Chris Smalling terms Man United’s 0-1 loss to Feyenoord as unacceptable; urges teammates to make turnaround against Watford in EPL on Sunday
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling (right) and Feyenoord’s Nicolai Joergensen tussle for the ball during the Europa League tie at Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images
Rotterdam: Chris Smalling says Manchester United's players need to stand up and be counted to avoid an
“unacceptable” third successive defeat.
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The 2-1 home defeat to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City was compounded as Feyenoord eked out a late 1-0 win in Thursday’s Europa League opener.
'Not up to standards'
Stand-in captain Smalling admitted “we didn’t play up to our standards” in Holland and that United can ill-afford another loss when they return to Premier League action at Watford on Sunday. “I think if anything, that’s a good thing,” the centre-back said of the quick turnaround.
“We don’t have time to dwell and we have a few days to recover. We make sure that we stand up and be counted on Sunday because we’ve got a big result to get. I think the confidence does take a little knock, but I think we can’t forget some of the chances we created. I think on Sunday character...needs to shine through because it’s unacceptable to lose three games in a row.”
'Unfortunate offside goal'
The fact that Feyenoord Nicolai Jorgensen was not called offside in the build-up to Tonny Vilhena’s later winner — something that irked Smalling, as did the overall display. “I’ve not seen it myself but it’s unfortunate if that is the case,” he said. “But I think as much as they didn’t create too many chances, I think on our part we didn’t create enough chances either.”
Manchester United’s difficult evening was almost made worse as Chris Smalling nearly missed the flight home after struggling to produce a sample at doping control.
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