“We are disappointing the fans”: 28yo offers blunt assessment as United squander another chance to climb the table

Manchester United had the opportunity to climb to fifth in the Premier League table with a win against West Ham United on Thursday, with the Hammers currently in the relegation zone. At home, after a massive win away to Crystal Palace, the Red Devils were expected to put on a show. But the loss of Matthijs de Ligt before the game proved to be a big loss. In came Ayden Heaven for his first Premier League start and the young Englishman struggled and was hooked at half-time. Diogo Dalot scored early in the second half, and instead of going for the jugular, Ruben Amorim decided to try and hold on to the slender lead. Noussair Mazraoui frustrated with the result The hosts made a glut of defensive substitutions, and allowed the visitors to slowly gain control, and West Ham ultimately equalised late on. Naturally, the players were frustrated with the result, especially as the 20-time English league champions had the chance to close the gap between them and second-placed Manchester City to three points. When asked if football can be frustrating, Noussair Mazraoui told MUTV, “Yep, it’s more than sometimes now.” The Moroccan admitted that the team lost their energy after taking the lead, and paid the price for slipping up late on. “Up to one-nil, we wanted to win the game. We were looking for that goal and when that goal came, we did go for the second goal, but that didn’t come. And then you see a little drop in energy, and that cost us really bad. “From set-pieces, almost every Premier League team is really strong, and if you lose focus for even one moment, this can happen.” United once again failed to capitalise Against Everton, the Red Devils failed to capitalise when their top-four rivals had dropped points. The same repeated on Thursday after Chelsea’s loss on Wednesday. “It is really frustrating as we have had opportunities to climb the table. We want to be in a better spot as a club as we have not been there for a long time now. We are disappointing the club and the fans. “Opportunities to climb up the table keep coming, but if you cannot take them, then after a point, you will struggle.” United have the chance to respond, when they travel to Molineux to face bottom-dwellers Wolverhampton Wanderers late on Monday. Feature image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25