Honourable Schweinsteiger’s time at Manchester United a disappointment

Manchester United's Bastian Schweinsteiger applauds supporters after his team's remier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, England. World Cup winner Bastian SShow more

Over a football-free weekend in July 2015, Manchester United delighted fans by agreeing terms with two midfielders beginning with ‘Sch’.

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin appeared perfect fits. The former was the captain of Bayern Munich and Germany and arrived for a relatively low fee of £6.5 million (Dh29.7m) fee and was still only 30, the latter had been a United target since his man of the match performance for Southampton at Old Trafford in 2013.

Both would prove to be disappointments at United.

Within weeks, his new United teammates had come to a conclusion about Schneiderlin. Nice lad, neat player, but not better than those who had been sold.

Darren Fletcher had left for free, Schneiderlin cost £24m. He would start only 36 matches before joining Everton 18 months later. United did well to get £20m, with the potential for future add ons, for the Frenchman.

Not that transfer-addicted United fans wanted to hear any negatives about their new signings in 2015, nor word that Bayern Munich were not prone to letting their best players leave.

The decision on Schweinsteiger had been made by then-coach Pep Guardiola, incurring criticism from Bayern fans who accused him of meddling with their identity, but on the basis of concerns about the German’s level of recovery from several injuries.

__________________________________

Read more

■ Schweinsteiger signs with MLS club Chicago Fire

■ Comment: Man United have Premier League's strongest squad

■ Barcelona: Neymar as integral as Messi or Suarez

__________________________________

Besides, a slightly-past-it Schweinsteiger was still likely to be better than anything United had after an underwhelming first season under Louis van Gaal.

Scheweinsteiger was greeted with the reception his reputation deserved. United players looked up to him, with Wayne Rooney and coach Ryan Giggs keen to listen to his excellent English as the club flew to California for a pre-season tour.

Fans quickly sung a song about him being a football maestro and German flags were spotted at Old Trafford to honour the club’s first German outfield player.

Yet he started only 22 games, 21 of them in his first season before he had a difference of opinion with Van Gaal as United’s form slumped.

Highlights were few, but he drove his team to a late victory at Watford in November 2015 which sent United top, a position they have not occupied since.

Out of the side, he did not impress teammates by spending so much of his free time travelling to see his partner, and now wife, the former tennis player Ana Ivanovic, but he broke no part of his United contract and kept fans onside with a series of optimistic social media messages wishing his team luck rather than briefing negatively about his treatment to the press.

That was enough to keep his stock high with many supporters, plus they always had hope that he would perform as well for United as he had for Germany in Euro 2016.

Before he left for that competition, he sent a long text message to his new boss Jose Mourinho where he stated how much he was looking forward to working with him, yet he did not figure in Mourinho’s plans from the start.

In the one match he started this season, an FA Cup game against Championship strugglers Wigan Athletic in January, he scored.

He also came on as substitute in three cup matches, the first during a fine display against West Ham United when he received a rapturous reception.

Schweinsteiger kept smiling, kept picking up his salary and was under no pressure to leave until his contract was up at the end of 2017.

Any measures to show he had no future at the club did little to push him towards the exit door. He arrived alone and trained alone when he was frozen out, he trained with the first team when he was called back.

When it was announced that he would leave for Chicago Fire, it prompted an outpouring of best wishes from those at the club where he had made no enemies as he smiled his way through 20 months, a gent to the last and an expensive mistake from a club struggling for direction when they signed him.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport