Memphis lights up Old Trafford when Man Utd & Van Gaal need him most

The Dutchman evoked memories of Wayne Rooney’s Champions League debut with a stunning double against Club Brugge on a night when the hosts were forced to come from behind

Manchester United were not expecting to have to come from behind in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying play-off against Club Brugge but that is the position in which they found themselves with barely eight minutes on the clock.

Michael Carrick’s inadvertent boot past Sergio Romero stunned Old Trafford, with memories of ordinary performances here under David Moyes and last season under Louis van Gaal flashing before the eyes of the stunned United fans in attendance.

The goal, which came courtesy of a Victor Vazquez free-kick further emboldened the Belgian club’s set of loyal supporters, who were comfortably outsinging their English counterparts before most of the home contingent had even taken their seats.

“Who the f*** are Man United?” they sang in word-perfect, if salty, English and it was going to take something rather special to subdue them. “Where the f*** are Man United?”, the home fans might have wondered at that point.

Step forward Memphis Depay; made, on this evidence, to supply both goals and electricity for Manchester United for many years to come.

Club Brugge were daring to dream of something more than the hiding they expected their side to take beforehand, but then Memphis demonstrated just why Van Gaal was willing to shell out some £25 million for his signature. He had scored goals for fun the Eredivisie for champions PSV Eindhoven last season, and doing it for one of the world’s biggest clubs came perfectly naturally to him on a night they needed someone to take command.

First, a close touch took him past the attention of a Brugge defender, before a calm side-step gave him all the space he needed to slot home past Sebastian Bruzzese for his first official United goal.

Memphis took flak for his inability to find the net against Aston Villa on Friday night from a relatively straightforward opportunity but dispelled any lingering doubts that Ed Woodward had been sold a pup not long after.

PSV fans might be well used to the sight of Memphis picking the ball up on the left side of the attack and finding the opposite corner with a shot. How sweet for United fans, though, that they were treated to one of his trademark breathtaking strikes so soon into his United career.

They had not seen a Champions League debut as good around these parts since Wayne Rooney hit a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in 2004. Now Memphis is the man leading his captain by example. Still, Rooney cannot get into the flow of games this season.

There was one moment in the second half when it all came together for the England man. His expert touch-off into the path of Depay deserved the finishing touch. As it was, the Netherlands international snatched at it and missed the chance to emulate Rooney with a debut hat-trick in this competition. No matter, there will be plenty of those in the red shirt.

There were a few hairy moments for United to endure, not least when a foul was called on Romero with the goal at the mercy of Obbi Oulare in the second half, but Memphis’s cross, nodded in by Marouane Fellaini deep into injury time, might now have sunk Club’s rebellion for good.

Let’s call this a coming out party for Memphis. Van Gaal cleared the striking decks at Old Trafford this summer with the forcible removals of Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao. A lot will depend on those broad shoulders of Memphis should Rooney’s toils continue.

He did all which was asked of him and more in his first big test. Here is a self-confident, self-confessed “dream chaser” who thinks it an inevitability that he has ended up at a club as important as this one. For a club seeking rediscover their place at the top of the natural order, such swagger is certainly welcome.

Man Utd dropped to Cambridge’s level, fumes Van Gaal

The Red Devils manager lamented that his side “made the same error as against Yeovil and QPR” by being lured into playing the game that their opponents wanted

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is frustrated that his side played so far under their potential as they drew 0-0 with Cambridge United in the FA Cup fourth round.

The Red Devils were held at bay in difficult conditions by the League Two side, with the Dutchman concerned that his players allowed themselves to drop to the hosts’ level rather than attacking the game as a squad of their stature, though arguing that “every aspect of the match is against us”.

“We made the same error as against Yeovil and QPR,” he fumed to reporters. “We played in the same style as the opponent and that we don’t have to do. That was our error.

