Defeat vs City could pile pressure on Manchester United – Sharpe

Manchester United will start the season under “a lot of pressure” if they lose badly to reigning Premier League champions Manchester City in the Community Shield 2024, former Red Devils winger Lee Sharpe says.

After finishing in their lowest position for 34 years last season, United manager Erik ten Hag was backed by new club co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe this summer and has guided his side to three defeats in five pre-season friendlies, including losses to top-flight rivals Liverpool and Arsenal.

“I don’t really read too much into pre-season because it’s a mixed bag of a team and everybody’s trying to get fit,” said Sharpe, who won the Premier League three times among seven major trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson between 1991 and 1996.

“You go into every season full of expectation and high hopes. If they do get overpowered and beaten heavily by City then it does put a lot of pressure on the start of the season, especially after they’ve just backed the manager to go again.

“When you’re at a club like United, you’re never more than two games away from a catastrophe. When we were there, the thought was always that we never lose more than two in a row. We never lose three in a row. That was as much as we could keep it down to. In sticky times, that’s not easy.”

Still in awe.#MUFC || #FACup

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 9, 2024

Ratcliffe ‘sensible’ over Man United

Businessman Ratcliffe completed a £1.25 billion deal earlier this year to own 27.7 per cent of the club through his Ineos Group, taking over the football operations at Old Trafford and vowing to transform the fortunes of the 20-time champions, who have not mounted a credible title challenge since Ferguson’s triumph in 2012-13, his final season.

Ten Hag was widely thought to have been on the brink of the sack before the FA Cup final in May, when United surprisingly beat City 2-1 at Wembley, where the arch-rivals will meet again on Saturday (3pm BST).

“It’s…

Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/football/premier-league/community-shield-2024-manchester-united-city/

Author : Ben Miller

Publish date : 2024-08-09 12:10:41

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