Second-half goals from Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini were enough to see United through, and crush West Ham spirits in what was the final cup tie to be staged at their Upton Park home.
Advertisement
Louis Van Gaal was relieved of some of the pressure he’s been facing at Manchester United after managing to progress into the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Meanwhile, United have announced that they will provide free travel to Wembley for their FA Cup semifinal against Everton on April 23. Come on. First you have to say: ‘OK, sorry that I have written that. Despite refusing as usual to discuss his future at the club, which as been the subject of repeated speculation this season, he said pointedly that a belief in youth was one of the reasons United appointed him two years ago.
Asked whether players would want to leave to play in the Champions League, he added: “I don’t think so, I don’t think so”. United are four points behind Manchester City.
“The good thing is we’ve got another game on Sunday – a massive game”.
And it was pointed out to Van Gaal at his Friday press conference that Ronaldo took 40 games to reach six United goals, before he became far more prolific during his later years at Old Trafford.
Rashford has taken his opportunity in fine style, after being granted his debut in the Europa League win over FC Midtjylland on 25 February – in which he scored twice – and Carrick has been impressed by his big-game temperament.
On the youngsters, van Gaal said: “Manchester United believes in youngsters, as do I”.
“When you have to line up a different team up every week because of injuries, it is hard to make a consistent team-building process”. Their Premier League campaign has also gone off track, as they lie in fifth position in the table after a humiliating 3-0 defeat against Tottenham last weekend.
Advertisement
“There is always that possibility, (that the season could fizzle out) but at the end of the day we are not in a situation in the league that we have nothing to play for”.
