London: United crashed out of Europe’s elite competition earlier this week following a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Barca at Camp Nou on Tuesday evening. United now face a fight to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League and Van Gaal admits Solskjaer’s tactics have been too negative to win trophies. “I can see how Ole had some impact in the beginning, because United were ninth in the table when he took over and the team was nothing,” Van Gaal told Ziggo. “United had been playing anti-football, as I call it, but don’t think that Ole isn’t afraid to park the bus either, he is more defensive than you think.
“I have been watching the team, because I always look at United still, and Ole parked the bus against Arsenal. He did it against Tottenham in the league. And at stages against Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in the Champions League. “He plays against all the big teams like that. The emphasis is more on defending than on attacking or wanting to play dominant football. I actually call it parking the bus. Ole does it not just outside the 18-yard box. He parks the bus right in front of [goalkeeper] David De Gea. “When United play that way, they play 4-4-2 and play counter attacking football with Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku.”