Manchester United’s raft of new signings instantly gelled with aplomb at Old Trafford on Sunday as Louis Van Gaal finally tasted victory as Red Devils manager.
Van Gaal has previously only overseen two defeats and two draws at the helm of United, but with Angel Di Maria, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao on his squad for the visit of QPR, fans were confident that they would finally get to see the Dutch coach be victorious.
Di Maria and Blind made the starting eleven, and it was the Argentinian who gave United the lead when his curling free-kick evaded everyone and then nestled into the far corner. Ander Herrera marked his return from injury with his first goal for United and then Wayne Rooney also snuck in a cheeky finish to make it 3-0 before half-time.
Juan Mata then collected an audacious Di Maria pass to make it 4-0 as the hour mark approached, before Falcao came on to make his debut as a United player but he failed to find the net. United will have confidence streaming throughout their team now after this impressive victory, but it should also be remembered that QPR were mightily poor.
After the game, Van Gaal made sure to thank his wife, whose birthday was on Sunday: “This is special because it is also the birthday of my wife. I have already given her a present but she said the biggest present shall be the victory. We give it to her.”
Van Gaal also told the BBC that he expects his team to play better though. “I think we can do much better. I said let’s make a new start. All the new players are playing. We have very intelligent players. The most important thing is not the system but the philosophy.”
He continued. “When you have a result of 4-0 then you can be happy as a coach but you always have points you can improve. I am very happy because of the result and the way we have played. We were very dominant and scored goals and kept a clean sheet. In ball possession I think we have lost too much the ball previously. We were more direct and that I like. Also, we have created a lot of chances, although we didn’t score enough of them. We have always to analyse what we have done. The result is fantastic but we can get much better. This is a good start.”
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