Mail
31-05-2025
- General
- Malay Mail
Manchester United's Amad responds to middle finger uproar in Malaysia with 28-word apology
KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — Manchester United winger Amad Diallo has once again addressed the viral photo of him appearing to make an offensive gesture during the club's post-season tour of Malaysia, this time offering an apology. 'Again, my intention was not to hurt people. I responded to an unhealthy individual,' the 22-year-old wrote on X yesterday. 'I apologise to those who feel concerned. Malaysia was an incredible trip for us.' The incident followed United's 1-0 defeat to the Asean All-Stars in Kuala Lumpur. Amad clarified that his reaction was aimed solely at a fan who had insulted his mother. 'I have respect for people but not for the one who insults my mom,' he wrote in an earlier post. 'I shouldn't have reacted like that, but I don't regret what I did. We had a great time in Malaysia with good people.' United wrapped up their tour with a comeback victory in Hong Kong, capping off a season where Amad emerged as a promising talent for the club. Initially joining United in 2020, the Ivorian international secured a first-team spot after a standout loan spell at Sunderland. Despite missing much of the latter part of the campaign, he recorded 11 goals, contributing to United's efforts during a challenging Premier League season. The 20-year-old winger played in United's friendly against the Asean All Stars at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on May 28, a match that ended in a 1-0 loss for the Red Devils. Following the game, the team faced jeers from local supporters, reflecting frustration over United's underwhelming performance this season, which saw them finish 15th in the Premier League — their worst result since 1974. Malaysia marked the first stop on United's post-season tour, with the squad now continuing their journey in Hong Kong.
