Manchester United fans may have been shocked to hear manager Louis van Gaal say striker sensation Marcus Rashford “isn’t ready” for the first team in the buildup to Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Everton.
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Matteo Darmian sealed the win with a stunning goal after forcing Damien Delaney to turn the ball into his own net in the first half, and Van Gaal admitted he has been surprised by the defender’s recent shooting skills in training.
With four games remaining, United is only two points behind third-place City and one behind Arsenal, which plays West Bromwich Albion on Thursday.
Louis van Gaal insists that Marcus Rashford and his fellow Manchester United academy products still have a lot to learn if they are to become regulars in the long term.
Adebayor, who is under contract until the end of the season, believes Palace are “kind of safe” ahead of the trip to Old Trafford.
“Yes I was very happy with the performance and I think it was a four or five to zero game”, said Van Gaal.
Asked if this display was ideal before Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Everton Van Gaal stuck to his script.
The Toffees have failed to win their last seven league matches, most recently suffering a 4-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool last night. We were in the quarter-finals and now we are in the semi-finals (of the FA Cup) and that means we are better than past year.
“One or two changes I will definitely do just to increase the energy but we need to be strong and keep focused”. Asked about this Van Gaal said: “I didn’t see quite a lot of empty seats but you have seen it because you want to see it”.
“They have that gap of four points (on) us”. In this season we have attacked in every game but maybe in a slow tempo sometimes. “You could see a little bit of that in our play, but I hope you give us a little bit of leeway on that”.
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When Palace finally made it into United territory the foray was over in a flash and United again threatened along the right, via Jesse Lingard.
