Making no apologies for his team’s play, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has reached out to supporters after his team’s 4-0 loss at Milton Keynes, asking Red Devils’ fans to maintain their belief in a project still in its formative stages.
That belief was tested Tuesday night when United were bounced out of the League Cup 4-0 at MK Dons. Two goals each from William Grigg and Benik Afobe saw United to the club’s earliest exit in 19 years, with a series of costly mistakes allowing the third-tier team to embarrass their more renown guests.
“It was a matter of making errors at wrong moments,” van Gaal said to MUTV. “When you see the goals against us, I believe there were big errors in the build-ups. When you make errors like that, you give the match away.”
United gave away the first goal after a Jonny Evans error, one that helped the home side take its lead against the run of play. Despite United’s superiority in many phases of the game, carelessness in possession allowed the Dons to blow the game open, with the games third and fourth goals highlighting United’s deficiencies building play.
After the match, van Gaal was aware of what the loss will mean to the club’s support.
“It’s difficult for the fans, I know that,” the first-year boss explained, “but they have to believe in our philosophy. At the end, they can judge, but not now. I hope they shall maintain their confidence in the club and in our philosophy because that philosophy takes time. We are building up a team which you can’t make in one month, even one year.”
Even one year? That’s not good news for United fans who are expecting a return to Champions League.
After today’s loss, that possibility remains a long way off, though with Ángel Di María signed and more talent potentially arriving this window, United may look markedly different in one week’s time.
Right now, however, the team has hit a low, and while fans are smart enough to know three games are not enough to pass judgment, that doesn’t make “Milton Keynes 4, Manchester United 0” easier to swallow.
