Centre half Brede Hangeland has said that Manchester United this weekend is an opportunity to put right our recent run of results.
With back to back defeats followed by the Manchester City defeat in midweek, the defender told Crystal Palace FC in his own pre game press conference, that the players should approach it as a fresh opportunity to get back to winning ways and not be worried about who we face.
‘Overall I think we’ve had a decent start to the season, but the last couple of weeks certainly haven’t been good. We need to try to rectify that as soon as possible and we’re working hard to do that. I don’t think there’s anything particular that’s caused it. We’ve played some good teams and things haven’t really gone well for us, so we need to keep working hard – like we always do – and we’re just desperate for another chance to put things right on Saturday.’
As for the City game, Hangeland knows that really the scoreline didn’t match the performance, but it was one that certainly looks bad.
‘It’s a bad scoreline. But having said that, we had the chances and it could have been a different game. It doesn’t look good, but all we can do now is put that behind us and look forward to the next one.’
Despite that though he maintained that confidence was good in the camp, and everybody still believes in their qualities and the fact that we will soon turn the recent defeats around and return to winning ways.
‘It’s still very much a happy camp. We work hard and no one likes to lose – that’s certainly the case with this bunch here. We’re really keen to put things right as soon as possible and to get some points. The league gets more and more competitive every year and on any matchday you can win or you can lose, it’s more down to what happens on the day I think. It makes for good entertainment. Unfortunately for us we’ve lost a little bit of momentum, so we need to try to get a win as soon as possible.’
Upon being asked the question of whether manager Alan Pardew’s style of play lends itself more to win/lose results rather than draws, Hangeland admitted it was a balancing act in football but it was a style that suited us and that the players enjoyed.
‘Football is a balancing act, isn’t it? The more people you commit forward, the fewer people you’re going to have at the back. We can all count to eleven and add the numbers up. Overall I think it’s worked very well for us, but the story does seem to be either losses or wins. Maybe more consistency would be good for us. I think it’s about that balance. When we attack we need to commit players forward, but we need to make sure there’s a solid base as well. Alan Pardew’s a very good manager and he knows all about this, so I’ll leave the tactics to him and we’ll try to do as we’re told!’
As for Manchester United more specifically he went on to add.
‘They’re a top club, as always, and are very hard to face. They’ve got loads of good places and they keep the ball really well, so it’s another tough test for us. But it’ll be tough for them as well to come to Selhurst Park. They keep the ball more than almost any other team in the league and that can be frustrating if you’re defending against them and not seeing much of the ball, but if you break on them you can be dangerous. It will be interesting to see how that goes. They’ve always got world class players in every position. That’s something that you have to expect in the Premier League these days, especially when you’re against the top teams. I think it’s going to be a massive occasion. The fans will be right up for it, we’re obviously fired up and we’ll be trying to get the win that we desperately need. In this league, on a good day, you can beat any team and we need to keep that in mind, have a good go and see what happens.’
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