Allardyce believes players were wrong to question Louis van Gaal last weekend.
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has launched a cheeky dig at Manchester United’s players ahead of tomorrow’s crunch Premier League game at Old Trafford, report the Express, after suggesting that they were wrong to question manager Louis van Gaal’s decision to substitute Angel di Maria during last weekend’s shocking 5-3 defeat to Leicester City.
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The United players were believed to have been annoyed that van Gaal chose to withdraw the industrious and pacy van Gaal at the King Power Stadium, a decision that seemed to help Leicester grab a foothold back into the game from which they were able to race back and win 5-3, with former non-league striker Jamie Vardy terrorising the United defence.
Allardyce has rejected this analysis, however, believing that the fact that replacement Juan Mata was also worth a substantial fee meant that there was no impact on the quality of the United team and that the players should take more of the blame for their East Midlands capitulation:
“If he’s swapping a £60m player with one who costs £39m, it shouldn’t make that much difference. I can’t see a substitution as that much to blame – I think it’s a cop-out by the players.”
Despite seemingly defending his opposite number here, however, Allardyce will be desperate to get one over van Gaal this weekend when the two sides meet at Old Trafford, with West Ham keen to continue the impressive form that saw them breeze past Liverpool last Saturday evening.