By: Omar Jatta
Former Manchester United striker and Stoke City’s manager, Mark Hughes, is a bit sceptical about the mentality of the current Manchester United players and Hughes wondered if they have the right disposition to lift the club out of their current crisis.
United have hit a bumpy path, of late, having lost their last three games in all competitions and are without a win in six games. Infact the Red’s last victory came on November 21, when a late own goal saw them beat Watford 2-1 in the Premier League.
“I don’t know what it’s like there now. I’ve not been in that tunnel with them, but at our time there was always an expectation that we were going to win. We didn’t hope to win. We expected to win, no matter who we went up against,” said Hughes.
Adding: “I don’t know if that’s their mentality at the moment. I suspect most of them have that. But if you’re new to the club and you’re trying to find your feet, and there’s a period of transition for you as a player, and there’s a new group at a big club, then maybe some of them haven’t quite got it.”
The Wales man also claimed some of United’s players may be struggling with the expectations placed on them.
“There have been many players who signed for Manchester United, and just couldn’t deal with the expectation. It’s a big demand. You want to go there, be successful and make an impact. Sometimes, if you don’t do it initially, then it becomes more difficult the longer it goes on. It’s not easy.”
However, despite questioning the mental strength of the playing squad, Hughes has backed Van Gaal to lift United from their state of ‘flux’.
“Louis van Gaal is a very experienced manager,” Hughes said.
“He’s been in those situations before. He’s self-assured and self-confident so I don’t think it fazes him too much. You look at the clubs he’s been at – Barcelona, Bayern Munich, top clubs across Europe and he’s ended up at Manchester United as a consequence of the success he’s had. He knows what he needs to do but he’s in that period of transition that needs navigating to get through to the other side. A bit of flux maybe,”added the former united striker
The current woes of the former champions, has put Louis van Gaal’s position as United manager under intense scrutiny , having seen his team being eliminated from the Champions League and got beaten 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford by Norwich City , which saw them slip out of the Premier League’s top four, and ever since speculations have been constant, with the club being heavily linked with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. The former Dutch manager is the odds on favourite to be the next managerial causality in the Premier League.
However the Dutchman would be pleased to have his team captain’s backing.Wayne Rooney says Manchester United’s players are fully behind the beleaguered manager and will fight hard to turn their season around.
“You have a lot of people talking about things they believe are happening but in reality a lot of people who are writing that stuff don’t actually know what’s happening, said Rooney
Adding: “We are working hard, we are fighting with the manager to try and get the results and turn this season around.”
Rooney is also under emmense pressure having scored just two league goals this season, and he has admitted confidence has taken a hit at the club since beating Watford over a month ago.
“The last few results haven’t been great for us and it’s frustrating, and as a player it’s hard to deal with so we have to be strong together and try and get the better results we need,” Rooney added.
“Of course we haven’t won games in the last few weeks and it’s normal the confidence will be a bit lower. We need to try and lift it because we have tough games coming up. We need to be at our best to win them. As a group of players we know we can do better. We regularly have meetings with the players. Myself, and the other senior players in the squad, and with the manager – we are working together and trying to come to the best solution to help us win football matches,” added the United striker
The England record goalscorer also acknowledged it can be difficult to handle the criticism that gets thrown his way, and revealed it has been especially hard for his family to take.
“It’s not nice, obviously, getting criticised every week, every game,” he said. “It’s tough for the players to deal with. We are proud people, we are proud to play for Man United and when it’s not going right then it is hard to take. We all have families and sometimes there’s a lot of stuff that gets written that’s not nice for our families, for your family to see. It’s okay for me to deal with, but for people in my family who aren’t used to it, it’s tough for them That’s part of football. It’s part of being a footballer these days. I know my performances can be better, I know that. I’m working hard to improve that and try and do my best for the team.”
