Mourinho presses for more reinforcements: "We do not have the level to fight the Premier League"

Manchester United is in the United States preparing for next season. The team of José Mourinho will try in the new course to recover the positions of prominence both locally and internationally, however, shortly after the start of the competition (second week of August), the team technician is not satisfied.

Indeed, for the Portuguese coach the three reinforcements that his team has added are not enough to face the power of the English championship. Not enough with the Brazilian Fred, who came from Shakhtar, with Portugal's Diogo Dalot (Porto) or English goalkeeper Lee Grant (Stoke City). He needs more.

"The first thing we have to assume is that we are not up to what Liverpool or Chelsea do, for example," Mourinho said at a press conference. "We do not have the level to fight the Premier League, " he said.

"We need to get some transfers," he asked. "And we have to keep our stars if we want to compete and fight for the title," he said. "I would like to have at least two more players," he concluded, making clear his dissatisfaction and lack of optimism for the new season.

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Topless Katie Price takes holiday snaps to new levels while straddling new boyfriend Kris Boyson

Blimey, these aren’t the average holiday snaps you bring out when your mum comes to visit. Katie Price has upped her game with her vacay pictures this time – going even bigger and better than the snaps we saw earlier this week – because being spotted being all casual on a beach while topless or captured frolicking unawares by her private pool wasn’t enough. The 40-year-old has showed off her penchant for an all-over tan several times this week during her break in Thailand with boyfriend Kris Boyson, but this time around she’s upped the steam factor by turning her topless holiday photo shoot into a bit of a romp. Looking for all the world like they have been caught in a private moment, the pair were seen lounging on a rock near a waterfall, and by lounging, we mean Katie is topless and straddling her man while throwing her head back and getting lost in the moment. Katie and Kris were seen getting steamy beside a waterfall (Picture: Backgrid) In another shot, the pair look to be getting entirely carried away, sharing a kiss as Katie sits with her legs either side of her 29-year-old boyfriend. They were also seen lying suggestively back on the rocks, with a beaming Katie draped across her man, while Kris holds her beneath her chin. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed that the setting looks oh-so-similar to her ex-husband Peter Andre’s music video for Mysterious Girl. We see what you did there, KP.

It’s all a bit ‘get a room’ – the two seem lost in their own world, too wrapped up in each other to realise there was a pesky photographer lurking behind a palm tree, snapping up shots when all the new couple wanted was a bit of off-the-grid peace and quiet. Except wait… what’s this? This isn’t a romantic, candid moment captured by a lucky pap who came across the two lovebirds having some alone time on a private rock? Unlikely. This is no accident. This has all the hallmarks of a staged ‘faux candid’ shoot. There could well have been a crew of about six or seven people watching as these two joined the Dry Hump Society, with photographer, assistants and stylists making sure all the images were just so. The lighting was perfectly arranged and each shot was expertly composed. But how… and why? We spoke to some industry experts…

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Motorcyclist injured after 'running from police' in Perth's north-east

A motorcyclist has suffered serious injuries after he attempted to run from police in Dianella on Wednesday afternoon.

It’s understood the rider failed to stop for traffic officers just after 1pm on Railway Parade in Bayswater, and police aborted an attempt to stop him.

He was last seen by police on Park Street in Bedford, and around twenty minutes later, he was involved in a crash with two cars at a major traffic light intersection near Dianella Plaza shopping centre.

It’s understood the rider wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, and has sustained serious injuries.

Police have asked anyone who saw the crash or the motorcycle driving in the area prior to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

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FOOD & DRINK IHOP IS OFFERING CHEAP PANCAKES TODAY, BUT NOT BECAUSE ITS SORRY ABOUT THAT IHOB THING

It's IHOP's birthday on Tuesday. The house that pancakes built is turning 60. It's not celebrating by changing its name back to IHOb and making the "b" for birthday this time.

The sexagenarian restaurant is offering 60-cent short stacks from 7am to 7pm on July 17 as an invitation for you to celebrate its birthday.

Though, if it makes you feel better, you can think of it as an apology for that whole IHOb stunt. Last month, IHOP announced that it was flipping the "P" in its name upside down to become IHOb. After a few days of speculation, it revealed that it was an acronym for the International House of Burgers. 

