Carlos Alcarras leads a strong Spanish squad in the Davis Cup tennis competition, after captain David Ferrer announced, on Monday, his country's roster for the final rounds.
The Spanish squad included Alcarras, who won seven Grand Slam titles, along with Rafael Khodar, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez.
Spain won the Davis Cup title for the last time in 2019.
“We have a very good team, without a doubt,” Ferrer said.
He added: “I am happy with the availability of all the players and very excited.”
He continued: “It is clear that we are among the favorites to win the Davis Cup, but that is normal. It is always better to have the best players.”
Alkaras, ranked third in the world, missed four months of the season due to a wrist injury, but he returned to competition in the US Open, the last of the four major tournaments at Flushing Meadows, and then won the Tokyo tournament title in early October.
The final rounds of the competition will be held in the Italian city of Bologna between November 24 and 29.
Spain, runner-up in the last edition, will open its campaign in the quarter-finals against Austria, and in the semi-finals it will face the winner of the match between Britain and Germany if it succeeds in qualifying.
After 8 consecutive matches without a win, and with its position barely above the relegation zone in the English Premier League, struggling Manchester United faces the possibility of a new change at the head of the coaching staff, and it seems that Michael Carrick will be the one paying the price.
The former United midfielder received warm applause from the fans as he headed to the tunnel leading to the dressing rooms, following the harsh loss to Bournemouth 0-3 at Old Trafford on Sunday.
But moments later, booing whistles sounded as the players left the field, a clear indication that the fans know well who bears responsibility for the deteriorating situation the team is experiencing.
Carrick had signed a two-year contract last May, after leading a remarkable uprising following the team’s suffering under the leadership of Portuguese Ruben Amorim, as United finished the season in third place in the Premier League and returned to the Champions League competition.
But the sharp decline this season brings to mind a very familiar story to United fans, who did not celebrate the league title in 13 years, when Scottish Sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge.
Carrick, who appeared affected, refused to consider the tour he made to greet the fans after the match as a farewell, at a time when he was trying to comprehend the rapid decline of his team.
He said: “I was certainly aware that we were not perfect, and that there was a lot of work to be done, but that did not mean that things should have gone this way.”
Carrick (45 years old) is still holding on to his position, but his position seems more fragile day by day, with the names of former Newcastle coach Eddie Howe and former German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann being circulated as potential candidates to succeed him.
Carrick, who won many titles during the club's golden era under Ferguson, was the seventh permanent coach to take over the job since the Scottish coach's retirement. Scot David Moyes has a strong record in the English Premier League, Dutchman Louis van Gaal and Portuguese Jose Mourinho have a rich history, while the Dutchman Eric Ten Hag and the Portuguese Ruben Amorim are considered among the most prominent emerging coaches.
Carrick belongs to the same category as Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who coached the team between 2018 and 2021, as an emotional choice and a former player who contributed greatly to the club’s glories during the Ferguson era.
Former United captain Gary Neville told Sky Sports: “Manchester United fans are singing Michael Carrick’s song, and I think they know what is going to happen here. “I've seen this scenario before, it's one of them and it's popular.”
He added: “But the owners, the sports administration and the players are not popular, and they have failed this club greatly.”
As Neville points out, the club's problems go far beyond the manager; Despite the ongoing protests from the fans, the American Glazer family still owns the majority stake in the club, which was acquired by Malcolm Glazer in 2005, through a debt-financed deal, which placed United with huge financial burdens.
Hopes that the entry of British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe as a minority shareholder in 2024 would mark the beginning of a new era have also been dashed.
Ratcliffe oversaw a series of cost-cutting measures, including extensive layoffs and raising ticket prices, but the club's debts nevertheless rose to more than 1.1 billion pounds ($1.47 billion).
In terms of contracts, United lost the race for the most prominent names it targeted to strengthen the midfield during the summer, after Elliot Anderson, Italian Sandro Tonali, and Portuguese Matheus Fernandes preferred to move to Manchester City (for the former) and Tottenham, respectively.
Instead, the club signed Cameroonian Carlos Baleba, Belgian Youri Tielemans and Brazilian Andre Santos, for about 150 million pounds sterling, but none of them have made a strong impression so far.
In recent weeks, indications of divisions within the club have also emerged. Argentine Lisandro Martinez criticized director of football Jason Wilcox for not doing enough to strengthen Carrick's squad.
Last week, Portuguese international captain Bruno Fernandes publicly questioned Carrick's tactical methods after the humiliating loss to Como 1-4 in the third round of the Champions League competition, in the Italian club's first continental participation.
Although Carrick appears to be the most prominent candidate to take responsibility, the path for one of the largest clubs in the world to return to the top seems more difficult than ever before.
"The coach can't just be the victim again," Neville said. There must also be consequences at higher levels. "You can't keep letting the same people choose the coach and then make a mistake every time."
He concluded: “Many years have passed without a title in the English Premier League. Before we know it, another 5 or 10 years may pass, because there are other clubs built to achieve success, while Manchester United is not.”
