Louis van Gaal: ‘We were unlucky’

The 24-year-old keeper might return to his native country, with Spanish football expert Guillem Balague confirming that De Gea will be joining Rafa Benitez’s men soon, as per Sky Sports.

Today’s Louis van Gaal press conference held with the objective of previewing Manchester United’s third game against Newcastle, featured very little, if any talk about the actual match. Instead, there was plenty of talk about Pedro (as expected) and also Executive Vice President Ed Woodward. That is the expectation now for Van Gaal and he is aware that more quality in the final third is needed if they are to compete with their rivals.

United have been linked with bids for Sadio Mane, Thomas Muller and Gareth Bale, but Van Gaal is refusing to be rushed into a high-profile bid.

“We did a good job on (Adnan) Januzaj too. We were disappointed last week, but we focused quickly on the next game and we have got a point”.

The only big disappointment for Van Gaal was a refereeing decision that denied Wayne Rooney his first goal in 10 matches. Newcastle defended with great togetherness once they had recovered from an opening 20-minute blitz and, in the process, ended their run of seven successive away defeats.

“Surviving the first 20 minutes was the key”, McClaren said.

The United boss said: “I think when Manchester United wants a player he shall come, besides when the club is not selling”.

They also had a goalkeeper, Tim Krul, who was on top of his form, particularly with his first-half save to keep out Juan Mata’s low drive and late on when he charged off his goalline to smother Hernandez’s shot. Georginio Wijnaldum excelled in midfield.

Fortune was on Sunderland’s side when, after they had slept to allow the visitors to take a short corner, Ayew met Shelvey’s cross with a firm header which came back off the post, with Pantilimon rooted to the spot.

“That does not bother me because you have to score one more than your opponent and that is the result”, he added. A goal at that stage would have been incredibly harsh on the home side bearing in mind the spells of nearly relentless pressure on Krul’s goal.

“It was one of those days but we have to start finishing”.

United will look to extend their winning start at home to Newcastle United on Saturday, when Schweinsteiger could make his full debut. Defensively, they have got it right but championships are not won with such mundane scoring figures.