‘This is a very busy month with seven games and our aim is to try to win them all, starting with Stoke’.
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The Red Devils finished fourth under Van Gaal last season but were dumped out of the Champions League at the group stage in December.
It will take more than one positive performance to blow the storm clouds away from Old Trafford. Stoke on the other hand will also want to win this match since they were knocked out of the both the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup and they have a huge point to prove.
Hiring Mourinho at Manchester United makes ideal sense from a footballing point of view; even after this season’s Chelsea disaster.
“In the past you were near enough 1-0 down before you went out of the tunnel because they had so many great players”, he reflected ruefully.
Louis van Gaal will once again be under pressure to deliver a victory and an improved performance when Manchester United host Stoke on Tuesday.
I see Stoke earning a draw here and the fact that each of these sides’ last five draws have been scored makes backing such a trend to continue appeal at 9/2.
Fans should remain skeptical as we’ve seen United play attacking football, only to revert back to their boring ways once again.
“It’s not just about Jack Butland in goal, we have to set up well defensively as well and also create problems for them because there are weaknesses in their back four”.
This will be Mark Hughes’ 100th Barclays Premier League fixture in charge of Stoke – he has a record of W37 D26 L36 so far.
We can’t remember the last time United and Stroke faced off when the latter had a more exciting attack but that seems to be the case as United look to avenge that Boxing Day defeat.
‘Stoke are a team that every club in the Premier League has a lot of difficulties with, ‘ he acknowledged.
United started brightly and finally broke its first-half duck courtesy of Lingard, who capitalized on sloppy Stoke defending to turn home Cameron Borthwick-Jackson’s low-left wing cross with a diving header. Guillermo Varela started at right back against Derby County and will be expected to keep his place.
“They’re very loyal fans, as I well know, and they don’t need too much encouragement to get behind their team”.
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Speaking about Sir Alex Ferguson’s team at United, Odemwingie opined that the team has lost its “real leaders” over the past few years.
