Louis van Gaal attempts to find excuses Manchester United’s Europa League loss

Sean Bones, vice-chairman of the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, said: “I have never heard our supporters sing songs like that, in all the games I have been to”.

After losing to Sunderland 2-1 on Saturday, the Red Devils are six points shy of the top four in the Premier League, leaving qualification for next season’s Champions League very much in the balance. “I’m very grateful for the fans supporting us”.

United had 13 senior players they could not call upon for Thursday’s game due to injury and illness, with goalkeeper David de Gea the latest to join the list after sustaining a knee problem in the pre-match warm-up that forced him out of the first XI. But they held on for only seven minutes as wayward defending allowed Pione Sisto to equalise.

United had taken the lead through a goal from Memphis Depay, but conceded a goal in each half in an uninspiring display.

Paul Onuachu was one of those denied by Romero’s acrobatics, but the substitute had the final say when he beat Juan Mata to the ball on the edge of the area and drove a low shot inside the post.

“It’s hard to comprehend how poor Manchester United are at present”. “We didn’t kick on after we scored”.

Michael Carrick was more scathing of the team and admitted they were not at the races. “It’s not acceptable. We’ve got to be a lot better”.

“We caused a lot of our own problems but we scored a good goal”.

“It’s just not good enough”. The return leg is in a week’s time at Old Trafford and the Dutchman remains confident his side can progress to the next round of the competition. They are disappointed like we are. The only positive we can take is that we have a chance to put it right next week.

“We need to speak about it, why our players were not capable to win these second balls and to keep the ball in our possession”, said Van Gaal. “We have to give everything we can”.

While the away goal is important, Louis van Gaal will be hoping that his side pick up their performance levels by a few notches when Midtjylland visit Old Trafford next week.

On paper, a team made up of injured players – including De Gea, Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian – appears stronger than the best team available to Van Gaal.

On Friday, Nick Powell – a midfielder on loan from United at second-tier Hull – said he “completely forgot” to watch the tie against FC Midtjylland.