Van Gaal suspected United players were not right during warm-up
Louis van Gaal says he knew something was wrong with his Manchester United players by watching the warm-up before the 3-0 defeat at Everton.
James McCarthy gave Everton an early lead in the game at Goodison Park, capitalising on lackluster United defending, before goals from John Stones and Kevin Mirallas condemned Van Gaal's side to their second straight defeat.
United had chances to get back into the game, but for the second consecutive match,they could not get on the scoresheet, much to Van Gaal's frustration.
"You shall always be compared with your opponent in aggression and motivation and Everton really wanted to win this game, and I don't think we equalled it," said Van Gaal after losing 3-0.
"The fighting spirit of Everton was higher, and when they scored the first goal it became difficult for us.
"I had already the feeling and my colleagues [assistants] Ryan Giggs and Albert Stuivenberg had the feeling because the warm-up was not so good as usual.
"In the last minutes before the game you hope you can recover and stimulate your players but then it is too late.
"You have to prepare the match already two or three days before and Everton has done that and they have won because of that. In phases we played well, and created chances, but I did not see the belief that I have seen when we were behind in matches.
"We need that aggression and a little bit of luck.
"It is of concern that we have not scored for two games in a row."
McCarthy's goal particularly irked Van Gaal, as United committed too many men forward and were not forceful enough in the tackle.
"We lost three duels in a row, and that was the first goal," Van Gaal added.
"You cannot start a game like that. When you are 1-0 ahead, you can defend how Everton and Chelsea [United's last opponent] did.
"You play compact and have a lot of players behind the ball. In the second half, we didn't create as many chances. It is very important that you score a goal, and get belief from that."
