Lift-off at last for Van Gaal’s Reds

Date published: 16 September 2014


LOUIS van Gaal has told his Manchester United players there’s plenty of room for improvement - despite their impressive 4–0 win over QPR.

Sixty days after his appointment as United manager, Van Gaal finally earned his first competitive win thanks to goals from Angel di Maria, Ander Herrera, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata.

Van Gaal’s new–look side ran Rio Ferdinand and his QPR team–mates ragged all afternoon, but the United boss insists there is yet more to come from his squad, which was only completed last Monday.

‘The result is fantastic, but I think we can do much better,” Van Gaal said.

“I said (before the match): ‘let’s make a new start today’.

Van Gaal’s decision to ditch his five–man defence for a 4–4–2 diamond paid off as Blind performed superbly as a deep–lying midfielder on debut.

Herrera and Di Maria set the tempo just further up the field while Rooney, Robin van Persie and Mata formed an impressive attacking triumvirate up front.