Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feels his team has to be careful about Jack Grealish when they take on Aston Villa on Thursday in their next English Premier League encounter.
Grealish is one of United’s targets in this summer’s transfer window and the Villa captain scored a sumptuous goal in the 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in December.
“Well I think in the last game obviously they caused us some problems, both Grealish off the left and El Ghazi off the right. He (Grealish) caused us problems, he scored a fantastic goal, so there’s been lots said and talked about him and we need to be aware of him.
“Whoever is close to him, if he’s off the left, or he’s in the middle, on the right, what he does is attract players to him and creates space for others. There’s not just one player in that Villa team, there’s many of them,” Solskjaer said ahead of the match as quoted by Manchester United’s official website, manutd.com.
If United don’t lose at Villa Park, it will extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 17 matches, dating back to January.
“If we win every single one of them, we are in the top four. We cannot rely on help from anyone else, we just have to do it ourselves. That’s to grow as a team and know that going into next season we can put a different challenge to other teams in front of us,” the manager said of the club’s top-four ambitions.
“The last 16 games unbeaten gives us more confidence, but 16 games is nowhere near where a Manchester United team should strove towards. We can still go many games unbeaten if we concentrate on the right things, if we focus on the next one, the next one, the next one and then suddenly you’re stood there with 16. Hopefully that can continue,” he added.
Asked if attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes is making his team-mates better players since joining the club, Solskjaer said: “I think it’s gone both ways. I think Bruno has come into the club and seen how many good players there are at Man United. We’ve helped him show his attributes as well.
“I think it’s just been a good, little relationship blossoming that he can also feel that we’re going to help him improve. Definitely Bruno has come in and lifted everyone else swell and it’s been a very good start so far.”
