Man U Players Happy With Europa Cup Effort: Van Gaal

And on Thursday night Marcus Rashford pushed that point home in style by scoring twice in United’s 5-1 Europa League win over FC Midtjylland, breaking George Best’s 51-year-old record to become the club’s youngest goalscorer in Europe. Amid fraught circumstances following their 1-2 first-leg loss, the evening could not have started in worse fashion for United manager Louis van Gaal when Anthony Martial strained his hamstring during the warm-up. “We are looking for consistent strikers and there are not so many on this earth, but he gave a brilliant performance”. But I have to build him up in the games and that’s not so easy, because he only had two training sessions with me. “He was there on the bench because he was the natural substitute for Martial”.

These people didn’t get to where they are by basking in their own reflected glory, and we’re sure Louis van Gaal is one of those who’s mind instantly turns to the next game following a victory.

Sunday’s match offers United the chance to go on a three-match winning run for just the fourth time this season – a statistic that crosses the competitions and underlines United’s inconsistency. “That’s why it’s a fantastic step for them in their learning process, their development process”.

Midtjylland boss Jess Thorup said his debut was “almost perfect”, but Van Gaal was keen not to get carried away. “He is exhausted and he can be exhausted because he is 20 and he has played all the matches”.

“It is not so remarkable but what is remarkable is he stepped down himself”. He came into the squad to substitute for a player from PSV Eindhoven and he only played ten minutes but I said to my colleague “he is a player, he can play”. It is hard to change or rotate when you don’t have any other players. “I don’t think Martial has a muscle injury because he stepped down when he felt his hamstring was tight”.

“We continued our game, scored, missed a penalty, unbelievable”.

Ultimately, United proved too strong for their Danish visitors, who sensationally took the lead on 27 minutes through Pione Sisto, before the hosts asserted their authority in the second-half.

United could also qualify for the Champions League if they win the Europa League and in the last 16 round they will play rivals Liverpool. The Dutch global moved to the Premier League from PSV Eindhoven last summer and Depay admitted that he is struggling in England.

United have so far said very little publicly about their manager’s future, though, and the 64-year-old is happy with that.