Louis van Gaal, the embattled Manchester United manager, has warned the English football club’s fans that they are living in the past if they expect his side to be able to dominate the Premier League and impress in Europe as much as they did under Alex Ferguson.
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“I had the feeling we could win here but the second set-play they scored again and then it is very hard to equalise because Bournemouth is fighting together and pressing always so it is hard to create chances”. But you have to analyse the club now.
“They still have a great chance to qualify for the Champions League through the Premier League”.
Bournemouth needed only two minutes to take the lead on home turf, with Junior Stanislas the hero. “I thought we deserved something out of the game”. My board, I think, also do everything.
“I think he’s handled himself with real dignity throughout the process, and to play the way he did today, with the emotions running through his body, I can’t credit him enough for that. For me the most important thing is the commitment of my players to perform as we have agreed and I can only tell they want to do that”. That is very hard.
Jamie Redknapp, meanwhile, repeated Roy Keane’s claim that United’s players are hiding behind the criticism of the manager. Carrick, who captained United at the Vitality Stadium in the continued absence of Wayne Rooney, knows they need to get back on the winning trail if they are to rebuild their reputation.
Saying Friday that United will have to get used to losing its status as a European heavyweight will hardly have endeared Van Gaal to the club’s increasingly disillusioned fans.
It’s not just about the amount you spend, though, it is the players you spend it on. You see that there is a gap.
United may be three points off league leaders Leicester, but they have failed to win any of their last four matches in all competitions and the players’ confidence is bound to have been affected by failing to qualify from a weak group containing Wolfsburg, PSV Eindhoven and CSKA Moscow. I really do [think it has gone that for].
Bournemouth showed how unsafe it is to underestimate the team by beating Chelsea last weekend, and posed a barely recognizable United defense – comprising Guillermo Varela, Paddy McNair, Daley Blind and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson – plenty of problems on the counterattack.
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“Now that the atmosphere around the place is so bad, I can’t see it getting better. I don’t think it is because of that [injuries] we lost”.
