Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed that he feels the squad left to him by previous manager David Moyes was “broken” and unbalanced, according to varying sources.

The quotes from the Dutchman, brought to our attention by the Telegraph, state in no uncertain terms that he feels he has been left with an uphill battle to restore United to their former glory, despite the fact that he has hefty financial backing from the board and the rapturous support of the fans.

Van Gaal’s thoughts

Van Gaal officially assumed duties almost immediately after his World Cup obligations with the Netherlands had concluded, and has already set about making big decisions with regards to tactics, transfer policies and even the club’s Carrington training ground.

However, never one to shy away from airing his views publicly, the 62-year-old has insisted that it would have been easier to follow Sir Alex Ferguson into the Old Trafford hot-seat rather than David Moyes, as the latter left him a team unable to compete at the top.

When asked whether picking up the reigns where Sir Alex had set them down would have been more difficult that the current situation, Van Gaal replied: “No.

"I don't agree. I had to follow Bobby Robson at Barcelona the year after he won three titles and there wasn't a problem.

"When there is success you have a very good squad, and now I have to follow and the squad was broken I think.

"When you look at the squad, there is quality. There is [Wayne] Rooney, [Robin] van Persie, [Javier] Hernandez, [Danny] Welbeck, but you also see Juan Mata, [Marouane] Fellaini, and you see [Ander] Herrera. There are a lot of players that can play in the same position.
"It is not in balance. It's more difficult to succeed in a difficult situation than in a fantastic situation."