Manchester United’s Morgan Schneiderlin (C) is congratulated by teammates Memphis Depay (R) and Phil Jones after he scored against Club America in their International Champions Cup match on July 17,2015 in Seattle, Washington. PHOTO/AFP
LONDON, United Kingdom, Apr 11 – Former Manchester United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has revealed that his time playing under Louis van Gaal was not enjoyable.
The Everton man was signed by United for £24 million in 2015, but was sold to the Toffees by current Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho 18 months later.
Schneiderlin has spoken of his first season at United and how frustrating it was to play under then-manager Van Gaal.
“That first year with Louis van Gaal sticks in my throat a bit,” he told L’Equipe. “I didn’t enjoy myself at all on the pitch. He left me very little freedom in my game, even though I have quite a lot of Premier League experience.
“With him, I had the impression of playing like a robot. I was told: ‘You must never go and look for the ball in this area of the pitch, you must not do this, that…’ Those instructions perhaps disturbed me a bit.
“When a player asks himself during a game, ‘But what does the coach want me to do in this situation?’ he starts to perform less well.
“Especially at Manchester United in a context where all the matches are scrutinised by the media and where you can quickly be criticised from everywhere.”
