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Hello. A Manchester United star is back. It turns out he wasn’t in witness protection. On the way…
🤕Malacia’s injury nightmare
🇪🇸 Inside Real Madrid’s crisis
⛔ Bundesliga club quit X
🌎 Goalkeeper’s end-of-the-world fear
Malacia Misinformation: The truth over absence, injury and conspiracy theories that ran wild
To a point, Tyrell Malacia was supposed to be low-profile. Manchester United signed him from Feyenoord in 2022 as cover for Luke Shaw, and it was only because of the England player’s chronic injury record that Malacia played more than he should have done in his first season.
But the left-back was not meant to be invisible, or to disappear off the face of the earth. In the weeks ahead, he is likely to return to the fold at United and when he does, his next senior appearance will be his first for the club since May 2023. It’s 535 days and counting.
Footballers get injured. It’s a fact of life. Tyrone Mings, the Aston Villa defender, is only just back after a 445-day recovery period. But what Malacia had to contend with, aside from two operations on a persistent knee injury, was wild and ludicrous speculation over his whereabouts — some of it jocular but some of it borderline libellous.
In some ways, Malacia’s experience has been a conventional footballer’s tale: the long road back after the body breaks down. In others, it has been an indictment of modern football and the menace of social media. He’s spoken about it all with The Athletic’s Mark Critchley today.
Online frenzy
There’s no denying Malacia has been absent for an inordinate amount of time. With hindsight, there are questions too about whether his rehabilitation could have been handled better, or if different decisions about his treatment could have helped. Malacia said only that any mistakes were “a lesson”.
But here’s where it gets weird. As the months passed and United’s timelines for Malacia’s return came and went without any sign of him, rumours began to circulate about what was going on. There were suggestions the 25-year-old had died. There were claims he had been arrested or was in a witness protection scheme. We’re not winding you up.
Some posted online about him running off with the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, who herself was out of the public eye after being diagnosed with cancer. That, plainly, was in no way serious but the confusion around Malacia hit fever pitch — and the chatter was allowed to run wild.
At no stage did Malacia try to counter any of the rumours. Incredibly (and this shows some level of discipline), his social media accounts have been inactive since July of last year.
“Nothing was true,” he said. “I’ve just been doing my rehab. As long as my family know I’m good, it’s enough.” And ultimately, he was.
Welcome comeback
Malacia’s selection for an under-21 game on Tuesday turned attention to an otherwise run-of-the-mill match between United and Huddersfield Town. He got through 45 minutes. It’s a big step towards full fitness.
He’s had ample support from United’s dressing room and when the club won the FA Cup last season, Casemiro insisted Malacia went up Wembley’s steps with the other players when they collected the trophy — and then gave him his winner’s medal. Malacia tried to decline, “but if he gives you that, you just listen!”
Malacia is returning at a good time. The Ruben Amorim era is starting. It’s clean slates all round at Old Trafford. Mark asked him how much he’d been thinking about playing in front of that crowd again. “Every day since the injury,” he said. No wonder.
Global Games
Watkins takes chance for England
Lee Carsley is not the future for England but the country’s caretaker might have given us a glimpse of it.
He left Harry Kane out of his line-up against Greece in the Nations League last night, fielding Ollie Watkins instead. Watkins did the business with the first goal in a 3-0 win — although Curtis Jones outdid him with a saucy backheel for the third (above).
USMNT take small step forward vs Jamaica
Elsewhere, the USMNT have one foot in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Nations League. They beat Jamaica 1-0, with the second leg to come next week. Christian Pulisic’s assist for the only goal from Ricardo Pepi was a lovely bit of craftsmanship.
Raphinha bossing it for Brazil
As for South America, Argentina lost to Paraguay (but they’ll qualify for the World Cup no bother anyway) and Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Venezuela was notable for a cracking free kick from Raphinha. He donned Brazil’s No 10 shirt, once worn by Pele. He’s on 15 goals and 10 assists for the season, for Barcelona and the Selecao. As it stands, I’m jotting him down as the best player in the world.
Ranieri Returns (Again)
There’s a manager in England, Neil Warnock, who has spent the best part of a decade telling the world — and his wife, Sharon — that his next job would be his last. He’s been through almost 20 clubs. He’s 76 in a couple of weeks. I’m not convinced he’ll ever quit.
Because deep down, these guys can’t. Management and coaching is what they do. It’s a way of life — hence why Claudio Ranieri (retired as of the summer just gone) is back at it with Roma. He’s gone into the dysfunctional Serie A side as their new head coach, replacing the sacked Ivan Juric.
