Will the storm pass and fans gain clarity which suggests crashing out of the UEFA Champions League isn’t all van Gaal’s fault or will it do the opposite and cement general opinion that United aren’t progressing under his stewardship? On the plus side the Champions League exit will allow United to focus their attention on the Premier League, handing them a potential advantage over their title rivals.
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“When you see the circumstances in what we have to play the match with a lot of injuries and also the last 15-20 minutes we had to play with 10 players (because Chris Smalling was struggling with an injury) you have to analyse that also”.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes his side did all they could after being knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday.
“The facts say we are better than previous year”.
Asked on Sky Sports Now if his former club have got better, he said: “Not when you look at how much money they’ve spent, no”.
Michael Owen, meanwhile, said on BT: “I think he [Louis Van Gaal] is under severe pressure now.
But I’m disappointed that we are out of the Champions League”.
First it was David Moyes who was all over the place during his short stint as manager and now it’s Louis van Gaal.
Wolfsburg needed a victory to secure the top spot in Group B whereas United were in need of a victory or a loss by Dutch side PSV Eindhoven to guarantee their progression.
“You’d have to say they haven’t bought as well as they could have done”.
I mention this only because a Ferguson team featuring Scholes and Ferdinand won the Champions League two seasons after the Lisbon debacle.
United drew level when Wolfsburg s French midfielder Josuha Guilavogui scored a late own goal seconds before Naldo claimed his second by heading the victor.
But just two minutes later, Naldo sealed the win for Wolfsburg from close range.
United dropped into the Europa League following the 3-2 defeat at the Volkswagen Arena on Tuesday, prompting widespread criticism – with Rio Ferdinand calling the outcome “embarrassing”. Wayne Rooney has been in awful form this season, scoring just one goal in European competition.
But it only proved what I’ve thought all along, and what fans have been complaining about: Van Gaal’s tactics on that clipboard have been based on compactness and rigid discipline. “They are a great name and of course it is special to eliminate them from the group phase”. There are a lot of games coming up, so I hope he scores more goals.
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Wolfsburg took the lead with a superb goal when Julian Draxler beat two United players and played a one-two with Max Kruse to offer Vieirinha a simple tap-in on 29 minutes. “You expect Man United to walk through”.
