Manchester United’s next game is a home fixture against Newcastle United this weekend – Sergio Romero will be looking to maintain his Premier League shutout and Memphis will want to add to his goals tally having netted twice against Club Brugge on Tuesday night.
We caught up with Read Newcastle editor and Magpies fan Thomas Bore , for his take on the upcoming game.
1) Who did you play in pre-season and what were the results?
We started out pre-season with a 1-0 victory over our neighbours Gateshead, before jetting off to America for three games. Defeats to Club Atlas and Portland Timbers came either side of a 1-0 win over Sacramento Republic. We jetted back to England to play Chris Morgan’s testimonial – a 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane – before losing to York City three days later. We finished our pre-season with a 1-0 defeat at home to German outfit Borussia Monchengladbach.
2) How optimistic are you feeling about 2015/16?
Despite our dismal end to the 2014/15 campaign, I am relatively optimistic about this season. McClaren has a huge task ahead of him and fans need to remain onboard as an instant fix isn’t realistic. He has brought fast, attacking football to Tyneside, which is a drastic improvement on the drab negative football we’ve had to endure for the last four years. Hopefully our four new-boys (soon to be five) can make more of an impact than last summer’s recruits Remy Cabella, Emmanuel Riviere and Facundo Ferreyra made.
3) What do you make of United’s summer signings?
It was good to finally see Man United bolster their midfield options with Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Though rivals fans questioned the Red Devils signing a 30-year-old for almost £13million, Schweinsteiger oozes class and is a brilliant addition.
Signing Matteo Darmian for £12.7million is quite an astute piece of business by Man United. The 25-year-old is capable of filling in at left-back and right-midfield, as well as his natural right-back position, enabling Louis van Gaal to deploy his beloved 3-5-2 formation. Sergio Romero’s arrival was a wise move with De Gea and Valdes’ futures in doubt.
But the signing that really caught my eye was Memphis Depay. He didn’t quite do enough to beat Gini Wijnaldum to Dutch Player of the Year last season, but he was an integral part of PSV’s title winning side and it’s great to finally see him grace the Premier League.
4) What is your favourite United-Newcastle game in history?
Though I have seen the clips from the game, I was a little too young to remember the 5-0 demolition in 1996. I think my favourite has to be the 4-3 in 2001, when Sir Bobby Robson was still in charge. His 100th match in charge of the club and Alan Shearer nets in the last 10 minutes to seal victory for the Magpies. Beautiful. It was a toss up between two games – the other being the 3-0 in 2012, when Yohan Cabaye scored *that* free-kick.
5) Which of your players will cause us the most trouble this weekend?
Gabriel Obertan could come back to haunt his former club. Having started both our games so far, Gabby has been superb – driving at players and using his pace to cause the opposition defenders problems. Though, it’s more than likely that Georginio Wijnaldum will be our biggest threat on Saturday. Much-like Obertan, Gini possesses a great deal of pace and isn’t hesitant to drive at the opposition.
6) Which United player are you most worried about coming up against?
Wayne Rooney, Memphis Depay, Juan Mata – I could just reel off your teamsheet. I think Memphis is likely to cause us the most problems with Daryl Janmaat suspended and Sadio Haidara struggling to cope with anything that moves at the moment.
7) Who will play at right-back in the absence of Janmaat?
Chancel Mbemba is likely to fill in at right-back, meaning Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini will start at the heart of the defence. Vurnon Anita has an outside chance, but it’s unlikely considering how important he has been in central midfield this season.
8) Predicted Newcastle XI and result?
4-2-3-1: Krul; Mbemba, Taylor, Coloccini, Haidara; Colback, Anita; Sissoko, Wijnaldum, Obertan; Cisse.
Score: 2-0 to Man United
