Louis Van Gaal’s up-and-down time at Manchester United continues

Louis Van Gaal’s up-and-down time at Manchester United continued after the recent high created by the victory over Liverpool was brought down by the 2-1 defeat against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

United return to this competition after a long absence was marked by this tough away match, which would see reunions for a number of United members. Van Gaal was returning to play against his former club while this was also the case with Memphis Depay. After taking the lead through a fine goal by the latter, United conceded twice and lost their first Champions League group match.

This was a great setback for the Dutch manager, who argued that United deserved better for the number of chances that they created in the 90 minutes. The match also witnessed a horrible injury to United left back Luke Shaw, who has suffered a double fracture following a challenge from a PSV defender. Despite being at home, PSV Eindhoven had only 33% possession and were completely outclassed in terms of the ball retention ability. However, they were far more clinical with their chances and this helped them get a major boost ahead of the next five games. Wolfsburg and CSKA Moscow are the other opponents in the group.

“We have dominated every game we have played this season and in every game we have been the better team. We had most of the chances and now we have lost. It was a very bad start and it was not necessary,” said Van Gaal. “We missed his cutting edge in the final third. In the first half they scored from the only chance they had and then they punished us on the break. We have got a lot to learn,” said defender Chris Smalling, who himself came close to scoring with a fine effort.