Louis van Gaal has demanded an immediate improvement from Manchester United after admitting their start to the season has not been good enough.
They avoided matching their worst opening sequence to a Premier League campaign since 1992 by earning a point with an unconvincing display in a 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
But after the first-day defeat at home to Swansea, the new Old Trafford manager was left with much to ponder, his assertion that his side need a miracle to win the title this season looking increasingly accurate.
He revealed confidence was low after seeing Juan Mata’s goal at the Stadium of Light on Sunday cancelled out by Sunderland’s Jack Rodwell to leave the former champions already five points behind the early pace-setters in their attempts to improve on a disappointing seventh-place finish in May.
“So much is down to confidence,” Van Gaal said. “In pre-season, our confidence was much better than it is now. “We’re working hard to improve and if we win the next match then that confidence will start to come back.”
The Dutchman added: “The players are disappointed because we thought we would win today (Sunday), and yet we have one point and it’s not good enough for Manchester United.
“I can’t say it was a better performance than last week because we didn’t create as many chances as against Swansea. Our passing needs to be better because we gave the ball away a lot when I didn’t expect us to.”
Van Gaal couldn’t lift spirits with a positive update on United’s pursuit of Real Madrid’s Angel di Maria, as he remained cautious over the prospects of signing the £60 million (Dh365m)-rated Argentinian midfielder.
“I can’t say about transfers at the moment,” he explained. “When a transfer has been finished then we can say something but now you have to wait and see.
“The club has to announce it. When we are thinking it’s the right time to announce it then we’ll come to you and say we’ve bought this player or that player, but at the moment we can’t say anything.”
Showing his sense of humour hasn’t been diminished by his testing introduction to life at Old Trafford, Van Gaal added: “People have asked me if I like di Maria. Well, I like Lionel Messi also. There are a lot of players in the world I like, but they can’t always come here.”
United defender Chris Smalling limped off before half-time with a groin injury to add to the lengthy Old Trafford injury list before the club return to action against MK Dons in the League Cup on Tuesday.
Van Gaal – who refused to condemn Ashley Young for a second-half dive that earned the England midfielder a caution – said: “We had seven players out injured before this game, so now with Chris, that’s eight.
“It’s too early to say if he might be out for some time. I’m not a doctor. It’s an unusual situation to have four midfield players out injured. That would impact on any club.
“That’s why I played Adnan Januzaj in central midfield when I brought him on.”
Sunderland performed well enough to have claimed a first home league win over United for 17 years.
But coach Gus Poyet was far from disappointed after his side claimed a second point of the campaign with a battling display.
“We were the best team for long spells, but the fact that we’ve not won isn’t a wasted opportunity, it’s still a point against Manchester United,” he said.
“I think they will finish in the top four,” the Uruguayan added.
“It’s a different set-up for them without doubt and it’s strange to see them playing three at the back, but give Louis van Gaal time and he will get things right.”
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Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Result
UAE (S. Tagliabue 90 1') 1-2 Uzbekistan (Shokhruz Norkhonov 48', 86')
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
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6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
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9.30pm: Forever Young
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
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Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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