FA Cup win over Derby eases pressure on Louis van Gaal

Derby County 1 Manchester United 3

For the moment Louis van Gaal and Manchester United can kick back and enjoy life. They are through to the FA Cup fifth round, this victory the perfect riposte to last Saturday's dire 1-0 defeat to Southampton.

It was only the result that was perfect, though. The well-documented failings of sluggish play and a quality-deficit under Van Gaal were again evident as his side struggled to perform from first whistle to last, as they seem to always do too.

But until Stoke City’s visit to Old Trafford on Tuesday, at least, the furore over Van Gaal’s position as manager will be quelled and that, along with being safely in the draw, is mission accomplished.

For this there is Daley Blind to thank, the central defender making a rare foray into Derby County’s area to finish Jesse Lingard’s cross to notch his second of the season after 65 minutes for what proved the decisive goal.

The second game in this season's quest to prevent United's years without lifting this trophy running to 12 years began with Marouane Fellaini running the ball straight out of play. Van Gaal had voiced hope his players would show the "confidence of training" because then they would win, the manager argued. This lack of bullishness come game-day is one major flaw in the Dutchman's side. Another is the sideways passing, and one more is the reluctance to bomb forward at pace.

All of these were evident in a tame opening from the visitors. And when they registered after 16 minutes it came via an isolated moment of brilliance from Wayne Rooney.

Following a trademark uber-patient build-up involving Blind and Anthony Martial, the captain took the ball on the left, cut inside, and beat Carson with a peach of a 20-yard finish that curled sweetly from his right boot for a 13th strike for the club this season.

Rooney may have been offside during the move but United and their travelling support did not care. It had the 5,000 United fans who made the trip singing about going to Wembley and gave their side a welcome cushion following the weekend’s travails.

An early strike is also the key to the Van Gaal blueprint working its best. Having a lead to protect means the smothering of ball and opponent is done for a tangible, material reason. And when moving forward there is more invention in play as the manager’s players relax, as was seen when Rooney and Martial cut through the home defence before the latter shot disappointingly from close range.

The true cost of this miss became evident when Derby equalised as the break neared. To this point Paul Clement’s side had barely threatened. There was a regulation Cyrus Christie shot for David De Gea to scoop up and a Nick Blackman header into the turf that was as simple to collect for the goalkeeper.

There was nothing De Gea could do about George Thorne’s finish, though, as his defence was shredded too easily by Derby. Chris Smalling’s clearing header fell only to Chris Martin and he flipped a pass in-field to Thorne, who took a touch and stabbed the ball home expertly to De Gea’s right.

Cut to a stony-faced Van Gaal whose concern was surely due to witnessing the confidence again draining from his team. And the truth was that United were fortunate to enter the break still level such had been the momentum swing.

Juan Mata, handed a rare start at No10, dawdled, was dispossessed, and the ball slipped through to Martin, and only Smalling's perfectly-timed tackled saved United. Before this, Blackman had offered another warning, tearing in from the right and letting fly an attempt that a concerned De Gea kept an eye on as it went only marginally wide. Van Gaal made two changes from the defeat to Southampton. In came Mata for the dropped Ander Herrera and Guillermo Varela for the injured Matteo Darmian as the teams had walked out to an iPro Stadium filled with flag-waving fans and ticker tape, which gave the tie an old-fashioned feel.

As United kicked off the second half the prevailing mood now was of the upset of knocking out the 11-times winners being on. This, surely, would be a result to try even the patience of a club hierarchy who seem trenchant in their reluctance to sack Van Gaal.

A pattern of play under the Dutchman is a bright start to halves before performance fades. This was once more on show as Martial raced down his left flank and flashed the ball across goal in a cross-shot hybrid that came to nothing. Now, after this glimmer of quality, came the fade, as Clement’s team pinned United back.

This is an ordinary Derby outfit who had a planned mid-season break in Dubai cancelled a due to a disappointing 1-1 draw with Reading a fortnight ago, yet they were seriously troubling Van Gaal’s men when they roved forward.

Twice Blackman threatened on the left, the second time finishing in him taking aim inside United’s area and banging the ball just too high to put Derby ahead.

If Van Gaal is all about measure and control then as the hour arrived his team had been dragged into a dogfight. The home crowd were in belligerent mood, informing their opponents with industrial language of how bad they are.

However Blind and then Mata’s late third confirmed Van Gaal’s side were through. There is scant sign, though, of this being a long corner finally turned.

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