Manchester United vs Real Sociedad preview - Arrasate not fooled by Reds run

Posted Wednesday, October 23, 2013 by PA

Real Sociedad coach Jagoba Arrasate expects his side to come up against the "real" Manchester United in Wednesday night's Champions League Group A clash at Old Trafford.

United head into the contest against the Spanish outfit off the back of Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Southampton, which left the Barclays Premier League champions with a total of just 11 points from their opening eight top-flight fixtures this term.

It has been a difficult period for United boss David Moyes following his appointment as successor to Sir Alex Ferguson over the summer, but Arrasate is not reading a great deal into that with regard to what might occur on Wednesday.

"I don't put too much faith in the fact that Manchester United are in the middle of a bad run," Arrasate said.

"I think they have the sort of players who can react at any time and that are ready to put in a good performance at any time.

"Of course, it may be the influence of having a new manager. It takes time for changes to come about and to settle into new methods.

"Certainly I would prefer it if United continued their, as you put it, poor start to the season - that would be great tomorrow.

"But I think what we will see is a good version of Manchester United, the real Manchester United, and that is what we will be prepared for - a difficult game."

Arrasate came into his job over the summer as well and under him Sociedad, who after a fourth-placed finish in the Primera Division last season are competing in their first Champions League campaign since 2003-04, have struggled somewhat.

They have 10 points from nine domestic league matches so far this term and have lost both their Group A fixtures to date, being beaten by Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayer Leverkusen, who United drew with and defeated respectively.

Arrasate has no doubt his team need to get something at Old Trafford and believes they can do it, seeing the atmosphere at the ground as a potential bonus.

"We are coming to a legendary, almost mythical venue, but I think the atmosphere will lift us rather than have an adverse affect," he said.

"The main thing is to try to get three points to help us try to get through to the next round.

"We have no points and need to get something tomorrow night. Every player needs to give 100 per cent and be on their very top form individually to give us a chance, and then maybe we can make a fist of it."

Asked if United's midfield might be an area of weakness for La Real to target, Arraste said: "Maybe they have not been as creative as in the past, but that doesn't mean to say they can't create difficulties and chances.

"They can play on the counter or with a slightly longer ball - they don't have to go through the midfield all the time and they have people with enough quality up front to hurt us. But maybe it is an area where we can capitalise to a certain extent."

United boss Moyes hopes Wayne Rooney can maintain his current form after some disappointing team results and performances this season, which the manager admits have been below par.

"We want to improve results, that's obvious," said Moyes.

"We want to improve on our performance too, we gave the ball away too much in our last game and we have to do better when we are in possession.

"We have had periods of good play but maybe not continuously, which is something we have been working on in training."

Moyes confirmed that Belgium-born midfielder Adnan Januzaj has been added to the Champions League squad as a home-grown player and could make his debut in the competition.

The 18-year-old signed a new five-year contract last week and Moyes said: "He is now available [for the Champions League] by the way his date of birth works.

"He's an exciting young player making good progress all the time and he someone who is going to play a big part in the future of Manchester United, he's an exceptional talent.'"

Four key players were absent from United's training session ahead of the Real Sociedad match - Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley and central defenders Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, though Moyes said Welbeck and Cleverley had a chance of being fit for the game.

Jonny Evans is likely to play in central defence and the Irish international admitted the team has to eliminate some sloppiness from their play.

Evans said: "We are disappionted, we watched part of the [Southampton] game back and it was clear our performance was not up to scratch, especially in possession, giving the ball away and being quite sloppy.

"Being Manchester United we want to control games a bit better than we did against Southampton."