Van Gaal reads United riot act

Coach berates side despite 3-1 win over San Jose

[caption id="attachment_92984" align="alignright" width="197"] MEMPHIS DEPAY[/caption]

LOUIS van Gaal criticised new signing Bastian Schweinsteiger and his Manchester United teammates after the Premier League giants eased to a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes yesterday.

United recorded a second straight victory on their tour of the United States and never really looked troubled against their mid-table opponents from Major League Soccer.

Juan Mata and man-of-the-match Memphis Depay scored first half goals for United before Brazilian youngster, Andreas Pereira, added a third in the second half.

But United boss Van Gaal was furious at the performance of his team after the break when he made 10 changes – including the introduction of Schweinsteiger.

“The first half I was satisfied -- the players have performed what we wanted in the defensive organisation, and they have created a lot of chances, 10, and they scored two goals so I was satisfied,” Van Gaal said.

“But the second half I thought we played very badly -- a lot of ball losses, very unnecessary. The only highlight was the goal from Pereira.

“We didn’t give many chances away but we gave possibilities away.

“It was a threat always and that was not necessary.

“Our positions in midfield were not as good as in the first half.”

Asked to assess the performance of new signing Schweinsteiger, van Gaal did not mince his words.

“He was also bad,” the Dutchman said, warning it would take time for the German World Cup-winner to settle in at United after arriving from Bayern Munich.

United will play European champions Barcelona, in their match of the International Champions Cup exhibition tournament on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers. – AFP