Jose Mourinho made eight changes to the side that lost against Manchester City in the Premier League at the weekend, introducing Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial into the XI and naming Chris Smalling as captain on his first start of the season.
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And Keane, who expects City to sustain their impressive form throughout the campaign, has been more impressed by Guardiola than the man in charge at Old Trafford.
A 79th-minute strike from midfielder Tonny Vilhena punished a lacklustre display from a United side that was much-changed but still contained nearly £300m worth of signings.
It will, of course, vary from fan to fan, but it’s probably fair to say that a huge amount of those who follow the Reds remember Kuyt most fondly for the bravura hat-trick he scored againist Alex Ferguson’s United in April 2011. That’s the biggest thing I remember.
Feyenoord approach the match in fine fettle, having won all five Eredivisie matches to date.
The Manchester derby showed Mourinho’s side are a long way behind their closest rivals, and this was an unexpected defeat, but United can go some way to restoring their early season optimism with a victory at Vicarage Road on Sunday.
“I think Manchester United are under enormous pressure, be-cause everyone wants them to win the league”, he said. I like my squad, I like my players.
“It’s not the big dream of every big player, but we are not in the Champions League”, added the Portuguese.
Feyenoord’s Australian keeper Brad Jones was rarely tested by any meaningful efforts.
The club are taking various measures for European home games this season in a bid to avoid triggering suspended punishments handed down by governing body UEFA for crowd trouble offences.
Mourinho concluded that the team “are not in the Champions League” so it is very important to “find your motivation in the competition you are in” as everyone wants to do the best they can.
“This is not a competition Manchester United wants, what I want, what the players want, but it is a competition where we are, and that is the reality, so we have to look at the competition with respect”, Mourinho concluded.
Group A 19.00 Feyenoord vs Man.
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Former United and Feyenoord striker Robin van Persie is set to play both clubs as his Fenerbahce side are also in Group A with the Turkish side taking on Zorya Luhansk of Ukraine in their opener.
