West Bromwich Albion v Manchester United – Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds – EPL – 14 August 2011

Man Utd manager Alex Ferguson

“De Gea will play on Sunday.”

“I think the long-term view is De Gea, it’s the reason we bought him and spent £18million, and we’re giving him a chance, I think he was unfortunate with the second goal, he had no chance with the first goal. Anyone who’s criticising any goalkeeper, when these free-kicks come in, and all the defenders are converging on top of him, the goalkeeper has no chance because the delivery is so good.

“It’s the same with Joe Hart interestingly enough and there was no criticism of him for the goal. Exactly the same type of goal that City conceded. He’s your national goalkeeper so the goalkeeper has absolutely no chance when the ball gets whipped in like that. Absolutely no chance because it only needs a fraction of a touch and the goalkeeper’s dead. He comes for it and he looks silly, he’s got to hope that the defenders deal with it and that’s what we hoped and our defenders didn’t deal with it.”

“On the second goal last week, he was stepping forward and then he took a step back and he got a bit unbalanced.

“It wasn’t a goalkeeper’s mistake, more of a technical mistake in terms of his feet. We didn’t expect that and he wouldn’t be doing that again, it’s just one of these things. The ball did move a bit, maybe about two feet. He’ll be fine.”

“He’s learning a lot of things.”

“He’s doing very well with his English, he’s taking it on board very well. His language teacher is delighted with him. Eric Steele, the goalkeeping coach, is pleased with him. He’s getting his communication across bit-by-bit.”

“We’ve got a doubt with Patrice Evra.”

“He got an injury last Sunday, he missed the France game. We’ll give him until tomorrow but he is doubtful.

“Darren Fletcher’s training very well and he’ll play in the Reserves on Monday, so will Valencia. Chicharito is still maybe 10 days away from taking part in any football training. It’s not a concern, it’s just a precaution given the fact he had concussion a couple of years back. They’re the only injuries we’ve got really. We’ve got a strong squad at the moment, a big squad and I’ll be taking 22 players down to West Brom.”

“I think picking my team is made easier by the second-half performance last week in some ways.”

“But I still have to respect the experience of the ones who came off at half-time.

“When you’re 2-0 down in these big games, you don’t expect what we saw. But Welbeck has played two or three times for us at Wembley in the League Cup final and FA Cup semi-final, so, for him, we know his temperament for the big occasion.

“What we wanted to find out was how Jones equipped himself, Smalling and Cleverley too, and they did fantastic. We should know about Cleverley because he’s been with us a long time, he’s been with us since he was 12 years of age. You get to know boys in depth during that time, you get to know their temperament and their character. The only reason I didn’t start Cleverley was I just felt the powerful players they have in midfield like Yaya Toure made me a bit cautious about playing him from the start.”

West Brom manager Roy Hodgson

“The players don’t need reminding they are up against the champions of England.”

“They don’t need reminding how good the Manchester United players are, and they don’t need reminding how many winners Sir Alex has got in that team.

“It’s an exciting time when you play them, we’re playing them at home and we’ll have the full backing from a very enthusiastic and passionate Baggies crowd.

“So, the stage has been set and we’re waiting for one or two heroes to walk on and prove themselves to be heroes.

“But we are also fully aware talking about it won’t help, it’s what we do tomorrow afternoon that counts.”

“He (Alex Ferguson) is just a fantastic football man who has a passion and an enthusiasm for the game which has never waned from the very first moment that he was at St Mirren and on to Aberdeen and through all these wonderful years at Manchester United.”

“But he is also a very wise man.

“He is able to put football into some sort of perspective and that shines through all the other work that he does at the club – it is not just about building a team and coaching a team, it is about managing an empire.

“He has put the empire together, he’s managed it very well and we are very lucky in the Premier League to have people like Sir Alex Ferguson – and I would put Arsene Wenger in a similar category.

“What is it now? 15 years and Arsenal never out of the top four?

“These are people who are incredible ambassadors for the game of football and they are role models, if you like, for all the people coming underneath trying to start careers.

“I can’t put myself in that category because Arsene is a year younger than me and Alex isn’t that much older.

“But there are a lot of people coming into the game who need role models like Ferguson and Wenger and what the two have is drive, energy, and an enthusiasm.

“And of course they’ve got knowledge – and that knowledge is the most important thing they have.

“Of course it is the thing that makes them what they are, because the other qualities I mentioned are quite, if not common, findable – but knowledge and wisdom are hard qualities to find.

“These two have them in spades and of course a lot of it will be down to their experiences, which I’m sure give them this font of knowledge and wisdom.

“So, their teams are always going to be hard to beat and they are always going to put good teams together because they know football, they know players, they are leaders and they are wise people – so they have got it all going for them.”

West Bromwich Albion v Manchester United Prediction

Manchester United wins 3-0