QPR’s Clint Hill looks to bridge gulf in class at Manchester United

Beyond their managers’ struggles with 3-5-2 formations, QPR and Manchester United have little in common but Clint Hill hopes the lack of pressure on Rangers can be used to their advantage

Accused of being unable to adapt to a 3-5-2 formation at this start of this season and of splashing money unwisely in a bid to steer clear of humiliation by the end of the campaign, Queens Park Rangers have at least some things in common with Manchester United, aside from being in the same league as them. But the fear for Harry Redknapp’s team before the clubs duel at Old Trafford on Sunday is that it is their differences that will decide the result.

United are likely to give home debuts to two globetrotting superstars, Ángel di María and Radamel Falcao, while Rangers will field a team made up mainly of relative journeymen. The Loftus Road club are no misers and, indeed, are threatened by the Football League with an enormous fine or demotion to the fifth tier for breaching financial fair play rules while in the Championship last term, but forking out £150m in transfer fees in one summer, as United have just done, and paying a single player around £260,000 per week, makes Rangers look comparatively small-time.

The unequal spending power is reflected in a gulf in pedigree and no one is more aware of that than Clint Hill, the defender who will probably share some of the burden of trying to stifle Di María and Falcao. Hill turns 36 next month and has spent all but two of his previous campaigns in the lower leagues; he expects United’s new signings to be among the best players he has ever faced. His previous encounter with a world class attacker did not go so well.

“I played against Luis Suárez a few years ago and he absolutely killed me,” admits Hill, who was given the runaround by the Uruguayan before Rangers were relegated in the 2012-13 season, with Suárez scoring twice in a 3-0 Liverpool victory. While obviously eager to win big matches, Hill says that merely being on the same pitch as such players fills him with pride given his modest footballing background.

“It was a massive achievement to play against him –and to be pushing 36 and in the Premier League playing up against some of these players is a massive achievement for myself, and something I’ll look back on and be proud of.”

One of Hill’s team-mates in defence is, of course, far more familiar with the high life. Rio Ferdinand will walk into the away dressing room at Old Trafford on Sunday after 12 trophy-laden years at the club were ended in the summer. United felt Ferdinand’s best years were long gone and the player, now 35, will be intent to show he can still foil even the finest strikers. But first he will need to help his new team-mates feel at home in one of the world’s most prestigious football arenas on a day when the Old Trafford crowd will be craving signs that United’s revival is under way.

“Having someone like him can only help us,” says Hill. “Going to Old Trafford is quite a daunting task at the best of times but he’ll know what the atmosphere is like and what we might need to do to help us progress in the game. To have someone on the pitch next to you with that experience can only help us. He’s been a high-profile player throughout his career, won lots of trophies and cost fortunes in transfer fees but when he steps in the dressing room, he’s just one of the lads. He helps us out.”

Beyond the personnel, it will be intriguing to see in which formations the sides line up. Redknapp and Louis van Gaal have sought to deploy three-man defences this season but neither team has looked comfortable with it. That fact, and the increased attacking options he now has, has created a belief that the Dutchman will now move to the 4-3-3 system that he has preferred for most of his career. Redknapp made a similar switch in QPR’s last game and was rewarded with a clean sheet against Sunderland but may feel the need to bulk up his defence again on Sunday in view of the artillery that United are preparing to unload on them.

“I don’t think formations matter too much,” says Hill. “I think it’s about how you go about yourself and how the team goes about it mentally – there’s no pressure on us. Nobody expects us to get a result, it will all be on them. So we’ve just got to go there and play to the best of our abilities, make it hard for them and hopefully nick something.” That would be the high point of Hill’s career. And perhaps a new low for Van Gaal.