Manchester United have nine Premier League games and two Champions League fixtures to play between now and 30th December.
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Senior Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic is keen to end 2021 strongly, with the Reds set to play 11 games before the end of the year. During the latest international break, the veteran Serbian player spent time at Carrington, preparing for a hectic schedule. The Reds have nine Premier League games and two Champions League fixtures to play between now and 30th December. “Yeah it’s always important to use the international break to rest, to recover the body and to be ready for the next challenges,” Matic said in an interview with club media.
“As you know, the Premier League is very hard, plus we have Champions League, FA Cup [in January], so it’s a very tough schedule for us in the next couple of months so I rest very well and then I’m fresh and motivated to continue.” The Serbian midfielder is keen to build momentum and wants to take it game by game. “Yeah it’s very important to build momentum, game by game, especially now because Christmas is coming, Boxing Day as you know is always busy for us. Lot of games so we have to be ready for that.”
The first test in the hectic period is a trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford on Saturday in the Premier League. He wants to build on the solid away performance against Tottenham Hotspur when United won 3-0 in north London in their last away match in the league. “I hope so. We have a very difficult match against Watford then after that with Villarreal away and then Chelsea. Very busy and it’s important to start the week with a win,” he explained.
Matic also spoke about the importance of the supporters in helping the team on the pitch ahead of a hectic end to the calendar year. “Very important,” Matic said about the supporters’ influence.
“When we play without supporters it was not the same. Playing at Old Trafford without our fans is not the same. Supporters give us more motivation, more energy so now the situation is different. Supporters are back and now we are very excited that they came and we want to say thank you for the great support.”
Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes had recently stated that his teammates have to do more to protect goalkeeper David De Gea. The Spaniard made several world-class saves during the first half of the Manchester derby to keep the Red Devils in the contest. However, United ended up losing the game 2-0.
“It’s always a bad time to concede a goal but the problem is the way we concede goals. It’s too easy,” admitted Fernandes after the final whistle, in an interview with club media. “As I said, many, many times, if not for David, the result could be much higher and worse for us. We have to protect David better. Because he is protecting us a lot and we have to help him. He cannot make, every game, eight [or] nine saves and still concede goals.”
