Jesse Marsh calls for Manchester City to be punished, and Haaland raises concerns about injury with Norway

Jesse Marsh, coach of the Canadian national team, called for Manchester City to be punished severely for violating the financial rules of the English Premier League, saying that his experience facing the club as a coach made him convinced that there were contradictions in the way it was managed.

It was proven that Manchester City committed serious violations of the English Premier League’s financial rules over the course of 9 seasons from 2009-2010 to 2017-2018. The League claimed that the club used “sham” commercial contracts to inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.19 billion).

The club denied committing any violations, saying that the ruling contained fundamental errors in the law, principles and facts, and filed an appeal last Thursday against the decision of the independent committee.

Marsh, who coached Leeds United from 2022 to 2023, said that the disparity between the clubs was clear to him during his time in England. “I think Manchester City should be punished severely,” Marsh told The Guardian, in an interview published on Sunday. I think it should go down, and by the way everyone knew about it. "Everyone knew." Marsh also referred to the 2022 summer transfer window, when Leeds sold Rafinha to Barcelona and Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City while both clubs (Leeds and City) announced profits. He added: “In that summer (2022), we and Manchester City were the only two teams that announced that we had achieved profits. For us, we have already made profits because we sold Rafinha and Calvin Philips. We are left with a large surplus of money that we spent on deals. At that time, we were not in a financial position to not save. The club's owner did not have huge financial resources. When Manchester City said this, my reaction was literally: (Are you kidding me? Is this a joke?).” The American coach was also skeptical about City's signing of Norwegian striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund that summer. Marsh added: “When they said they had signed Erling Haaland for 52 million pounds, my reaction was: ‘Yes, well sure!’ So I knew there were contradictions in the matter, but what can you do? “You can only throw your hands in the air and say: ‘This is football.’”

Reuters contacted Manchester City to comment on Marsh’s statements.

Manchester City's appeal will be considered during a special session before an independent committee consisting of 3 members.

Possible penalties include fines, points deductions, and other sporting sanctions, with relegation or the withdrawal of titles being discussed as possible outcomes. It remains unclear whether any sanctions will be imposed before the appeal is decided.

Erling Haaland raised concerns about being injured, after he left the field in some pain, during Norway's 2-1 loss to Portugal in the European Nations League, on Sunday evening. The Manchester City striker asked to leave the field in the 67th minute, and Jurgen Strand Larsen participated in his place.

According to the BBC, Manchester City will wait to find out the severity of Haaland's injury before facing Liverpool next Sunday in the English Premier League, noting that the Norwegian striker has scored 7 goals with City since the beginning of the season.

Norway took the lead in the 36th minute, when Brentford defender Christopher Eyer controlled Martin Odegaard's cross with his chest, before shooting a powerful ball from the edge of the penalty area that landed in the top corner.

But Portugal equalized just two minutes later through Joao Cancelo, who shot a wonderful ball from a long distance, following a long throw-in from Nuno Mendes.

Haaland missed an opportunity before leaving, while Goncalo Ramos scored the winning goal for Portugal in the 79th minute from close range, taking advantage of a pass from Joao Felix.

Portugal completed the match with 10 players, after Francisco Conceicao was sent off in the 87th minute. Because he received two consecutive warnings for dissent.

Portugal achieved its fourth consecutive victory in the competition, topping Group D with 12 points, 6 points ahead of Denmark, which is in second place, while Norway is at the bottom of the standings.

Xavi Hernandez, coach of the Netherlands national team, said that he feels satisfied with the first 4 matches that the team played under his leadership, and that he is working on building a cohesive family that fights for each other. The Netherlands took the lead in Group Two in the first level of the European Nations League with a 2-1 victory over Serbia yesterday, Sunday, to have a great opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals next March.

Xavi continued: “We fought as one family, and we really had to suffer.”

The former world champion with Spain added: “We had to defend, but in reality we wanted to play possession-based football, but we were unable to achieve that and did not control the match. Because Serbia performed well. But when we switched to a different way of playing, things improved.”

Xavi relied on different playing methods in the first 4 matches with the Netherlands, which began with a draw at home against Germany, then an away win over Serbia, and came back from falling behind to equalize a 2-2 draw in Greece, last Thursday.

He said: “We know, now, how to control matches in different ways, but we also know how to defend sometimes with a low or medium defensive block. In terms of our core values, I feel completely satisfied, the players are great. As for football, we need to improve in various aspects.”

The Netherlands conceded for the 12th match in a row, yesterday, Sunday, and Xavi said that they are seeking to enhance defensive solidity and make reaching their goal more difficult.

He continued: “The most important thing is to score more than the opponent, but we want to keep our sheets clean, and this requires time. I'll have a rest, now; Because the past period has been intense, I will continue to follow everyone. "We are building a family."

The Netherlands will host the Greek national team in Amsterdam, next November 13, before visiting Berlin to face Germany three days later.