Wilfried Zaha has had more headlines than appearances in his first season at Manchester United and today, Goal.com suggests that he stormed out of Carrington because David Moyes has blocked any loan move this January.
Moyes would be right to block any move given that we genuinely need Zaha in the squad but given the boy we have watched on and off the pitch this season, Zaha storming out would be completely out of character.
Despite his lack of opportunities, Zaha has always remained upbeat, positive and endearing all season:
October 2013: Wilfried Zaha refuses to be downbeat at Manchester United career so far
October 2013: Wilfried Zaha: When my time comes I will shine
October 2013: Moyes admits Zaha has done nothing wrong and explains why he hasn’t used him
November 2013: Zaha – There is no success without struggle and I’ve got to keep at it
January 2013: Zaha still smiling despite being frozen out by David Moyes
The 20-year-old has only made a handful of first team appearances and is yet to achieve his main goal of gaining a first team place this season but it is only January. He was always more likely to feature in the second half of the campaign than the first to allow him time to settle into the club.
On the contrary, here is a chronological look at some of the stories the press have reported about ‘Zaha’ this season:
May 2013 | Daily Mail: Brother of £15m United signing Zaha is ‘general’ in gang behind string of violent crimes
June 2013 | Daily Star: Manchester United star Wilfried Zaha’s brother facing jail
June 2013 | Croydon Advertiser: Brother of Wilfried Zaha facing eviction due to anti-social behaviour
August 2013 | Daily Mail: Zaha’s brother avoids prison sentence and is told to behave after stealing BlackBerry
October 2013 | Various: Zaha is forced to respond to rumours that he had bedded David Moyes’ daughter thanks to Twitter
January 2014 | Mirror: Wilfried Zaha’s brother Herve in alleged Twitter rant at Manchester United boss David Moyes
Note – none of the stories are about Zaha at all.
It almost looks as if the papers could not find any dirt on Wilf, so they went for his brother instead. What his family does has absolutely no bearing on Wilf at all yet some readers will now subconsicously associate the name Zaha with theft, asbo’s and prison. It is now verging on character assassination.
Image: Twitter/espnuk