Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has slammed his side’s performance in the 3-0 loss at Emirates, accusing his players of lacking the will to fight.
Manchester United went in the Arsenal FC clash on top of the table, but, were thrashed 3-0 with Alexis Sanchez (2) and Mesut Ozil scoring inside the first twenty minutes to completely dismantle the side.
The result meant, both, Manchester City and Arsenal FC leapfrogged United in the table.
Van Gaal slams team performance
Manager Louis van Gaal expressed his shock at the inability of his players to implement his game-plan and the total lack of will to win they showed in the game.
Speaking in the after-math of the the defeat, Van Gaal was quoted saying by the Guardian: a I was surprised a not performing to our gameplan, not the will to win. I have not seen that, when you are top of the league [as United were at the beginning of the weekend]. So I was surprised, amazed a maybe that is a better word.
a When you give a team like Arsenal so much space to play football, then you know you will lose. We prepared ourselves to play more compact and not losing our aggression, so it was amazing for me. I am very disappointed.a
Louis Van Gaal shocked as Manchester United beaten by Arsenal. By @DaveHytner . http://t.co/DvS8e2PHNn (Photo: Getty) pic.twitter.com/ZCXfNLWbxx
a Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) October 4, 2015
Van Gaal questions title credentials of his players
Louis van Gaal had earlier spoken about the title credentials of his side. However, the Dutch manager was furious in the manner of the loss and warned his players that they cannot lose the game in the manner they did for a side on top of the table.
He said: a They were not aggressive. And you have to do it not only with the two in midfield but as a team. You have to be more compact. You need aggression at the moment you have a duel and Arsenal were much more aggressive.a
a I dona t know why it happened,a Van Gaal said. a I put the question at half-time and after the match. It is difficult for the players to answer at the moment, because they are all in an emotional moment. We have lost, and lost in a way that you cannot lose when you are top of the league.