Finally Jose’s chance for that Real McCoy
Wenger warns Gunners must use all their armoury to deadly effect
Portuguese claimed he had “to beg” Real’s board to let him leave for Chelsea.
Champions League holders Real will be with talisman and former United forward Cristiano Ronaldo in Skopje, Macedonia, despite the Portugal international being allowed to report late for pre-season training after he played in the Confederations Cup.
Zinedine Zidane’s side beat Sevilla 3-2 in extra-time last year to win the showcase match and the French coach is targeting a fourth European trophy in less than two years in charge of Real, which would match Mourinho’s tally of continental titles.
United, meanwhile, will be missing central defenders Eric Bailly and Phil Jones due to suspension, opening up a place in the starting lineup for new recruit Victor Lindelof.
The Swede is one of three signings made so far by United along with Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku and midfield anchorman Nemanja Matic arriving at a combined cost of £146million (R2.5-billion) as the Old Trafford side look to improve on a disappointing sixth-placed Premier League finish last term.
Real have added promising youngsters Theo Hernandez and Dani Ceballos to their talent-packed squad which won a Liga and Champions League double last season while parting ways with forwards Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez.
Their reported interest in French teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe has yet to materialise, however.
United beat Real on penalties after a 1-1 draw in a friendly in California last month and won five of their other pre-season Barcelona.
Real, meanwhile, failed to win any of their four friendlies in the US in 90 minutes, losing 3-2 to Barca and getting thrashed 4-1 by Manchester City, their only win coming in a shoot-out victory over an MLS All-Stars team.
“The sensation overall is not good, when you don’t win any of your four games something is wrong,” Zidane told reporters after the tour.
“We have to do a lot more, we’ve made a bad start with these results and what we all want is to get home, rest and think about the Super Cup.” — Reuters games, losing only to ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger believes the strength of competition in the Premier League means his side cannot afford another false start if they are to challenge for the title.
Arsenal have lost three of their last four opening games, with last term’s 4-3 defeat at home to Liverpool setting the tone for a campaign in which they missed out on Champions League qualification for the first time since 1997.
Wenger’s men launch the new campaign at home to Leicester City on Friday and he urged his players to harness the momentum from a promising pre-season that culminated in victory over Chelsea in Sund Community Shield.
“We want to find a good balance between the confidence we can get out of these games and the urgency that every Premiership game demands,” he said. “We had some bad starts in the last four years in the first game of the Premiership.
“But we had the intensity in our preparation games that is needed to be ready so let’s go into the Premiership with the same discipline, the same spirit, and see where we can go.”
Arsenal beat Chelsea 4-1 on penalties to win the Community Shield for the third time in four years at the weekend after the game finished up at 1-1.
Arsenal were without Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey, with the former still regaining fitness after the Confederations Cup and the two other minor injuries.
Wenger said Ozil had a “little chance” of playing against Leicester after taking a kick on the ankle in training and said Ramsey was in a similar position as he works to overcome a “little calf problem”.
Wenger also said there was “nothing bad” about the injury sustained by club captain Per Mertesacker, who had to come off after being accidentally caught in the face by Gary Cahill’s elbow.
Mertesacker’s replacement, new Bosnian defender Sead Kolasinac, impressed Arsenal’s fans with a series of shuddering challenges before cancelling out Victor Moses’s opener with a headed 81st-minute equaliser.
Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal’s club-record £46.5-million (R809-million) signing from Lyon, had a more low-key debut, but Wenger was encouraged by his performance.
“Lacazette is stronger every week,” said Wenger of the France international, who hit the post midway through the first half.
“In the first half he had very interesting movements. I believe he’ll become stronger and stronger.”
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte cut a frustrated figure and said he was “a bit angry” with referee Bobby Madley.
Madley booked Willian for diving and showed Pedro a straight red card for an ugly foul on Mohamed Elneny shortly before Kolasinac’s equaliser.
Conte defended his decision to allow players nursing Thibaut Courtois to take a penalty after the Belgian goalkeeper hoisted his effort over the crossbar.
“Courtois is one of the best players to kick penalties,” said Conte, whose side begin their title defence at home to Burnley on Saturday.
New signing Morata also miscued in the shootout, dragging his spotkick wide of the left-hand post to complete an inauspicious cameo appearance and allowing Olivier Giroud to net the winning penalty. — AFP