Soccer

Louis Van Gaal hopes win is start of things to come

Manchester United manager believes air of confidence can push his side further on

Louis van Gaal: injuries have forced the Manchester United manager to utilise young talent at Old Trafford. Photograph: Getty Images
Louis van Gaal: injuries have forced the Manchester United manager to utilise young talent at Old Trafford. Photograph: Getty Images
Paul Wilson
Fri Feb 26 2016 - 23:05

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Louis van Gaal believes that the first five-goal performance he has witnessed at Manchester United could be a turning point in the season, and says his young players are excited about the prospect of playing Arsenal.

Marcus Rashford grabbed the headlines with two goals on the 18-year-old’s debut in the 5-1 win against Midtjylland, though Memphis Depay played one of his best games of the season, Marcos Rojo came on for the last 10 minutes after months out through injury and United could even bask in some rare post-match praise from Paul Scholes.

“I have never seen the dressing room quite so happy and relaxed,” Van Gaal said. “Not only the players who played, but those on the bench and those who are injured, they were all laughing and talking with each other and happy. It has been quite a long time since that happened.”

Van Gaal, aware that the Danish minnows might not have represented the highest level of European competition, is keen to keep a sense of perspective.

‘Take confidence’

“Arsenal away from home was the only time this season we have lost 3-0,” he said. “We can take confidence into the game from our last win but we have to play against one of the best teams in the Premier League, and we have to do it after playing on a Thursday evening. That is more of a challenge but I think the recovery shall go better than ever after winning so well.

“The media rated Midtjylland as not the most exciting opponent but I have another opinion. I have analysed Midtjylland and say it’s not so easy. They have a very organised defence, so in scoring five goals and creating 15 chances we played a fantastic game but we now have to do it against Arsenal. In my opinion Arsenal is another level.”

At least Van Gaal has the back-to-back wins he was demanding to help restore Manchester United’s fear factor, though he took umbrage when asked if he knew why his team had been so inconsistent this season.

‘Unbelievable’

“In football you can win, lose or draw, it’s the media that is inconsistent,” he said. “We did not lose at Sunderland because of the media, that is true. But the media makes it bigger than it is. Manchester City lost 5-1 against Chelsea, and they do not get the same level of criticism. So they put a second team out, but what am I doing now? It is unbelievable.”

Van Gaal was encouraged by Depay’s performance against Midtjylland and said Morgan Schneiderlin played his best game to date.

“Memphis is still a young player, like (Anthony) Martial and Jesse Lingard, Guillermo Varela and Joe Riley,” he said. “They are stepping up all the time, but nobody is talking about Schneiderlin and he has just played his best match by far. I’m happy for him, because some players never get the spotlight and that’s a great pity.”

Van Gaal said David de Gea could return for the Arsenal game and will give late checks to Martial and Chris Smalling, but is ready to keep Rashford in the side if necessary. “I didn’t know how long it will take Rashford to recover. When you have just played your first game it is not so easy.”

Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, revealed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would miss up to seven weeks of Arsenal’s title challenge as a result of the “quite serious” knee injury that forced him to limp out of Tuesday’s Champions League defeat by Barcelona.

Guardian Service