Manchester United scraped a 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday and gave themselves a big boost in the process.
With a vital three points they clung to the coat tails of the top four and are, rather amazingly, only 7 points off the pace.
With 16 games to go in a season with low points scored across the board, the Manchester United manager thinks that there is still chance of winning the league this season.
Sky Sports led with:
Louis van Gaal sets sights on title after Manchester United’s late Liverpool win
…and quoted the boss as saying:
“Today it was important because our competitors lost points and when the gap [at the top] is like this we can overturn that. That is what I’m thinking.”
And The BBC went with
Man Utd still in Premier League title race – Louis van Gaal
….and quoted Louis as saying:
“The gap is seven points. We can overcome that so that’s what I’m thinking about.”
Statistically, Manchester United can of course still take the league. There isn’t a runaway leader and no one team has been utterly convincing this season.
But Manchester United surely can’t even consider the title playing at this level?
Three points at Anfield shouldn’t be sniffed at but, for most of the game, Manchester United couldn’t string three passes together.
But for Rooney’s excellent finish (Manchester United’s first on target in the entire game) we would be talking about the future of Louis van Gaal once again.
Manchester United certainly had the desire, but lacked the quality that we have every right to expect from them given LvG’s time at the club and the money spent.
We feel that Van Gaal is clutching at straws if he thinks that Manchester United can overhaul the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City and win the title based on this performance.
It is however, an irrefutably good result and Wayne Rooney was full of beans after a match in which he scored his fifth goals in four games.
“Everyone knows the importance of this game – regardless of league positions, it is a massive football game and it is a great victory,”
