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Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca says his young side are not intimidated at the prospect of visiting Old Trafford on Sunday for Manchester United’s first Premier League game since the sacking of Erik ten Hag.
The Italian is expecting a “reaction” from United, who will be lead by interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy, with Sporting’s Ruben Amorim taking over on November 11.
Having acquitted themselves well during last month’s narrow 2-1 defeat against leaders Liverpool at Anfield, Chelsea have shown signs of being equipped to break back into the top four after a two-year absence and Maresca is confident his players can land Chelsea’s first win at Old Trafford since 2013.
Asked whether he felt learning to win at Europe’s biggest stadiums was a key part of his team’s development, he said: “For sure, but I think also we played a few weeks ago at Anfield and the performance was there.
“I don’t think the players feel that kind of intimidation. Hopefully it can be the same on Sunday.
“For sure, Old Trafford is one of the stadiums in the world that are nice in terms of intimidation, like Anfield is the same, or you go in Italy and the San Siro years ago, or in Spain you have Barcelona and Real Madrid.
“I played twice there when I was very young. I played against (Paul) Scholes, Roy Keane and I think (Juan Sebastian) Veron was there. I was with Juventus who were also a good team.”
Van Nistelrooy lead United to a 5-2 win against Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, two days after Ten Hag was dismissed in the wake of Sunday’s defeat to West Ham.
Sporting boss Amorim was confirmed as the Dutchman’s replacement on Friday but will not take charge until after the upcoming international break.
That leaves former United striker Van Nistelrooy at the helm against the Blues, as well as for next week’s Europa League meeting with PAOK Salonica, and a league game at home to Leicester, but Maresca is wary of a new-manager bounce from a team currently 14th in the league.
“When you change manager, always the first two or three games are the ones you can see a reaction from the players,” he said. “But in any case it will be a tough game.
“It’s quite difficult to change things in such a short period. I see that they changed small things but overall against Leicester they were more or less in the way they were previously.”
We played a few weeks ago at Anfield and the performance was there. I don’t think the players feel that kind of intimidation
Enzo Maresca
Van Nistelrooy was a Premier League winner with United in 2003 and was known as a clinical striker.
He left for Real Madrid three years later after falling out with then manager Sir Alex Ferguson and retired from playing in 2012 following a season playing alongside Maresca for Malaga.
“I think after a while the team has to reflect the ideas of the coach,” said Maresca. “In terms of Ruud, I think the more time he can work with the team, the more the team can do the things that he wants.
“I can describe him as a friend, a very good professional, a humble guy. Fantastic to sit and to chat about everything.”
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