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• Beckham: Man Utd's problems have lasted 'too long'

  David Beckham believes Manchester United’s issues have lasted "too long" since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

  The Red Devils have won just four major trophies since Ferguson’s departure, with their most recent – an EFL Cup win last season – ending a six-year wait for silverware.

  United have not won a Premier League title since the Scot’s final season in charge, with six managers failing to reclaim the top-flight crown since then.

  This season, Erik ten Hag’s side are at risk of recording their lowest league finish and points tally, as they sit eighth on 54 points with two games remaining.

  Beckham, who won 13 trophies, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League, told The Athletic: "I think it has been a difficult time over the last five or ten years, but it was always going to be when the boss left the club.

  "It wasn’t just that, we lost players like Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane and Gary Neville, all of these players that had been at United for so long; you lose part of that, and you lose part of the club.

  "So it was always going to be a difficult time. But we’d like it to change pretty quickly because I think it’s gone on for too long now."

  United have lost 19 games in all competitions this season, their most since 1977-78 (also 19), with nine of those coming at Old Trafford – their joint-most at home in a season and the first time it has happened in the Premier League.

  Their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday marked the first time they had conceded in 10 successive games in all competitions since October 2021, while the 82 goals they have let in this season is their most since 1970-71 (also 82).

  Beckham was speaking at the premiere of 99, the Amazon Prime documentary covering United’s iconic treble-winning season 25 years ago.

• Ronnie O’Sullivan dismisses talk of greatness ahead of World Championship opener

  Ronnie O’Sullivan shrugged off suggestions of greatness on the eve of his bid to eclipse Stephen Hendry and become the first player to win eight world snooker titles in the modern era.

  O’Sullivan is already routinely described as the best player to pick up a cue after a record-breaking career that includes eight Masters and eight UK titles within a total of 41 ranking tournament wins.

  But the 48-year-old, who starts his first round match against Welsh qualifier Jackson Page on Wednesday, has never been one to pore over the record books, and questions whether such plaudits are worth having at all.

  “I don’t regard myself as the greatest of all time,” said O’Sullivan. “Statistically I suppose I am, but I’m just happy to be playing.

  “I suppose as a kid I would have been desperate to be up with those guys but when you get there it’s a bit of an anti-climax – it’s not as great as you thought it would be.”

  O’Sullivan, who won his first world title in 2001, currently sits on seven alongside Hendry, with Davis and Ray Reardon one behind on six wins each.

  Yet while the title-winning eras of those fellow greats spanned less than a decade, O’Sullivan’s longevity, which shows all the signs of pushing on beyond a quarter of a century, makes the reign of the ‘Rocket’ indisputably unique.

  “I’ve had a different career to them,” added O’Sullivan. “They just did it over a 10-year period while I’ve sort of gone off track for five or six years, then got myself back together, then disappeared for another three years, then got myself back together again.

  “I was a bit all over the shop really, stuff going on off the table that can affect how you perform. Hendry and Davis had everything fitted around them to focus on snooker, but that’s how it worked out for me, so I’ve had to go on longer.”

  “I love playing, I enjoy it. I get to travel where I want, take time off when I want, be my own boss. It’s those little things, and you want to win because competitiveness has always been in me.

  Amid more top-level retirement talk, with Mark Selby the latest to question his future in the sport after his first round defeat to Joe O’Connor, O’Sullivan appears to be heading back to the Crucible intent on many more attempts to increase his legacy.

  He has linked up with a new coach and is clearly putting the effort in ahead of his opener against 22-year-old Page, who beat Barry Hawkins on his Crucible debut two years ago before suffering a heavy defeat to Mark Williams in round two.

  O’Sullivan added: “I love playing, I enjoy it. I get to travel where I want, take time off when I want, be my own boss. It’s those little things, and you want to win because competitiveness has always been in me.

  “I’m pretty cool with what I’ve done and I’d like to keep winning more. Whether that makes me the greatest or not, I don’t know. It really doesn’t matter.”

• Jack Lisowski forges ahead against Ding Junhui in tight Crucible clash

  Jack Lisowski forged a 5-4 lead in his World Snooker Championship opener against Ding Junhui as the clash lived up to its billing as the tie of the round.

  Lisowski, who reached the quarter-finals at the Crucible in 2022, had to qualify for this year’s tournament after dropping out of the top 16, beating Matthew Stevens 10-3 last week to book his ticket.

  But after falling behind early on against Ding, Lisowski looked back to his best as he edged a highly entertaining first session.

  Lisowski, 32, looked in danger of being blown away by Ding on Tuesday morning as the 2016 finalist flew out of the blocks, compiling a clearance worth 127 to win the opening frame.

  The Chinese star then enjoyed a huge slice of luck in the second as he fluked a red into a middle pocket early on, but a missed black at 23-0 opened the door for Lisowski to pot his first ball of the day.

  Lisowski was only able to score a solitary point at that visit before letting Ding back in, though, and he finished the frame with a break of 60 to make it 2-0.

  The Englishman hit back in the next, rattling off a break of 72 to reduce Ding’s lead to one.

  And Lisowski went into the mid-session interval tied at 2-2 courtesy of a break of 91 in the fourth frame.

  Ding displayed his brilliant battling qualities in the fifth frame as he conjured a 98 to edge ahead once more.

  An attritional sixth frame, which lasted more than half an hour as a tactical battle broke out, went Lisowski’s way as he drew level.

  But Ding made quick work of the next frame, winning it with a break of 90 to go 4-3 up before Lisowski took the eighth.

  And Lisowski won the final frame of the session to lead for the first time in the match.

  Former finalist Kyren Wilson has one foot in the second round after storming into an 8-1 lead against Welshman Dominic Dale, who is making his Crucible comeback after a 10-year absence.

  Wilson started brightly, winning the first two frames before Dale seemed set to get his first frame on the board after opening up a 30-0 lead in the third.

  But Wilson made Dale pay for missing the pink as he roared back with a break of 75 to take a 3-0 lead.

  Dale was not to be denied in the fourth frame, though, producing a stunning break of 120 to get on the scoreboard.

  Wilson regained command immediately after the interval with a phenomenal break of 123 before a 98 in the next frame moved him 5-1 in front.

  Englishman Wilson then showed exceptional nerve to come from behind to win the next frame 74-70 to extend his lead to five.

  Wilson’s dominance continued as he won the next two frames with breaks of 77 and 73 to extend his massive lead.