The Galatasaray manager pinpoints a Manchester United weakness and explains the Marcus Rashford strategy.
In the Champions League match on Tuesday, Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk has said he will make an effort to expose Manchester United’s replacement at left-back.
The former Turkish great, who in 2000 scored his nation’s first-ever goal at a European Championship, has also identified Marcus Rashford as a threat and detailed his strategy for dealing with him.
In their opening Champions League group match, FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray drew 2-2 thanks to a spectacular late comeback by Galatasaray, who have enjoyed an undefeated start to the season. They do not bring former Erik ten Hag Ajax player Hakim Ziyech with them to Old Trafford, but they do bring Wilfried Zaha, another summer signing.
“I don’t talk about Manchester United, but about what we can do as a team, how we can dominate them with our own game,” added Zaha, who appeared just four times for United between 2013 and 2015. We intend to approach Manchester United in this manner.
Prior to a match when both teams will be striving for their first victory of the competition, manager Buruk radiated the same air of excitement. Both for us and Manchester United, this game is crucial, according to Buruk.
“We defeated Ankaragucu 2-1 in the match that was played two days earlier. We don’t have a lot of time for training. We returned after our training in Istanbul.
Sergio Reguilon, a loanee from Tottenham, will likely not play for United because he missed last week’s doubleheader against Crystal Palace due to injury and did not participate in open training on Monday.
Given that the only other natural full-back who is now healthy is Diogo Dalot, Sofyan Amrabat filled in as the left-back in both games and may do so again against Galatasaray. Buruk implied that he would like to take advantage of this region of the pitch.
We developed our game plan there, he continued. We base our opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of the opposition. Our adversary is lacking an original left-back. What they’ll employ there is a mystery to us. We created the game. Based on our squad and our players, we came up with a plan. On the field, we’ll try to put it into practice.
Rashford was considered dangerous by Buruk as well. The attacker, who has 30 goals last season, will be trying to improve on a sluggish start after scoring only once in his first eight games.
Rashford is present for all game actions and transitions for Manchester United, according to Buruk. Throughout the game, they make numerous one-on-one attempts to locate Rashford. For Sacha [Boey, right-back], this game will be crucial as well. Sacha is expected to contribute both offensively and defensively.
We’ll be looking for Sacha to play offensively, as he did in his prior games. Both Galatasaray and Sacha will be put to the test on offense and defense in this match.
“We examined numerous matches. On the field tomorrow, our more precise strategy will be revealed after incorporating this with our own game.
“Wilfried is the player who is most familiar with Manchester. His on-field performance, the personalized game he will play for us and his friends, his accountability, and his league expertise will all be assets.
