Former Manchester United legend Mark Hughes believes that the Red Devils have a responsibility of entertaining their fans by playing exciting attacking football, something which the United players have failed to do under the tutelage of Louis van Gaal.
The Old Trafford club have been on a six-match winless streak and travel to the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day with van Gaal knowing that anything less than three points at Stoke will put his position as manager of the club under monumental threat.
And Hughes, whose side have often caused problems to United has piled more pressure on van Gaal and his troops players by saying that he believes the duty to entertain is 'woven into the shirt' of his old club and that some players just can’t handle the amount of pressure that comes with it.
United look boring, and Hughes says they must change
‘’There's a responsibility to entertain. You're on a huge stage playing for a world renowned club. That's always been the Manchester United way. It's always been woven into fabric of the club and the teams that have put the shirt on‘’, Huges said at his routine pre-match press conference.
‘’It's a huge demand to play for Manchester United and a lot of players can't deal with it. Over the years there have been some outstanding players which have gone to Manchester United and haven't been able to deal with the expectation that comes with being a United player. That can have an effect.
‘’I think there is a little bit of noise surrounding the club and debate about how they are playing – which way the club is going. I think with all United teams there is a responsibility and an onus on the players to go out and perform like Man United players, and understand what the demands of being part of a big club like Man United entails.’’
United have been heavily criticized for the style of football they have exhibited on the pitch this season, with some fans and pundits going on to say that van Gaal’s possession-based style is boring and headache-inducing.
Stoke manager says United make chances, but cannot finish them
Although, Hughes thinks that the Red Devils create quite a lot of chances but have failed to capitalize on them. He also went on to add that their style might click at some point in time but was quick to reiterate that it will not be against his side during the weekend.
‘’From the games I have seen, they are dominating games for the most part. Their game seems a lot more possession-based than it has been in the past but, notwithstanding last week's performance (against Norwich), they had a lot of possession and created a lot of chances.
‘’They have got good players, they have got a good squad. They have got good individual talent. You would expect at some point they would start to click again. Hopefully, we won't allow that at the weekend.’’
The game against Stoke might be van Gaal’s last shot at winning back the fans trust and a resolute display against the Potters might go a long way in assisting the Dutchman’s attempts of keeping hold of his job at the Theatre Of Dreams.