Aston Villa vs Manchester United: Tim Sherwood praises 'magnificent' fans ahead of Red Devils clash
Villa boss buoyed by opening day win at Bournemouth
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood has heaped praise on the club’s supporters ahead of the Friday night clash with Manchester United.
The Midlands club emerged as victors from a daunting opening weekend trip to newly-promoted Bournemouth but the 46-year-old is well aware of the different challenge posed by Louis van Gaal’s title-chasing side at Villa Park.
“I expect a tough game as you always do against Manchester United,” the former Tottenham boss said. “It’s a transition period for them, as it was last summer to be fair, but we fancy ourselves against them.
“We always fancy ourselves against any team, you have to think that you can impose yourselves on anyone. We all need to win whether your name is Van Gaal or Sherwood.”
New signing Rudy Gestede, who joined from Blackburn Rovers for £8m this summer, scored the only goal as Sherwood’s men silenced a buoyant crowd at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
But a small minority of supporters bemoaned the visitors’ slow start to the match as Villa attempted to suck the life out of the Championship champions before a second-half offensive.
Sherwood added: “I was happy with the first half-an-hour because we knew the game plan meant we needed to dig in. We settled into it and started playing football in the second period.”
Villa have seen increased ticket sales since the enigmatic Hertfordshire-born boss replaced Paul Lambert last season and the club are expecting another sell-out when the Red Devils travel to the Midlands tomorrow night.
“It’s great, I’ve never been disappointed with the fan base at this football club. It’s magnificent and we’ll see that tomorrow. It’ll be packed to the rafters for what is a new era, really.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments