Van Gaal demands flops show United front

United have now slumped to five matches without a win, but under-fire Van Gaal still maintains he can reverse the Old Trafford fortunes, which also saw them go out of the Champions League in midweek.

While many critics have mocked the fact that United will now have to play in the much derided Europa League, Van Gaal insisted it was a big tournament that he would now try to win.

To that, he can only say, “At a club like Manchester United, they are very high”.

Against Manchester United, they were a constant threat. But you have to analyse the club now. The little coastal club that nearly dropped out of the country’s professional leagues six years ago beat Chelsea 1-0 away last weekend for what ranked as the biggest win in its 116-year history.

“Still they scored and also against Wolfsburg that was the reason we lost so it is a very strong lesson for us”. We didn’t do that in the first half but we had the feeling in the players, the management and the staff that we could win this game.

Plus other stories and all the scores from Saturday in the Premier League.

“I can make the difference, in tactics and everything”. Every club can also buy a player.

Manchester United needs to get it together.

However, while United’s defence was decidedly inexperienced, their attack was largely unaltered by injuries, and should’ve easily picked apart Bournemouth’s back four far more than it did. Next year all the clubs in the Premier League will have a bigger budget than most clubs in Europe.

“The confirmation is (apparent) every week”.

The 64-year-old is convinced, though, that the landscape of the Premier League has been so radically altered by the influx of money into English football that the days of United being able to sweep the vast majority of their opponents aside are long gone.

United’s defeat, coming off the back of their Champions League reverse at VfL Wolfsburg, leaves them fourth in the table on 29 points, three behind leaders Manchester City. “It was not so easy for all the clubs to qualify themselves”. Because you can see that as a positive. Memphis (Depay) is 21, (Jesse) Lingard 22, (Anthony) Martial, 20… But then we won the title.

“No. It is hard”. For the fans it shall be like that. I don’t think it is of any benefit for me and the players.

On receiving criticism for United’s recent results, the manager told the BBC: “It is always like that”.

Leicester City and Chelsea play each other on Tuesday morning (NZT). “When I see that my players want to do everything that we ask, that is the most important thing, the cohesion between the manager the staff and the players”. I can say that in advance but nobody hears me because they don’t want to hear.

“It is more of a problem in the outside world than inside the club”.

“I don’t have any doubts”.