United – depleted by a wretched run of injuries to senior players – allowed a goal off a corner in the second minute on its way to a humbling 2-1 loss at Bournemouth, the latest shock result in a season of surprises in the Premier League.
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Van Gaal spent the build-up to the game telling supporters that they needed to temper their expectations of United, but that doesn’t quite stretch to losing to Bournemouth. “They say Manchester United has to win but that is the past”, the former Netherlands coach was qoted as saying by the British media. Now we have to stay in a position to keep fighting.
“Without the last two minutes of the match, I think 1-0 would be the flawless game for us…”
The defeat followed United’s midweek reverse at Wolfsburg, which saw them crash out of the Champions League. “It was an equal game, they scored out of set-plays but defensively we had a big problem with King all the time”, he said. “I’ll challenge the players and we shall come back”. “It is a matter of belief”, the Dutchman told Sky Sports at Dean Court.
“The attitude of the players I liked, but that is not the only important thing”.
“I could say different reasons, I could talk a lot, but at the end of the day it’s about the results”.
A defiant Van Gaal also claimed he would not need to alter his long-term managerial strategies to guide United back to former glories.
Manchester City relied on a huge slice of fortune in the second minute of injury time to pile more misery on managerless Swansea and provisionally return to first place in the English Premier League on Saturday. “But I can not score goals”.
“It’s a rare error, but I think David knows it better than me”.
“Then again, you still have to realise they could have gone top with a win”.
“We have to put the heads up again and believe in ourselves because that is also very important”.
“It is very hard for a Premier League club to match with the other leagues in the Champions League”.
“But at this juncture, they are no closer to winning the title than they were in the Moyes season”.
Van Gaal then reiterated his disappointment over set pieces in his conference, saying it also cost United against Wolfsburg on Tuesday. I am very disappointed; the players are very disappointed. You have seen that.
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“The support of everyone at the club is why I felt like I wanted to play as well”. The facts are saying that we are better than a year ago, so that’s my answer because I can only give facts.
