Manchester United almost failed to book a place the FA Cup quarter-finals this evening but as is frequently the case, dug deep for that ‘unbelievable team spirit,’ emerging to face The Gunners. Here’s what else manager Louis van Gaal had to say;
“I was reasonably satisfied. We didn’t give anything away. The fights between Kevin Davies and the defenders was difficult but we didn’t give anything away. The Preston goal was a little bit unlucky, it was deviated.”
The fans might not have agreed say half an hour ago though, I wouldn’t say they were none too pleased at being belittled by a side who’ve been practicing on the likes of Chesterfield at the weekend, even if they did have Eoin Doyle not so long back… Also, not giving ‘anything’ away is a little of an overstatement somewhat, but I’m sure the lads will be very apologetic of that 34 per cent of possession they let slip, you can expect better next time everyone.
Nonetheless, we will get to the good bit when Reds fans everywhere weren’t despairing as their beloved team didn’t even look like scoring and as van Gaal states, “But then we showed an unbelievable team spirit. We changed the shape and that was the solution. We scored fantastic goals, a little bit lucky also I think. I liked the second goal a lot, we have trained that a lot.”
We can all look on the bright side of life tonight, eh? Of course, not if you’re a Preston fan, commiserations in that case. And it was certainly encouraging to see Fellaini on the score sheet, providing competition for that midfield that was desperately lacking in the first half, hopefully his pushing for the Jersey has paid off and the manager was only too full of praise as you’d expect. The downside was that although the midfielder is crying out for a place in the starting XI, van Gaal believes he cannot always have his way. Let’s hope the Belgian international can prove to be versatile.
“Marouane Fellaini has a body, he also scores goals. I played him in the position that he wants for the first time but I do not always have a position for him. The spirit was better.”
On a side note, speaking of managers, let’s hope Roy Hodgson liked what he saw (and not the penalty incident). According to what he divulged to the BBC, he did!
“It seems to me the longer that Louis van Gaal works with the players the better they will get. It’s also incredible how well Wayne Rooney does in so many different games, in different positions.” Although he claims Preston surpassed ourselves on “their performance and effort,” grinding out the result on this occasion will do.
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