Manchester United Manager Louis van Gaal revealed why he dropped both winger Memphis Depay and midfielder Daley Blind from the starting line-up versus Everton on Saturday. Both players had been staples in the starting XI this season, and their relegation to the bench shocked most football observers.
The very versatile Blind has a couple man of the match awards to his credit, and he’s consistently been one of the team’s most dependable performers this season. Saturday marked the first occasion that he wasn’t in the starting XI.
Depay has struggled at times with his adjustment from the Dutch Eredivisie to the Premier League, but he’s also shown plenty of potential. At times, he’s shown glimpses of his brilliant promise. However, both weren’t a part of United’s resounding 3-0 victory over the Toffees, quite possibly the team’s most commanding effort of the season.
Van Gaal explained their demotion: “[My selection] is dependable on the game plan, it is dependable on the qualities of the opponents, which players I want to select for the lineup and also dependable on the defeat of the Dutch team.”
So you there go, blame the failure of the Dutch national team, which Van Gaal was manager of right before he took the United gig. On a side note, Depay has taken a lot of heat from the media over his fashion sense. That led to an an incident where Depay refused to answer questions from the media.
While Depay might be a target of the media, due to his wardrobe, he is excessively popular with fans. His #7 shirt is currently the third best seller in the world, and tops among all Premier League players.
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