Tom Cleverley opens up on his United struggles

Cleverley, now 33, does feel Sir Alex’s departure was a blow for him, as well as the club, and it had a big impact on his confidence and, subsequently, his performances throughout a difficult campaign. 

“I’m not shy to admit that the season with David Moyes scarred me a lot,” he explained. “I’m not saying anything bad about David Moyes. I thought he was a great football manager. But that season, 2013/14, mentally scarred me. 

“I lost confidence and I think when it sort of scars you for a few years, you start to doubt yourself and things like that. I think on a football pitch, as I say, you need to be instinctive in everything you do. So if you’re second-thinking every decision you make, you become half the player you should be and I was doing that for a season.

“It was always my dream to play for Man United and, at the time, as a young lad from Bradford, I felt like a failure doing it and it’s a bit of a crazy way to think, playing for United and England. But, at the time I was playing poorly, and it was really the start of social media being toxic and I found it hard to deal with, to be honest.