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LIVE: Van Gaal updates, Midtjylland reaction

Louis van Gaal fighting for Manchester United future after humiliating defeat at FC Midtjylland angers fans and media

 The Dutchman already knows he is on shaky ground and probably suspects that, regardless of how he does between now and the end of the season, he is going to be replaced in the summer. There has been too much talk about Jose Mourinho arriving in the summer for it to be based on rumour alone.
Van Gaal, though, is a proud and stubborn man and, as he admitted before the game here in Denmark, he came to Manchester United to win silverware and the Europa League is certainly a competition this team should be good enough to win on paper.

For all of the criticism he has taken, some of it deserved and some of it over the top, United were in a strong position to move into the latter stages of two cup competitions at the start of this week.
The defeat here, though, is undoubtedly another huge setback and further erodes whatever faith remains in the team’s manager.

United are making far too many basic errors to have serious trophy-winning aspirations and both of Midtjylland’s goals came from sloppy United play.

Van Gaal cannot do much about poor passes from his captain, deep in his own half, or the fact one of his most creative players, Juan Mata, lost the ball on the edge of his own area, but he will take the blame anyway.
United may well still progress in the Europa League given they return to England with an away goal , but the defeat did nothing to help van Gaal argue he should still be in charge next season.
United's travelling support made their feelings clear singing "we are f****** s***" loudly and for some time in the second half

What was the reaction to United's defeat?

Louis van Gaal:
Louis van Gaal claimed Manchester United are victims of Murphy’s Law following their Europa League defeat to FC Midtjylland and admitted the supporters who turned on their team in Denmark were justified.

United supporters chanted “we are f****** s***” in the second half as they struggled to contain a side that had not played a competitive game for two months.
Van Gaal did not try to argue with them, but pointed to the injury sustained by goalkeeper David De Gea in the warm up to as evidence of the adage, everything that could go wrong, is going wrong for him as manager at the moment.

“The fans can criticise,” said van Gaal, when asked about the derogatory chants from the travelling supporters. “They can do that, because when you see the second half, maybe they are right.
“We have to improve and then the fans shall support us again. We have seen that in the 18 months I am here.
“They are disappointed like we are. I’m very grateful for the fans who supported us, but we wanted to win and we have to win at Old Trafford and then we are in the next round.

“We have to do it and we still have a chance to do it, but it’s not going to be easy. This is football sometimes.”

The injury to De Gea has not been assessed yet and his replacement, Sergio Romero, played well in his first game senior game since November, but van Gaal believes it sums up his bad luck.
“I think it’s the law of Murphy,” said. “When you have a list of 13 injured players and a few minutes before the game, we can add another player to the list, then it is difficult to cope with such a list of injured players.

“Nevertheless, after 10-15 minutes, we controlled the match and scored a goal, but we also gave a goal away one minute before half-time. That’s a difficult time to concede a goal.
“In the second half, I have to say that Midtjylland were winning every ball, and that is very disappointing.
“Now, I cannot answer why, because we have to speak about that why our players were not capable to win these second balls and keep the ball in our possession.
“We had a lot of unnecessary losses of the ball. Now I can only analyse that Midtjylland were winning these second balls. You could describe it as they wanted to win them more, but I don’t think our attitude was the problem.”

Michael Carrick:

"It's just not good enough. It's got to be a lot better.
"I think we caused a lot of our own problems but yeh all in all we've scored a good goal and they've... it's just not good enough. We should have won that.
"The only positive is that we can put it right. Of course it's not going to be easy but yeh we've given ourselves a tougher job than we'd have hoped.
"We want to go further in this competition and get some belief and momentum back and get back to winning games."

The fans:
Manchester United have plumbed new depths with their dismal defeat at FC Midtjylland, according to a prominent supporters' organisation.

Sean Bones, vice-chairman of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, said: "I have never heard our supporters sing songs like that, in all the games I have been to.
"I have been in the 70s when we got relegated, but even though we got relegated you felt the players were giving 100 per cent. To hear those songs is very disappointing but it is a reflection of how far we have fallen.

