Monday 7 December 2015 12:08, UK
Bastian Schweinsteiger says Manchester United must rediscover their killer instinct in front of goal if they are to compete for the title.
United dropped to fourth in the Premier League on Saturday after recording their sixth 0-0 draw this season against West Ham as Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Marouane Fellaini and Schweinsteiger squandered good opportunities to score.
The Old Trafford side also missed the chance to go top last weekend when they drew at Leicester and Schweinsteiger believes United's poor finishing is costing them dearly.
"In every game we create chances but haven't scored. When that is the case it is not easy to win matches," he said. "The guy who has the opportunity has to feel that they want to score a goal and are going to score.
"If you miss a chance you have to be unhappy. When you are a big striker like [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi and Thomas Muller [it is] the same. It is about attitude. They want to score goals. They have quality but they want to score goals. You need the attitude that you want to score.
"The feeling that the players want to score, we need to have more of this. We are trying but we need a goal otherwise you cannot talk about winning a trophy because we should be winning at home to West Ham.
"Players are not scared in front of goal. It is all about the killer instinct. We have players who have the abilities but we need it in every game."
That killer instinct must return by the time United take to the field against Wolfsburg on Tuesday night otherwise they could be facing a Champions League exit, but Louis van Gaal is not worried about another no-show from his forwards.
"A lot of players have missed chances against West Ham," the United manager said. "We can make a big issue of it but I don't believe we have to do that. I have great confidence that we shall score at Wolfsburg.
"We don't want to be eliminated. But in sport it is always possible. You can't win every year or every game. It's not like that.
"It's a very important game for us at this moment because of the situation. We are not scoring out of many chances and we have to score at Wolfsburg. We could be out. And that is bad for everybody, for the club, for the players and for the manager."
United's injury concerns grew at the weekend as Paddy McNair and Morgan Schneiderlin were both substituted against West Ham and are now doubts for the match in Germany.
"Paddy McNair has an ankle problem and Schneiderlin is a little bit stiff in the hip, so we have to wait and see as always on that," Van Gaal said. "I hope they can play on Tuesday but it is a very short [turnaround] so it is a very big question mark."
Schweinsteiger himself was involved in an incident in the game against the Hammers when he was accused of elbowing West Ham defender Winston Reid and he could face retrospective action from the FA as a result.
