Manchester United players with poor attitudes should be ‘looking over their shoulders’ this summer, warns former goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Manchester United are reeling from one of the worst performance of the 2024 so far, and certainly the worst result.
The defeat to Fulham came at the worst possible time, ahead of a week with a FA Cup tie followed by a trip to City.
New investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants United to take the fight to City in the seasons ahead, but that may be beyond the team this coming Sunday.
Ben Foster warns overhaul is coming
A report last week via ESPN claimed 11 senior players could be sold this summer, and really, very few players should be assured of their futures.
Ineos will be assessing the squad and former star Ben Foster has warned that only players with the right characters will be kept on.
Foster told The United Stand: “Dan Ashworth, Berrada, Dave Brailsford and the new owner, they will know the players to get in, they know the characters within a team to make it successful, and they will be doing all their work now, between now and they end of the season they will be talking to everybody they possibly can.
“They will be looking at everything, body language, what time they come in the morning, what time they leave, the extra work they do.
“They’ll talk to the staff members ‘he’s a great lad he works hard’, or ‘he’s a flash in the pan, his attitude stinks when it doesn’t quite go for him and he throws his toys out of the pram’.
“They’re the sort of players who should be looking over their shoulder, the new ownership the new model won’t stand for that.”
Foster says highly paid players are not United’s best characters
One player who has been out of form and is not always seen to react in the best way when the team lose is captain Bruno Fernandes, along with last season’s top scorer Marcus Rashford. Their body language has frequently been scrutinised.
While not name-checking them, Foster added that he regards the attitudes of certain big name stars as a far bigger problem than the managerial or tactical deficiencies.
He said: “The big problem is the individuals, the big name players, the highest paid players.
“They are individuals. It is simple as that. They are not the characters the leaders that you want within your team.”
Foster is talking long-term, and later added that right now, the best players often stay on the pitch due to their ability to contribute goals to the team, irrespective of wider concerns.
Until the end of the season, not a lot will change. When Ineos have their first attempt at re-shaping the squad in the summer, the dynamic of the squad could be re-balanced, and certain players could be shipped out.
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