Darren Fletcher is accidentally named in Manchester United’s squad against Cambridge… http://t.co/zDFJSiFd3e pic.twitter.com/wty8SjEgqg
— The Sun – Football (@TheSunFootball) February 4, 2015
Louis van Gaal has done something that might really sound shocking and funny to a lot of people around the footballing world. It’s hard to believe that such a thing can actually happen at such a big club as Manchester United, but as the saying goes “anything is possible in football”. It is being reported that Darren Fletcher did indeed leave the club on transfer deadline day, but it seems nobody told Louis van Gaal about it.
The Manchester United boss had named United’s oldest serving player in the recent past and the departed Scot in his FA Cup squad to face Cambridge at Old Trafford on Tuesday before realizing his error and finally replacing him with Ashley Young. The report suggested that someone spotted Van Gaal’s error on the match-day team-sheet with Young’s name scribbled at the bottom of the subs list, as the rectification was made, just in time.
Fletcher left United for West Brom on transfer deadline day on a free transfer after the Dutch manager did not offer him much game time, at Old Trafford. The experienced midfielder revealed that the club authorities and staff wanted him to stay and reject the move, so the switch shouldn’t have been a surprise to the Dutch boss. In an interview when asked about his move, Fletcher said,
“I spoke to the manager about not playing as much as I wanted and the club didn’t really want me to go but they respected my wishes.”
“The manager and Ed Woodward have been fantastic. I cannot speak highly enough of them.”
“I have great respect for them and how they have dealt with this. They helped me as much as possible and made the move possible. I have to thank them for being professional and catering for my wishes.”
United did easily win the game, past League Two Cambridge at home in the replay to set up a fifth round tie against Preston. Van Gaal has already hinted that he is desperate to win the FA Cup already and would hope that such incidents do not distract his side in the future.