Manchester United hero Paul Parker has slammed Louis van Gaal and blamed him for turning people off watching the team, reports the Sun.
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The Dutch manager has come under fire in the second half of the season for the playing style that he is implementing at the club, with the use of Marouane Fellaini as a target man summing up the way the Red Devils are playing. Despite this the team are in fourth in the Premier League and will qualify for next season’s Champions League if things stay as they are.
Parker said: “If I wasn’t doing television, I wouldn’t watch it. It’s too painful. It’s negative, not good to watch, it’s disheartening and not enjoyable. United are big out in Asia and people come up to me and just shake their heads. I left the club a long time ago but there are a lot of players who have left over the last ten years who must be looking at it and thinking the same.
“Some of them are working in the Old Trafford lounges and they can only keep on not saying the truth for so long because the people watching the game know it. It doesn’t look like anything is changing. The performances do not befit Manchester United. Just winning is rubbish. That’s what sides avoiding relegation or mid-table say. It’s not about the winning, it’s about the way they play as well.”
The ex-full-back continued: “Now you look at it and go, ‘Oh my God, do you trust LVG to spend another £150m?’ It’s a what-happens-next scenario. People talk about winning the league next season and that’s a farce. It doesn’t work like that. You need the players to bond together and get performances. The aim now is for fourth spot — and that is not Manchester United. I hope I don’t see the player celebrating finishing fourth. That would be very embarrassing.”
A big test of the Mancunian side will come on Sunday as they face top four rivals Tottenham at Old Trafford. If they lose the match they will drop out of the Champions League places and the pressure will only build on van Gaal after crashing out of the FA Cup last Monday. The 63-year-old has already led the side to their first consecutive seasons without a trophy since the 1980s.