Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata says he feels ‘deeply sorry for the fans’ after the club slipped to their third successive defeat.
United suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Norwich City at Old Trafford on Saturday- their first defeat on home soil this season – which heaped further pressure on manager Louis van Gaal.
Earlier this month, the Red Devils were knocked out of the Champions League following a 3-2 defeat to Wolfsburg. Their exit from Europe’s elite competition was then compounded by a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League prior to the visit of the Canaries.
Van Gaal admitted his position as United manager was under scrutiny after watching his side slip to another defeat and drop out of the Premier League’s top four.
“Of course we’re disappointed,” Mata told MUTV. “It’s another very difficult day for us, but the only thing we can do now is stick together and hope that we get the win in the next game because we need it. We need to win as soon as possible.
“It’s very frustrating not to win, especially at home. We should win at Old Trafford if we want to be successful, but we haven’t done it. We feel deeply sorry for the fans, I think they’re incredible, so we have to do better for them.
“Everyone’s frustrated. The fans, the staff and especially us. As I said before, we need to stick together. It’s time for us to show that we’re strong, we have to fight in every game and get back to getting good results as soon as possible. It’s Christmas time, a crucial time, so we have to do it.
“We tried [to come back]. You always have to believe until the end that you can score, firstly to equalize and then win the game. Anthony Martial scored a good goal and after that we created chances, but it was too late in the game I think. We couldn’t do it, and I’m very disappointed.”
United face Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day, before welcoming Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea to Old Trafford two days later.
When asked about the busy festive period, Mata added: “That’s football. You can’t enjoy it a lot even when you’re winning games because you have another one coming up straight away.
“We have to try to be positive. As always, I think everyone is trying their best, but things are not working. We obviously need to win soon, but especially now that we have a lot of games in a short period of time.”