Bastian Schweinsteiger: United need killer instinct

The German midfielder linked up with the Red Devils from Bayern Munich in the summer, putting pen to paper on a three-year contract.

It was a month in which United played uninspiring football on the whole but went through undefeated and Schweinsteiger played a key role in that.

Louis van Gaal is never a man to bite his tongue.

“The reason why we have bought Schweinsteiger is that he is a player who can lead or guide a team”. We have players who have the abilities but we need it in every game.

‘I saw it on the replays at half-time.

United recorded their sixth 0-0 stalemate of the season after squandering a number of chances against West Ham.

Attention now turns to Tuesday’s massive Champions League match against Wolfsburg, which United must win to guarantee progress from Group B. Schweinsteiger feels his team-mates do not need lifting for the fixture and the former Bayern Munich star is looking forward to the occasion.

“We don’t want to be eliminated”, Van Gaal added. When you are a striker, a big striker, Ronaldo, Messi and Thomas Muller are the same. “They will come at us more because they are at home and maybe that will be better for us”. ‘He knows what he’s done – he’s elbowed me in the face.

“They have quality, but they always want to score goals”. It is also about how we start the game from the back.

“Today was a massive frustration for us and it’s so disappointing when you dominate a game”, the United defender told MUTV.

United and West Ham played out a goalless draw at Old Trafford on Saturday, though the match was overshadowed by an incident involving Reid and Schweinsteiger.

‘I’m sure if he did see it, it would have been a straight red.

I said to the referee that they showed me that it is a red card but I can accept that he did not see it and no matter how many referees you have, sometimes they do not see it.

United, already without Rooney, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw and Phil Jones, look like taking a depleted squad to Wolfsburg for Tuesday’s crunch Champions League match.