Schweinsteiger Suspended Over Elbowing Reid

Schweinsteiger, 31, will miss Premier League games against Bournemouth, Norwich City and Stoke City after being suspended by the FA but will be available to return against Chelsea on December 28.

Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will serve a three-match suspension for elbowing West Ham’s Winston Reid.

Reid was convinced that the World Cup victor deserved a red card when he was questioned about the altercation in his post-game interview, and will undoubtedly agree with the retrospective punishment.

United had refused to speak about the incident ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League defeat at Wolfsburg but West Ham were adamant that Schweinsteiger was guilty of foul play.

“I heard a lot about the pitches here and they are not ideal”, he said.

“I don’t see any other reason because we have a good medical team and good players and the sessions are good, and I told you that since I came here it was an issue – last year, two years ago or five years ago”.

“But we are all human beings”.

Despite his performances, Schweinsteiger will be important for Manchester United as the Red Devils have a lengthy injury list, with 9 first team players injured.

But Schweinsteiger received support from Germany head coach Joachim Low following Van Gaal’s criticism.

“We at the DFB (German Football Association) know what we are getting with Bastian”, Löw was quoted saying to German newspaper Bild. He called for the fans to support him, and said that even experienced players sometimes need that time to adjust their game to a completely different style of play.

West Ham insisted after the match that Schweinsteiger’s actions merited a suspension. “It wasn’t nasty or risky but it was unnecessary and it was a red card because Reid did nothing wrong”.