Van Gaal criticises Schweinsteiger's performance in friendly

The Germany international, signed from Bayern Munich earlier this summer, has been criticised by the Dutchman for his display against the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday


Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has criticised the performance of Bastian Schweinsteiger against San Jose Earthquakes after the summer signing from Bayern Munich played 45 minutes in the friendly.

Van Gaal’s men claimed a 3-1 win in the International Champions Cup clash on Tuesday, thanks to goals from Juan Mata, Memphis Depay and Andreas Pereira.

Schweinsteiger, signed for a reported £12 million from Bayern, was introduced from the bench at half-time at the California Memorial Stadim but Van Gaal was unimpressed with his 10 half-time substitutions, including the World Cup winner.

“He was also bad. There was one highlight I think and that was Pereira,” the Dutchman said.

“Players can play bad and certainly when you have only three days or six days training sessions in your legs and you have to play 45 minutes.

“Everybody can say that it’s easy to step in but it is not easy. I think the first match he played very well, and now he played bad. But that is also a process and certainly when you only have one week of training.”

Van Gaal was also critical of the manner in which United played in the second half of the game, insisting that his players gave the ball away too easily, despite having already built up a healthy lead.

“The first half I was satisfied. The players want and have performed what we want,” he added.

“The defensive organisation [was good] and they have created a lot of chances – 10 and they scored two goals, so I was satisfied. It can always be better, but I was satisfied.

“In the second half, I think we played very badly, a lot of ball losses, unnecessary, and the only highlight was the goal from Pereira and I think we don’t give many chances away but we give possibilities away.

“It was a threat always and that was not necessary. Our positions in midfield were not so good as in the first half.”

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