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COMPANY TOWN BUSINESS Netflix stock skids amid weaker-than-expected tally of new subscribers

Netflix took an unexpected drubbing Monday on Wall Street amid signs that the company’s once torrid growth may be slowing as it faces rising competition.

The global streaming giant attracted fewer new subscribers than anticipated in the second quarter, causing its shares to tumble 14% in after-hours trading Monday.

The Los Gatos, Calif., company said it ended the quarter with about 130.1 million subscribers worldwide, falling short of analysts’ expectations of 130.8 million for the period. It said it added 5.2 million members during the period — the same as last year’s quarter — but less than the 6.2 million it forecast.

Domestic subscriber growth was particularly weak, suggesting that Netflix is seeing a dramatic slowdown in the U.S. market. Netflix added 670,000 U.S. subscribers for the quarter, falling short of the expected 1.2 million that the company had forecast.

"Most bulls thought that [Netflix] could grow to 85 million domestic subscribers, but the slowing growth might suggest that the ceiling is closer to 70 million. That means less upside and less growth, which impacted the share price," said Michael Pachter, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities. He has an "underperform" rating on Netflix stock.

Overseas subscriptions continued to be a source of strength for Netflix. The company said it saw 4.5 million net additions, up 8% year over year.

The subscriber miss was a rare disappointment for Netflix, which has seen steady growth in new customers in recent quarters. New subscriptions are seen as a key metric for the company’s health since they are crucial to future cash flow.

Netflix still managed to beat earnings expectations for the three-month period that ended June 30. The company reported earnings of $384 million, or 85 cents a share, up from $66 million, or 15 cents, a year earlier. That exceeded the 79 cents a share estimated by analysts polled by Factset. Second-quarter revenue was $3.91 billion, which was slightly lower than the $3.94 billion predicted by analysts.

Shares of Netflix closed Monday at $400.48, up $4.48, or 1.2%. But in after-hours trading, the stock plummeted slightly more than 14% as investors reacted to the bad news.

For the year, Netflix shares have nearly doubled in value, breaking the $400 mark for the first time in June.

In a letter to shareholders, Netflix said it had a “strong but not stellar” quarter. It cited increased pressure from competitors, specifically the announced merger between Walt Disney Co. and 20th Century Fox, as well as the newly merged AT&T and Time Warner. The Disney deal with Fox hasn’t been finalized and faces a threat from a rival bid by Comcast.

Disney is planning to launch its own competing streaming service next year and to pull its movies from Netflix.

“We anticipate more competition from the combined AT&T/Warner Media, from the combined Fox/Disney or Fox/Comcast as well as from international players like Germany’s ProSieben and Salto in France,” the company said in the letter. “Our strategy is to simply keep improving, as we’ve been doing every year in the past.”

Industry experts also focused on the increased competition Netflix faces as a principal reason for the disappointing results.

“This isn’t entirely surprising given rising competition in the video streaming market, where Amazon, Hulu, HBO and others are gaining share of subscription video dollars at Netflix’s expense,” Paul Verna, principal analyst at EMarketer, said in a statement.

But in the long run, Netflix still looks poised to beat the competition. “Netflix has a strong slate of original content that should keep it in the forefront among streaming services,” Verna said.

Netflix has forecast it will spend $7.5 billion to $8 billion on content this year, up from $6 billion in 2017. But the Economist, using data from a Goldman Sachs report, recently estimated that Netflix will spend $12 billion to $13 billion on content this year.

The second quarter saw little in the way of big new titles. Netflix premiered new seasons of “Marvel’s Luke Cage” and “Glow,” as well as the streaming releases of a few Disney movies, including “Coco,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

Netflix also announced during the quarter a new partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama, in which the former first couple will produce TV shows and movies that will be available worldwide on the streaming platform.

Despite the negative investor reaction Monday, Netflix projected an optimistic outlook for the year.

"I think we're still on track for a strong growth year … and maybe it's going to come in a little bit differently than we expected and others expected," Netflix Chief Financial Officer David Wells said in an investor video interview Monday.

5:05 p.m.: This article was updated to include additional details from an analysts’ call.

This article was originally published at 1:40 p.m.

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