Will Power

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Van Gaal: We Are Working On Scoring & Style

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has acknowledged his players must improve their scoring form following a run of three consecutive goalless draws in all competitions.

The Reds have recorded stalemates against Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace in the last fortnight, and such a sequence is an obvious cause for concern ahead of the important UEFA Champions League match with CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford.

Group B is currently wide open as both of Tuesday night’s teams have four points from three matches played, with the exact same number of goals scored and conceded. As such, a win for United would be a huge step towards qualification to the all-important knockout stages.

During his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon, van Gaal was repeatedly asked about his team's lack of goals and style of play. In reply, he spoke optimistically about finding the net against the Russian champions and told reporters that "we - the players, the manager and the staff" are working hard to play the kind of attractive football that both he and the club are renowned for.

"We try to do that but I think the rhythm of the game in the Premier League is more difficult to develop that," said the manager. "You can see it every week and not only with Manchester United, with the other teams. Anybody can win or lose to each other. Maybe it is more difficult in the Premier League, I don't know, but we are trying to do that.

"We are hopefully making history but it takes time," he added. "But I have said that before so I cannot repeat myself, otherwise it shall be [headlines of] ‘Van Gaal asks for time again!’

"Until now there is always progress, it’s always progress. I can remind you [the media] of the fact that you were saying, “Defending, defending, that is the problem.” No, no. Defensive organisation starts with the attackers, it’s the whole team.

"And now we are the best defenders of the Premier League, you are saying that we cannot attack. No, it is not true. It is only a moment in the process. We have stood first in the Premier League. Now we have a bad period because it is a bad period when you do not score goals. Because football is scoring goals.

"Football is not a process. Football is not creating chances. No, football is you have to score goals because that makes the difference. We have to improve that, we are busy with that and I hope that we shall score against CSKA Moscow.

"But I know that it is very difficult because they are very organised. They shall play more defensively than Crystal Palace for example. So it shall be very difficult but still we try to score goals."

The manager also emphasised just how important the backing of the fans will always be to his team, stressing the need for collective support during Tuesday’s tricky match against CSKA.

“We have had a dip in our results and we have to come out of that dip,” van Gaal admitted.

"That's why we need the support of the fans and we have always received this support until now. But I hope, in spite of a lot of discussions, they shall support my players because my players have to do it. It is much more difficult to perform on the pitch than what I do, coaching.

"The players have to do it so the fans have to support the players. But I am very happy with that because the fans have always done that and I hope they will be the 12th player tomorrow again."

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