MANCHESTER, United Kingdom // Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says that he has no concerns about potentially throwing more youngsters into his squad for Saturday’s home game against West Ham United.
A new thigh injury to Chris Smalling means that all of Van Gaal’s recognised right-sided centre-backs are now unavailable, while fellow central defender Tyler Blackett is suspended.
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The United manager is set to bring Marcos Rojo into central defence from left-back against West Ham and he could be partnered by either utility player Daley Blind or central midfielder Darren Fletcher.
Youngster Paddy McNair could also be involved in the squad, but Van Gaal has no doubts about pitching the 19-year-old into the team for a one-off game.
“Young players are always ready. They have hunger to play. Manchester United’s youth education has a certain level that can provide that,” he said.
“It’s a big difference (stepping up to the Premier League), but in one game you can show yourself better than playing regularly.”
He added: “I don’t take risks. You have to be fit, and I always trust younger players.”
Michael Carrick, Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini and Jesse Lingard are also absent as Van Gaal looks for a second win of the season.
United have conceded 12 goals in their six matches to date, but Van Gaal feels the 4-0 defeat at Milton Keynes Dons in the League Cup and last weekend’s 5-3 loss at Leicester City have created inaccurate perceptions of his team’s defending.
“It’s not a regular occurrence,” said the Dutchman.
“When you see our figures in the Premier League, except this match (against Leicester), then we are defending well. The average (of goals conceded per game) is less than one and we scored a lot of goals.”
United were beaten seven times on their own turf in the Premier League last season and Van Gaal accepts that reversing that trend will be key to transforming his team’s fortunes.
They have already lost once at home -- a 2-1 defeat by Swansea City on the season’s opening day -- and Van Gaal is determined to improve results at Old Trafford.
“It’s very important. It’s a question that you already know the answer to,” he said. “It’s very important to win your home matches. I can’t deny that.”
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce admits he fears the reaction from Van Gaal’s side following their astonishing defeat at Leicester, which saw them toss away a two-goal lead for the first time in the Premier League.
West Ham head north buoyed by last weekend’s 3-1 home victory over Liverpool, but Allardyce admits he will be happy if his side can leave with a point.
“I’m thinking a backlash,” he said. “I think that because of the determination of the Man United players and the fact they are playing at Old Trafford.
“I know there are quite a lot of new players playing there, but certainly the demand of Manchester United is huge and they’ll be really fired up to make sure that they try and perform like they did against QPR and beat us.
“They will be pretty down about that performance they gave at Leicester and they will be hurting and they know the only way they can put that right is to get out onto the field and punish us for it.
“So we will have to be careful about that. A draw would be great for me. Anything more than a draw would be outstanding as far as I’m concerned.”
West Ham will be without Cheikhou Kouyate, who has been ruled out for six weeks with a groin strain, and Kevin Nolan, who has returned to training after a shoulder injury but is short of match fitness.
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Company%20Profile
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Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Company%20Profile
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
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Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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