Van Gaal Frustrated By West Brom Draw

Louis van Gaal cut a frustrated figure after his Manchester United side were denied a first away win by West Bromwich Albion on Monday night.

In fact, the hosts twice threatened to claim a victory themselves, edging in front through Stephane Sessegnon and Saido Berahino before Marouane Fellaini and Daley Blind levelled the scores at 1-1 and 2-2 respectively.

"I am very disappointed, the result was not good enough," said van Gaal in his post-match interview.

"I think we could have won and that’s why I’m disappointed. I have to be happy that we created lots of chances and West Brom had only two shots – but their two shots were both goals! We gave the game away with our errors which is a pity as it could have been a new start if we’d have won here – that was possible, I believe."

When asked if his side had given too much space to West Brom's attacking players for the two goals, van Gaal replied: "Yes, that’s also a part of the individual errors [we made]. West Brom were playing more narrow in midfield and our wide defenders were pushing up and giving away too much space."

For a while it seemed a tactical change by van Gaal would pay dividends, when his half-time substitute Fellaini scored just three minutes after coming on and United pressed the Baggies back into their own area.

"I had more or less decided to bring him on after 30 minutes," revealed the Reds boss. "I said to him to look at what Herrera was doing because I want you to play. He scored at once [after coming on] and made some very good play I think.

"We have to look for physical balance and maybe that’s part of our problem. I am a coach who always looks for creative players but in England you also need physical bodies in your team – Fellaini is one of these.

"I am looking for balance and maybe with this formation, but with the same philosophy, we could do better.

"With training sessions players now understand the philosophy more and I have seen it also tonight which is why it’s such a pity we couldn’t get the result we deserved."

The boss was asked whether he might utilise the same 4-2-3-1 formation in the forthcoming crunch matches with traditional rivals Chelsea and Manchester City. "You never know but I have a lot of confidence as I liked the match," he teased in response.

Finally, on United's points tally in sixth place: "It's not good because when you see our games we have normally been the better team. But when you have 12 points from eight games, it’s eight points too few."