Van Gaal: We Needed More Aggression

Louis van Gaal was disappointed that Manchester United could not convert possession into three points at Villa Park and said his team needed more aggression to beat a determined Aston Villa side, who remained just as resolute when they went down to ten men in the second half.

“When you are the better team you have to win,” the boss told MUTV. “We have had a lack of aggression in the first half, I think at that time we were much better. We kept the ball very well but didn’t do too much with it. We didn’t create many chances in the first half.

“Because of the lack of aggression we were losing 1-0 and then we changed that attitude in the second half. We did everything to win but it is very difficult. I have to say that Aston Villa did very well also.”

Christian Benteke gave the hosts the lead after 18 minutes but, as van Gaal pointed out, it was against the run of play. A change at half time saw Michael Carrick shift from a three-man defence into central midfield, which began to have the intended effect.

“With Carrick you have more passes to the strikers and that was needed which is why I changed Darren [Fletcher] for [Tyler Blackett] and put Michael in midfield, but I could have changed a lot of players because I think that it is the first demand that we are aggressive.”

It didn’t take long – eight minutes in fact – for a change in the scoreline as Radamel Falcao converted with a fine header from Ashley Young’s cross.

“It was a fantastic goal and I am very happy for Falcao because he needed that, but I am always happy when Manchester United score!”

United appeared to be in the ascendancy when Villa went down to 10 men following the dismissal of Gabriel Agbonlahor for a late tackle on Young, but the numerical advantage wasn't translated to the scoreline.

“It [can be] like that as the opponent shall always make the space narrow, they used the long ball well and we couldn’t manage [playing against] the long ball to Benteke so it was dangerous for us. It’s always important not to lose but I am frustrated because we gave two points away and that is my feeling of this match."