OF MANY THINGS ...FUTBOL INCLUDID

 By definition … someone who likes self-inflicted pain is called a … fan of Manchester United. The English Premier (futbol or, to the great unwashed, soccer) League team continues to underachieve … despite being one of the richest franchises … all sports … stocked with high-priced talent … Latest example was Monday’s 4-0 setback at perennial also-ran Chrystal Palace … giving ManU its club-record 13th EPL loss of the season … It could have been a lot worse even though the Red Devils had two goals disallowed – one for offsides, the other for goalkeeper interference. For most of the game they looked disorganized, seemingly disinterested in the outcome … which has been among many raps against coach … oops, manager … ERIK TEN HAG who, in the obligatory post-match interview for NBC’s USA Network, refused to take blame. Instead, he continued to point to injuries as being THE season-long thing that has kept them from being a contender … and, with new ownership taking over, insisted he still was the man to lead the team back to its former glory … Viewers would have been disappointed if studio analysts (and former EPL stars) ROBBIE EARLE andDANNY HIGGINBOTHAM had agreed. Of course, they didn’t … and came out swinging.

EARLE: “I get the injuries … and I know he said, ‘We’re 

missing a lot of players.’ but if you’ve got 11 international

players who started this game ... and aren’t good enough to 

compete with Chrystal Palace … then they shouldn’t be on the 

football club.”

HIGGINBOTHAM: It’s a team of individuals … who are going 

out on the pitch and doing what they want. Good players, no 

structure behind them. It’s evident … Why do you bring in 

specific players unless you’re going to play them at their best 

positions? The players are not performing … and the buck 

stops with the manager.

EARLE: “There’s no fire … no drive … no appetite to get into 

the game. It feels like it’s coming to an end [for ten Hag].”

----- I like dreaming … so … is it realistic to think ManU could 

persuade JURGEN KLOPP to cross over to the dark side? The 

popular, successful Liverpool coach is leaving (his idea) after 

seven years to take a year off … and do what? 

----- How to explain 20.1 million viewers for Saturday’s 

Kentucky Derby? Or, the average 16.7M, most in 35 years, to 

tune into NBC’s three-hour-plus coverage? … Surely, they 

didn’t expect 18/1 shot Mystik Dan’s win by a nostril … Lousy 

weather in the East perhaps? … So much for the potential of a 

Triple Crown winner … He could change his mind but … 

Mystik trainer KENNY McPEEK said he made a mistake 

running the horse with only a two-week turnaround in an earlier 

race. He planned to take Mystik to Saratoga ... site of the third 

leg while Belmont undergoes a facelift expected to last a 

minimum of three years … and wait for ownership to decide 

whether to enter the May 18 Preakness … Derby runner-up 

Sierra Leone will skip the second leg, trainer CHAD BROWN 

saying five weeks’ layoff between races was best for his tired 

Thoroughbred after such a grueling, intense race the first 

Saturday in May … Forever Young, which finished third after a 

rough give-and-take down the stretch with Sierra Leone, has 

returned to Japan … Muth, winner of the Arkansas Derby, will 

be one of two entries in Baltimore for trainer BOB 

BAFFERT. It qualified for the Run for the Roses, but did not 

run because Baffert was under a two-year suspension at 

Churchill. The owner of Muth went to court to get the 

suspension lifted but was turned down … Draw for Preakness 

will be held Monday (May 13), with Muth likely installed as 

the favorite. 

----- Say It Isn’t So of the Week ... U.Va., basketball landed via 

the transfer portal a player from Florida State. Let the questions 

about high academic standards in Hooville begin.

UNTIL NEXT TIME ...