Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes that in a bizarre way his side going down to a 2-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain earlier today may be a good sign heading into the new season.
Two first half goals, a Luke Shaw own goal and a Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike, meant Manchester United failed in their bid to win all four pre-season friendlies on their tour of the United States, but manager Van Gaal is satisfied with the performance of his side.
“I am really satisfied about the performance”, said the Dutchman at the post-match press conference, via his club's site.
“Yeah, we lose, but maybe that is also good because last year we won everything [on tour] and then we lost the first match in the Premier League.
“Now the sequence is a little bit different. But I am not superstitious.”
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The 63-year-old has lamented the mistakes made by his players, pointing to the fine margins involved in matches against the top teams, and talked up the number of chances created by the Red Devils.
“In the first half we created more chances than Paris Saint-Germain.
“They only created chances with errors, personal errors, and you cannot fight against personal errors when you are playing at the top level.
“They can score out of these kinds of errors, and they can finish the game.
“You have seen in the second half when they played the ball wide and back, rather than up front. A top team can do that”, added Van Gaal.
With Manchester United’s tour coming to an end with the loss, Van Gaal is upbeat and satisfied with his players, stressing the importance of good performances over results in pre-season.
“But I have to say I have seen a lot of very good things from my team.
“So in the pre-season it is more about the performance than the result. I was rather satisfied.
“It is better when you win, of course”, he said.
The Old Trafford outfit will kick-off their new Premier League campaign at home against Tottenham Hotspur on the 8th of August.
