"It's good for us that United have not started very well. Maybe they are missing that spark, especially without Wayne Rooney [injured] and Cristiano Ronaldo [suspended], who were two great players from last year.
"They give them what they're all about. And there are other players who are just bedding in at the moment. Speaking with some of the United players, they should have beaten Portsmouth away [their second game of the season]. But they didn't, they picked up a point.
"Portsmouth maybe deserved something from us at the weekend, but they left with nothing.
"Over the course of a season, however, playing 38 games, it's not physically possible to play well every week, to play pretty football all the time and do everything right.
"For me, there are going to be times when you're going to have to battle it out - away to Portsmouth - a horrible place to go - or Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton.
"You've got to go there and win the battle first. That might take 70 minutes because whoever you're playing against is up for it, pushing and pressing."