Mourinho’s appointment by Real Madrid that year brought him into regular confrontation with Guardiola.
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There has inevitably been a huge amount of focus on the personal history of the two men since Mourinho’s appointment at Old Trafford confirmed they would cross each other again, this time in the same city.
City captain Vincent Kompany is back in full training with the squad, but Guardiola said the Belgium defender was unlikely to be risked on Saturday given his recent injuries problems.
Ibrahimovic has made an impressive start to life at Old Trafford, scoring four times in his first four competitive matches, including three times in three Premier League matches at the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
Man U vs Man C PreviewManchester United have invested around 150 million Euros in this transfer window on four players and have seen positive results very early on. All managers share a glass of red, don’t they? They have now a very good manager.
“I saw in the 10 days (of the global break) the four games and every game Manchester United played better than they did before”.
“When you play to try and win the title, especially in the first phase of the season I don’t feel any match more important than another one, so for me it is one more match”.
Shaw and Mkhitaryan both picked up injury scares during the global break with England and Armenia respectively, while Valencia only recently returned from worldwide duty with Ecuador. “They’re a title contender and we have to respect them that way, that’s for sure”.
And Aguero’s absence after being hit with a three-match ban for violent conduct will, according to Mourinho, make United’s task all the more hard.
Mourinho has faced Guardiola’s sides 16 times, yet he claimed this knowledge would not aid him on Saturday. “Maybe since the new owners arrived at Man City”, Mourinho said.
United’s out-of-favour midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger expressed interest in moving to the United States last month when he said on August 24 that he would not play for another club in Europe, then added on August 30 that “America is naturally an option”. We know the formation, we know their dynamic.
“It can not help that I have played against him before”, Mourinho said. “We played have good in some moments”. They have an amazingly rich squad in options. (Guardiola) can have many decisions, different decisions.
“One thing if he decides to play with (Kelechi) Iheanacho, another thing if he decides to play with (Raheem) Sterling”.
Guardiola might only be able to include two players over 6ft in his starting XI while Claudio Bravo, one of the shortest goalkeepers in the Premier League, may also struggle under high balls into the box.
“Yeah, it changes (my approach) because it is more hard”, the United manager replied when asked if the player’s absence changes how he will approach the game tactically.
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“You try to win a lot of games in a row to gain an advantage, but it can turn quickly like we had a year ago”.
