Louis Van Gaal felt that his team played much better than the 0-0 score with Cambridge United suggested. Manchester United were taking on a team much lower in the league rankings than them, which had placed them as huge favourites to secure a victory.
However, United did not create much clear-cut opportunities during the 90 minutes and could only draw against a team that was playing in non-league football not too long ago. Cambridge will be playing at Old Trafford for the replay and this will bring huge revenues to the club.
Van Gaal went with a very strong line-up of players although the likes of Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata were rested. Despite this, United were expected to comfortably get into the fifth round of the FA Cup since they had players like Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria, two world-class names who could combined cost more than £ 100 million.
After the match, Van Gaal blamed a number of aspects like a poor pitch and the referee giving decisions against them. These excuses are unlikely to go well with other United faithful, who have not seen much of an improvement from the David Moyes era. United may be in the top four but only just a few points about the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham, and Liverpool.
“Every aspect of a match is against us. We have to come here, the pitch isn’t so good, that can influence that you can play in another style. The opponents always give a lot more than they normally give and defending is always easier than attacking. Then you have seen the referee – it’s always the same. Everywhere I have coached these games, and I have coached them with other clubs, it’s always the same. It was a pity we had to wait until half-time,” said Van Gaal.