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Louis van Gaal believes there is quality in his Manchester United squad, despite his concerns
Louis van Gaal believes there is quality in his Manchester United squad, despite his concerns about a lack of balance. Photograph: Shaun Clark/Corbis Photograph: Shaun Clark/ Shaun Clark/Corbis
Louis van Gaal believes there is quality in his Manchester United squad, despite his concerns about a lack of balance. Photograph: Shaun Clark/Corbis Photograph: Shaun Clark/ Shaun Clark/Corbis

Louis van Gaal: I have inherited a broken Manchester United squad

This article is more than 9 years old
Set-up from reign of David Moyes ‘lacks balance’
‘Following Sir Alex Ferguson would not have been harder’

Louis van Gaal has said he inherited a “broken squad” at Manchester United from David Moyes. The manager was referring to what he regards as its lack of balance.

The Dutchman, asked whether following Sir Alex Ferguson would have been harder than taking over from Moyes, replied: “No. I don’t agree. I had to follow Bobby Robson at Barcelona the year after he won three titles and there wasn’t a problem [Van Gaal won the league that year].

“When there is success you have a very good squad and now I have to follow and the squad was broken I think.

“When you look at the squad, there is quality. There is [Wayne] Rooney, [Robin] van Persie, [Javier] Hernández, [Danny] Welbeck but you also see Juan Mata, [Marouane] Fellaini and you see [Ander] Herrera. There are a lot of players that can play in the same position.

“It is not in balance. It’s more difficult to succeed in a difficult situation than in a fantastic situation.”

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