Zaha: New manager came in at Manchester United that changed everything for me, it was hard

By Alessandro Schiavone

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha believes that his Manchester United career would not have derailed had Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager who signed him, not brought the curtain down on his career in May 2013.

Zaha was snapped up by Ferguson from the Eagles in January 2013 for the following season to provide a new impetus going forward against teams that would prove hard to break down in the final third and to rejuvenate an ageing squad that boasted the likes of 40-year old Ryan Giggs.

Zaha had created a fair amount of awe in the Championship the previous campaign and was arguably the driving force in Crystal Palace's return to the Premier League after eight years.

But neither he nor reigning champions Manchester United could maintain that consistency the following season with the club finishing outside the top-four for the first time since 1991 and Zaha being limited to only four cameo appearances in all competitions.

And Zaha, who found himself firmly out of new manager David Moyes’ starting XI from the outset, believes that he would have come of age with the Red Devils had his predecessor not walked away after 27 years in the Old Trafford hot seat.

The Ivorian international, who was linked with Arsenal and a return to Manchester United in recent years, has now staunchly defended himself against criticism that he lived down to expectations.

“Many people said I was a flop in the Premier League when I didn’t even play for Man United”, the 28-year old said

“And yeah, I regret Sir Alex Ferguson’s exit because he probably had plans for me. But then there was a new manager that came in and everything changed for me. It was hard.

“My relationship with David Moyes? It was okay. Obviously I didn’t play much so we didn’t speak all the time but we never had any arguments so it was alright.”

Zaha has offered revealing insights into what it was like to turn out for Manchester United after making the switch from his youth team Crystal Palace as a 20-year old. And despite being frozen out of the first-team he never threw in the towel and knuckled down, claiming that he learned a lot throughout that ill-fated campaign.

“I just learned that you have to do things for yourself sometimes. And that basically even if you are not playing whatever, there is no point sulking around. Just train hard for yourself, that’s what I learned. So yeah, going to Man United helped me mentally as well as a player because you have to overcome things to get where you wanna get to.”

“But it was hard off the pitch. The fame from leaving Crystal Palace for Man Utd was massive and I had to learn to deal with it all.

“People help you out and tell you to do this and to do that so eventually you just get used to it as you know what things to do and what not to do. And many people at Man United helped me."