At half-time of the CSKA game, Van Gaal reportedly instructed his players to ignore the chants of “attack” coming from supporters at Old Trafford, but he insisted he will never deny the United faithful’s right to air their anger.
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The supporters were clearly unhappy about the often sterile style of play, as they also sang: “We’re Man Utd, we want to attack”.
However, Van Gaal says that he would rather United’s fans aim their frustrations at him rather than his players.
Asked if it vindicated his continued support for the United captain, van Gaal replied: “Yeah, but I back all my players not only Wayne Rooney”.
“For me, what he (Scholes) said doesn’t bother me”, said Carrick, who played alongside Scholes in the United midfield for six years.
United, meanwhile, are now in fourth place in the table and can further increase the pressure on league leaders and rivals Manchester City by beating West Brom tomorrow.
“He was the last player I expected to be taken off”, said the former Chelsea player.
“Because then we have more difficulties and they are counting on counter-attacks always and also they have players in who are fast and so on”. Just a minute before Rooney’s goal, Chris Smalling and David De Gea had combined to deny Seydou Doumbia a clear cut goal scoring opportunity.
United had 15 goal attempts and enjoyed 69 per cent possession against a team that came close to sealing a shock victory in the reverse fixture last month.
Manchester United face an anxious wait to see if Morgan Schneiderlin is fit to return to action when they face West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
“When the goals are falling much faster, then everybody is happy and when you analyse the games, you know it’s hard to break down a team that has 10 people playing behind the ball”.
Carrick won five Premier League titles and the Champions League, in 2008, under Ferguson, but admitted that they did not always play well during that period.
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Valdes meanwhile has not featured for the club this season, following a bust-up after Van Gaal claimed the goalkeeper refused to feature in the Under-21 team.
