Despite the hosts’ insipid display, Van Gaal was simply happy with his players for securing a place in the next round following Wayne Rooney’s converted 93rd-minute penalty.
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In former midfield stalwart Paul Scholes’ observation, Manchester United players look bored.
Louis van Gaal is nearly making it too easy for Scholes and the like-minded pundits as their starting-eleven barely scraped past League One side Sheffield United in the FA Cup Third Round today, thanks only to a stoppage-time penalty by Wayne Rooney.
Scholes has been critical of United’s style of play under the Dutchman before – and he pulled no punches after the late victory against the Blades.
The players looked bored, there’s no spirit, nobody having a go at each other, no entertainment.
“It wasn’t a great performance, will he be happy with it? It can have an influence, but I think a player of Manchester United has to deal with that otherwise you are not a good Manchester United player”.
United’s Champions League campaign came to an end in the group stages as they were knocked out by VfL Wolfsburg and the Red Devils recently snapped their eight-game winless streak when they beat Swansea 2-1 on January 2. “In my eyes, it’s not good enough”.
“We needed to play with wingers to make the pitch as big as possible. He gets constantly changed from position to position, I think there are so many questions about this team”. He’ll be happy with the 1-0 win. Van Gaal himself is hardly convincing, much less his team, and as the weeks go by the pundits have grown more tolerable, not because they’re necessarily getting better at their job, but because United are making their critiques ring true.
“We can improve but how many chances have Sheffield United created?”
“I’ve tried so hard to defend this team but each week it gets harder”, he told BT Sport.
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Mata made his name as a creative No 10 and van Gaal expressed sympathy that he has been asked to play wide on the right this season.
