United manager Louis van Gaal says he can’t just wave a magic wand to turn things around at Old Trafford.
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United, whose 0-0 draw against Chelsea last Monday meant that they had failed to score in five of their previous eight home games, produced an improved performance.
But despite second-half goals from Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney either side of Gylfi Sigurdsson’s header giving the Dutchman his debut win over Swansea, it didn’t stop him hitting out at their negative tactics.
Van Gaal said: “Phil Jones is injured, and it’s more or less the same injury as before”.
“They were two very well-worked goals and to see your two strikers get on the scoresheet, hopefully with the number of chances that we create it’s only a matter of time until these goals start coming and fingers crossed they’ll start coming now”.
“The difference was we scored the goals and then everyone is saying the second half is better”. When Martial beat Angel Rangel and drove the ball low across the six-yard box, Rooney flicked the ball home with the inside of his foot to claim one of the more important goals of his long United career.
United’s players flatly denied they were not playing for their manager, who walked out of a press conference in a huff 11 days ago following reports he was about to be replaced by Jose Mourinho.
Manchester United have won three of the last four Premier League games between the two teams at Old Trafford, but Swansea have won on four of their last visits to Old Trafford in all competitions, all by a 2-1 scoreline. So that’s football. A season takes eight months, or something like that, and not one month. “Now I have a good hope this is a starting point for more”. “We are sitting on the bench in a more relaxed way”. “He’s so direct. I know I wouldn’t want to play against him”. We always look to a gameplan that suits us more and also that the opponent doesn’t expect.
“Anthony Martial’s been terrific”, Smalling said.
However, Manchester United sprung to life in the second half with Ashley Young playing as a de facto right-winger as he caused all sorts of trouble for the Swansea defence. He added: “With Herrera, it was because I wanted to waste time, as Swansea did all match”.
Naturally, a scapegoat began to emerge in the shape of England and United captain Wayne Rooney.
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“But I don’t think it is because I left him out recently at Stoke”.
