Manchester United stars warn their rivals: You wouldn't cope with the pressure we live with every day

United squad feels the pressure they live with is different than at any other team.
AFP/Getty Images

Manchester United’s players suffered in silence after their turbulent start to the season and intense scrutiny over Jose Mourinho’s job.

United’s stars were left to cope with the strain of fierce criticism after three defeats in their first seven Premier League games plunged Mourinho’s reign into crisis.

There remains uncertainty over the 55-year-old’s future - but Wednesday’s 2-1 win against Juventus in the Champions League was the latest indication that he is turning the club’s fortunes around.

Privately, sources claim Mourinho has cut a relaxed figure around the training ground, with some players believing his erratic displays in front of the media were designed deflect attention from his squad.

In Pictures | Juventus vs Manchester United | 07/11/2018

1/36

But it has become clear the negative publicity surrounding United has had an effect on his squad, who Mourinho, himself, described as depressed by reports he was set to be sacked ahead of last month’s comeback win against Newcastle.

Ander Herrera claims United’s Premier League rivals have no idea what it's like to be under the constant glare of life at Old Trafford.

“When you play for Manchester United, the biggest club in the UK and one of the biggest in the world, you have to get used to that,” he said. “I have been here five years and with (Louis) van Gaal - every day the papers [are] talking.

“When Mourinho came, the same and we won titles. One day if another manager comes, they will speak, so it's something we are used to coping with.

REUTERS

“I think Manchester United players need to have the personality to cope with that. It's true when our Premier League opponents lose games, the papers don't talk that much but when we lose they do.”

Luke Shaw added after Juve win: “There's always a lot of negative comments about us, but hopefully they might say something positive for once because I think we deserve it.

“The team deserve, the manager deserves it - for getting this amazing result.”

Even after victory against a Juve side Mourinho describes as ‘super favourites’ to the Champions League, Herrera claims United are underdogs ahead of Sunday’s derby with Manchester City.

“It's a new game, a new situation,” he said. “Hopefully, we can win. It's true that they are the favourites because they are in unbelievable form, but this is Manchester United and you never know what can happen.

“We were playing against maybe the team (Juve), with Manchester City, that is in the best form in Europe. We are happy because it is a win that gives us a lot.”

Despite the pressure, Jesse Lingard claims United are now thriving under the challenge of pushing themselves back into contention for major honours.

He added: “We are enjoying our football, enjoying winning games and enjoying the pressure of playing in big games, big Champions League matches.

“You cannot write us off easily, we will fight until the end and we will get late goals as we have done over the last few games.

“This game will give us a lot of confidence going into the next match.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in