Sparky is targeting United’s weak spot
JOSE’S MEN ARE ‘LOOSE’
MARK HuGHES insists Manchester united are beatable despite their blistering start, and claims to have spotted weaknesses Stoke can exploit today.
Jose Mourinho’s united have been widely tipped as Premier League champions after winning their first three matches by scoring 10 goals and conceding none.
Stoke boss Hughes, known as Sparky, is not yet convinced, citing how Manchester City won six in a row to start last season only to finish third. ‘The manner of united’s performances is impressive but we had similar with City,’ said Hughes. ‘They couldn’t sustain it.’
Mourinho insisted united will be ready for Stoke. ‘The squad is strong, the players are strong, the atmosphere is positive,’ he said. ‘We don’t fear any challenge.’
Even so, Hughes says he has a plan. ‘united have areas that are a little loose, positionally, and we’ll try to exploit it. The best way is to get about them and ask questions.’
Hughes praised united’s attacking potential, mentioning Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Juan Mata, and believes striker Romelu Lukaku looks a bargain even at £75million.
Lukaku has scored three league goals for united already and Hughes agreed that the 24-year-old Belgian could one day challenge Wayne Rooney’s club-record tally of 253.
‘He’s the real deal,’ said Hughes. ‘And there’s still more to come. He is probably a bargain, if that’s possible — someone who can lead the line for the next five to 10 years.
‘Logically, you’d say he’ll go close to the record if he gets a good run and steers clear of major injuries.
‘I tried to get him at QPR but he ended up at West Brom on loan from Chelsea. I didn’t pitch too well — probably because I didn’t say he’d play week in, week out. I’ve learnt from that!’
Hughes almost sounded more impressed with united’s strike force than Mourinho, who said his team could not yet boast the almost telepathic attacking threat of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke in the 1999 Treble campaign.
Lukaku and Rashford have begun to click at united and both scored for their countries in midweek, but Mourinho said: ‘It’s different now. I was in Barcelona with Louis van Gaal when we played united in the Champions League with Cole and Yorke playing ‘blind’ football. They closed their eyes and understood each other so well. They played for united in the best years of their careers. Marcus is just in the beginning, Lukaku has just arrived.’
Asked if he could win in style today, Mourinho said: ‘If you see Chelsea, the last winners of the Premier League, they did not play attacking football. They played counter-attack football. That is the way to win the Premier League. We try to play positive but we try to win.’