Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has warned his Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini to control himself. as the team accepted his three game suspension for elbowing Leicester City defender Robert Huth. The manager, however, has continued to defend his player as having a 'human' reaction during the incident. 

Fellaini must control himself

Following a charge of intentionally aiming an elbow at an opponent during last weekend's 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the Premier League. the Football Association (FA) banned Fellaini for three matches. Shortly after the FA announcing the ban, Fellaini accepted the charge of violent conduct meaning he is likely to miss the rest of the season and is next available for selection in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.

With this not being the first time that Fellaini has missed games due to violent conduct - he missed the beginning of this season due to an elbow thrown at the end of the previous campaign - United manager van Gaal has admitted that the Belgian needs to make a better accounting of himself.

While saying that "Fellaini makes a reaction like a human being" he also admitted that "he has to control himself, that is true."

Marouane Fellaini and Robert Huth were both banned by the FA for three matches for these actions. | Source: SkySports
Marouane Fellaini and Robert Huth were both banned by the FA for three matches for these actions. | Source: SkySports

Van Gaal defends Fellaini

Even with anothed levied charge of violent conduct, van Gaal spent more time defending his player as he has ever since the incident happened. Due to the FA also suspending Huth for the incident, which saw the Leicester City defender yank the hair of Fellaini, the manager sees this as the FA admitting the match official made a mistake. "When the FA gives Huth a suspension of three matches then they admit it was a penalty," the manager said, adding: "For us it is very disappointing that the referee was not seeing that fact."

While the manager does regret the midfielder's actions, he did point out "when you grab somebody by his hair, always this situation shall exist".

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About the author
Steve Ewin
Steve is a multi-lingual sports historian. He is currently completing his degree.