The young forward came on at half-time and had a goal ruled out for offside as United lost the Manchester derby 2-1 to City, but Ibrahimovic insisted that he is set to become a top player. He beats me and I beat him in the future.
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“I know it is a risk, because if you lose the ball it is a goal against us, but when we win with that, we win in many things”. He is mainly a number nine – if you want to play him in different positions, we need to work him, we need to improve him, but his big personality is there. “But it had nothing to do with inexperience or age because we have the kid [Marcus Rashford] in the second half and the kid looked like he was playing in the Under18s against Salford City”, United manager explained.
A last-minute victor against Hull City in August was followed by a mature performance on Saturday in the Manchester derby, coming on at half-time to replace Jesse Lingard.
“What Claudio did was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen”.
“For me the next big game is against Feyenoord and the next game [Rashford] is going to play”. Their performances. So of course I’m going to play other players. The former Chelsea manager said that it is hard to predict how players will react when selected for big games though. “It’s my fault because it’s my choice”.
And former United defender Neville gave his honest take on the game after the final whistle. First half we were better – in the second half it was hard. We started the game with intensity.
“You need to be sharp the way you think and the way you play”.
But Guardiola says it is too early in the season to have an impact in the title race and that it more important that they pick up three points in Tuesday’s Group C clash with Monchengladbach.
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Rashford, 18, was one of the revelations of last season, scoring eight goals in 18 first team appearances and earning himself a place in England’s Euro 2016 squad.
