Jose Mourinho once again addresses Man United’s needs in the transfer market, insisting the squad are balanced.
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And while the opening skirmish in their battle for local and national supremacy will count only towards the pre-season International Champions Cup, you can be sure the Spaniard and his Portuguese counterpart will each be keen to strike the first psychological blow.
Mourinho is expected to make changes to his side, with Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera and Juan Mata all potentially dropping out of the starting lineup after going 90 minutes against Dortmund.
Meanwhile, heavy rain in the Chinese capital over the past few weeks has forced organisers to move training sessions from the Bird’s Nest stadium – which will host Monday’s game – to the nearby Olympic Sports Centre.
“City against United for me is at Old Trafford or at the Etihad or even the cup final at Wembley”, Mourinho said. “It is nearly the end and we can go home and train in conditions where the players are safe”, he said.
“So we are in the worst possible situation, but in this moment I want my players to think: ‘Every day I want to be champion and want to fight for the title'”.
“I don’t like that when other clubs do that in relation to my players”.
“We are both polite guys”.
Manchester City din’t have Kevin de Bruyne, Bacary Sagna and Eliaquim Mangala with them in China after their extended involvement at Euro 2016.
“Manchester City have all of their players, we have six, seven or eight, who played in the Euros. No reason why. He wants to win, I want to win, that’s all”.
Pep Guardiola will renew his at times bitter rivalry with Jose Mourinho on Monday in Beijing.
Mourinho arrived but refused to attend a news conference in an overcrowded and stifling press room in the bowels of the inadequate facility.
“I saw the last game against Borussia Dortmund (when United lost 4-1) and that’s all (apart from) a little bit against Wigan”, Spaniard said. “So why shouldn’t we shake hands?”
‘Normally when you say lucky you say lucky because you want a good result.
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Mourinho said of the chaos, via the Guardian, “The second group was unlucky”. I can not ask for anything from the tactical point of view. Some laud the game for its ability to help people interact socially while others are anxious it only further tethers us to our phones. He wants the players “to be focused exclusively on tactics” during the 48 hours leading up to the upcoming tilt.
