Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal revealed that he was disappointed with Manchester United’s defensive display against Stoke City who took less than two minutes to breach their defense in yesterday’s 1-1 draw.
Stoke’s opening goal came after poor Manchester United marking in their own box as both Peter Crouch and Ryan Shawcross were left free. Crouch’s knockdown found Shawcross who made no mistake and buried the ball past a helpless David De Gea from a two yards out.
In addition, Manchester United have kept just four clean sheets in their last 10 games with three of those coming at home. The Dutchman revealed after yesterday’s draw, “We know that is happening. We have had two meetings about it.
“We knew Crouch was heading the ball to a second player, who was totally free. That was very bad.
The draw against Stoke means that United have picked up just two wins out of nine games in their travels; an issue that they will have to address if they are to get closer to the Manchester City and Chelsea. “We have to play better in away matches. In my opinion, there is no difference in away matches to at home because our fans are fantastic. We have to do better.
“We didn’t deserve any more than a draw. They were closer to a winning goal than us. We had time and space to build play, but we didn’t create much,” Van Gaal added.
Ashley Young had to be substituted after what appeared to be a pulled hamstring and he will miss some time out. The wingback had been in good form for United and they will miss him. However, Luke Shaw’s return will help Van Gaal to cover Young’s absence. On young’s injury, Van Gaal said, “I’m not a doctor so we have to wait for tomorrow or the day after.