Guardiola's sympathy for Man Utd ahead of derby as Onana opens up on struggles

02 March 2024 , 03:00

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Manchester United are gearing up for this weekend's derby where they'll be desperate to avoid a repeat of their Old Trafford mauling.

Manchester City secured a routine 3-0 win at the home of their rivals earlier this season with Erling Haaland bagging a brace. United need to leave the Etihad with something if they want to remain in the Champions League hunt. Last term they shipped six as City ran riot in this fixture.

United lost last weekend as Fulham nabbed a stoppage time winner, but the Red Devils responded with a late goal themselves at Nottingham Forest in midweek, which landed themselves a spot in the last eight of the FA Cup.

Here's the latest from Old Trafford.

Pep "understands" United struggles

Pep Guardiola admitted he feels sympathy for United following their miserable decade of failure since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

Marcel Sabitzer completes Man Utd transfer after last-minute deadline day dash

The Scot walked away after delivering the league title in 2013 and since then they've struggled to mount any meaningful charge. They've finished as low as seventh with Champions League qualification no longer guaranteed. Silverware has also been very much at a premium.

“You have to win in the big clubs,” said Guardiola. “It's not easy for United to come from an incredibly successful period with Sir Alex and cope with that. Sometimes I can understand it. Before, in England, with the managers they had more patience. Today, everyone has a lot of pressure.”

Pep Guardiola understands the pressure facing Man Utd managers

Onana opens up on struggles

Andre Onana has admitted that the early months in Manchester were among the toughest spells of his career.

Onana joined United from Inter Milan for £47million last summer, replacing David De Gea, but made a series of high-profile and costly mistakes at the start of the season. He copped flack on his first outing against Wolves, when he was lucky to avoid giving away a stoppage time penalty.

“It was a difficult time for me,” said Onana. “Now I'm feeling a bit better. I already know the goalkeeper that I am, but it took me six months or seven months not to play good, just to feel good. When I moved from Amsterdam to Milan, that adaptation was quite easy. But it took me seven, eight months here. It was just time to learn and go game by game.

“Everything was new, it was difficult for me to feel at home, for so many reasons, in a new country. It was just moments. Sometimes you're faced with a difficult situation, just not feeling good, not playing good, because I didn’t think I started to play good."

Andre Onana endured a difficult start to life in Manchester (PA)

Youngsters join training

Wonderkid Gabriele Biancheri has been invited to first-team training ahead of this weekend’s Manchester derby.

The 17-year-old, who joined from Welsh side Cardiff in January 2023, was pictured in their latest session. United travel to the Etihad on Sunday and have seen their numbers take a big hit, with Rasmus Hojlund, who has led the line for almost all of the season, among those ruled out for the weekend’s game.

According to the Manchester Evening News, a number of young players were given the chance to impress in training as they made up the numbers. Several players who started in the FA Cup clash with Nottingham Forest being given a rest. Biancheri was one of those handed an opportunity to impress, as was fellow youngster Toby Collyer.

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