Mauricio Pochettino said he would have joined in with jeering Chelsea fans who booed his team against Brentford had he been a supporter, as he confirmed three more of his players have succumbed to injury and illness.
The Argentinian was without eight squad members for Saturday’s 2-2 draw at the Gtech Stadium, when away fans turned on their own team after they threw away a first-half lead and needed a late Axel Disasi goal to avoid an 11th Premier League loss of the season.
Now he faces also being without Ben Chilwell, who has been sent for specialist treatment on a knee problem, and Levi Colwill, who has an injured toe, for Monday’s game against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.
Of greatest concern to Pochettino however will be the fitness of Conor Gallagher, one of his most consistent performers this season, who has not trained since the Brentford game and is suffering from a virus.
“He’s not here the last three days,” said Pochettino of the 24-year-old. “We’ll see if Saturday or tomorrow he has the possibility to train.
“The problem with these situations is you lose weight and energy is down, and you need time to recover. We need to assess him in the next few days.”
Pochettino has consistently pointed to the impact that injuries have had on his team’s progress since he took charge in July.
He has rarely enjoyed an absentee list of fewer than seven players, and is likely to be without as many as 10 for the visit of Eddie Howe’s side.
One of the more frustrating aspects for the 52-year-old has been recurring injuries, with Chilwell, Reece James, Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia all spending more than one extended spell on the sidelines, while Wesley Fofana is expected to miss the entire season.
Gallagher’s absence is likely to be particularly felt as he has played in an influential role in almost every game since the manager took charge.
Pochettino said he empathised with fans who booed his side against Brentford, but countered that circumstances have ultimately put paid to any chance of success this season.
“We need our fans,” he said. “I hope they will be behind us on Monday. It’s so, so important to our players.
“But we need to accept that it’s football. They are frustrated. Maybe if I was a fan in the stand I would behave the same way as them.
“If you want to be consistent and you want to fight for big things, you need to be consistent. How? With the full squad, keeping the ideas, improving in training, with the capacity to train every single day.
“When that’s not there, we can manage circumstance, but in the end, we are only managing circumstance. We will never have the capacity to have the full squad to compete between each other.
“When you suffer too many negative things, like now we lose three players after Saturday (injured), that is not about the quality of the coaching staff, or the capacity to play more offensive or defensive. It’s about the circumstances.
“People want to understand? Perfect. They don’t want to understand, what can we do?”
Bruno Fernandes hints at Manchester United departure
Bruno Fernandes hinted he may leave Manchester United in the close season, but insisted he will not consider his future until after the European Championship.
The United skipper has been one of the Red Devils' standout performers during a tricky campaign for Erik ten Hag's side, who are sixth in the Premier League and six points behind fifth-place Tottenham with three games remaining.
Fernandes has chipped in with 26 direct goal involvements (15 goals, 11 assists) - the most by any United player - and became the first player to create over 100 chances in the Premier League this term during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Burnley.
The club are reportedly prepared to sell most of their top players in the close season under the new Jim Ratcliffe regime, though the Portugal international is still under contract at Old Trafford until June 2026.
With the European Championship and an FA Cup final against Manchester City on the horizon, the 29-year-old says that remains his top priority and he will focus on his future further down the line.
"I'm not thinking about other things at the moment. Obviously, it doesn't just depend on me, does it?" he told DAZN Portugal.
"A player always has to want to be here, but at the same time, you have to want him to stay. At the moment, I feel there's that on both sides.
"I'm not thinking too much about the future, not least because this season hasn't been at the level I’d hoped for - either individually or collectively - so far.
"If I have to think about not continuing in the Premier League, it won't be until after the Euros. Nothing will be able to take my focus away from the FA Cup final and the Euros, as there's nothing more important than that at the moment."
Ancelotti defends Kroos substitution against Bayern Munich
Carlo Ancelotti defended his decision to substitute Toni Kroos during Real Madrid's 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich.
The two European heavyweights shared the spoils in a thrilling Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena, where Vinicius Junior's late penalty levelled the tie.
Vinicius had opened the scoring in the 24th minute after latching onto Kroos' delicious throughball, one of a game-high 15 line-breaking passes the Germany midfielder played during the first half.
The 34-year-old was replaced by Brahim Diaz for the final 14 minutes of the contest, which Bayern had turned around thanks to second-half strikes from Leroy Sane and Harry Kane.
But Ancelotti, who knows the support of Madrid's fans will be crucial when he welcomes his former club to Santiago Bernabeu for next week's second leg, explained his thinking.
"Jude Bellingham had cramp, Toni Kroos played a spectacular game, but the plan was to try to recover the control of the game by putting fresh legs in," the Italian told reporters during his post-match press conference.
"As always, at this point in the season, we have a great opportunity to play in another final. It's an even tie against a great team. It will be another 90 minutes of suffering, but in an atmosphere that we know quite well. The fans are going to help us."
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel knows Bayern will have their work cut out in the second leg, but has encouraged his players to be confident and embrace the challenge.
"The situation is now very clear," he said. "We go to Madrid and the winner takes it all. We are ready to fight. It is important to believe that.
"It is still possible. It is 50-50. It is one of the toughest places to win, but that is also what makes this challenge exciting."
Manchester United clearout continues as two more senior boardroom figures depart
Manchester United have continued their clearout under Jim Ratcliffe by confirming the departures of Patrick Stewart and Cliff Baty.
Interim chief executive Stewart and chief financial officer Baty will depart Old Trafford at the end of the current campaign.
Stewart, who replaced Richard Arnold in the position at the start of the year, will be temporarily replaced by Jean-Claude Blanc until Omar Berrada arrives in July, while Roger Bell will take over from Baty.
The news was confirmed by United on their official website on Tuesday.
INEOS Sport chief Blanc is well known to Ratcliffe, who recently bought a 27.7-per-cent stake in United and is in control of footballing affairs.
Bell also has ties to INEOS and will now take up the same CFO role at Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe said: "I would like to personally thank both Patrick and Cliff for their support in helping us get to know the club and making us feel welcome and I respect their decisions to now move on as we establish a new management team for the club."
Executive co-chairman Joel Glazer said: "I would like to thank Patrick and Cliff for their dedicated service to Manchester United and wish them well for the future.
"Both have been a source of invaluable advice and expertise over many years, and Patrick has served an important role as interim CEO during this transitional phase."
Since Ratcliffe purchased a minority stake in United, the club have made a number of other changes behind the scenes.
John Murtough stepped down as football director after more than a decade at the club, with Dan Ashworth lined up to replace him, while Jason Wilcox has been appointed as technical director.
United are sixth in the Premier League with four games remaining, raising questions over the future of manager Erik ten Hag under the new regime.
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