Louis van Gaal has accepted Marouane Fellaini needs to control himself better after the player was hit with a three-match suspension for elbowing Robert Huth, though the Manchester United manager insisted the midfielder’s reaction was a “normal, human one” as the Leicester defender was pulling his hair.
United do not intend to appeal the FA’s decision, even though the suspension puts Fellaini’s FA Cup final starting place in jeopardy, but Van Gaal noted the decision to hand Huth a similar ban means his side were in effect denied a penalty. “By also giving Huth three matches the FA are admitting it was a foul and therefore a penalty,” the Dutchman said.
“That is disappointing for us but there is nothing we can do if the referee did not see it. Of course Fellaini has to control himself but I think most people would react in a similar way to being grabbed by the hair. I don’t want to complain too much about it because it would sound disrespectful to Leicester. They deserved to win the title and I have every respect for their achievement.”
United travel to Norwich for the early kick-off on Saturday hoping to increase the pressure on Manchester City, who have a testing fixture against Arsenal on Sunday to follow their disappointing exit from the Champions League in the semi-finals. “It can be difficult to recover quickly from an important defeat but all teams are different,” Van Gaal said.
“Teams react in their own way. The only thing that concerns me now is what my team does. We have three games left and we have to win them all, beginning at Norwich. Two of the games are away from home and that is an area in which we need to improve; we haven’t done too badly at home this season though Norwich were one of the teams that beat us. When you look at how we have performed against the top five this season and then the bottom five it is not a good average. Some of the smaller teams have done us big damage.”
Norwich’s win at Old Trafford came just before Christmas, during the December barren run that cost United their top-four status and had Van Gaal hinting at resigning at Stoke on Boxing Day. The manager claimed on Thursday injuries were partly to blame for a slump in form that may yet cost him his job if United fail to secure Champions League qualification but agreed the time for excuses has run out.
“We now have the chance to at least take revenge on Norwich, and hopefully pick up the points we need,” he said. “Norwich are desperate for the points too, and it is always difficult to play against a team that is fighting for its life but we have to cope with that. There can be no excuses. This is a game we must win, and so is the next one at West Ham.”
