Mata: The Fans Deserve Better From Us

Juan Mata says Manchester United "have to do better" for the fans following Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Norwich City.

In what was a shock result at Old Trafford, goals from Cameron Jerome and Alex Tettey earned the visitors all three points, as the Reds suffered a first league defeat on home turf this season.

After the game, Mata expressed his disappointment at the performance and stressed the importance of the squad remaining united in the coming weeks.

“Of course we’re disappointed," he told MUTV. "It's another very difficult day for us, but the only thing we can do now is stick together and hope that we get the win in the next game because we need it. We need to win as soon as possible.

“It’s very frustrating not to win, especially at home. We should win at Old Trafford if we want to be successful, but we haven’t done it. We feel deeply sorry for the fans, I think they’re incredible, so we have to do better for them.

“Everyone’s frustrated; the fans, the staff and especially us. As I said before, we need to stick together. It’s time for us to show that we’re strong, we have to fight in every game and get back to getting good results as soon as possible. It’s Christmas time, a crucial time, so we have to do it.

“We tried [to come back]. You always have to believe until the end that you can score, firstly to equalise and then win the game. Anthony Martial scored a good goal and after that we created chances, but it was too late in the game I think. We couldn’t do it, and I’m very disappointed."

Asked about the busy period, and how things can change dramatically between now and New Year, the Spaniard added: “That’s football. You can’t enjoy it a lot even when you’re winning games because you have another one coming up straight away.

"That’s how we have to think after losing also, we have to try to be positive. As always, I think everyone is trying their best, but things are not working. We obviously need to win soon, but especially now that we have a lot of games in a short period of time.”