Manchester United manager David Moyes conceded that he was finding his job harder than he could have ever envisaged after a chastening 3-0 home defeat by bitter rivals Liverpool.
The loss on Sunday was United’s ninth of the Premier League campaign – five of which have come at home – and carried echoes of the 4-1 humiliation at Manchester City in September that foreshadowed the club’s current struggles.
The defending champions mustered just one shot on target in the entire game, while Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers claimed with some justification that his side “could have scored five or six”.
In the end the visitors had to content themselves with a brace of Steven Gerrard penalties and a late Luis Suarez strike.
Gerrard squandered a chance to complete a rare hat-trick of penalties when he sent a third spot-kick against the post, but the scoreline was still enough for United striker Wayne Rooney to brand it “one of the worst days I’ve ever had in football”.
With United 12 points below the Champions League places, having played two more games than fourth-placed City, their hopes of reserving a berth in Europe’s premier club competition via the league have been all but dashed.
They also trail Greek champions Olympiakos 2-0 ahead of the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday, making their chances of qualifying by winning the tournament appear almost equally remote.
It is only 10 months since Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager after overseeing the club’s 20th league title triumph, and Moyes admits that the pace of United’s decline has taken him by surprise.
“The job was always going to be hard,” he said. “Is it harder than I thought it would be? Yeah, I would say so.”
United have beaten only one of the teams currently in the Premier League’s top nine – Arsenal, in November – but despite the damning statistical evidence, Moyes played down suggestions of a malaise.
“That tells you we’re not doing as well as we should be,” he said.
“We have to play better and make ourselves harder to beat, harder to play against, and we are also going to have to make sure we are creating and taking more opportunities.”
He insisted that his players remain “confident” and “hard-working” and said that they would approach the game against Olympiakos at Old Trafford fully believing in their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.
“I think everyone wants to win, no matter what game you play, and give the supporters something to shout about,” he said.
Moyes took umbrage with some of referee Mark Clattenburg’s decisions and Rodgers conceded that Liverpool’s third penalty, awarded for a foul on Daniel Sturridge by Nemanja Vidic, was “harsh”.
Vidic was shown a second yellow card and angrily accused Sturridge of taking a dive, but despite Gerrard’s subsequent miss, there was no disguising the extent of Liverpool’s superiority.
They are now four points behind leaders Chelsea with a game in hand, but Rodgers remains reluctant to talk up his side’s title chances.
Asked if he had forbidden talk of the title, he told journalists: “I’ve not banned it. We have better things to talk about.
“It is about improving and getting better. I don’t lose sleep over it. We are up there on merit, so of course we have an opportunity -- I didn’t say no chance. If you think we have a chance, then write it.”
Rodgers also expressed bewilderment at Moyes’s pre-match admission that Liverpool were probably the favourites to win the game.
“I was probably surprised when I heard we were supposedly coming to Old Trafford here as favourites,” said the Northern Irishman.
“I would never say that at Liverpool, even if I was bottom of the league.”
Moyes responded: “I just thought Liverpool were above us in the league and playing well and I thought any average person would have said the same thing.”
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
The biog
Family: wife, four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren
Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies
Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan
Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India
Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy
Company%C2%A0profile
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The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
The%20specs
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SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
SPECS
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The specs: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT
Price, base / as tested: Dh259,000
Engine: 6.4-litre V8
Power: 475hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 640Nm @ 4,300rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh