Bastian Schweinsteiger admits training alone at Man United 'not easy'

Bastian Schweinsteiger admitted it "wasn't easy" training by himself during his exile from the first team at Manchester United, but added he didn't give up because he wanted to show the club he was a player people could trust.

Schweinsteiger, 32, was bought from Bayern Munich by then-manager Louis van Gaal in 2015 and finished his United career under the Dutchman's successor Jose Mourinho.

The World Cup winner with Germany, who sat down for an exclusive interview with ESPN FC, spent a somewhat disappointing two years at Old Trafford, making 18 appearances and scoring just once.

Now with the Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer, Schweinsteiger remains upbeat when looking back on his time at Man United, even if things didn't go exactly how he had envisioned.

He said: "In my eyes it was not the right position, but in life sometimes you have this kind of situation where something is not correct and right in your way, but you have to accept it, and I accepted it.

"I said 'OK I accept it, but still want to stay here and want to train. I want to show I am a player you can trust.' And that's what I was doing at Manchester. I was then training with the first team and playing with the first team. I mean it was not easy when I was training by my own for three months."

Schweinsteiger also suggested that his dedication and professionalism was evident to Mourinho, who expressed regret about the midfielder's treatment at Old Trafford, and that it might have been someone else in the organization's "opinion" that kept him out of first-team reckoning.

The Bayern legend was also adamant that his freeze out was not fitness related.

"It was not that part. It was something different," he said. "[The decision not to play me] was maybe made by someone else without him so I think after I trained and I played and you could see me and how I behave as a professional and he has a different opinion, so it was a little bit unfortunate.

"I think [it would be different] if we would have met in a different situation."

Despite the difficulty he experienced during his time in the Premier League, Schweinsteiger said he has no regrets about the move and in many ways he still fulfilled a dream by playing there.

"It was [difficult], but I always believe in good things," he said. "And I was always dreaming about playing again for United and to help them and I was giving my best in training sessions as well. And at the end of the day, I was playing and I was scoring a goal as well, so that was the situation."

Watch Bastian Schweinsteiger in action as Chicago Fire takes on Seattle Sounders (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET; ESPN and WatchESPN)