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United midfielder happy to leave

Manchester-United-v-Swansea-City-FA-Cup-Third-RoundTom Cleverley admitted he was relieved to leave Manchester United after he was targeted by section of the supporters and said in football it’s impossible to please everyone.

Cleverley joined Aston Villa a day after deadline day after a proposed move to Everton fell through and he insisted he was happy to leave Old Trafford behind, after some of the fans made him a scapegoat for the team’s failures last season.

“If any footballer gets a bit of stick off their own fans they are going to be hurt. Football is a game of opinions and you can’t please everyone,” he said.

“I am happy to get away from some of the negativity. Whenever you are not winning trophies at Man United the players are going to get some stick.”

The midfielder enjoyed a good pre-season and even captained United in one of their tour games in North America, but he admitted Louis Van Gaal made clear that he could leave the club.

“I wasn’t emotional or anything like that. I didn’t get a chance to say many goodbyes. It is something I had prepared myself for,” explained Cleverley.

“Louis van Gaal was always straight with me. I had a fairly good pre-season where we won every game, but he has his own players. The manager made it fairly clear it wasn’t going to happen for me there.”

“If you looked at the games the areas I was playing were a little bit deeper and different systems. It probably didn’t suit my game perfectly but if all the players can say they were high in confidence they would be lying.

“It wasn’t just me, the rest of the squad too and that rubs off on most of the players and the fans. It was a tough season for us last year. But we’ve got away from the negativity of that and this is a brand new challenge.”

Cleverley, who came through the ranks at United, also admitted he can’t see himself playing for the club again.

“With me being out of contract at the end of the year if I am being honest I don’t think I would play for the club again. In modern football it is rare that one player, like Giggsy or Scholesy, plays for one club for their career.”