‘Shaw was the main player for that position so it is a big blow for us and maybe we have to buy a left full-back for that position.
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Carrick suffered an ankle injury when England played Spain last Friday while Fellaini will miss his second successive league match after picking up a leg injury. I did not play [Marcos] Rojo also because when you have jet-lag you can not play. He is at home.
Schweinsteiger has surprised many supporters this year by how often he has played a full 90 minutes and United are getting far more out of him than anyone could have predicted. “I knew he could do this”.
There were a handful of chances created and spurned by Depay and Jesse Lingard, but United never truly searched for the second goal and in the Premier League this is all too risky a ploy, as we saw when Watford were awarded a penalty and a route back into the game.
Although Watford failed to make much of an impact in the first half, they looked livelier after the break and two efforts from Deeney and one from Etienne Capoue forced United keeper David De Gea into making a few smart saves.
Their squad is stretched and Van Gaal is still searching for the right balance, but Chelsea’s struggles and the inconsistencies of Arsenal and Manchester City have made this an open title race. It was a fantastic pass from Herrera. Depay finished it very well.
Scholes has persistently accused Van Gaal of promoting negative football at United, but he is slowly warming to the idea that this season could end in success for his former club.
“I’ve worked hard to get in this team and it is paying off”.
Van Gaal added that France worldwide Morgan Schneiderlin and Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger could both play against Watford, despite being involved in the France-Germany friendly in Paris during last week’s terror attacks which left at least 129 people dead. Watford were fortunate to be only one goal behind at half-time but the Hornets rallied in the second period and deserved their spot-kick after Rojo swiped through the back of Odion Ighalo. “There was a bit of luck but we are happy to get the three points”.
There were four changes for United, with Depay brought back into the side to lead the attack as they attempted to cope with Anthony Martial, Wayne Rooney and James Wilson all being ruled out. “The angle was not so easy but of course Deeney did touch the ball”.
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“It’s possible. It means Deeney is fighting in every moment in every part of the pitch”.
