Van Gaal Explains Shaw, Jones, Valdes Absences

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has explained the absence of three players from his matchday squad for the win over Sunderland on Saturday.

Luke Shaw, Phil Jones and Victor Valdes weren’t involved in the 2-0 victory at Old Trafford, with Anders Lindegaard replacing the latter on the bench. The Reds were already without Robin van Persie through injury.

“Shaw had a tight hamstring and Jones was ill,” van Gaal confirmed. “I cannot put players who are ill and tired in my line-up."

He added on MUTV: “Victor Valdes also has a problem and wasn’t on the bench. I had to make three changes during our final day of preparation.”

Angel Di Maria was replaced at half time by Adnan Januzaj and the boss explained the reason for the change, saying: “When a player isn’t in a game, I have to make a change. I’m the manager and I can’t deny what I see on the pitch. We were better in the second half, so I cannot say it was the wrong decision.

“We have to give Angel more time to adapt to the Premier League; it’s not so easy with the high tempo. I want to give him time, but it’s also not easy to change a player of his quality.”