Louis van Gaal will demand his centre-backs communicate better to deal with West Ham United’s Andy Carroll and keep alive Manchester United’s “last chance of a title” in the FA Cup.
On Wednesday night the Dutchman’s side are at the Boleyn Ground for a quarter-final replay after drawing 1-1 with West Ham in the original game.
On Sunday Manchester United lost 3-0 at Tottenham Hotspur. The goals came in six second-half minutes – Van Gaal blamed them on bad communication between Chris Smalling and Daley Blind, his central defenders.
The manager is aware that Carroll scored a hat-trick in West Ham’s 3-3 draw with Arsenal on Saturday. “I have seen the Andy Carroll show,” Van Gaal said. “And against Spurs I think our problem was also the miscommunication of our central defenders. I hope that we improve our communication because this game is very important for us. It is the last chance of a title, so it is very important for the players, club, manager, fans.”
Van Gaal pointed to his team not having as much time to recover for Wednesday’s tie. “We have one day less than West Ham United,” he said. “That is also important. We have proved against Arsenal and Manchester City [earlier this season] that in spite of less days to recover we could beat them. I hope we shall recover very well. Also mentally, because this is also a blow of course [losing to Spurs] but everybody knows this is the last chance.”
Of Carroll, Van Gaal added: “He has special qualities. We have seen that in the match that he played on Saturday. It was against Arsenal and they have great central defenders but still he could do that. So we have to cope with Andy Carroll and not only Andy Carroll but with other players. They have a certain player named [Dimitri] Payet – he can also play. [Manuel] Lanzini can also play and score goals.
“On Sunday we had to cope with Harry Kane but also Christian Eriksen and Érik Lamela. It is always difficult to cope with players of that level.”
United’s defeat left them four points behind Manchester City in the race for a Champions League berth. With only six matches remaining Van Gaal’s side could miss out on a top-four place, so winning the Cup may be the sole way of having a successful season.
“I think the players of Manchester United have to cope with that pressure, they have always done it,” said the manager. “They know that every game in a cup is a match that you have to win. You must win or otherwise you are out of the cup. I think that also West Ham have that problem, so I don’t think it plays a role. Both teams have to cope with that. Both teams know that when you are not winning you are out of the cup and you don’t have any title.”
The winners of Wednesday’s match will face Everton in the semi-finals.