Manchester United’s players waited in the open outside the changing rooms to the side of the main stand after Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace. The mood was more downbeat than triumphant as the players chatted to each other or kept their own counsel.
They waited for the go ahead to walk to the team bus on Holmesdale Road, where hundreds of fans were waiting for pictures or an autograph, to catch a flight. Meanwhile manager Erik ten Hag obliged with his media commitments, separating the result from the performance.
“The performance was good but the score we are not happy with, we are disappointed with the score,” he said. “It is clear. I know one thing for sure in football that there is a long way to go and when you play in the quality we now deliver, the points will come, the goals will come.”
Compared to the last time when his team suffered a 4-0 debacle in May, he said: “It is so different now because we can work on the team, we are building structures because we have players back on the training pitch.
“We can also have consistency in the selection and that helps to bring the patterns and routines in and you play better. You can take more control of the game and you can even, like in the first half, dominate the game.”
Andre Onana also emphasised the positives: “In football sometimes, you can’t control everything,” said the Cameroonian. “We were coming in; we had more chances and I had faith always in my guys. Today, we hit the crossbar twice and hopefully in the coming games, we will score a lot.”
Asked about his double save from Eddie Nketiah and Ismaila Sarr, the goalkeeper said: “I don’t think it is so important because we didn’t win. We are such a big club. I think we were better than them. We had so many chances but unfortunately, we didn’t score. It’s difficult to come back with one point.”
It’s at the other end of the pitch where the focus will be on United’s shortfalls. Ten Hag and Ruud van Nistelrooy et al coached the side to win the match, but they could not put the ball in the net. It may seem odd given United scored 10 in their previous two games, but chances were squandered in front of goal.
Following a 3-0 win at winless Southampton and a 7-0 triumph against third tier Barnsley, United drew 0-0 at another winless Premier League side Palace.
It was a rare scoreline for Ten Hag’s side: only four of his 81 league games have ended goalless, the last time against Liverpool in December 2023. For much of Saturday evening’s game at Selhurst Park, a no-goal outcome looked improbable.
United, especially in the first half, created chance after chance. Alejandro Garnacho, Joshua Zirkzee, Bruno Fernandes and Matthijs de Ligt all came close, but not close enough.
Oh how the watching Van Nistelrooy, now United’s assistant manager and one rated as a man who almost always took his chances as a player, winced in frustration. Ten Hag did too. His side have missed 17 big chances from the opening five league games, more than any other club. The next clubs, with 12 missed chances each, are Aston Villa and Liverpool.
It’s a positive that United are creating them, something they didn’t do on the previous trip to south London, and United’s 67 per cent possession afforded 15 shots, six on target, and 11 corners. The football was attractive too as Palace struggled to cope.
United have scored only five times in five league games, three of those against the winless Southampton. And it’s now a new issue. United scored only 57 times (and conceded one more) in 38 league games last term, way off all the seven teams above them who all managed between 74 and 96.
United’s defence was better than four of the sides who finished above them, but the goal difference was woeful for a club built on a reputation of attacking football.
United did bring forward Zirkzee in from Bologna, but he’s no Van Nistelrooy, more a player who knits the attack and drops deep to do so.
He’s scored one in seven so far. Rasmus Hojlund was injured pre-season and the Dane did come off the pitch at Palace to cheers from the 3,000 travelling fans whose disposition was as sunny as the weather before the game following two wins and 10 goals.
Those results made the draw at Palace especially frustrating. But tellingly, United have won only two of their last eight games against opponents in the bottom half of the league – against promoted sides at that.
Had it not been for former United goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who made seven saves, there may have been a different outcome, but there’s usually a but with Manchester United: injuries, chances, poor luck.
If United are to become a side that challenges for league titles, they must win at grounds like Palace and can’t be picking up seven points every five games, as has been the case so far this season.
It’s top ten rather than top three form and while the season is still young, United could have faced a far more challenging start. Now, far more difficult challenges await: Spurs at home next then Aston Villa away.
These are the teams United should be measured against this season since United aren’t good enough to win the league. However, they are already five points behind Villa. Europa League and Carabao Cup commitments add to the pressure.
Ten Hag knows he’ll need his squad, it’s why he rotates and why he didn’t start Marcus Rashford – but did that take away the momentum of a player who has started scoring? Surprising as it was, there was nothing more to it than a football decision to bench the striker.
United have been here many times in their history, notably in November 1992 when the team were 10th in the table after 15 games of the inaugural Premier League season – one United went on to win.
United had scored only 14 goals while league leaders Norwich had 27. There were no transfer windows in November 1992 and that’s when United signed Eric Cantona from Leeds United. There will be no such fixes this time, the budget has been spent and the season is still very young. Besides, Cantona was a one off.
Three weeks ago, United fans left Old Trafford fuming after a home defeat to Liverpool. The mood has been picked up off the floor since, but legitimate questions remain about the direction of the team and the main one is when the chances are going to start being converted and by whom.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
The Cockroach
(Vintage)
Ian McEwan
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier, in Bangkok
UAE fixtures Mon Nov 20, v China; Tue Nov 21, v Thailand; Thu Nov 23, v Nepal; Fri Nov 24, v Hong Kong; Sun Nov 26, v Malaysia; Mon Nov 27, Final
(The winners will progress to the Global Qualifier)
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
More on animal trafficking
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Votes
Total votes: 1.8 million
Ashraf Ghani: 923,592 votes
Abdullah Abdullah: 720,841 votes
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
Age: 23
Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering
Favourite hobby: playing the piano
Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"
Family: Married and with a daughter
