Martial Doing Great With Us, Says Van Gaal

Manchester United sent out a statement that they are ready to compete for the Premier League title by beating Southampton at St Mary’s, according to manager Louis van Gaal.

The forward arrived at Old Trafford following a £36 million (49.6 million euros) move from Monaco at the end of the transfer window.

Anthony Martial’s dream Premier League start continued as the £36m striker scored twice to lift Manchester United to second with a win at Southampton.

Mata then finished off a 45-pass move before Pelle’s late consolation, leaving both managers with differing opinions on the outcome.

Van Gaal also singled out goalkeeper David De Gea for praise, with the Spaniard making a crucial 59th-minute stop from Saints skipper Jose Fonte when United held a 2-1 lead. He’s played three matches in a row and scored three goals. Emotionally they shall have a lot of dips so that I expect also from him but that is not a big problem for me.

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal insists his side are serious title contenders, as reported by FourFourTwo.

“He has the talent for it. When you are 19 years old you can not expect consistency”.

“It’s important for him to score as he cost a lot of money and the people expect goals from him”.

“What I am saying all the time is that we have to improve”.

“It’s some start. I think to say “some player” is a little bit early”.

“That is why I have changed him and Valencia did very well – I didn’t see Tadic any more in the second half“. Graziano Pelle was the man of the moment when he put Southampton in front in the opening minutes of the fiery contest. United is now 2 points behind Manchester City. “We are only three games in”. I always say to the players that the gaps in the defensive organisation shall exist when you play a kind of positional game.

Van Gaal also said Phil Jones is on track to return against Sunderland on Saturday after missing a month of action with a blood clot in his calf.

Martial’s first goal came in controversial fashion as Mata appeared to be offside in the build-up but the France worldwide showed composure ahead of his years to finish coolly past Maarten Stekelenburg.