Manchester United’s Van Gaal blames Sheff Utd for lack of entertaining play

Maybe the traffic. There are many reasons why someone might leave early.

The Red Devils faced a fresh wave of criticism on Saturday evening after Wayne Rooney’s stoppage-time penalty secured a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United at Old Trafford in the third round of the FA Cup.

“You can mention how they leave, but you can also mention how they come to the stadium to watch this FA Cup match”.

Van Gaal has however finally admitted that just like the fans, he himself has felt the performances of his team to be monotonous but the Dutchman has not failed to defend his team from the media whom he addressed as “very negative”. How many stadiums were like our stadium – full, I think? He also recalled his formative years, suggesting that he would leave the stadium early when on trips to analyse his opponents.

“Because it was our first shot after 20 minutes”.

Van Gaal was also quick to dismiss claims he is overly focused on the threat of their opponents, saying: “I’m not more concerned about the opposition, it’s part of the job”.

Scores of supporters left the ground in the second half and former United midfielder Paul Scholes said the players and manager looked “bored” during the match.

Some will commend Louis van Gaal’s honesty, but the fact that the one person who can absolve United of their “boring” intent is LVG himself, will baffle in equal measure.

Van Gaal’s side travel to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United on Tuesday night and will be looking to build on their winning momentum and close the gap on the top four. I think even Van Gaal on the bench looks bored, but he’ll come out and say he’s happy.

“It’s not easy to win against a defending team with 11 players”.

But he defended his philosophy and said: “I’m not Sir Alex [Ferguson], as you know. Ok, I see their game against Arsenal and they played very well”.

“His style of football is not suited to Manchester United’s football, but he’s going to argue that they’ve got through, they are fifth in the Premier League and only nine points off the top”.