Van Gaal: Why San Jose Will Test United

Louis van Gaal expects Manchester United to face a physically demanding examination against San Jose Earthquakes, although the manager remains confident his players will pass the test with flying colours.

The Reds faced a competitive Club America side in the opening match of the International Champions Cup and secured a deserved 1-0 victory thanks to Morgan Schneiderlin’s first-half header.

The Earthquakes are without a victory in five MLS games and have not scored in their last three matches, but van Gaal believes the Californian side will not be pushovers at the Avaya Stadium.

“Of course I think that we are at a higher level than San Jose Earthquakes but they are fit and they have played many matches,” said van Gaal in his press conference. “We are not fit yet.

“Also the difference between San Jose and Club America is 20 centimetres. Every player is 20 centimetres taller. The corner kicks and the free-kicks are much more dangerous from San Jose Earthquakes than Club America. There are a lot of differences and the playing style is different.

“I think San Jose Earthquakes will play 4-1-4-1 and they will be more defensive. We have to see how we solve that problem. That's also good – to play against different systems. I'm very happy with this. They're 20 centimetres taller and we have to organise our defence better than we did against Club America."

Van Gaal was pleased with the way his team played in the tour's first match, and the manager is hoping to improve on that performance on Tuesday.

“We can learn from our errors and we can also give a lot of compliments about the way we have played,” he told reporters. “Our defensive organisation was solid. We didn't give away a lot of chances. But, still, I had remarks on the defensive organisation.

“It's also our attacking organisation – the width of the pitch has to be guarded, for example, and in the first half it was not. I have seen the match again and it's confirmed that. So we trained 11 vs 11 and the second line-up has assimilated with the San Jose Earthquakes – it's always the same process of preparation.”