“[In the] second half, we played much better. We played on the floor and that’s a different style. It was a pity we had to wait again until half-time but, in the second half, I was pleased.

“But we didn’t score and I have to give credit to this club, of course. Cambridge United played very well, very well organised with heart and they fought ’til the end but we could have scored, I think, and now we have an extra match.

“We’re still in the cup and that’s the most important thing. I’ve seen before the big clubs lose against small opponents. It’s because every aspect of the match is against us,” Van Gaal continued in trying to explain the stalemate.

“We have to come here. The pitch is not so good, that can influence that you play in another play style. The opponents are always giving a lot more than normal. Defending is always easier than attacking. You have seen the referee, it’s always the same. Everywhere I’ve coached these games, always the same.

“I know it’s very difficult to beat such an opponent in such circumstances. I said the same before Yeovil Town. We know everything is against us but you have to survive and I know also that attacking is much more difficult than defending.

“But in the first half we passed 45 minutes without doing what we have to do. Second half, okay, we could have scored, [Robin] van Persie could score, [Radamel] Falcao could score – but the goalkeeper was good.

LvG: Van Persie is not playing well.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says Robin van Persie is struggling for confidence in front of goal and admits the striker had “a very bad game” against Arsenal last weekend.

Van Persie only touched the ball 13 times against his former club, three of which were while taking corners, before Van Gaal replaced him with 18-year-old James Wilson for the last 15 minutes.

Indeed, in the whole of 2014, the Dutch striker has scored only eight goals in 21 Barclays Premier League games.

Van Gaal said: “I do think 13 is few for a striker. I want to improve that. You can count his touches on the ball but more important is how he is playing.

“It was a very bad game for him. That is why I changed him. When I change a player, it is not because he is the best player on the pitch. You are doing something wrong. I believe in the players. When I change them, normally, it is because they are doing something not good in their performance.

“When you pick up this match it is easy to put a question about 13 touches. Okay. But strikers do not touch the ball often. That is their profession.

“Now I have a surprise for you. I had an international striker, Mario Gomez. He touched the ball nine times during Bayern Munich matches in my time.”

Asked what Van Persie needs to do to get back to the level of being the best striker in England, the United boss added: “It is a question of confidence, or maybe scoring a wonderful goal at the right moment.

“You know how strikers are. They have to score goals. They feel like that. It is not that I am asking that. I have said they have to be an attacking point and help our team in the third and fourth phase. For me, it is not important who scores. The team has to score.”

Van Gaal also warned Van Persie that he will have to fight for his place as he prepares to welcome Radamel Falcao back to his squad after injury.

Falcao’s loan spell at Old Trafford has been disrupted by injuries, but Van Gaal is hopeful he will be in the squad for today’s visit of Hull.

Asked if Falcao’s return would increase the pressure on Van Persie, Van Gaal said: “Every player in my selection has to fight for his position and I shall always take the best of the players and it must also be suitable for the mix of players. So it is also an obligation of a player that he does that.”

Netherlands team could be sent into space

The craze surrounding Robin van Persie’s ‘flying’ header against Spain has inspired one Dutch startup to consider transporting the national side all the way into the cosmos

A Dutch company has announced that they could send the Netherlands team into outer space should they win the World Cup.

The Space Expedition Corporation (SXC), a Dutch startup that intends to offer voyages into space for tourism and research, said that they were inspired by the furore surrounding Robin van Persie’s airborne header against Spain.

“As a company of Dutch origin, we are of course very proud of the achievements of the Oranje currently in Brazil,” said co-founder Michiel Mol to AD.

“Robin van Persie’s goal, and all the headlines about ‘The Flying Dutchman’ have brought us the idea to do something extra.

“The whole selection of 23 players and of course Louis van Gaal, we will try to literally lift them to a higher level; 103 kilometres [into space].”

SXC is expected to offer their first commercial journeys into space later in 2015, with the Oranje voyage not expected to take place until at least 2016.