Manchester United’s van Gaal satisfied with FA Cup result

United eased past Shrewsbury to move on in the FA Cup

Manchester United dominated Shrewsbury 3-0 in the FA Cup fifth round, with goals from Chris Smalling, Juan Mata, and Jesse Lingard.

Manager Louis van Gaal must have been pleased overall with his team’s performance, particularly as it came in response to two successive defeats. The Red Devils easily dispatched the Shrews, maintaining the lion’s share of possession while keeping a clean sheet without their star goalkeeper David de Gea.

After the match, van Gaal shared his feelings about the match with MUTV:

"“I am satisfied. I have to say that the first 70 minutes we were controlling the game and won every second ball and played very good. We kept the ball also and scored goals – we could have scored more I think. After the 70 minutes, with 10 men [when Will Keane was injured], it was more difficult, but I have seen phases where we kept the ball very easily, so I was very pleased with the performance of the players.”"

Manchester United were in complete control of the match, though Shrewsbury didn’t put up much of a fight and two of the three goals were created from essentially nothing – reflective of the team’s inability to generate chances from their possession.

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On the second goal and questions of if it should have been disallowed, the manager referenced the prior Europa League match:

"“We have seen that Midtjylland was taking the free-kicks this way and before the match we asked the referees in Denmark if they allowed that and they said ‘yeah, we have to allow it.’ I think it is offside, but okay, they are admitting it is not. In my opinion it is in the rules that you cannot disturb the views of the goalkeeper, but then you are having referees that are saying ‘no, it is not like that’. So, we applied it and it was a goal – not bad!“"

It’s good to know the team was able to salvage something from the horrendous defeat in Denmark. You would think that a squad of Manchester United’s caliber and players of Mata’s and Memphis’s ability would be able to conjure up their own free kick styles, but apparently not. Regardless, the goal stood.

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Finally, on the next Midtjylland match and injuries, van Gaal spoke cautiously:

"“Yes, of course [it is a big game against Midtjylland], it is our chance to qualify [for the Champions League]. We have to win a lot of games then, but still it is a chance to qualify and that is why it is so important. We have to play continuously, so we don’t have any rest and you have to recover. We take things day-by-day, which is always the case in sport because you can win or lose.”“It is unbelievable because [in addition to the substitutes] I have taken [Cameron] Borthwick-Jackson off because he was injured. [Jesse] Lingard was also struggling at the end. I changed [Juan] Mata and [Anthony] Martial to give them rest and then the substitutes are more or less again injured, so it is unbelievable – it is the programme I think. I don’t know [about David De Gea], it is not so heavy but we have to wait and see when we can start him again.”"

The manager had better hope the injuries prove to be minor, particularly for Borthwick-Jackson and Lingard. In the first leg of the Europa League match, the Red Devils struggled as a result of the makeshift team of youth and senior players.

Next: Manchester United 3-0 Shrewsbury Report

Louis van Gaal should be pleased with Manchester United’s performance against Shrewsbury, but he should also already be preparing for the pivotal Europa League match against Midttjylland.