Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Schmeichel urges Moyes to get rid of ‘don’t care’ players in January
ROBIN van Persie will play no part in Manchester United’s busy holiday programme after being ruled out for a month with a thigh injury, manager David Moyes said yesterday.
“Robin picked up a thigh strain in taking a corner kick which led to the goal (against Shakhtar Donetsk),” Moyes said ahead of tomorrow’s game at Aston Villa.
The Dutchman, who has scored seven goals in 11 Premier League matches this season, returned from a groin injury in last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat by Newcastle.
His absence will be a major blow to Moyes as United try and repair the damage of their poor first third of the season which has left them in ninth place, 13 points behind leaders Arsenal.
“It’s unfortunate because I think if you look at our record with Wayne Rooney and Robin in the team, it is actually very good and we have not had them for quite a period recently,” Moyes said.
Meanwhile, Peter Schmeichel believes some players at United ‘don’t care’ about the club and he has called on manager Moyes to launch a January clear out.
United have slumped to ninth in the Premier League table, last week losing consecutive home games against Everton and Newcastle, and the legendary former United keeper has urged Moyes to focus on moving players out of Old Trafford next month.
The Great Dane said: “I think more than anything, he should let players go. There are some players in there that are not doing the job and haven’t been doing the job for a bit now.
“To be a Manchester United player, it requires a certain level of performance, mentality and you have got to be proud to be a Manchester United player. I just see with five or six players that they don’t care and we [United] have never ever had players that don’t care. You should care.
“It’s so obvious. Everyone is talking about it. Let’s say the club have 560 million supporters. If you are named in the first eleven, you carry the responsibility for 560 million people’s wellbeing at that time. That’s a lot of people. There are 75,000 people there at Old Trafford every time you play.
‘This is what you have to understand when you are a Manchester United player – this is the kind of responsibility you have to take on the pitch. Certain players look like they don’t care and they should not be at Manchester United.”
“I think David Moyes will already have identified that, and the statement that he will make by letting players go will be more powerful than the statement he will make by bringing players in.”
Most observers have reflected that United paid the price for a poor off- season transfer window, in which the Old Trafford club failed to add to their squad ahead of David Moyes’ first summer in charge, save for Marouane Fellaini, who has endured a difficult start to his time at the club.
“He, David Moyes, needs to sign players,” Schmeichel stated, “He needs to look around that dressing room and see players that he has signed, not players signed by the previous manager. But what is the point of signing players if they are not better than what you already have and are not going to improve the team?”
“I know it doesn’t look great we are ninth in the table but in January, I don’t think the right players are usually available.
“That’s the kind of gamble you have to take. Unless you want to pay £50 million for someone just above average that has a name, and I know some have been mentioned, but I don’t agree with that. I think we are better than that.” – Reuters, Daily Mail