Manchester United great Andrew Cole expects Erik ten Hag to act decisively on Harry Maguire's future at the end of the season, having found a "brilliant" defensive duo in Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.
Maguire has struggled for regular minutes since Ten Hag took charge last year, only making five starts during an encouraging Premier League campaign for the Red Devils.
The defender – who was named in Gareth Southgate's England squad for games against Italy and Ukraine on Thursday – has been linked with an exit after seeing Varane and Martinez establish themselves as regulars.
Ten Hag has taken several big decisions since arriving at Old Trafford – not least to allow Cristiano Ronaldo's departure – and Cole expects him to be similarly firm with Maguire.
Asked about Maguire's future, Cole told Stats Perform: "That's ultimately down to the manager. I think Manchester United for many years have really struggled to find defensive partnerships.
"If you look at the money they've spent on centre-halves… Maguire, [Victor] Lindelof, [Eric] Bailly, obviously Varane and Martinez now.
"That's five, and if you look at the money they've spent, it's easily over £200million on centre-halves. I think now they've finally got a partnership which looks right.
"For Maguire, it has been difficult. He struggled at the backend of last season, went to the World Cup and did well, came back and struggled at Manchester United.
"The manager has made a decision to go with these two, Varane and Martinez, who have been absolutely brilliant."
On Ten Hag's style of management, Cole added: "With the way football is now, it's about managing people.
"You're managing and massaging egos, that's what football is about.
"It's not like you can treat every individual the same. They're not all the same, some react to things better than others.
"From the outside looking in, it looks like he [Ten Hag] is very disciplined. The players respect him, he respects the players and he is getting the best out of them, that's what you want."
United face Real Betis in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday, before a home Premier League match against Fulham on Sunday.
Portugal 2-1 Scotland: Ronaldo's late heroics seal comeback win
Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench to score the winner as Portugal earned a 2-1 victory, condemning Scotland to another late defeat.
The 39-year-old, who started on the bench in a competitive match for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, added to Bruno Fernandes' strike after Scott McTominay had given Scotland the lead early on.
The home crowd were just as stunned as Portugal's defence when McTominay snuck in behind, thumping Kenny McLean's cross past a stranded Diogo Costa after just seven minutes.
The hosts certainly had their chances to get back into the game though – Angus Gunn made a brilliant save to deny Rafael Leao, who also fired a number of efforts wide of the left post.
Though Scotland tried to continue soaking up the pressure, their defence was eventually breached nine minutes after the break, with Fernandes marking his 30th birthday with a sweeping finish from 20 yards out.
Gunn smothered Joao Felix's low shot in the 78th minute before Ronaldo came within millimetres of a winner as his header hit the inside of the far post.
But Ronaldo would have the final say as he stretched out a leg in the six-yard box to turn Nuno Mendes' cross into the back of the net.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the hero once again
Steve Clarke could not have asked for more from his team in the first half, as they scored with their only effort, but also resolutely defended as Portugal racked up 16 shots (three on target), creating 1.21 expected goals (xG).
It was a regular creator that got the Selecao back on level terms though, as Fernandes got his 21st goal involvement under Roberto Martinez in all competitions, at least five more than any other Portugal player (11 goals, 10 assists).
And Ronaldo is now up to 901 career goals, with only Aleksandar Mitrovic (14), Erling Haaland (12) and Romelu Lukaku (10) bettering his nine-goal tally in the Nations League.
Switzerland 1-4 Spain: Fabian brace leads 10-man La Roja to victory
Fabian Ruiz’s double helped 10-man Spain claim a comprehensive 4-1 win over Switzerland in the Nations League on a rainy night in Geneva.
Joselu opened the scoring after just four minutes as he latched onto the end of Lamine Yamal’s pinpoint cross to flick goalwards.
The goal was confirmed after some controversy as Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel thought he had clawed it away before it crossed the line.
Switzerland thought they had an immediate response three minutes later but Becir Omeragic had a goal ruled out for a handball in the build-up. Instead, Spain doubled their lead on 12 minutes as Fabian powered home the rebound from Nico Williams’ parried shot.
The Swiss were handed a lifeline as Robin Le Normand was shown a straight red for bringing Breel Embolo down as he went through on goal, and Zeki Amdouni rattled the crossbar from the resultant free-kick.
Amdouni did find the net to bring scores level just before half-time, sweeping home Embolo’s flick-on from a corner after finding himself unmarked at the back post. He nearly had a brace after the restart, but it was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
Instead, it was Fabian with two goals to his name by the final whistle, after he tucked away at the far post in the 77th minute against the run of play before Ferran Torres added further gloss.
Data Debrief: Spain's run rolls on
The writing was on the wall early for Switzerland who have not won any of their last eight matches after conceding first in the Nations League. Spain, on the other hand, are undefeated in their last five matches when they have scored first in the competition.
It means, excluding friendlies, Spain are now unbeaten for 17 matches in all competitions (W15 D2). It is their best unbeaten run under a single manager since Vicente del Bosque was in charge in June 2013.
Italy boss Spalletti expects to make five changes for Israel match
Luciano Spalletti is expecting to make up to five changes for Italy's Nations League clash with Israel owing to the tight turnaround between matches.
Italy produced a shock 3-1 victory over France on Friday, just three days before they face Israel in Hungary.
But their opening three points in Group A2 took their toll, with starters Riccardo Calafiori and Lorenzo Pellegrini both leaving the squad after sustaining injuries in the match against France.
As such, Spalletti feels it is necessary to rotate for their upcoming match.
"It's difficult to put the same team out as Friday. It's not possible to get over the fatigue after just two days. Let's see how the guys are, but it's not unusual to change three, four, five players," the Italy boss told the press.
Some players, however, will have to play due to the injuries sustained in that victory, which saw them register their first win against France since June 2008.
"Bastoni will play tomorrow because it becomes tricky taking both him and Calafiori out of the team. He has the most experience, he brings things to the table that can help the whole team," Spalletti added.
"Frattesi will be evaluated in today's training, but he says he is fine and good to go. He was substituted earlier than planned, to avoid any unnecessary dangers. We need to see after a bit of training."
Italy play Israel in the Nations League on Monday at the Bozsik Arena in Hungary.
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