EPL Preview: United Handed Heaviest Defeat; City Thrash Villa

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ROONEYIt was a humilating loss for Manchester United over the weekend when they suffered a 3-0 loss to Everton at the Goodison Stadium.

Manchester United’s Manager Louis van Gaal  questioned his side’s motivation after they were handed their highest defeat this season by Everton.

The Red Devils would have climbed to second in the Premier League with victory but fell behind to James McCarthy’s fourth-minute goal and struggled to find a way back into the match thereafter. The loss sets United fourth place on the table; two points behind City and Arsenal and 12 points behind Chelsea.

Van Gaal’s men dominated possession throughout but lacked a cutting edge in the final third and the Dutchman criticised his players for their lack of intensity as they suffered back-to-back Barclays Premier League defeats for the first time under his management.

And Van Gaal revealed that his coaching staff were aware that something was not right in the pre-match warm-up but, by then, it was too late to solve the issue.

“It is the first time that I have seen that our motivation, inspiration and aggression was not as high as the opponent,” he told reporters. “In sport, you shall always be compared to your opponent and that was the reason.

“I had already the feeling and my colleagues, Ryan Giggs and Albert [Stuivenberg], had the feeling because the warm-up was not as good as usual.

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“Then you say that, in the last minutes before the game, you hope you can recover and stimulate your players but then it is too late.

“You have to prepare for the match two or three days before and Everton did that and they won because of that.”

He added: “When you have a lot of time on the ball, you can also lose the ball easily and then you have to be very sharp in the duels. When you see the goal after four minutes, three duels in a row we lost and that is an example.

“In the first half we created a lot of chances – five, I think – but we never scored. When you see the shots on the goal it is also without conviction. That is not good.”

“You cannot analyse exactly what is the reason. That is very difficult,” he continued. “I think you only can notice that and you can see that and learn from it because Everton were highly motivated and you have seen that.

“The training sessions were alright. It is also a process because we are playing so well in the last six or seven games that also players think ‘OK, it shall come’, but it shall not come.

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“You need the inspiration and the motivation and the aggression to win the second balls and to fight to the end. Many times I have said they have fought to the end and a Manager cannot demand more.

“I am Manager of Manchester United and the players shall use my words and think and communicate with each other. I hope it shall not happen again but, as a coach, I know it shall happen again.”

With four more games to go before end of season, Manchester United will have to fight by ensuring they win all their games if they want to have a chance of qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champion’s League.

Man Utd’s next BPL fixtures are:
2 May: West Brom (H)
9 May: Crystal Palace (A)
17 May: Arsenal (H)
24 May: Hull (A)

Meanwhile Chelsea held Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium and that edged Jose Mourinho’s side closer to the title by maintaining their 10 points lead with both teams having a game at hand.

Manchester City also did come through as they thrashed Aston Villa by a 5-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.