Louis van Gaal tells Robin van Persie to fight for Manchester United place
• Pressure grows as Radamel Falcao nears return from injury
• Falcao and Marcos Rojo could make squad against Hull
• The Rumour Mill: Van Persie off to Internazionale?
Louis van Gaal has warned Robin van Persie he will have to fight for his Manchester United place as the manager prepares to welcome back Radamel Falcao.
Van Gaal is hoping the injury-hit Colombian can display the qualities that have made him one of the most feared strikers in the world – which is seen to be especially important for United with Van Persie struggling for form.
Falcao’s loan spell at Old Trafford has been disrupted but Van Gaal is hopeful he will be in the squad for the visit of Hull on Saturday.
Asked if Falcao’s return would increase the pressure on Van Persie, who was substituted against his former club Arsenal last weekend having had just 13 touches of the ball, 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.”
Asked if he felt confident Falcao can start to live up to his potential, Van Gaal said: “I hope so because we have him on loan because of that.”
It is not just Falcao poised to provide a huge boost for United but the Argentina defender Marcos Rojo is also in contention after being out with a shoulder injury.
“We have to wait and see until the last training session of course,” Van Gaal said. “It’s always difficult to say but we have good news, yes. You have to read between the lines.
“I have to train the last session and I live day by day at this moment. So maybe Falcao can come back in the 18 [matchday squad], maybe Rojo can come back in the 18.”
Van Gaal said he was happy United were in the top four despite their injury problems and having played heavyweight opposition in recent games.
“When you see how our preparation was, how many injuries, then it was a very big test and after the heavy opponents we are still fourth so I’m happy,” said Van Gaal, who is still missing Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Rafael da Silva. We have to be at least fourth at the end of the league and not now. Now is not so important. We have to improve our playing style and beat our opponents more easily.”
Van Gaal was also careful to provide an exact statement on the England full-back Luke Shaw, who suffered an ankle injury against Arsenal.
A week ago, Van Gaal’s comments on Daley Blind’s knee problem were misinterpreted and led to the club’s 3.5m Twitter followers being erroneously advised the Dutch player was out for six months.
Van Gaal said: “Last time I have said something and it was not interpreted so good so I have asked my medical adviser and maybe Manchester United Twitter account can pay attention to it!”
He then read from a prepared statement: “Luke sustained an ankle ligament injury but with no serious complications and he will be out for the next few weeks because of this. I have said that also with Daley Blind it will not be six months.”
