Football
John Brewin, ESPN FC 9y

Louis van Gaal defends Radamel Falcao performance in win at QPR

LONDON -- Louis Van Gaal said striker Radamel Falcao "did well" despite missing four chances in Manchester United's 2-0 win at Queen's Park Rangers.

Falcao, dropped against Southampton last week, had two shots saved by Rangers goalkeeper Rob Green in the first half and then failed to hit the target in the second. Instead, it was left to substitutes Marouane Fellaini and James Wilson to score United's goals.

"It's not important what I think about Falcao, because he wants to score goals," Van Gaal said.

"I have to judge how he has played, and scoring goals is an important aspect of a striker, but for me it's also important that he can be a point of the attack, and I think he did well."

Van Gaal abandoned his usual 3-4-1-2 strategy at half-time after a first 45 minutes in which Rangers enjoyed the better chances while United struggled despite dominating possession.

"The main thing is we played in the first half like QPR wanted us to," Van Gaal said. "We did the same thing as them, through the air and long balls. QPR are better than us at that."

Juan Mata was withdrawn at the break, with Van Gaal admitting that the Spaniard "didn't play his best match."

"You have to play on the ground, and in the second-half we changed the shape," he continued. "That helped us also. In the first half we created only one chance, which I think Falcao had to score, and then he had three chances in the second half."

The half-time change produced far better opportunities for United, and Fellaini scored from an Antonio Valencia cross in the 58th minute.

"I think we created chances with a midfield diamond but the balance is weak with the defence," the United manager said.

He had said after last week's 1-0 defeat at home to Southampton that his team had not deserved to lose, and added: "The question is always: 'Are you effective enough?'

"In football, it's not always the better team that wins. I think when you win then everybody is happy and everyone is more comfortable. We lost to Southampton and we were the better team and we created better chances."

Explaining the change that brought Wilson, who scored in added time, on for Jonny Evans as United went to four at the back, Van Gaal said: "We have to stretch the pitch.

"When you are not stretching with your strikers, the opponent makes the space compact. That is why [Angel] Di Maria and Wilson have been playing in attack."

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