"It was a new low in terms of performances. I think the players need to take a lot of responsibility for the performance and show some pride when they wear the United shirt.

"I think a lot of supporters feel the problems at United are permeating down from the Glazer family at the very top of the club. Really the Glazer family need to address the situation and correct it.
"We are lacking consistency. The quality of the squad isn't fit for purpose and it is something the Glazer family need to address immediately before the situation deteriorates any further."
Paul Onuachu, Midtjylland goalscorer:
"We're going to keep our best for Old Trafford. Hopefully we'll win, you just have to be positive. Tonight is a dream come true. We gave our best and got the result.

"I'm looking forward to the return leg and see how it goes. Hopefully we can get something in Old Trafford and look forward to the future.

"We gave it all against Man United, we hope it continues and we stick to the plan. I expected more from them. We gave them what they didn't expect."

Trevor Francis:

"I still expect them to go through but nothing's easy for Manchester United. And first they have to get Shrewsbury. And once again that should be a formality - you expect United to beat Shrewsbury - but nothing is a formalty about Manchester United at the moment."
Stuart Mathieson, Manchester Evening News:
"Manchester United owners the Glazers and executive vice chairman Ed Woodward cannot let this slow lingering death drag on any longer.
"Louis van Gaal's credibility as Manchester United manager is in tatters.
"An admirable personal past CV is in ruins and United's own reputation is crumbling frighteningly before the Old Trafford hierarchy's eyes."

What the bookies say

Louis van Gaal is, for the first time, odds on to have left Manchester United before the end of the Premier League season, according to William Hill. He is 4/6 to have gone and 11/10 to still be there. He is 1/6 to have gone by the start of next season. "United have so far been patient with LVG but for the first time, we think he is more likely to have left the club by the end of the season than to still be there," said William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly.
Despite their defeat, Manchester United are 2/5 to qualify for the next stage of the Europa League.

How did Man Utd lose the game?

Manchester United made far too many basic errors, giving the ball away in stupid positions on the edge of their own area for both of the Danish side’s goals, to win away from home in Europe - even if this is only the Europa League.

FC Midtjylland have already knocked Southampton out of this competition and they have their eyes on an even bigger scalp now. United should have taken control of the tie after Memphis Depay had given them the lead midway through the first half, but they allowed their hosts back into it and after missing chances at the start of the second half, they were clinging on at the end.

• Midtjylland vs Man Utd, as it happened

Injuries meant Louis van Gaal had to field a makeshift backline, with Paddy McNair at centre back and Donald Love starting at right-back, after only making his first team debut against Sunderland last weekend.

• Manchester United: An injured XI
Neither of them had bad games, but there was a general uneasiness about United’s defensive play. Not that they were helped by two mistakes from two of the most experienced players on the pitch.
Captain Michael Carrick’s poor pass allowed Pione Sisto to score the Danish side’s first goal, just before half-time, and Juan Mata lost the ball on the edge of his own area to Paul Onuacha, who swept in the second.
United hit the crossbar through Jesse Lingard, but all in all, this was another unconvincing performance after the defeat at the Stadium of Light last weekend. Unless they play a lot better next week at Old Trafford, they will go out of the Europa League, even more embarrassingly than they exited the Champions League.

How did Anthony Martial do as a central striker?

There is a probably a very good reason van Gaal has mainly played Martial in wide areas because that seems to be where he does his best work. At the moment, the young Frenchman does not look like a centre-forward in the traditional sense. He does not seem comfortable playing on the shoulder of the last defender or with his back to goal and he lacks the anticipation of a poacher in the Andy Cole mould.

Instead, he thrives when he collects the ball out wide, running at the defenders and his quick feet were once again on show again here.

