Past year I was good enough to get Holland to 3rd at the World Cup, that kind of stuff. Next year, all the clubs in the Premier League will have a bigger budget than most of the clubs in Europe. United were dreadfully wobbly against Wolfsburg on Tuesday and a pumped-up Bournemouth will be in no mood to show mercy to the likes of Guillermo Valerma and Cameron Borthwick-Johnson.
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Manchester United have drawn their last two Premier League games and will be traveling to Bournemouth on Saturday, December 12.
To make matters worse, Bastian Schweinsteiger faces a three-match ban on Thursday after he was charged with violent conduct for allegedly elbowing West Ham’s Winston Reid in the face.
Van Gaal was already without Wayne Rooney, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin before Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian were injured in Wolfsburg. Having always had a pragmatic approach to football, he says United’s chances of going beyond the group stages were unrealistic. “There’s nothing we can do about that”.
“I try to but, of course, the players have to do that also by themselves, they are also the professionals”, he told MUTV. After being eliminated from the Champions League, Man U is looking to recover with a victory over Bournemouth.
“Their record does not mean anything as Chelsea are Chelsea and Mourinho is Mourinho”, Ranieri said. The Cherries may be floating around the relegation zone, but they’re playing with the confidence of, well the confidence that United should be playing with.
Bournemouth leap to 14th on 16 points, one point and one place ahead of Chelsea.
Manchester United will be hoping to go some way towards banishing the memory of their Champions League disappointment in the week by getting the better of a buoyant Bournemouth side. That will force the home club to make a decision in risky areas. “They need to use their tools to lift them up and we have a lot to fight for, I think”. They are also a big club, there was also a lot of criticism in the media.
What will be a worry to the manager, though, is a defensive injury list that may yet force him to field three inexperienced players in his back four at Bournemouth.
“I read the same things – that my touch had gone – 20 years ago when I was at Barcelona and we went out at the group stage but we went on to win La Liga. It’s nine players who are not able to play”, said Van Gaal.
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Rafael played just 11 times for the club last season and is now happy to be out of that environment – opting for a move to France rather than taking up a Premier League offer.
