Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal shown on Saturday before his team's loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League. Tony O'Brien / Action Images / Reuters / December 12, 2015
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal shown on Saturday before his team's loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League. Tony O'Brien / Action Images / Reuters / December 12, 2015

Louis van Gaal admits ‘very difficult position’ for Manchester United



Louis van Gaal admits Manchester United must bounce back immediately from defeat at Bournemouth if they are to retain any hope of challenging for the Premier League title.

The 2-1 loss on Saturday left Van Gaal’s side in fourth place and without a win in their last five matches, including the defeat in Wolfsburg that ended their interest in the Champions League.

Their next fixture sees Norwich City visit Old Trafford followed by a trip to Stoke City and a home meeting with Chelsea before the end of December.

Read more: Diego Forlan on Mancheser United's imperatives this year and the pain of a Champions League exit

And Van Gaal – who has come under growing pressure this season – concedes his side must win all three of those games to remain among the leading group going into the new year.

“I think we are now maybe fifth or still fourth, I think that we have the selection to do that,” he said, referring to a title challenge, “but we are now in a very difficult position”.

“Because of the injuries, we have to play with a lot of youngsters, but I have to say that the youngsters have played well, especially Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.

“But we have to make a revival this week, and that’s always very difficult because you have lost two in a row, that doesn’t happen often for Manchester United.

“Of course I’m concerned because we have lost two matches in a row, and that is not a usual thing, so we have to stick together and prepare our match against Norwich.

“And you have to win, because otherwise it is always more difficult.

“It is already this week very difficult because my players are very disappointed. They have done everything, but they have lost.

“And then we shall do our job, but it is more difficult to prepare a game against Norwich when you have lost twice in a row.”

He added: “Of course it’s disappointing if you lose two matches in a row in an important week, so now we have to stay there in a position to keep fighting.

“But still we are in a position, but we have to win.

“We have now to win three matches in a row for example, to be there still after Christmas.”

Junior Stanislas put Bournemouth ahead in the second minute and Joshua King secured the win early in the second half after Marouane Fellaini had equalised in the 24th minute.

Left-back Borthwick-Jackson, 18, was handed a first Premier League start in an inexperienced back-four that highlighted the spate of injuries that have affected Van Gaal’s plans.

And the loss of forward Jesse Lingard midway through the first half only added to the manager’s concerns.

Bournemouth’s victory came on the back of last week’s win at Chelsea and manager Eddie Howe admitted the club’s season has been transformed.

“We’ve looked at the last few games as turning points, I think the Everton game, Swansea game for a start,” said Howe.

“We’d had a run of defeats, so to get points on the board was important.

“The Everton comeback, obviously Chelsea and Manchester United are wins we’ve got, and we’re looking at this run as hopefully the start of something for us.

“Certainly it feels like we’re in a good moment, we go to West Brom now and we’ve got to carry the form on.”

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Bharat

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar

Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Rashid & Rajab

Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib

Stars: Shadi Alfons,  Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab 

Two stars out of five 

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Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
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Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder

Started: October 2021

Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Industry: technology, logistics

Investors: A15 and self-funded 

Business Insights
  • As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses. 
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Neil Thomson – THE BIO

Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.

Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.

Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.

Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.

Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.

Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.

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Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville 

Rating: 4/5

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Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
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Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

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Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica

Best Agent: Jorge Mendes

Best Club : Liverpool   

 Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)  

 Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker

 Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

 Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP

 Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart

Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)

Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)

Best Women's Player:  Lucy Bronze

Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi

 Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

 Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)

 Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs

The Facility’s Versatility

Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
 
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
 
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
 
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
 
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
 
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket

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Director: Amith Krishnan

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'Worse than a prison sentence'

Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.

“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.

“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.

“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.

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“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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Batti Gul Meter Chalu

Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
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Gulf Men's League final

Dubai Hurricanes 24-12 Abu Dhabi Harlequins

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
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David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4