Robin van Persie said last night that his teammates were playing in his area during Manchester United's Champions' League defeat to Olympiacos in Greece last night.
The Greeks will take a 2-0 advantage to Old Trafford, courtesy of strikes by Alejandro Dominguez and Joel Campbell, a Costa Rican on loan from Arsenal.
United had just one shot on target all night, before van Persie missed a clear chance to score a crucial away goal late in the game.
Speaking to Dutch TV last night, van Persie said that his job was made more difficult by his team-mates, who were often in positions too similar to his own. He said:
It was quite difficult because my team-mates are often in the area where I want to play,
That's why I have to change my tactics. Unfortunately, they are often in my area.
His reasoning didn't prove popular with a blast from United's past, who took to Twitter to criticise United's performance:
Didn't see any players from United against Olympiakos ahead of Van Persie to get in the way?
— Keith Gillespie (@KeithGillespie7) February 26, 2014
Despite claiming that his style was being cramped by team-mate congestion, van Persie remains confident of turning things around in the second leg.
It is still possible, because with all due respect to Olympiacos, we should be able to win 3-0 at home.
It is not that they were fantastic, we just mostly failed.
