Ole still hopes crocked captain can make final
BOSS Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is refusing to write off Harry Maguire’s chances of leading out Manchester United in the Europa League final even though ankle ligament damage has left his captain on crutches and with a protective boot.
The England defender is definitely out of today’s rearranged match with Liverpool – just 48 hours after watching the 2-1 home defeat to former club Leicester from the stands.
The injury suffered when Aston Villa’s Anwar El Ghazi landed awkwardly on him last Sunday meant it was the first league game 28-year-old Maguire had missed since joining United from the Foxes for £80million in 2019.
Solskjaer expects Maguire (pictured) to miss United’s remaining three league games but still hopes he could face Villarreal on May 26.
‘The good news is it wasn’t broken, there was no fracture, but a ligament injury, of course, is serious as well,’ the United manager said.
‘If I’m very positive, that’s maybe stretching it. I’m hopeful he might be ready for it.
‘I don’t think he’ll play in the league again (this season) but we’ll do everything we can to get him ready for the final.’ Maguire’s injury is an issue for England too with boss Gareth Southgate naming their European Championship squad the day before the Europa League final.
‘You always try to look after players long-term,’ added Solskjaer.
‘If he’s fit, he’ll play for us. If he’s not, he won’t. But we’re hopeful that he’s ready and if he’s ready for us, he’ll probably be ready for the Euros. Norway’s not in the Euros, so I’m not that concerned.’
If he had been available, Solskjaer said Maguire would have joined Mason Greenwood who was the only starter for both last weekend’s 3-1 win at Villa and against Leicester. The United boss attracted criticism for making ten alterations for a defeat which confirmed Manchester City’s title triumph and which came just two days before today’s game with top-four chasing Liverpool.
On the visit of the deposed champions, United manager Solskjaer said: ‘There’ll be changes, of course. But many of the players that played (on Tuesday) did really well, so they’re in contention as well.
‘It’s about managing the squad now, building momentum, building confidence, making sure we get enough points to get second and then going into the final confident.’
FORMER Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia has hung up his boots at the age of 35.
The Ecuadorian finished his playing days at Mexican side Queretaro.
nSPORTING legends come in various forms but few perhaps are, or were, as captivating as the man credited more than most with helping take snooker from the backstreets and putting it firmly on the back pages, Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins.
Belfast-born Higgins, who died in 2010, takes centre stage in the opening episode of the BBC’s excellent three-part documentary Gods of Snooker [BBC Two, BBC iPlayer]. The series tells how the game exploded into the mainstream, achieving remarkable popularity in the 1980s thanks to some of the finest to have wielded a cue – and where better to start than with one, Higgins, who turned the game on its head.
As is the case with many of sport’s most magnetic performers Higgins was something of a revolutionary. At a time when snooker was all bow ties and ruffled shirts, the Hurricane was bowing to no one and ruffling more than a few feathers. Fights and fall-outs made him less than popular with his contemporaries including his main rival at the time, ex-policeman Ray Reardon. Higgins was brash and dangerous. A man on the edge, a breath of fresh air.
While away from the baize Higgins had his