Having won their past four games, and entering the day at the very top of the Premier League table, no one could have envisioned Manchester United having such a dreadful performance. The Emirates is a very tough place to play, so a loss or draw was certainly not expected. However, a disaster like this is never acceptable.
United Manager Louis van Gaal never saw this coming. (Why would anyone have seen this coming?)
“I didn’t expect that. I was surprised. No performing our game plan, no will to win,” Van Gaal said after United lost 3-0 at Arsenal.
“We were top of the league so I was surprised — maybe ‘amazed’ is a better word. When you give a team like Arsenal so much space to play football, you know you shall lose.”
“We have prepared ourselves in that way, to play more compact but not to lose our aggression. It was amazing for me and very disappointing.”
Van Gaal saw his side fall behind 2-0 in the first seven minutes, and 3-0 in the first 20. There was no coming all the way back after that. Before getting routed in North London, and falling to third place, this was the first time United had reached first place under the Dutchman.
“I don’t know why it turned out like that. Normally I say things how I see them in the game. The players are in an emotional moment because we have lost,” Van Gaal added. (You can watch video of his entire post-match interview here at this link)
“We have lost in a way you cannot lose when you are top of the league. You cannot start like that. The worst thing is everyone is flying away [for internationals]. So I cannot build a new situation to build up confidence.”
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