Manchester United Reportedly Complained over Wolfsburg Dressing Room

Manchester United reportedly complained their dressing room at the Volkswagen Arena on Tuesday evening was too warm ahead of the game.

The Red Devils suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat to Wolfsburg on the night, as they were eliminated from the Champions League. According to Neil Custis of the Sun, the team felt the temperature in the dressing room was far from neutral and warranted a protestation:

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The Red Devils boss and his players believed their dressing room at Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena was too warm on Tuesday night.

Wolfsburg were left bemused by the complaints as United’s post-mortem on their disastrous Group B campaign began. The German club claim the temperature was the same for any visiting side they have had.

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In addition, Custis claims United are irked with the manner in which the Premier League structures its fixture list. The Red Devils feel as though help is given to those teams who compete in the competition in other European leagues, but not those representing English football, with fixtures moved to assist teams on the continent.

Despite the club's claims, regardless of what went on at the Volkswagen Arena on Tuesday evening, United have been far from good enough in the Champions League this season, and the manager must take full responsibility for that. As football writer Graham Ruthven noted, the supporters are disillusioned at the moment:

Prior to the clash against Wolfsburg, when United did flirt with the prospect of qualification, the moribund style of play had many questioning Louis van Gaal’s methods. The Dutchman, while games were tedious spectacles, could always point to the bigger picture, with the Red Devils well placed in the Premier League and still fighting in the Champions League.

With the chance of one major trophy gone, Van Gaal’s suddenly been robbed of a shield against this kind of criticism. Subsequently, in the match's aftermath, he seemed to be a little desperate in trying to big up his achievements this term, as Daniel Taylor of the Guardian noted:

These latest claims reek of similar futility. At away games, visiting teams will always have to cope with unfamiliar conditions, which is part of why travelling in the competition is such a huge challenge. A manager of Van Gaal’s pedigree would be acutely aware of that fact.

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The same applies for the non-rearrangement of fixtures to potentially enrich the chances of English teams; it’s worth noting Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal were all able to qualify from their respective groups despite these supposed restrictions.

Bleacher Report’s Rob Blanchette feels as though the time may have come for United to take some drastic action should an opportunity arise:

Van Gaal certainly has a huge task on his hands. Not only in terms of pushing this imbalanced squad on towards the league title, which is surely a minimum requirement after their European disaster, but also in winning over the fans again following a string of awful displays.

If he can steer this team to glory this term, then it’d be a fine achievement, regardless of whether they swagger or stutter their way there. But decrying dressing-room temperatures in the aftermath of defeats isn't an indicative trait of a team ready to make such a big step towards glory.