Viera’s Crystal Palace will face one of the title contenders on Wednesday. Because that’s how Manchester United can be estimated, says Palace manager Patrick Vieira.
In the run-up to the midweek duel with Man Utd, Crystal Palace manager Vieira is fueling the title fire. “If you look at the last games they have played, the number of victories they have recorded and how close they are to the top, they are among the title contenders.” Vieira became a legend as a player at Arsenal, the current Premier League leaders.
At Man Utd, Ten Hag’s hand is visible, Vieira notes. “It’s a different United than last season when we beat them. It will be important for us to play, as we did against Chelsea on Sunday, with a lot of passion and a lot of discipline. We have to take advantage of the opportunities we get. We have to be ruthless in that.”
Erik ten Hag’s reaction
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag tempered the expectations of their own fans, who now dare to dream about the English title for their club. “We have to keep our feet on the ground,” said the Dutchman after the victory over Manchester City.
Anthony Martial is a question mark for the game with Crystal Palace, which hosts Manchester United on Wednesday. The French attacker is struggling with physical discomfort. It may offer an opening for a basic place for Weghorst.
Ten Hag does not want to get ahead of things too much yet. “I still have to think about it. Firstly, we still have to process the game against Manchester City. After that we have to draw the right conclusions and then we will make a plan for Palace. I’ve yet to see how we’re going to do it,” the Red Devils manager noted.
The Dutch manager already has a first impression of Wednesday’s opponent. He said, “I already know quite a bit about Palace. We played against them in the pre-season. But I don’t have the full plan yet. I haven’t made it yet.”
Despite the busy schedule, there is room to celebrate successes. “You work so hard for that. If you can’t celebrate a big win, you also take away the energy. So we have to celebrate to move on to the next game 24 hours later. Then you get into the right rhythm. Every third day we have to be there and the players have to be in the right rhythm physically and mentally for the next game. And that’s against Crystal Palace this time,” the Dutchman concludes.
