Van Gaal: United must turn dominance into victories

Ian Watson
Louis van Gaal Manchester United

Louis van Gaal: Substituted Wayne Rooney at Leicester

Louis van Gaal bemoaned the fact Manchester United only took a point from Leicester despite dominating possession at the King Power Stadium.

Bastian Schweinsteiger cancelled out Jamie Vardy’s record-breaking goal to earn the Red Devils a point from a game in which they again had plenty of the ball but failed to make the most of their dominance.

Van Gaal admits these are the games where United should be taking all three points if they want to challenge for the title.

He said: “After the disappointment against PSV Eindhoven we have dominated the game. I have the feeling that we could have won this game. I’ve said to my players – this kind of match you have to win if you want to be champions at the end of the season.”

“In the third or fourth phase we have to create more, but it is difficult because you have seen where Leicester stand on the pitch – it was in the 60 metre area. That is a lot of bodies in front of you, but we have created the chances to beat them, if Memphis Depay controls [the ball] better [for his late chance] then it’s a goal. We have to wait for the moment that we do that. ”

Captain Wayne Rooney endured another frustrating game before being withdrawn midway through the second half.

On substituting his skipper, Van Gaal told MUTV: “Wayne was a little bit injured, you saw him limping. I also wanted to change a striker because they were not running in behind. I could have taken off [Anthony] Martial because he didn’t do that either, so that is why I changed Rooney, because he was a little bit injured.”

Schweinsteiger’s goal came from a set-piece, with Daley Blind’s corner kicks causing Leicester numerous problems.

Van Gaal praised his countryman’s delivery: “This is because of the taker, Daley Blind. When you deliver that well you can always be dangerous. It was the same against PSV. We changed the taker and that’s the reason.”

Vardy broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record by scoring in his 11th consecutive Premier League match, and while Van Gaal had praise for the Foxes striker, he was not happy with the way it was conceded.

He said: “You can imagine that we have prepared [to stop] that because that is Leicester’s quality. It was unbelievable that it could happen, especially after a corner kick. We gave the goal away, but it is also the quality of Vardy.”