With reports in the press suggesting that David Moyes could lose his job at the end of the season and be replaced with a manager with a proven European pedigree, Juan Mata has urged everyone at United to stick together and not look to point the finger of blame.

“We have to be together,” said Mata. “Now is not the time to blame anyone. Now is not the time to look for guilty people. Now is the time to stick together – with the manager, with his staff, the players and with the people on the board of the club. We need to carry on, to stay with the manager. We need to believe in him, because as players we know we have to improve. It’s not just the manager, it’s not just the tactics. It’s all of us. It’s not the time to blame one person. We are all together in this. Some of my friends told me if this situation was happening in another club in Spain it would be different, but the club and the players are behind the manager. We need to be strong as a team, as a dressing-room and keep working hard. We need to improve, we know it, but we need to do it together.”