Van Gaal demands improvement

Louis van Gaal has urged his Manchester United side to do better without the ball ahead of Saturday's Barclays Premier League encounter with West Ham.

The Reds boss feels even Angel Di Maria, who has been outstanding since joining from Real Madrid, can improve when he's not in possession. Van Gaal is also expecting positive contributions from Luke Shaw and Radamel Falcao who could both make their first home starts for the club.

"We have to learn from it [last weekend's 5-3 defeat at Leicester City] and improve," van Gaal told MUTV. "I hope we play better as a team - not especially when we're in possession but when we lose the ball. We have to do a lot better [on that aspect] than we did against Leicester.

"West Ham are maybe the best team we've had to face until now. I was very impressed [with their performance against Liverpool] and they play with the same system as we do at this time. More or less, it will be system against system. I hope we shall give our best and the fans can enjoy a victory again."

The manager discussed Di Maria, Shaw and Falcao - three of his big summer signings - as he pondered his starting line-up for the Hammers' visit.

"In ball possession, Di Maria is playing fantastic and creating a lot, scoring goals and giving assists," he stated. "So, as a trainer-coach, you cannot want more. But we have also a key moment in football when we lose the ball – then he can improve.

"Luke Shaw has impressed me because of his rehabilitation and how he did that but it is much more difficult to make the step again to be in the line-up. Maybe, last week, he could have played but it is better to give an injured player more time to recover and that is why he didn’t play last week. He is now ready to play and I am anxious to see him.

"We are building up Falcao in the same way we are building up the other players. You have seen that when I let Robin van Persie train also for three weeks at first before he played 60 minutes. I did the same with Falcao. He has impressed me. He played very well. I hope he can continue."