Louis van Gaal has confessed his concern over the current form of Manchester United, and has admitted that he is still unsure over Anthony Martial’s best position.
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“We don’t know because at Monaco he played as a left winger”, Van Gaal said.
United’s performance have been all too unexciting and all too ineffective too, with three consecutive 0-0 draws against Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace, of which Van Gaal was speaking after.
Ashley Young could feature after he returned to the side against Middlesbrough on Wednesday while Van Gaal faces a tough decision over whether to drop under-firing captain Wayne Rooney.
United’s only other good first half opportunity was the result of a few fine play by Martial, though after he picked out an excellent low cross for Ander Herrera, the midfielder slipped and completely whiffed a fairly simple shot from the edge of the penalty area.
The 30-year-old Rooney, England’s leading worldwide scorer, looks a shadow of the player who has plundered 187 Premier League goals in his career. “We have to decide where he is best, and I have to think about the qualities of the opponents”.
“When you are not creating so many chances you can not complain”, he said.
United are now fourth in the Premier League, two points off top spot after 10 games, while this time last season they were 10th in the table with 13 points.
Pardew has also praised the home fans, saying they were patient and caused United problems.
It’s the first time this season they have played to a stalemate and yet really they probably should have won. United struggled to bring the ball under control, and the lion’s share of the chances went the way of the hosts.
Wayne Rooney cut a peripheral figure as the lone attacker; it seems the Manchester United striker could have played most of the game in the midfield since he was picking up balls facing his goal more than the opposition.
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“I think when you are legend you have to speak with the manager or your friend Ryan Giggs”. Palace have lost their last three matches with the 5-1 reverse at City coming on the back of league defeats to West Ham and Leicester. Injuries have hit them hard, but Pardew hopes to have the likes of Joel Ward, Connor Wickham and Marouanne Chamakh back to full fitness after the worldwide break.
