Pallister: I had struggles, just like Lindelof...
UNITED legend Gary Pallister has sympathy for Victor Lindelof after the Swede’s troubled start to life at Old Trafford.
And Pallister who, himself, had difficulty settling in at the Reds after becoming the club’s most expensive defender, sees similarities in how the pair started their respective careers in England.
“Lindelof’s had a difficult time at first. I know how difficult it is to be a big Manchester United signing. It’s about how strong you are, how you come through it,” the fourtime Premier League winner told M.E.N. Sport. “Mourinho’s played him in a couple of tough games lately then left him out of a few. He will learn from it. If he doesn’t, his career won’t take off. It depends how strong his character is.
“He only needs to look at David de Gea.
“He got stick early on in his career and came through it and has proven himself as one of the best ever. A lot of fans had doubts about his physicality, too.”
Pallister is well placed to comment on Lindelof’s struggles having been told he was not fit to wear the shirt following a humiliating derby defeat shortly after joining United for £2.3m in 1989.
The 52-year-old remembers his turning point coming in front of the television cameras against Nottingham Forest two months later, when he intercepted a cross inside his own area and the ball bobbled just inches wide of his own post – much to the England international’s relief.
Minutes later, Pallister went on to score what proved to be the winner – his ‘pivotal moment’ as he now calls it – and never looked back, going on to win 15 trophies in a glorious nine-year spell at the club. So how did he get through it? “You get help. The gaffer was fantastic with me and told me not to read the papers. He told me Sir Matt Busby didn’t when he was getting stick,” he said.
“Players in the dressing room help too, characters like Robbo, Brucey, Mark Hughes, Brian McClair. They had been through it and seen it all. They were a great help, trying to protect you and give you a lift when you are feeling down.
“I’m sure Lindelof will be getting that in the dressing room right now.
“Chris Smalling and Phil Jones had difficult patches so they know all about that and how to deal with it.”
Gary Pallister was speaking ahead of a Football Index event at the Radisson Blu Manchester today. Football INDEX – the world’s first football stock market which enables ‘football traders’ to buy and sell shares in the world’s top footballers. For more information, visit footballindex.co.uk.