Bastian Schweinsteiger was courtside at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships yesterday as Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal revealed he has been left disappointed by the German midfielder’s performances this season.

Schweinsteiger was watching girlfriend Ana Ivanovic defeat Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-0 as Van Gaal’s comments came to light.

The 2014 World Cup winner then failed to attend the Players’ Party at the Aviation Club with Ivanovic later in the evening despite guests expecting to see him there.

Van Gaal said: “Bastian has been unlucky because he picked up an injury at a time that he was playing very well – he was improving.

“However, during December I said that I expect more and he was very disappointed I said that, but I think I can say that because my expectation is higher.”

Schweinsteiger hasn’t featured for United since their FA Cup win over Sheffield United on January 9 and has started just 13 of 26 Premier League games. He has battled a long-standing knee problem over the last two years with Van Gaal admitting he had to persuade the United board to sanction the 31-year-old’s move from Bayern Munich last summer.

Van Gaal added: “Manchester United has bought him even though he is now 31, so I had to convince the board to buy him, because he’s a very good player and he always gives a team more balance.”

Meanwhile, former United fullback Paul Parker believes the club should appoint Tim Sherwood as interim coach until the end of the season – not Jose Mourinho.

In his column for Eurosport, Parker wrote: “Bringing in Jose Mourinho? That is absolutely not the answer. To suggest that he could walk into a crisis situation and turn it around is absurd. That’s something he’s never done in his career.

“Frankly, given how unhappy the players are right now, they’d be better off bringing in Tim Sherwood: someone to soft soap the players, give them a bit of a cuddle, get them feeling good about themselves once again.”