United head into Saturday’s game on the back of their 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford as they stayed in fifth place in the Premier League table.
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“Every week seems to bring another story confirming Jose Mourinho is about to take over but Van Gaal keeps clinging on”.
And after a rip-roaring start to his Man United career, scoring seven goals, the 18-year-old has established himself as his side’s main goalscoring threat.
“He played about 75 minutes and I am building up his capacity in the matches”, Van Gaal said.
“But what Kluivert was in my first year at Ajax is Rashford now in my second year at United”.
He said: “Yes I was very happy with the performance and I think it was a four or five to zero game”.
“You need always guts to put youngsters in the squad and also in the line-up, but of course the academy coaches deserve credit, and also the scouts, who discovered these boys”, said the Dutchman. “We created a lot of chances and did not give much away”. “We did a sort of finishing session and he was the top scorer in that time, and we tried to exercise with his left and right foot and he did it also with his left foot, like he did”.
Louis van Gaal believes he has Manchester United on track to achieve their season aims, as the Red Devils shape up for an FA Cup semi-final tie against Everton at Wembley on Saturday. Now we have to do that again.
Rashford’s big break was largely forced upon Van Gaal as United suffered a crippling mid-season injury crisis, which has eased in recent weeks.
“I came to England to win titles and now we are very close, but first we have to beat Everton and that is not easy”, he said.
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Following the fine form of Marcus Rashford and the continued development of Anthony Martial, Rooney has arguably returned to the United fold as Van Gaal’s third-choice striker. “We have played in three competitions”. If Arsenal drop points at home to West Bromwich Albion on Thursday, then the race for the final Champions League position will really be on. “A lot of those guys might never get the chance to play in an FA Cup Final again and you could see that a little bit in our play”.
