Louis van Gaal has admitted he doesn’t understand why the Manchester United fans chant “Attack, attack, attack” at the team after the Red Devils were subjected to such cries during their goalless draw with West Ham on Saturday.
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United at least head to Germany with their unbeaten home record in the Premier League intact, although West Ham will also point to missed chances that cost them the chance to win for the first time in five games and add United to their list of scalps away from home this season which includes Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
United’s players seem completely bereft of ideas, choosing to pass the ball back, an act that is seen as a great sin at Old Trafford. It is just unusual to hear a manager, especially a Manchester United manager, admitting there are limits to what might be possible.
There were rumblings of discontent around the stadium and some mild booing at the final whistle after a fourth draw in United’s last six league games. Van Gaal himself has said that he would like to bring in players with “speed and creativity” but did not mention any names when asked about his plans. Van Gaal said after the goalless draw with PSV that the best chance to secure qualification had been lost, and he still had the services of Wayne Rooney at that point.
Some United fans have been calling for Rooney to be dropped because of his underwhelming form, and they got their wish after the captain was ruled out on Friday with an ankle injury.
“I am pleased with the performance but when you create these kind of chances, you must finish”, he said. “You never know. I think they would”, van Gaal began, speaking to the press after the match, as per the Manchester Evening News.
Early in the second half, Zarate ran onto Andy Carroll’s lay-off but sliced badly wide from eight meters out, and the match was then played nearly exclusively in West Ham’s half.
A repeat of this spluttering effort at Wolfsburg on Tuesday could prove disastrous in a game they need to win to be sure of progressing in the Champions League.
“The question is shall Suarez score here or shall Aguero score here?” Yes, you have to score from those chances and we didn’t do that.
Aston Villa were desperate for a win as they languished at the bottom of the Premier League table.
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‘That is not only today but every game is like that because we are always more dominating than our opponents. I know that. The fans the know that. “Today I thought we could do this, but we don’t have any luck”.
