Premier League match report – Louis van Gaal remains without a win as Manchester United manager after another lacklustre display Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw. That is £57million of talent to come into this Manchester United side – and also three left-footed defensive players. How will they all find a place in the team? “Yeah,” Louis van Gaal said when asked how he might solve this particular three into two conundrum. “That’s why. It’s very, very smart of the manager, I think.” RELATED ARTICLES Burnley vs Manchester United, Premier League: as it happened Wayne Rooneys 10 years at Manchester United - did he see the iceberg, but was ignored when he raised alarm? Burnley v Manchester United: The day a young Louis van Gaal conquered Turf Moor “Very smart of the manager” is a belief that United are clinging to at the moment. Four matches played – including that embarrassing Capital One Cup defeat against MK Dons – and no victories and just two goals scored. Two points from nine – Van Gaal constantly referenced this and thereby revealed his own concern – and United are already in danger of falling off the pace. They also appear to be increasingly bereft of confidence. Van Gaal said it had been “smashed” following the opening day home defeat against Swansea City and that seemed like an exaggeration at that time. It does not now. This was supposed to be the Ángel di María show with Van Gaal shoehorning their £59.7million signing – that British record signing – straight in. He provided the only moments of quality for his new team but it was all summed up on 70 minutes when he departed after getting a kick on the calf. United are limping. Wounded. Van Gaal also withdrew Juan Mata (£37 million) and Robin van Persie (£24 million) and it was hard not to do the numbers game given the opponents they were facing. Pre-match and there was the starkest of contrasts – that fee for Di María; that total for those three left-sided defenders: both those figures dwarfed the £44million that Burnley have spent. In their entire 132-year history. However, players do not wear price tags on the pitch – although several of United’s seemed weighed down by theirs. The biggest disappointment though? It had to be the captain, Wayne Rooney, who seems out of sorts, out of touch and off the pace. United could have won. But did not deserve to. They had chances – they probably should have had at least one and maybe two penalties with both incidents involving Ashley Young. For the first he was pushed over by Kieran Trippier inside the area; for the second his shot struck the arms of substitute Ashley Barnes. He did not appeal for the first – maybe mindful he might be accused of diving – but frantically implored referee Chris Foy to award the second. He did not. The verdict of Burnley manager Sean Dyche – who watched his side collect their first point after returning to the top flight and could have also seen them take all three – was inadvertently damning. “They were passing it along the back and we were happy to let them do that,” he said. “For long parts of the game they were miles away from our goal.” They were. United were shockingly vulnerable in defence and ponderous when they did venture forward. A back three of Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Tyler Blackett might never be used again and it looked hapless. None of that trio is comfortable in possession – and yet Van Gaal is demanding goalkeeper David de Gea to roll the ball out to them to build the attacks. Instead they are so unsure that they eventually simply punt the ball upfield. What is the point? It is almost mindless and it was exposed from the start. There was a rash challenge – increasingly the only type he seems able to make – from Jones as he barged into Lukas Jutkiewicz on the area’s edge. Even De Gea’s wall was ragged and former United midfielder David Jones stepped up to curl a left-foot free-kick over it. De Gea was rooted and the ball cannoned back off the bar. Then there was an incredible passage of play in which De Gea rolled the ball to Evans whose return pass was short. Jutkiewicz stole in and elected to shoot first time from a tight angle. De Gea blocked. How does such woeful play happen? It cannot just be confidence? It appeared to be carelessness. All eyes were on Di María. And he suddenly did intervene. There was a wonderful pass from the midfielder, playing in the middle of a 3-1-4-2 formation, flighting the ball from inside his own half which picked out Van Persie who brought it down only for his left- foot shot to cannon off the chest of goalkeeper Tom Heaton. Then there was another brilliant moment from Di María who broke forward to link with Van Persie and cut the ball back to Mata who miscued and fell over when he should have scored. But Di María, inadvertently, created at the other end, too. He flicked the ball into the path of Jones and his powerful half-volley was pushed away by De Gea. Then Scott Arfield easily beat Blackett and cut in towards goal only for Jones to deflect his shot wide. “In the first half we were the same as Burnley – fighting,” Van Gaal said. “And I think we have to play the ball against teams like Burnley and that we have done in the second half much better and we have created many more chances. “But then you have to score out of the chances and we did not do that. So it is a disappointing result.” That was only partly true. After the break Burnley did indeed create little and United became increasingly dominant but to no real effect. Di María fashioned another opportunity as he broke down the left with Rooney helping the ball goalwards. Ben Mee headed it out – only to Van Persie whose shot was hacked off the line by Dean Marney. Then, wastefully, Rooney headed wide from a corner and Mata ballooned over from a cutback by substitute Danny Welbeck. By then Di María was off. “It will take time,” Van Gaal said, again, again depending on that faith. He was talking about the player but also his team and the rebuilding. Van Gaal is right but so was Dyche when he was asked to reflect on Burnley’s first three games in the Premier League. “Chelsea were too good for us,” he said. United, most definitely, were not.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 07:41:16 +0000
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