Was possibly unlucky not to earn a penalty when his dribbling skills brought a rash challenge from Kian Hansenn inside the area, but when crosses were delivered, Martial lacked either the bravery – taking his eye off the ball as he contested a header six yards when Danny Blind’s cross which could have been converted – or the instinct to know where the balls is likely to drop.

The raw materials are there for Martial to turn into an excellent centre-forward and he will score goals, wherever he plays, but he is not prolific at this stage in his career because he is not a natural centre forward.

United will miss Wayne Rooney through the middle while he is injured unless Martial learns the art quickly.

Who was the man of the match?

Sergio Romero
The mantra of a second choice goalkeeper is “always be prepared” and Sergio Romero was everything he needed to be in Denmark. The Argentinian would have been worrying about how he was going to stay warm on the bench when David De Gea hurt his ankle before kick-off, but he stepped up superbly, making two excellent saves, firstly keeping out Kian Hansen’s header at a corner and then to claw another header from Paul Onuachu away from the top corner.

What United must work on

Everybody knows Manchester United have a lot of injuries and everybody understands that makes it difficult for a manager, but there were far too many mistakes here. At times, they were made to panic by the fact their opponents have players who do unpredictable things.

However, if they stop taking risks so close to their own goal, they can still progress. Midtjylland are a good side, but they must not be allowed to gain confidence in the return leg in the same way they did in the second half here.

What's coming up? 

Louis van Gaal: Manchester United boss says loss down to bad luck


'Man Utd in difficult situation'

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal put his side's 2-1 defeat by FC Midtjylland down to Murphy's law.

Memphis Depay put the visitors ahead in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie, but Pione Sisto and Paul Onuachu gave the hosts victory.

 Van Gaal, already without 13 players, lost David de Gea during the warm-up and used an adage that means anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

 "It is the law of Murphy I think," the Dutchman told BT Sport.
"A lot of things are happening in the heads of the players and in the first 10 or 15 minutes we were not so good."

 Van Gaal felt his side improved as the first half went on and could have scored more goals.
But he added: "In the second half we didn't win any duels, any second balls. You cannot afford a second goal, but we could have scored also.

 "Jesse Lingard had two remarkable chances."

'Nothing to do with attitude'

At the end of the game, United fans in the MCH Arena made it clear they were not impressed with their side's display.
Van Gaal accepted the second-half performance was not good enough, but defended the attitude of his players.

Manchester United have lost their past two games - against Sunderland and FC Midtjylland
"The fans can criticise," he said. "They can do it because when you see the second half, maybe they are right. We have to improve and then the fans shall support us again.
"All the players want to perform in an excellent way. It is not a case of attitude. We were not winning the second balls - that is my analysis."

What now for Van Gaal?

United's next game sees them face League One side Shrewsbury in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday night at New Meadow, looking to avoid an upset and a third consecutive defeat in all competitions.

The Manchester Evening News called for Van Gaal to be sacked immediately in an article written by their United reporter Stuart Mathieson.

 "I wrote 'enough is enough' after the dire display against Southampton less than a month ago believing it couldn't get any worse and that it shouldn't be allowed to," he wrote.
"But then this came this Joke in Jutland."

"Put Van Gaal and United fans out of their misery NOW," wrote Mathieson
Chief football writer for the Times, Henry Winter, told BBC Radio 5 live that the performance was appalling.

"It's definitely tick-tock time," he said.

 "The press box there is very close to where the Manchester United power brokers were sitting. There was just a look of complete shock and horror on the face of Ed Woodward, the executive vice chairman, who will effectively be the person along with the Glazers who make the decision."

Former England captain Alan Shearer told BBC Radio 5 live that United have been "pretty awful to watch" this season.

 He added: "They're not very good, that's the problem - they haven't entertained their fans, which of course at that football club you have to do and Van Gaal hasn't.

 "The lack of leadership in that team is alarming - I know Rooney is in there and he missed out last night but there's no screaming and shouting at other team-mates to tell them what to do.
"With the injuries now with De Gea pulling out in the warm-up last night - Shrewsbury will be rubbing their hands together thinking they've got one hell of chance in the FA Cup on Monday."