Ranieri has earned his money. He’s earned the right to put his feet up. He’s 73, for goodness sake. But that inner fire? It doesn’t burn out.
Honest Guzan
(Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
As plenty of people have pointed out, last weekend’s MLS Cup shock wasn’t only a game Inter Miami lost. It was a game Atlanta United won — and nowhere near enough has been made of that.
It was nice, then, to see Felipe Cardenas sit down with Brad Guzan, Atlanta’s 40-year-old goalkeeper who came to MLS by way of Aston Villa. He’s still got it and he keeps getting asked if USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino might give him a pass to the World Cup in 2026.
“I hope that’s not the case,” Guzan surprisingly told Felipe — but if that sounds weird, Guzan’s view is that it would not reflect positively on Poch’s younger ’keepers if a man in his forties stomped back into the mix. It’s a fair point.
As for Miami and Lionel Messi exiting the MLS Cup early and the frenzy around it, Guzan said something which needed to be said: “You see these headlines, and it’s like, that’s not our problem.” Nor should it be. There’s a trophy to be won, and Atlanta have a shot.
St Pauli’s stand: German club remove themselves from X
St Pauli in Germany’s Bundesliga wear their left-wing credentials on their sleeve and they enhanced them yesterday by announcing they were quitting X (or Twitter, or whatever you want to call it).
The club object to much of the content on Elon Musk’s social media site and, among other things, a no-holds-barred statement raised concerns about the influence X might have on forthcoming federal elections in Germany.
The exodus of individuals and organisations from X has been a trend since the result of the U.S. presidential election was confirmed last week, with Musk saying he is defending free speech with his hands-off approach.
St Pauli are the first major European club to depart and we’ll watch with interest to see if others follow suit. The German side have 250,000 X followers. Manchester United boast almost 40million, and Real Madrid more than 50m. Will the trickle become a flood?
Around The Athletic FC
(Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
- You won’t find a more definitive read than this one on the problems at Real Madrid and their stack of injuries. Physical trainer Antonio Pintus is under pressure. Coaching staff are arguing over in-game running stats. Their head of set pieces is described as “temperamental”. My conclusion? The situation isn’t going to solve itself. Tough decisions lie ahead.
- I remember Carlos Roa, the one-time Argentina goalkeeper, and now I come to think of it, he did seem to vanish into thin air in the late 1990s. Tifo Football have filled in the blanks by explaining how he retired at 29 — not because he went into witness protection, but because he thought the world was about to end. Standard.
- James McNicholas has had a go at predicting who Arsenal will choose to replace Edu as sporting director. The jungle drums say they won’t rush into anything.
- You may have heard that Barcelona have done a new deal with kit supplier Nike. It could be worth £1.4bn ($1.8bn), which ain’t half bad for a club who need cash.
- Our Totally podcast crew have had a lively discussion about David Coote, referees and conspiracy theories.
- Most clicked in yesterday’s TAFC: the YouTube link to Budweiser’s 1990s Premier League advert. Anyone for added-time multi ball?
Quiz Question
Nice and simple: name the eight current Premier League players with 350 appearances in the competition. Look here later and in Monday’s TAFC for the answers.
Catch a match
Friday: UEFA Nations League — Group A1: Portugal vs Poland, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Fubo, ViX/Viaplay; Scotland vs Croatia, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Fox Sports, Fubo/Viaplay, Scotland national team YouTube. Group A4: Denmark vs Spain, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Fox Sports, Fubo/Viaplay; CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers: Uruguay vs Colombia, 7pm/12am — Fanatiz PPV; CONCACAF Nations League quarter-finals: Suriname vs Canada, 6.30pm/11.30pm – CBS, Paramount+, Amazon Prime.
Saturday: UEFA Nations League — Group A3: Germany vs Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2.45pm/7.45pm – Fubo, ViX/Viaplay; The Netherlands vs Hungary, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Fox Sports, Fubo/Viaplay; Group B4: Turkey vs Wales, 12pm/5pm — Fox Sports, Fubo/BBC iPlayer.
Sunday: UEFA Nations League — Group A2: Italy vs France, 2.45pm/7.45pm – Fox Sports, Fubo/Viaplay; Israel vs Belgium, 2.45pm/7.45pm – Fox Sports, Fubo/Viaplay; Group B2: England vs Republic of Ireland, 12pm/5pm — Fubo/ITV.
And finally…
A last word on Venezuela versus Brazil, because we wouldn’t want you to miss this.
It’s the 94th minute. Venezuela are down to 10 men and they’re clinging on for a point. What happens? The sprinklers come on! All I’ll say is accidents happen (cough, cough).
(Top photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
