Sunday 8 November 2015 17:45, UK
Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United fans were influenced by critics after recent calls for the side to "attack" at Old Trafford and says even his mum and grandmother knew they needed to score against CSKA Moscow.
United maintained their grip on fourth place with a 2-0 win over West Brom thanks to goals from Jesse Lingard and a late penalty from Juan Mata.
Unlike earlier in the week, when United laboured to a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow in the Champions League thanks to a Wayne Rooney winner in the 79th minute, there was little dissent among the home support towards Van Gaal and his team.
The Dutchman hit back last week at criticism from Old Trafford great Paul Scholes and took another opportunity to urge fans to back his players.
"I was pleased how they reacted against CSKA Moscow because you have to accept that fans have their own opinion but I think they were very influenced by Paul Scholes and all the criticism and what the media has written about that and then you to have to analyse the game also against CSKA Moscow," Van Gaal said.
"And when you are yelling 'attack, attack, attack' when you are 85 minutes attack, then you have to think by yourself as a fan: 'Hey, is it all right to yell?'.
"They want to let them know that we have to score. Of course my mother knows that and my grandmother knows that."
Van Gaal described Lingard's performance as "fantastic" as the 22-year-old scored his first Manchester United goal.
Lingard stroked home a fine effort from the edge of the box after taking a touch to open the scoring for United, before Mata rounded off the win with a stoppage-time penalty.
And Van Gaal, who said he had advised Lingard and all his players to take a touch before shooting, described the academy graduate's goal as "beautiful".
He told Sky Sports: "It is a beautiful goal. I'm a happy coach. We have said many, many times to him, always control before you shoot.
"In the training session he missed two balls because he shoots directly. He was fantastic.
"It is a hard win. We have to wait a long time again before we scored, but we scored and that's important. I'm very happy."
United struggled to break down West Brom for large periods of the encounter, with just three shots on target at Old Trafford.
But Van Gaal feels the visitors, who themselves did not register a shot on target, played "very defensively", and the Dutchman did not fear an equaliser despite Saido Berahino missing a clear header from six yards.
The Old Trafford crowd were pleading for their team to attack either side of half-time, but Van Gaal insists he is always happy with the support his side receives.
"They played very defensively. Last year they won 0-1, and that's why the manager has chosen this strategy.
"I don't think they have created many chances, in the first half there was not one shot on the goal. In the second half they had the chance with Berahino but that was it. I was not afraid."
