Van Gaal Laments Missed Chances

Louis van Gaal felt problems at the attacking end of the pitch were to blame as Burnley became the latest team to frustrate Manchester United.

A first clean sheet under the new manager would surely have been the springboard for a first victory had the visitors to Turf Moor converted any of the opportunities on offer. The profligacy in front of goal vexed Van Gaal, especially after the players heeded his half-time call to improve their use and retention of the ball.

The manager told MUTV: “We played much better in the second half and created more chances. But you have to score from those chances, and we didn’t do that. It’s a disappointing result.”

Van Gaal felt his team were at fault in the first half for trying to compete with Burnley at their own game, and acknowledged a lack of confidence in the ranks.

“It was our mistake to fight with Burnley, even though they have fantastic fighting spirit. You have to play with the ball against teams like Burnley.

“I don’t think our confidence level was very high in the first half. But I think that’s normal when a club like United loses the first match and draws the second one. The pressure is higher and you have to cope with that. I could see in the first half that the players were very nervous to play the ball. We restored that in the second half, and maybe that will raise our confidence.”

Van Gaal declined to comment directly on United’s two ignored penalty appeals, following a challenge on Ashley Young in the first half and a handball claim in the second period. However, he did say more generally in response: “We had more possession of the ball than Burnley but more free-kicks were awarded against us than in favour of us. I think that is remarkable.”