"Mentally I have been weak," admits sub-par Park

Ji-Sung Park has admitted he has fallen well short of the standard expected at Manchester United.

With remarkable honesty, the United midfielder conceded he must improve his form if he is to remain part of Sir Alex Ferguson's first-team plans this season.

Park played poorly in United's 1-0 win over Valencia on Wednesday and revealed afterwards that he was physically and mentally not ready for the new season.

"I'm not satisfied with my performances this season," said Park. "I have to improve. I have to show more on the pitch. Particularly in the first-half [against Valencia], my performance was bad. The second-half was better.

"I am still looking forward to the future. But I have to show I can do better. I don't know why my performances have not been good. Maybe I was not ready for the season. Mentally I have been weak.

"But I missed a couple of games and then played again. It is always difficult to balance the performance. But since I joined Manchester United it has been like that. I know how to deal with that. I have to improve."

On United's significant win over Valencia in the Mestalla, which put Fergie's men top of Group C, Park said: "We needed three points. We know Valencia have been doing well this season. But we were sharp defensively and we prepared well.

"At the end of the game we managed to score. It was enough to win and get three points. The past has gone. We look forward to the future. Maybe today a win is another step towards improvement.

"Throughout United's history we always come up with answers to problems. Big stars come and go but still United keep producing the same performances. We just concentrate on that to make sure we show our quality on the pitch."

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