United’s luck was out as both Juan Mata and Anthony Martial struck the woodwork inside the first 15 minutes and only a brilliant reflex save from Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois stopped Ander Herrera from six yards after the break.
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Utah didn’t make many more plays for the rest of the day after all of its points and turnovers came in the opening 11 minutes. All of Utah’s scoring drives were shorter than 40 yards thanks to its defense providing favorable field position.
It has been a testing week for Van Gaal, who before Christmas walked out of a news conference after criticising the media for speculating about his position.
Defiant Van Gaal insists he’ll not leave Man Utd
I can only work with my players and you have seen that my players are fighting for me and that they have given a good performance. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says he will not resign after his side drew nil all with Chelsea this morning.
“You have seen that the players are fighting for me”, he continued.
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He added: “I am suspending my campaign… but never my commitment to achieving security through strength for the American people”. Graham did make headlines over the past six months, battling out with Donald Trump and his fascistic, anti-Muslim statements.
“In this insane football world that can happen every day, also with me”.
“We didn’t have full power to hurt United… we have some problems in the striker position due to suspension and injuries, so we had to think how to solve that problem”. When the players can give such a performance under this pressure, then it is not any reason to resign for me. “I should not do that”, van Gaal added.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Hiddink said: “No, I haven’t met him [Van Gaal], we just shook hands after the game”.
Whatever Van Gaal had said to his players before kick-off worked as their first-half performance bore no resemblance to the turgid, predictable displays so often seen here this season.
The 64-year-old’s “analysis” was that he had seen a “good performance” where United “were dominant” and “were the better team”.
After Manchester United and Chelsea played a goalless draw on Monday night, the managers of the two teams gave their thought on their team’s struggles in the league.
He was also applauded down the tunnel after the final whistle by many fans in United’s Stretford End, a positive sign despite the frustrating result. “Everyone in the changing room is disappointed we did not win”, the France global said.
But Dutchman van Gaal has vowed to fight on after seeing his players dig deep with an improved display against the defending champions. At this rate his United side will be fortunate to finish in the top four, something they never had to worry about under Ferguson. The most important thing is when the players can do that, the fans can be satisfied. David de Gea saved well from John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta and Pedro while Nemanja Matic wasted a good chance when through on goal. “It’s a disappointing result because we dominated the game but that is football”.
But against the Premier League champions who have had their own characteristics questioned following Jose Mourinho’s departure, the shackles were off and how they loved the freedom. We’re having a tough time, everyone knows that, but we will keep fighting and come back.
Van Gaal admits he is powerless to stop the board acting if they want to make a change, but he did not seem terribly anxious about his future.
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“My first year as a manager [with Ajax] was much tougher as they were yelling against me but I won the Uefa Cup [in 1992] and the yelling stopped”.
