Paul Scholes and Michael Owen were both critical of United after the 0-0 draw with PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Scholes repeating his claim that the team had become boring under the Dutchman.
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United have been criticised for their style under van Gaal, which many feel is responsible for their poor scoring rate this season.
“We have analysed Leicester and then we have to look at the shape and qualities of our players, but also the tiredness of every player, how they recover”. But Van Gaal remains unworried about the criticism, responding: “We are still not lucky in finishing the chances”. “You can put them in a situation – we are doing that, we are training in the third or fourth phase”.
“Most of the time it was just the manager ranting at the way they had played and demanding they do better second half”.
Van Gaal refused to say whether Jamie Vardy, who has equalled a Premier League record by scoring in 10 consecutive games, was a transfer target for United.
But Van Gaal defended Rooney before Saturday’s first vs second clash with Leicester and denied the skipper was immune to being dropped.
Despite Leicester boss Ranieri dismissing title talk, Van Gaal insists the experienced Italian manager can keep Leicester at the top all season.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has admitted that the Reds must quickly rediscover goalscoring form to progress in the UEFA Champions League. He does not have too many possibilities to play on a higher level. I only know Dennis Bergkamp as a player at home who did the same with Ajax. “If we need him, we can call him back”.
“I think that our defensive organisation is normally the best part of our game and after the match against Leicester, we are proving that we have very good defensive organisation and we have proved that this season more than ever”.
Van Gaal will be without Ander Herrera, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia for Saturday’s game.
Van Gaal said Leicester is a genuine title contender, even though the Midlands side was scrapping to avoid relegation last season.
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United have relatively been decimated as a result of injuries but they still have a fairly large squad to be able to deal with Claudio Ranieri’s tactical prowess.
