Marouane Fellaini has revealed the reason behind Manchester United’s team huddle before Tuesday night’s scoreless draw against Valencia in the UEFA Champions League.
The Belgian started for the Reds in a fourth consecutive game without a win. Going into the fixture at Old Trafford, United have drawn to Wolves and lost to Derby County and West Ham.
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Chances were rare against Valencia and so one notable moment occurred was the team huddle by United prior to kick-off.
United very rarely form a huddle before games but Fellaini has explained what happened.
“Everybody [wanted to do it]. I think everybody is behind the manager,” Fellaini told the club’s official website, indicating it was a gesture of support for under-fire boss Jose Mourinho.
“We have to do our best and do our job. We showed it today but we have to do better [against Newcastle] on Saturday.
“Everyone is going in the same direction to try to improve and to do better. I think we wanted to show that we are together.”
A pre-match tradition, such as a huddle, is usually carried out by clubs such as Celtic — not United — so whoever’s idea it was on Tuesday night may need to give it a rethink on Saturday.
It won’t change our atrocious tactics, results or demeanour on the pitch. And the players are together already on that front.
Very rare sight: A United huddle #mufc pic.twitter.com/ccSHof3wc3
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) October 2, 2018