Manchester United players are intimidated by the pressure of playing in front of their own fans at Old Trafford, according to the club’s former defender Wes Brown.
Ruben Amorim’s side have served up some of their most disastrous performances on home soil this season, with their six defeat at their Theatre of Dreams contributing to their position in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Amorim’s now infamous post-match rant suggesting his team are the “worst team in the history of Manchester United” following their home defeat against Brighton earlier this month created big headlines and now Brown has told Football365 with NewBettingSites.uk that the pressure of wearing the famous red shirt is proving to be too much for a fearful United side.
Some of their better performances this season have come on their travels, including last Sunday’s 1-0 away win at Fulham, and Brown told this website that some of Amorim’s players seem to be intimidated by the prospect of home matches.
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“Old Trafford seems to be a problem,” conceded the former Man United defender who won five Premier League titles and two Champions League titles during his time at the club.
“We start games really badly and the pressure is definitely there. Maybe away from home, the players don’t feel it as much.
“They also seem to go into games against the better teams away from home as the slight underdog and that means they don’t have that pressure on them.
“That seems to help their performances, but the manager just hasn’t been able to get that kind of reaction in the home games that we saw from the team in the Manchester United away game and with 10-men at Arsenal. They really worked hard, put in a bit extra effort in those games, but he needs it every time.”
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Brown went on to point an accusing finger at United players for showing a lack of responsibility, as he suggested the weight of expectation when you play for one of the biggest clubs in the game requires you to offer more passion than Amorim’s players are showing.
“To be a Manchester United player, you have to perform to a high level and a lot of them haven’t done that this season,” he added.
“It’s been more than a few of them that have fallen below the standards and that is down to a few things.
“You can look at confidence, you can look at different factors, but the players have to put what they do on the training ground into matches and a lot of them haven’t been doing that consistently.
“Everyone can play badly and have a patch of bad form, but these players have to realise that they still have a little bit of time to try and save this season.
“As the season edges towards a conclusion, that window to save the season gets smaller and smaller.
“At some point, this team have to take more responsibility. You can’t just blame the manager all the time. At some point, players have to step up onto the plate.
“I knew the Brighton game was going to be difficult on Sunday, but I wanted to see them stepping up that work rate level and I felt it was a bit too slow when we had the ball at times. It wasn’t good enough.
“Luckily enough they are still in the cups, so there is still something to aim at. We have said for the last few years that we are struggling in the Premier League, but we are still in the cups and you have to take them as far as you can go.
“You still want to win a trophy. Last season was fantastic as they won the FA Cup and even though we want to see them finding consistency in the Premier League.”
United will welcome Crystal Palace to Old Trafford this weekend, with Amorim’s side eager to end their misery as they look to climb the Premier League table.
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