FC’s Craig Burley disagrees with Louis van Gaal’s assertion that his team are better than last season’s. There was no urgency, threat or quality.
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Paul Scholes: “You’d have to say they’ve not bought as well as they could have done”. It is just not good enough. “This squad needs a real hard look at itself”.
Van Gaal admits it will be underwhelming to see his team play the rest of the season in the Europa League. “You expect Man United to walk through. People are looking around at each other rather than saying, “I will drag you through”. After they slumped against Barcelona, United failed to progress beyond the group stage in 2011-12.
Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven make their way into the knockout stages of the tournament while United crash out of Europe’s premier football competition.
The United whom Ferguson embodied, the fighting, attacking, winning club, are no more. “They have actually been replaced by United Lite”.
Keane insisted under-fire manager Louis van Gaal was not the only reason why United are struggling to impress this season, as he suggested some players are hiding when it matters most.
“The owners have a big decision”, Hartson said on BBC Radio Five.
“They’ve spent so much money it’s untrue”.
Commenting on United’s European campaign on the whole, Van Gaal said, “It was a insane match”.
Van Gaal retains the support of the board but the fans’ unrest will undoubtedly increase.
“Our competitors showed it’s not always United who finish first or second”.
Jesse Lingard has told his Manchester United teammates they must block out criticism from outside the club if they are to bounce back from their early Champions League exit.
The German club were worthy winners, scoring twice through Naldo and once through Vieirinha, who finished off a glorious move masterminded by Draxler.
It should give Van Gaal a chance to get United back on an even keel, while January brings with it the possibility of adding reinforcements to a squad that is missing several senior players through injury.
“I can not defend myself because we are out of the Champions League”, the Dutchman said.
Having been in the Europa League just once in the last 19 years, United are certainly not accustomed to it. I don’t change players for nothing.
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Fourth-placed United have scored only 20 goals in 15 Premier League matches the joint lowest tally in the top seven and while their defence is still the meanest in Premier League and they are only three points behind surprise leaders Leicester City, goodwill towards van Gaal is in short supply.
