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What's the story?
Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini said that all the players are backing their manager Jose Mourinho, despite their horrendous start to the season and off-the-field issues. He also mentioned that the team showed improvement in their stalemate against Valencia, following an upsetting defeat at the hands of West Ham last weekend.
In case you didn't know...
Manchester United have endured their worst start in the league in 29 years and Mourinho, for the first time in his managerial career, has gone four home games without a win. A lot of negative energy has been stirring around Old Trafford over the past few weeks.
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The heart of the matter
However, against many fans' and football observers' idea of the situation at Manchester, Fellaini stated that the entire squad are backing their gaffer and are in the same forward direction towards progress.
When asked about the on-pitch huddle against Valencia prior to the first whistle, he remarked:
"I think we wanted to show that we are together. Everybody (was behind the idea). I think everybody is behind the manager."
He continued:
"Today I think we showed improvement and we have to keep going. Everyone is going in the same direction to try to improve and to do better. I think it was a bad day against West Ham. We were all bad. We have to do our best and do our job."
The Belgian was highly optimistic of the team's spirit and improvement but believes the next league game is a must-win fixture. He added:
"We showed it today, but we have to do better on Saturday, yeah (it was a frustrating night), but it was much better than West Ham. We put energy, effort, we run forward, we try to score the goal. OK, we didn't but we have to keep going. The spirit is there. You saw it today, but we have to win on Saturday."
What's next?
Fellaini has certainly raised a few eyebrows with this positive statement but it will be interesting to see if the worn out Manchester United players respond to their coach. The Red Devils host a struggling Newcastle side on Saturday.
