Football news: Ratcliffe escapes FA charges; Mourinho made ‘huge mistake’, says Kompany

1. Carrick ‘proud’ of United’s diversity

Sir Jim Ratcliffe will not be charged by the Football Association over his claim that the United Kingdom has been “colonised by immigrants”.

Manchester United’s co-owner made his controversial claim in a Sky News interview last week, prompting the FA to consider whether he had brought the game into disrepute.

The governing body has decided not to take any action other than to remind Ratcliffe of his responsibilities when taking part in media interviews.

Ratcliffe did offer a qualified apology, saying he was sorry if his “choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe”.

Earlier, Michael Carrick refused to comment directly on Ratcliffe’s claims but insisted that Manchester United stand for diversity and respect. “Sir Jim made his statement and the club made a statement on the back of it,” United’s interim manager said. “It is not my place to add to that. Enough has been said in that regard.”

Carrick then spoke about his 12 years as a United player and previous three as a coach. “I have been around this club many years and we always make a huge impact globally and we are really responsible for that,” he said. “Throughout the years, as a player and member of staff and as a supporter, we are really proud of the environment and culture we’ve got at the club.

“Equality and diversity and respect for each other is something we look to carry through every day. I have travelled the world and know what this club means to an awful lot of people. I am fully aware of the responsibility and we try to carry that out every day. I am proud of what the club stands for and has done for so long.”

United travel to Everton for Monday’s 8pm kick-off, having last drawn 1-1 at West Ham in their last league outing. They next travel to Bournemouth on 20 March and Leeds visit Old Trafford on 11 April. Jamie Jackson

2. Mourinho made ‘huge mistake’ - Kompany

José Mourinho made a “huge mistake” in his post-match comments following alleged racist abuse of Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior, believes the Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany.

The Brazilian reported an instance of alleged racial abuse to the referee François Letexier after scoring in Tuesday’s Champions League playoff tie against Benfica, with the Spanish club later singling out Gianluca Prestianni as the subject of the complaint. Prestianni denied making racist comments in a post on Instagram, while his club spoke of a “defamation campaign” against him. Letexier activated anti-racism protocols, suspending play for 10 minutes, with Uefa initiating an investigation into the incident.

Mourinho, the Benfica head coach, was criticised for his post-match comments, saying that “something happens, always” in matches where Vinícius plays.

Kompany, the former Manchester City defender and Burnley manager, addressed the issue before Bayern’s Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt, and issued an impassioned defence of Vinícius, stressing his reaction “cannot be faked”.

Vincent Kompany speaks out at Bayern Munich’s media briefing

“For me, even worse, is what happens after the game,” said Kompany, who recalled his own experiences of racism as a young player which included Real Betis fans “doing monkey chants” at him and former Anderlecht teammate Cheick Tioté.

“After the game, you have the leader of an organisation, José Mourinho, who basically attacks the character of Vinícius Júnior, by bringing in the type of celebration to discredit what Vinícius is doing in this moment. For me, in terms of leadership, it is a huge mistake. It is something we should not accept. I am very clear on that.

“The one thing you can’t do is dismiss a person and attack the character of a person who’s complaining about something he experienced and something that must be very painful to that person. There is something that needs to happen.”

Kompany added: “I know 100 people who have worked with José Mourinho. I have never heard a person say anything bad about José. I understand he is fighting for his team and his club. You cannot be a bad person and have all the ex-players you have had talk so positively about you. I don’t need to judge him as a person, but I know what I have heard and I understand maybe what he has done, but he has made a mistake.”

The Brazilian Football Confederation has, meanwhile, written to Uefa and Fifa stressing the need to “identify and punish” anyone guilty of racially abusing Vinícius. It has been reported that the Uefa probe, headed up by an ethics and disciplinary investigator, could take up to three weeks to conclude. That means Vinícius and Prestianni could come face to face again in the second leg of the playoff at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday, with the case still unresolved. PA Media

3. Guardiola: City aren’t talking about the title

Pep Guardiola insisted he “could not care less” about the tightening of the Premier League title race. With a game in hand and a meeting with rivals Arsenal to come in April, Manchester City know, if they win all their remaining games, they will be champions again after the Gunners let a lead slip to draw against Wolves in midweek.

The gap is down to five points but, asked whether he feels City now have a better chance than they did a couple of months ago, Guardiola insisted his only focus is Saturday’s home clash with Newcastle.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen these next 12 games,” he said. “I didn’t speak one second about that with my players. Yesterday, the day before, just Newcastle, Newcastle and Newcastle. I didn’t talk about the table, I didn’t talk about the position. I could not care less. You tell me this question with two games left, three games left, I will have your answer. It’s 12 games left, it’s an eternity. Many things is going to happen is the only truth I have.”