De Gea set for scan

De Gea hobbled out of the warm-up with a knee problem, but Sergio Romero proved an able deputy - making several fine saves.

 Van Gaal was unable to say how long his first-choice goalkeeper would be out for.
He said: "We have to wait for a scan, then maybe we can say more but it was a big surprise."

Manchester United can form an entire starting XI from their injured players
Manchester United are reeling after a crushing defeat to Midtjylland in the Europa League last night.
And manager Louis van Gaal faces an uncertain future after the Reds season turned from bad to worse with a 2-1 defeat to the Danish minnows.
Calls for the manager to be dismissed as getting louder by the minute and fans who paid up to £71 to see their team humbled have been venting their fury.
Our chief Manchester United reporter Stuart Mathieson believes it is time for Van Gaal to go - and he is not alone.
We'll be live all day to bring you the latest developments.

United fans in Denmark

MOURINHO Key event

Inter owner on Mourinho

“He’s a great coach, he made history with Inter, but we have Mancini now who also wrote history with this club, achieving excellent results. I firmly believe he can revive the team,” Inter president Erick Thohir told Sky Italia.
“Look what’s already changed compared to Inter last year, though of course we need more time. That said, that shouldn’t be an excuse.”
INJURY NEWS Tweet

De Gea update

WOODWARD Tweet

Open letter to Woodward

MOURINHO Tweet

'Mourinho could happen sooner'

It needs to.
EUROPA LEAGUE Key event

Smalling apologises to fans

“We need to start rewarding these fans who travel this far and give us great support throughout the whole game. I think we all know that it wasn’t good enough.”
CREARAND Tweet

Paddy's birthday message

Imagine his reaction was more profane away from the keyboard.
UNITED FANS

Viva Ronaldo > We're f*****g s**t

Re-live and rejoice.
TRANSFERS Tweet

Ibra to United?

He’d liven things up.
VAN GAAL Tweet

'Bad beyond description'

Completely true.
UNITED Tweet

Reds return to Manchester

HOMER

Homer Simpson on United

MEMPHIS Tweet

Memphis' malaise

VAN GAAl Tweet

'Out of his depth'

VAN GAAL Tweet

Weekend woe

Supporters’ mood might worsen when they read what more he has to say at the weekend.
VAN GAAL Tweet

'Shambolic'

It’s the operative word.
EX-REDS Tweet

Falcao update

‘The Normal Injury’.
VAN GAAL Key event

'Van Gaal's United resemble Mike Bassett's England'

MOURINHO Tweet

'Mourinho agrees pre-contract agreement'

‘Deal close’, ‘done deal’ and now this. Nothing has been agreed.
VAN GAAL Tweet

United should have sacked him in December

It was clear his time was up then:
INJURIES

Herr Bastian in Dubai

Van Gaal has given Schweinsteiger a holiday and he is out in the Middle East watching girlfriend Ana Ivanovic at the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship.
Januzaj and Shaw honed their fitness in Dubai last year, so it’s likely to be a mix of business and pleasure for Schweinsteiger.
VAN GAAL Tweet

Have I Got News For You get in on the act

Very droll:
Video

Watch: FC Midtjylland celebrate Manchester United win with some impressive dressing room dancing

At least they had something to celebrate...
Watch: FC Midtjylland celebrate Manchester United win with some impressive dressing room dancing
Video loading
Click to play
NEWSPAPERS Tweet

Hold the back page

Proof newspapers matter more than some would like you to think:
UNITED

Steve Bruce on Murphy's law

“What’s that?” the Hull manager said.
UNITED Tweet

'Time for Giggs and Fergie to move on'

Suspect many will agree:

FA CUP Tweet 
LIVE: Van Gaal updates, Midtjylland reaction LIVE: Van Gaal updates, Midtjylland reaction Reviewed by Unknown on 23:14:00 Rating: 5

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