Morgan Schneiderlin has said that he felt “like a robot” playing for Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United.
The France midfielder arrived Old Trafford from Southampton for £24million in 2015, but was sold to Everton 18 months later by Jose Mourinho.
Schneiderlin has now spoken about his experience of playing at United and admits he, “didn’t take any pleasure” from his time there.
“That first year with Louis van Gaal sticks in my throat a bit,” he told L’Equipe.
“I didn’t enjoy myself at all on the pitch. He left me very little freedom in my game, even though I have quite a lot of Premier League experience.
“With him, I had the impression of playing like a robot. I was told: ‘You must never go and look for the ball in this area of the pitch, you must not do this, that…’ Those instructions perhaps disturbed me a bit.
“When a player asks himself during a game, ‘But what does the coach want me to do in this situation?’ he starts to perform less well. Especially at Manchester United in a context where all the matches are scrutinised by the media and where you can quickly be criticised from everywhere.”
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