Wilfried Zaha believes his stint at Manchester United was a disaster because Louis van Gaal, the general manager, then, didn’t want to see him succeed.
“I went back to United after that and it was Louis van Gaal by then,” Zaha opened up about his 2012-2013 stint with Manchester United on The Judy podcast.
“When he came, it was after the World Cup where he played Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben up front [for the Netherlands]. He gave me two options: you’re either a wing-back or a striker. Those are positions I’d never played before, it was like I’m being set up to fail.”
He went on:
“This was after coming back from the David Moyes era and I was just shattered with how everything didn’t work out for me. Then I go back, I get ‘either you’re a striker or a wing-back’ – and I couldn’t do either.
“I can vary my game now. With years of playing you get experience. You’ve seen me play up front for Palace these days. Back then I wasn’t good with my back to goal because I didn’t have the awareness. I’d stand on the ball and the defender would poke it away. I wasn’t good with that.”
Watch the full interview below:
