Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has supported manager Jose Mourinho after the club’s frustrating pre-season.
Mourinho’s behaviour has been the talking point of United’s pre-season schedule in the United States, with the Portuguese boss seeming unpredictable in his press conferences.
His relationship with the United squad has also come into question while his own ambitions to sign more players to improve the first-team do not seem to match with the club’s owners.
However, midfielder Herrera feels he understands the pressure that Mourinho is under and also understands that his job, first and foremost, is to do as his manager says for the good of the squad.
“First of all, I have to respect what my manager said because he knows what he’s talking about,” said Herrera via the Telegraph.
“Secondly, I am a football player. My work is on the pitch, not in the office. The other things, they are too far from my hands.
“So, I think we have fantastic players, but, of course, always managers want to improve their teams, but it’s not my business. It’s something between the manager and the club.
“I haven’t watched the manager’s media stuff, I never do. I cannot talk about how he is with you guys, because I never see that.
READ MORE: Players Mourinho has dug out this pre-season and what it could mean for Manchester United
“I can say that with us he is very positive, he wants us to fight for the titles, he wants us to perform to our best, he wants us to work as hard as possible.
“But probably he’s not frustrated about the club or the market, he’s probably frustrated because he’s not able to work with the players that he’s going to have for the season.”
Clearly, Herrera appreciates the frustrations of the United boss. With players arriving late to pre-season after a successful World Cup campaign in Russia, limited signings coming through the Old Trafford doors and growing frustrations from various United players who have doubts regarding their place in the United starting eleven.
He added: “It is true this [pre-season] has been hard to deal with. I agree with him [Mourinho] because it must be difficult for him to work with a group of players that, maybe, he is only going to have 50 per cent of in the future.
“You cannot really work tactically, because you would think the guys that are working could be leaving or going on loan or they are going to be in the second team, so it’s difficult for him.
“It’s also difficult for us, but we knew in advance that it was going to be like this. This is my fifth pre-season and it’s the most strange pre-season here so far. The most important thing is to get minutes and be ready for the game against Leicester. That’s all that matters.
“I can understand the manager’s [mood] and if I put myself in his position, I would be in the same situation.
“I don’t think we have worse players than any other team in the league. So, we have to push ourselves and obligate ourselves to fight for titles. If we have the amount of points we had last season, in a normal Premier League season, you are fighting for the title.
“But because the leader [City] were so good, it seems like we didn’t do anything good.”
Manchester United’s first Premier League fixture of the season is against Leicester City next Friday at Old Trafford.
The post Ander Herrera backs Mourinho in pre-season frustration appeared first on Squawka News.
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