Vito Mannone is developing a habit of frustrating Manchester United and he could do with it deepening on Sunday.
As Louis van Gaal brings his squad to the Stadium of Light seeking his first win as a Premier League manager, Sunderland’s goalkeeper knows that Costel Pantilimon has not joined Gus Poyet’s squad with the intention of warming the bench for long.
Mannone was Sunderland’s player of the season last term as they enjoyed a miraculous escape from relegation and reached the League Cup final, but the 6ft 8in Pantilimon spent too much on the sidelines at Manchester City to remain content with understudy status.
After serving time in the shadows at Arsenal, Mannone understands the Romanian’s position but is determined to keep him out of the limelight. “Every club has to have two or three senior goalkeepers,” he says. “It was impossible to go into the season with me as the only senior goalkeeper. I had a chat with the manager in the summer and I trust him so I was relaxed about it. Then, a week before the first game [a draw at West Brom] he told me I was starting. Nothing’s changed regarding the battle to stay No1. It’s down to me to play as well as last year. You have to reassure the manager you are on top form.”
Particularly against United. “It was really good playing against them last year,” says the 26-year-old Italian who saved two penalties in the League Cup semi-final shootout at Old Trafford. “The semi-final was amazing. Apart from making the penalty saves my team needed me and I was really happy. It was amazing because we knew we had done something massive for the club. I like to remember it.”
Defeat to Manchester City in the Wembley final followed but a springtime clean sheet as Sunderland won 1-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League remains another cherished memory. “It was fantastic to win there again in the game on the run-in,” says Mannone. “To win again at exactly the same place where we’d had a special moment in the semi-final. It was so important to win then, to keep beating big clubs and get away from the bottom. It was the great escape.”
He is not quite sure how United will react to their home defeat against Swansea. “You never know, it can play in our court because sometimes spaces can open up and we can play our football. We know Manchester United have special players but I believe confidence is everything in football – and we are going into this game with confidence.”
Mannone’s own reserves of the stuff were topped up after his move from the Emirates last summer. “A regular run in the first team is always very good,” he acknowledges. “It’s always different if you’re not playing regularly. You can’t expect a player to be at his best when he’s in and out.”
No one seems quite sure whether Robin van Persie will be in or out of Van Gaal’s starting XI. “I don’t mind if he’s playing,” says Mannone. “But if he’s still out, I’ll be more happy. Manchester United have a lot of good players but Robin is a class striker. If he’s in the game, we need to be aware of Robin’s class.”