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Ji-Sung Park: Manchester United fans expect too much
However, the 30-year-old thinks the champions can retain their title and refuses to rule Chelsea out of the title race as he prepares to head to Stamford Bridge
4 Feb 2012 18:31:00
By John Stammers
Getty Images
Manchester United midfielder Ji-Sung Park has suggested that the club's successful past can lead to their supporters expecting too much from the team.
So far this season, Sir Alex Ferguson's side have failed to reach the last 16 of the Champions, have been knocked out of both the FA Cup and League Cup and are behind Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.
The 30-year-old revealed that he thinks the rich history surrounding the Red Devils has made the fans become too expectant, but insists the team are still able to challenge Roberto Mancini's side.
He told reporters: "It might be that before we scored a lot of goals and that has a big impact on the fans.
"Their expectations become too high. Maybe also because we are out of the Champions League and the FA Cup, people think Manchester United is no good.
"But we can show our strength on the pitch. We are still producing good performances, we are level with Manchester City and can still win the title."
The champions have also been hit by injuries to key players with the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, Tom Cleverley, Anderson and Ashley Young all missing large chunks of the season. However, the South Korean stressed that this highlights the strength of their squad.
"It is part of our history," Park said.
"Last season we had a lot of injuries as well but we kept doing well and we won the title.
"It shows how strong our squad is, that we are able to deal with this kind of problem.
"Everyone has a good mentality. When we get these injured players back, they can help us fight to win the league."
Park scored in United's fourth-round FA Cup loss against Liverpool and he is hoping to continue scoring against the big clubs with the Red Devils facing a tough trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, while he has not ruled Chelsea out of the running for the title yet.
He added: "It always feels good to score goals against big teams
"But I am just trying to help the team to win. It doesn't matter how many I get."
"When I look at the table, it is different.
"But when I play against Chelsea, I don't consider them as being out of the title race. They are still our rivals.
"I know the points gap between Manchester City and Chelsea is quite a lot but they won't give up until the end of the season. They will always try to fight.
"I don't feel there is any difference with Chelsea compared to previous seasons."
So far this season, Sir Alex Ferguson's side have failed to reach the last 16 of the Champions, have been knocked out of both the FA Cup and League Cup and are behind Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.
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The 30-year-old revealed that he thinks the rich history surrounding the Red Devils has made the fans become too expectant, but insists the team are still able to challenge Roberto Mancini's side.
He told reporters: "It might be that before we scored a lot of goals and that has a big impact on the fans.
"Their expectations become too high. Maybe also because we are out of the Champions League and the FA Cup, people think Manchester United is no good.
"But we can show our strength on the pitch. We are still producing good performances, we are level with Manchester City and can still win the title."
The champions have also been hit by injuries to key players with the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, Tom Cleverley, Anderson and Ashley Young all missing large chunks of the season. However, the South Korean stressed that this highlights the strength of their squad.
"It is part of our history," Park said.
"Last season we had a lot of injuries as well but we kept doing well and we won the title.
"It shows how strong our squad is, that we are able to deal with this kind of problem.
"Everyone has a good mentality. When we get these injured players back, they can help us fight to win the league."
Park scored in United's fourth-round FA Cup loss against Liverpool and he is hoping to continue scoring against the big clubs with the Red Devils facing a tough trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, while he has not ruled Chelsea out of the running for the title yet.
He added: "It always feels good to score goals against big teams
"But I am just trying to help the team to win. It doesn't matter how many I get."
"When I look at the table, it is different.
"But when I play against Chelsea, I don't consider them as being out of the title race. They are still our rivals.
"I know the points gap between Manchester City and Chelsea is quite a lot but they won't give up until the end of the season. They will always try to fight.
"I don't feel there is any difference with Chelsea compared to previous seasons."
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
20:06 BST
So, that game gave a few players a chance to impress for England. Who did/didn't? Will Welbeck start against France? Or Carroll? Or Defoe?!
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
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