One criticism that can never be levelled at Louis van Gaal is complacency. Jesse Lingard scored his first goal for Manchester United in the 2-0 win, his side are title contenders and they lead their Champions League group – but the manager still wants more.
In this pursuit of excellence Van Gaal is considering moving in the January transfer window to acquire the pace the squad lack and provide cover for Luke Shaw, who is a long-term absentee with a broken leg.
Lingard broke this game open for United, his second-half shot beating Boaz Myhill after the 22-year-old shifted his body to create the angle from a position to the left, 20 yards out. This was Lingard’s second successive start and seventh appearance of the season and there was no surprise in the goal after he was arguably the best performer in the midweek victory over CSKA Moscow.
Lingard, who operates out wide, has a trick and is fast. Not fast enough, though, for Van Gaal. “I have said already in my first year many times we need speed and creativity on the wings. You have seen that now we play with Jesse Lingard and he is not the most speedy winger in the world, and Juan Mata is also not the most speedy winger in the world,” said the Dutchman. “So we must first [address] that problem and then we can see how we play and how we are in balance with playing with speedy wingers.”
Mata scored United’s second from the penalty spot after the outstanding – again – Anthony Martial was brought down in the closing moments by Gareth McAuley, resulting in the defender being sent off.
“I can have no complaints with it,” said Tony Pulis, the West Bromwich Albion manager.
When Cameron Borthwick-Jackson replaced Marcos Rojo at left-back after 76 minutes the 18-year-old Mancunian became the 29th debutant under Van Gaal, who continues to display faith in youth. The manager is pragmatic, however, and that policy will not prevent purchases in January. “It [depends] on the rehabilitation of Luke Shaw – how long it will last,” he said. “It is also dependable on what I can buy. I want to buy a lot of players but not all the players I want are for sale, so there are a lot of factors in it.”
Of Borthwick-Jackson’s debut, Van Gaal said: “Now I have asked [the youth set-up] for a left full-back because I knew in advance that Marcos Rojo would have problems playing so many matches in a row. It is the way I lead this club. I don’t want a big selection because when you have a big selection it doesn’t give any chance to the young players.
“That is why I have sold a lot of players and have a lot out on loan. It means we only have a squad of 21 outfield players and three goalkeepers, so when there are injuries and illnesses I have to look at the youth allocation with my youth coaches Warren Joyce and Paul McGuinness.
“I can also see myself how they play in the second team or the under-19s and I have to decide which player. Of course, it is also a [matter] of the vacancies in the positions. Last time we had Axel Tuanzebe [on the bench at Palace] because Phil Jones was ill. As a manager I am well aware that it is much better to produce players from your own youth education, from your own culture, than to buy players from another culture or country.
“And I have provided a lot of examples in my managerial career of that. It is not a surprise for my board [of directors] because they know.”
Borthwick-Jackson became the eighth graduate of the United academy to be given a debut under Van Gaal, joining Lingard, Tyler Blackett, Reece James, Saidy Janko, Andreas Pereira, Paddy McNair and Tom Thorpe. The relative lack of English footballers in Premier League starting XIs means there may be a clamour for Lingard to be called up at some point by Roy Hodgson, despite his inexperience.
Van Gaal, however, dismissed this. “I would say it is much too early and we have to wait to see if he is consistent,” said the 64-year-old. “But I am very happy with his contribution up until now.”
With a win that broke a sequence this season of United twice losing the last game before an international break, this Van Gaal squad will surely only become better, with him driving it on.
Man of the match Anthony Martial (Manchester United)