Guardiola also batted away the suggestion his side’s experience of winning titles will come to the fore, adding: “Seventy per cent of the players are new so they don’t have experience to live these kind of situations.”

Erling Haaland is set to return to the squad while Savinho is also fit having not played since the beginning of January with a thigh injury, but Jérémy Doku remains sidelined. PA Media

4. Howe happy with Gordon’s selfish streak

Eddie Howe has told in-form striker Anthony Gordon to carry on being selfish following his Champions League heroics in Qarabag. The 24-year-old England international plundered four goals in Wednesday night’s 6-1 playoff, first-leg victory in Baku to take his tally in this season’s competition to 10, making the most of his deployment as a central frontman.

He completed his haul with a second penalty at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, having waved away captain Kieran Trippier’s exhortations to allow Nick Woltemade to take it, just as Alan Shearer had done to youngster Paul Robinson as he scored five in an 8-0 Premier League victory over Sheffield Wednesday in September 1999.

Anthony Gordon hammers home his fourth goal in Wednesday night’s one-sided victory

Asked if he wanted Gordon to have a selfish streak, Newcastle’s head coach said: “There were really big positives to take from that incident. Moments like that get blown out of all proportion, it was a very minor issue. It was great from Anthony that he’s got that strong enough resolve that he wants to score in every moment – and you’d want that from any player – so I’ve got no issue with him.

“I’ve got no issue with Kieran also, trying to think of the team and trying to lead in his way and be the aspiring leader that he is in every moment. I actually thought it was a real positive on all sides. The good thing is we scored the penalty, so that in itself is another positive. I think it showed that all the players care and we want to do well.” PA Media

5. Moyes set for season’s toughest run

David Moyes wants to use the most difficult spell of Everton’s season to prove they are a club who have put relegation worries behind them and can challenge for Europe. Monday’s visit of Manchester United starts a spell of nine matches in which they face five of the current top six – there are other games against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City – plus Newcastle.

The team head into the weekend in eighth place on 37 points, only five points behind their Merseyside neighbours in sixth, and Moyes has no worries about avoiding the drop. “This time last year, the nine games I had to play I’d have been saying ‘My goodness, how am I going to get any wins to stay in the Premier League?’,” the manager said.

“I think we’ve probably got over that completely and the challenge now is, can we change mentality? Can we change the whole direction we are going in so we’re not going to be that team any more. “At the moment we are in a batch of big games. We have got everyone fit bar Jack Grealish so we’re probably in as good a physical shape (as possible), as far as that goes.

“We have a bit of disruption with game times, in terms of when we’re playing. We might have 10 or 12 days off and then we might have three games in eight days so we haven’t a particularly consistent calendar but we’ve certainly got hard games to come.” PA Media

6. Emery still wants to be No 1

Unai Emery says Aston Villa are still dreaming of winning the Premier League. Villa were in the thick of the title race after a brilliant run before Christmas which saw them beat Arsenal and Manchester City. They have stuttered since but could move to within five points of the Gunners if they beat Leeds on Saturday.

“Of course, we are feeling so, so comfortable, third in the league,” Emery said. “We are so, so happy, but we know we must be so, so demanding to keep it and to dream. To dream in football, and to dream expecting to achieve something important, is very important as well, and to have this objective or this motivation I like a lot.

“Of course, if we are winning tomorrow, we are closer with Arsenal, but how they are performing, how they are showing everybody their power, not only Premier League. Of course, they draw against Wolverhampton two days ago, but Wolverhampton is a good team and we beat them here but we struggled a lot, and we are playing next week against them, it’s a good example.

“And in Champions League, how they are performing and winning matches, I think the power they have now, and the favourites they are now, Arsenal, no doubt. And then, it’s City. City always is performing fantastic and being so, so consistent.” PA Media

7. Murillo has faith in Pereira’s survival skills

Murillo says there is “light at the end of the tunnel” as Nottingham Forest began life under Vítor Pereira in style. The defender was on the scoresheet along with Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White as they thumped Fenerbahce 3-0 in the Europa League play-off round first leg.

Pereira is the fourth manager of the season, following in the footsteps of Nuno Espírito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche, and Murillo says it has been a challenging season. However, he is confident Pereira, the former Wolves manager, can keep them up.

“We know how difficult it is because four managers, four different ideas, it’s difficult,” said the Brazilian before Sunday’s visit of Liverpool. “But now I think Vítor is going to stay with us until the end of the season and I think he can give his idea to overcome the bad moment that we were going through. Now I think it is the light at the end of the tunnel. We can see it. I think just believing in him is important.

“We have to keep working hard, that’s the main point, run a lot, more communication inside the pitch. We did this (against Fenerbahce). Believing in his work is most important. We had some problems with the last gaffers but now we have to keep looking forward and grab his (Pereira’s) idea so that we can come back towards the top again.”