The play of the young English defender will go a long way towards deciding a victor in the Manchester Derby.
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Marcus Rashford settled the most recent derby, earning United a 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium in March, and rose from the bench to net a stoppage-time victor at Hull City on their last outing.
However, with the Manchester derby just around the corner, Guardiola stated that the version of events that appeared in I Am Zlatan wasn’t a fair reflection of what really happened. How huge? Well, comedian Kevin Hart (in this video alongside rapper Ice Cube) have analogized the red versus blue to the bloods versus the crips on the streets of L.A. We speak through our players, through our games, not what we’re talking about here. This contest is so big that even old stories from months ago are popping back up again with renewed interest as the audience for this one is extremely engaged. This was the start of the new decade.
Pep Guardiola claims he was always honest with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during their time together at Barcelona ahead of an eagerly anticipated reunion in Saturday’s Manchester derby.
Guardiola eulogised about Mourinho’s attacking options as he admitted it will be tough for City to stop United.
Speaking at a press conference when he was still a Paris Saint-Germain player, Zlatan said: “As a coach he was fantastic”. He downplayed the idea of individual versus individual and instead focused on team versus team.
“They have had very good managers and have another very good manager now”.
“It’s not us. It’s not me against him”. “He wanted the most hard place to play football and the most hard place to win titles”.
Students of the game during Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona, the interpreter and midfielder’s friendly relationship became much more testy as they vied for LaLiga glory. “But always I was clear, I spoke with him always face-to-face – always. The rivalry between us is more in the media”, he said, according to his club’s website.
Enigmatic French forward Cantona helped to inspire United’s mid-90s period of dominance under Alex Ferguson and cast a long shadow over the Manchester derby, scoring eight times in seven matches against City and never finishing on the losing side.
At this moment, there’s no telling which way it’s going to go, but playing at Old Trafford should tip the scales towards Mourinho’s men for now.
And Mourinho, a man whose stellar CV includes the majesty of Real and Inter Milan, can now get to work on the challenge of restoring United to the summit of the game and giving the club justification to boast that they can punch their weight on the pitch just as powerfully as off it.
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“Yes, it [Aguero’s absence] changes, because it is more hard”, Mourinho told Sky Sports when quizzed on the matter. Five or six top players and we didn’t get any titles. His ability to distribute the ball from the back is also crucial to how Guardiola wants his side to play.
