Chelsea boss Pochettino fears two ‘really quick’ Manchester United stars

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Mauricio Pochettino is wary of the speed and counter-attacking threat of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho ahead of Wednedsay’s Premier League clash between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford.

When asked to highlight Manchester United’s biggest threat during his pre-match press conference, covered by Football London, the Chelsea boss was quick to highlight two players he deems most likely to have his wobbling, teetering backline reaching for the Aspirin.

Marcus Rashford, for all the hand-wringing around his current form, remains one of the division’s most fearsome performers on his day. Garnacho, meanwhile, has two goals in his last three games, including an overhead kick against Everton which surely guarantees him a seat at the buffet for the FIFA Puskas Awards.

Manchester United host Chelsea at Old Trafford

“The pace of (United’s) offensive players, we can not allow them to transition,” Pochettino explains, determined to inhibit their hosts rapid-fire threat on the counter-attack.

“We need to be clever in the way we are going to try (to defend). Rashford, Garnacho… (Man United have) different players that can transition really quick and try to play in the opposite half.”

Conceding 22 goals in their 14 games so far – including ten in their last three – Chelsea will certainly be there to be got at by a Manchester United outfit licking their wounds following that insipid defeat at Newcastle on Saturday.

Pochettino vs Ten Hag; The re-match

A result which piled even more pressure, at least from the media, on Erik ten Hag. Pochettino, having faced speculation over his future on a weekly basis at Paris Saint-Germain, can sympathise with a man he went head-to-head with during that ding-dong Champions League semi-final between Ajax and Tottenham Hotspur in 2019.

This will be the first time the two coaches have faced off in the dugout since then.

“Fantastic coach,” Pochettino says of Ten Hag. “I remember when I was at Tottenham we had semi-finals of the Champions League against Ajax. I think it is good to see him after four years because, after the semi-final, we have not had the pleasure.”