Anderson Ready To Fight For His Place In Manchester United's Midfield

Competition for places does not perturb Brazilian...

By Alan Dawson

Anderson, Manchester United (Getty Images)
Anderson has featured in just 13 Premier League games this season, and despite appearing to have fallen down the pecking order at Manchester United, the midfielder is adamant about re-establishing himself in the mindset of Sir Alex Ferguson.

In recent games Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes have all been held in a higher regard than the burgeoning Brazilian which is perhaps a result of the recent reports that implied the 21-year-old was absent without leave, in his homeland.

The midfielder's agent claimed Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais were interested in securing a deal for Anderson during the January transfer window, but the player now insists he will strive to come out on top in the competition for a position in Ferguson's midfield.

"No footballer is happy when they are out of the team," Anderson said on his club's official website.

"If you’re not bothered being on the bench or in the stands you will never be successful, certainly not at a club like United.

"You have to be unhappy if you’re not in the team but even when I am not included I always support my team-mates.

"I’d love to start every match, but when this doesn’t happen I support my colleagues because we’re a team and we stick together."

On the competition for places at Old Trafford, he added: "I see it as a great challenge. It’s good to have competition around you because that’s the way to get the best out of players.

"If everyone is competing for places, the performance levels will always be higher.

"I’m very happy to be at United," Anderson confirmed. "I hope that I can be here for a long time and do even better for the team in the future."
Thank you for your comment!
Please enter your name
Please enter your location
Please share your comment!
Comments
40 Comments
 
Advertisement
play pause open close
Live!
Champions League LIVE!
Join Goal.com for all the Champions League action as we bring you the latest team news, press conferences and analysis. Contact us on Twitter @goal_intl with any questions...

Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
2/15/12
And with that, we're going to call it a night, folks.

We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!

Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.

From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!

2/15/12
All this focus on the Arsenal and Milan game should not take away from another cracker earlier tonight between Zenit and Benfica. The Russians came from a goal down to lead 2-1 in the closing minutes before Oscar Cardozo levelled things for Benfica, but it wasn't over there as Roman Shirokov won the game for Zenit in the 88th minute.

Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
2/15/12
Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny bemoaned his side's luck tonight but refused to give up. Here's some of his quotes:

"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.

"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.

"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."

Full story HERE


2/15/12
Another Milan player who was willing to share his thoughts after the match was Mark van Bommel, who has urged caution ahead of the second leg in London.

“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.

(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)

“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.

“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.


Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.

“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.

“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”


2/15/12
Next up is the Milan maestro Clarence Seedorf. He only managed 12 minutes on the pitch, but watching from the sidelines he was delighted at how his team mates had dominated the game.

"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."

Inside Goal.Com
  1. Champions League Player Ratings: AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal Champions League Player Ratings: AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal

    Goals from Kevin-Prince Boateng, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic handed the Italian side a victory that all but seals their progression to the next round of the competition

  2. Champions League Player Ratings: Zenit 3-2 Benfica Champions League Player Ratings: Zenit 3-2 Benfica

    Goal.com casts a studious eye over the performers at the Petrovsky Stadium as a late goal settles a thriller in the Russian's favour and sets up enthralling second leg

  3. Serie A Player Ratings: Parma 0-0 Juventus Serie A Player Ratings: Parma 0-0 Juventus

    The Bianconeri missed a great chance to go back to the top of Serie A, but they caused the home side plenty of problems thanks mainly to Andrea Pirlo

  4. Messi breaks Champions League knockout record Messi breaks Champions League knockout record

    The Argentine, still only 24, is level with current record holders Raul and Andriy Shevchenko, but can surpass the two European greats with a solitary strike at Leverkusen tonight

  5. Should 'Vanishing Spray' be introduced globally? Should 'Vanishing Spray' be introduced globally?

    The spray, which has been designed to stop defensive walls from encroaching closer than 10 yards to the ball at free-kicks, is set to be discussed at next month's IFAB meeting

 
Advertisement
Advertisement