More Manchester Utd woe as Bournemouth write another fairytale

Paul Scholes labelled United “average” while his former team-mate Rio Ferdinand said dropping into the Europa League was “an embarrassment”.

Schweinsteiger has started all six of United’s Champions League games this season.

Louis van Gaal played down the scale of the storm gathering around Manchester United and claimed that expectations of the Old Trafford club need to be re-assessed.

“But now we have to win, say, three matches in a row to still be there after Christmas”.

Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.theeagleonline.com.ng as the source. “The difference in level between the top clubs and the clubs who are normally fighting for the position in the Premier League is not so much anymore”.

“They were both very important, but had you asked a player which competition they would prefer to win, the European Cup would have edged it”.

Those difficulties – and the criticism that has followed in their wake – have not been enough to dent Van Gaal’s self-confidence. Van Gaal’s tactics were yet again questioned as the Dutch manager substituted Juan Mata for Nick Powell, who hasn’t featured for United in quite a long time.

“I think it is a insane match. But of course you see that there is a gap and you have to sniff that and we didn’t sniff that”.

“We played with Memphis Depay, 21 years old, Jesse Lingard, 22, and Anthony Martial, 20 – and still we could have hurt the No 2 side in Germany”. “We are proud to be hosting Manchester United, it’s a huge game in this club’s history”.

“The problem is that we have to meet with the expectations, and the expectations at a club like Manchester United are very high”, Van Gaal said. Once you’re out you’ve got to deal with it and we’re in the Europa League. “But the attitude is not only important, you have to perform in a certain way and I have to say, I was pleased with what I have seen in the first half”.

King connected with a preplanned Matt Richie corner on 54 minutes to score his first home goal for Bournemouth.

“It is always very disappointing when you are at the top of the table when you lose to a club at the bottom of the table”.

Manchester United coach Louis van Gaal has urged fans to be more realistic over the club’s chances of success, with the Dutchman believing the days of the Red Devils being title favourites are over. Speaking at a pre-match conference, Van Gaal said the increased wealth and competition in England means Manchester United can not stroll over opponents like the Sir Alex Ferguson era.