Adidas CEO criticises Manchester United's style of play

German sportswear giant signed a 10-year, £750m deal last summer

Tom Sheen
Monday 04 January 2016 13:09 GMT
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Manchester United after conceding the third goal to Wolfsburg
Manchester United after conceding the third goal to Wolfsburg

Manchester United's style of play has been criticised in all corners.

Fans, journalists and former players have not been at all impressed with the football served up by Louis van Gaal, whose team ended an eight-game spell without a win with a narrow victory over Swansea City at the weekend.

There has been more criticism this week by a rather more worrying party - their main sponsor.

United dominated the headlines in the summer when they ditched American firm Nike for German rival Adidas, signing a 10-year, £750million sponsorship deal with the sportswear giant.

But Herbert Hainer, current Chief Executive Officer revealed in an interview over the weekend that he would like to see better football at Old Trafford - even if the company is enjoying record sales.

"Business with Man United is going very well, we sell more shirts than expected," he told newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

"We are satisfied... even if the current playing style of Man United is not exactly what we want to see."

Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer

Van Gaal, who was said to be close to the sack if he lost against Chelsea on 28 December, said the win over Swansea was a good "signal" to play in a more "risky" style for the rest of the season.

"What we showed is that we can perform the game plan in a risky style under this kind of pressure and this is a very positive signal," he said. "Against Chelsea we played in a very risky way and we did the same here.

Mark Ogden - What to expect from Man Utd this January transfer window

"I am proud they could do it under this pressure and now the situation is different for us and I have a good hope this can be a starting point for better things."

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