Louis van Gaal has warned his Manchester United players that they cannot afford a repeat of their “unacceptable” performance against Arsenal if they are serious about winning the Barclays Premier League title.
United face Everton at Goodison Park this afternoon with Van Gaal admitting that he still feels “awful” after the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal 13 days ago and that even the team’s chef, Mike Donnelly, took some of the blame.
Van Gaal has demanded United showcase their championship credentials with an immediate response against Everton, a game that will be of particular importance to Wayne Rooney, who has not scored away from home in the Premier League for almost a year and who has a dismal record against his former club.
“I have spoken a lot about it [the Arsenal defeat] with the players,” Van Gaal said. “I have shown images. These have been two busy days. We are always evaluating ourselves and we cannot accept it.
“Not ‘I cannot accept it’ — we cannot accept it. We can’t accept it from each other because we want to be the champion and then you have to behave like a champion.
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“It’s not only the players, it’s also all the members of the staff and also my cook, Mike, because he has a big influence in the atmosphere in the canteen. So a lot of people are always important in this.”
An avid United supporter, Donnelly has been United’s chef since 2006. Van Gaal explained last year how he had received a crash course from Donnelly in the importance of local “bragging rights” before a game against Liverpool at Anfield as well as “anything else he thinks I should know about Manchester United”.
The Times reported last week how United’s players had been dismayed that Van Gaal abandoned the counterattacking tactics that had worked so well in the past against Arsenal in favour of a pressing game and the Dutchman admitted that he had reassessed his own performance. “You have to learn and improve,” he said. “Before the international, in September, we also lost against Swansea City so these are awful weeks because you’re constantly thinking about how it happened.”
Rooney has scored just one goal in the past 23 league away matches, his last coming in a 2-1 win against Arsenal on November 22 last year, and he has found the net just twice in nine league games at Goodison Park since leaving Everton for United in 2004 and not once in any of the past six games there.
“I don’t know [why it is],” Van Gaal said. “That you have to ask Wayne, but I’m a manager who analyses opponents and gives him advice as to how we can disorganise Everton’s defence and then maybe he can score. That is what I’m doing, not only for Wayne but all the players.”