Remember Louis van Gaal’s whole ‘come back to me in three months’ schtick when he settled into the Old Trafford hot-seat? The Manchester United boss has revisited his drawing board and come up with some new calculations – everything will be rosy in 2017.
Van Gaal’s side currently lie 10th in the Premier League after 10 matches and have yet to win away from home. He has inherited a squad in transition and is struggling to find two fit defenders to rub together. United, however, have tossed a Scrooge McDuck amount of money into the transfer window and now boast a squad containing Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao (when fit) and Robin van Persie.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s league match with Crystal Palace, the Dutchman admitted the Manchester United trophy cabinet may not be getting cluttered any time soon. ‘I feel for the fans and also the board because they have belief in me, my staff, and my players,’ he said.
’13 points from 10 matches, you are not doing well, but we are in a process. As I have said from the beginning, even when we won five games in the US, the process shall take more than one year. It shall take three years, I hope, though that is dependent on lots of things. But I think we will make it happen, that we will win a lot of matches.’
Van Gaal’s quest for a winning run has not been helped by the continuing injury struggles of his defenders. Marcos Rojo looks set for a spell on the sidelines while Phil Jones is at least two more weeks off a first-team return. Chris Smalling misses the game through suspension and Jonny Evans is settling into his Jonny Evans-shaped groove on the Carrington treatment table.
Asked if he was concerned by United’s defensive frailties, Van Gaal replied, ‘If you don’t count the five goals at Leicester, we have better (record) than Chelsea I believe. That’s not the problem, the balance is. That is why I have re-modelled the structure of my team. Now I have to solve the problems of the injuries every week, that’s another story.’
