OIL BE BACK
Traore is primed to give Pep stars the slip again
WOLVES are hoping their baby-oiled bogeyman can put the skids under Manchester City again tonight.
Greased-lightning Adama Traore hopes the trick of oiling up his arms will make it difficult for rampant City to keep grips on him once again.
The winger, 25, who combines the speed of an Olympic sprinter with the build of a middleweight boxer, has tormented them in the past.
While Pep Guardiola’s men hope to extend their winning run to 21, Traore is astonishingly looking for his first goal since scoring in the 3-2 victory over City last season.
His barren run goes back to December 2019 but his fleet-footed style of play seems to cause the league leaders particular problems.
Wolves did the double over them last season, with Traore also scoring both goals in the 2-0 win at the Etihad.
Nuno Espirito Santo says he thinks the oil tactic is brilliant but takes no credit for himself.
“It wasn’t my idea. It was the medical department who came up with it and it’s a fantastic idea,” said Nuno.
“Adama is hard to stop. This makes him more slippery so it can be very useful. It all stems back from the injury he had to his shoulder.
“That came about basically from opponents holding his arm and grappling with him.”
The Wolves chief acknowledges
that it is going to take more than a Traore supershow to stop City in their tracks as they make what looks like a relentless march to the title.
He added: “I know Pep and I admire him. He’s an amazing person.
“It’s going to be a very tough challenge and when people ask what it takes to go on a run like they are, then one thing that stands out above all else is talent.
“It’s hard work, quality, dedication and all those things, but mainly it is talent. When you have the kind of players they have, then, it means they can create so many possibilities within the game.”
But Nuno says they will not go to the Etihad with the attitude that it is a free hit, adding: “We never approach a game as if there’s nothing to lose. All matches are too important.
“Let’s play the game and compete. It’s all abut how you face them. Every ball is important.”
football THEY are a club built on a rich tradition of glorious, cavalier football.
But at the start of one of the most important weeks of the season, Manchester United find themselves accused of betraying their heritage when it comes to facing their direct rivals.
Last Sunday, it was a 0-0 draw at Chelsea. This Sunday, they go to Manchester City.
By the end of it, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side could be 18 points adrift of the leaders.
In seven games against other members of the established ‘Big Six’ this season, United have managed just one goal – and that came from the penalty spot in a humiliating 6-1 defeat at home to Tottenham.
In the goalless, soulless draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, United had just six shots – two of which were off target.
And it means they now have failed to score home and away against Arsenal and Chelsea this season and not managed to find the back of the net against arch-rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.
Tomorrow they go to Crystal Palace and then it is the runaway leaders, with former striker Andy Cole claiming his old club cannot afford to draw another blank against a major rival.
“Manchester United can’t play like that,” said Cole, who turns 50 this year.
“It has to be a concern. If you think you can genuinely win the title or challenge for it, you have to score goals. Playing under
Sir Alex Ferguson, the only thing he used to say to us was, ‘Go out and enjoy yourselves and entertain.’
“That’s what United are supposed to do, you’re supposed to entertain. You have to show your opponents respect but you can’t fear them.
“Everyone wants to be tight, of course. You don’t want to concede goals.
“But if you concede a goal and you’re scoring goals yourself, I don’t think anyone’s that fussed, because you’re playing the way United should play.
“United’s history is about playing good football, trying to win games by playing a certain way, not being tight at the back and trying to nick a 1-0 win.
“United can’t play like that and when they’ve tried to, they’ve come unstuck.
“Let’s get this straight – if you’re ever going to win the league, you have to knock over the big teams as well. Draws aren’t going to do it.”
Cole, who scored 121 goals in 275 games for United, said any title hopes the Reds had went with their shock 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield United.
“I felt like I’d played in that game, I was so disappointed and upset,” said Cole, who underwent a life-saving kidney transplant four years ago.
“Then there was the draw at West Brom. If you’re going to win the title, you have to beat these teams, it’s as simple as that.
“If you can’t knock these teams over – which other teams are doing – can you really be looked at as title contenders? For me, no.
“City are top and are the best team for a reason. They deserve that fear factor, just for the way they play.
“I take my hat off to City’s players, Pep Guardiola and his staff for the way they’re playing and this incredible run they’re on.”
Despite Cole’s dismay at United’s failure in big games, he said former team-mate Solskjaer was doing just as well as predecessors Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, despite trailing City by 12 points.
Cole, who also played for United’s neighbours City at the back end of his career, said: “We can all debate whether Ole is the best man for the job. If it doesn’t work out with Ole, then naturally they’ll move on and bring someone else in.
“But that’s better than bringing the bigname manager in and trying to buy the title. We’ve tried that and it’s not worked.”