Van Gaal angry with United

Manchester United 3 Roma 2

Louis van Gaal was disappointed with Manchester United’s second-half performance despite beating Roma 3-2 in a friendly on Saturday night.

A first-half brace from Wayne Rooney and a delightful lob from Juan Mata gave United a 3-0 lead before the break but Miralem Pjanic’s goal from inside his own half and a late Francesco Totti penalty gave the Red Devils a scare late on.

Van Gaal made 10 changes after the break which disrupted the flow of the game but the former Netherlands manager was angry at his side’s failure to see out the game in a professional fashion.

He said: “I think we don’t play a good match.

“All my good passers failed today. I think it was because of the height and the air.

“Mata, (Ander) Herrera and (Shinji) Kagawa, these are the best passers (at the club), and everything went wrong.

“In the second half we forgot to keep the ball.

“When you are 3-0 ahead the only thing you have to do is keep the ball in possession and the opponent has to run and run and run.

“We forgot to do that. We brought Roma by ourselves back into the match so I am pleased we have won, but it was not good.”

And he was also angry with Ben Amo’s failure to stop Pjanic’s goal. Asked if it was a mistake or a wonder goal, he cheekily replied: “What do you think?

“I am nearly 63. When the ball is flying in the air for four seconds, I think I run 50 metres.”

Van Gaal was also asked about Wilfried Zaha, who is the only player on tour to not feature so far. 

Rumours are circulating that the squad had an “optional” extra training session a few weeks ago back in Manchester, with the message being “you don’t have to come in but if you want to be taken seriously this season it would be wise to show up.”

Every player turned up except Zaha but the manager played down a falling out between the two.

“I have a lot of players in (his) position,” Van Gaal added.

“Our squad is not balanced.

“Maybe Zaha will be picked because he is working good and hard, and is doing all I require and demand. There is no problem (with him).”

Van Gaal and his squad fly to Washington DC on Sunday ahead of their next match in the International Champions Cup against Inter Milan, which takes place tomorrow.