Van Gaal: Take miracle for Man Utd to win 2015 Premier League
After tasting defeat in the opening home game and battling to a draw at Sunderland today, Manchester United's new manager Louis van Gaal is quickly learning life in the Barclays Premier League is tough. He is also unimpressed with the inherited ammunition, and is now running hard to bolster the squad before the transfer window closes at the end of the month. His first big acquisition, Real Madrid and Argentina midfielder Angel de Maria, is set to be officially confirmed in the next few hours at a new UK record of £60m. But even with this new recruit, Van Gaal is trying to manage expectations of the club's demanding fans. – AH
It was also their first opening-day loss at home since 1972 and was enough to convince van Gaal that a successful title challenge would be unlikely.
"Would it be a miracle to win the league this season? I think so but it is also possible, always possible but it would be very difficult," van Gaal said.
"It is possible to win a title in the first year but it is very difficult.
"I think [the Man Utd owners] understand [the size of the task] or I would not have accepted the job.
"I have discussed everything, long discussions where I have shown myself as I am always open.
"It is why we discussed three years and not one year. We discussed the consequences of them hiring me. I told them from my experiences with my former clubs the start was difficult."
"When I got to Bayern Munich the selection was not stable. What we did was a miracle.
"The problem I have at United is this selection is not in balance. There are five number nines and six number 10s and so on. And we don't have defenders."