Jose Mourinho reckons Sergio Aguero’s suspension is bad for Manchester United

If you say so, Jose.

Jose Mourinho claims Manchester United face a disadvantage against Manchester City because of Sergio Aguero's suspension. The Argentine striker has been suspended for three games after being adjudged to have elbowed Winston Reid during City's 3-1 win over West Ham United before the international break. One would imagine the absence of one of the world's best strikers would improve United's chances in the derby game, but Mourinho doesn't appear to see it that way. "Yeah, it changes (my approach) because it is more difficult," the United manager replied when asked if the player's absence changes how he will approach the game tactically.

"When Aguero is available, we know that Aguero plays. We know their formation, we know their dynamics and nobody has doubts - when a player like him is ready, he plays. "In this moment, he doesn't play. They have an amazing reach (in terms of) squad options, and in our job you can have many decisions and different decisions. "One thing is if he decides to play with (Kelechi) Iheanacho, and another thing is if he decides to play with (Raheem) Sterling. Another one is if he decides to play, for example, with (David) Silva as a fake number nine in between the lines."

Mourinho also praised a striker who is certain to feature at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon - Zlatan Ibrahimovic. "He was Zlatan in every club so I don't think it is about managers or clubs, it is about him, he's a phenomenal player," the United manager said in his press conference ahead of the game.

"He didn't want the Chinese money or the American US Dollars, he wanted the most difficult place to play his football. Our contribution to him in motivational terms is zero, that's just his nature."

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