Manchester United whistleblower grumbles 'I'm only half the player I should be under LVG'

The player, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Daily Telegraph's Jason Burt that he feels his is only "half the player he can be", because of manager Louis van Gaal's tactics and approach.

"I've got to be careful what I say here," Burt told the BBC in a radio interview.

"I've spoken to one player at United who told me he's half the player he can be here at the moment, because of the way they're playing.

"He doesn't feel it's fair on him, he doesn't feel it's fair on the fans. He can't express himself properly and he finds it very difficult to play here."

When asked, Burt added that United's young, up-and-coming stars such as Mempis Depay and Anthony Martial, do "absolutely not" feel they can raise their concerns with the manager.

Jason Burt is a well-respected journalist, and certainly not the type of football writer you'd suspect of coming up with this sort of thing without a solid source.

So assuming that the discontent in the Old Trafford changing room is real, where does that leave us? It's hardly surprising that the players are not too happy - when you have the likes of Paul Scholes and Roy Keane publicly tearing the side to shreds because of their way of playing, it's clear that the guys on the pitch probably feel reined in too.

That said, what else would you expect? Throughout Van Gaal's career there has been the same pattern repeated over and over again: a relatively short settling in period followed by a spell of very high achievement; then, inexorably, follows the discontent, bitching and unhappiness before he moves on. The only question is whether LVG leads United to a Premier League title before time is up on his spell at United.