Van Gaal backs misfiring Manchester United to click against Wolfsburg

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal maintains his side’s attacking difficulties are not a “big issue”, stating his confidence that they will rediscover their finishing touch against Wolfsburg this week.

Van Gaal’s men were held 0-0 by West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday, their sixth goalless draw of the season, ahead of their Champions League trip to Germany on Tuesday.

United need a win to be sure of progression from Group B and Van Gaal says he has full confidence his side will soon click in the final third again.

“A lot of players have missed chances. A lot of players, and different players,” he told reporters. “We can make a big issue of it, but I don’t believe we have to do that.

“The players admit they have to score. That’s a normal issue but you can’t score every chance and when you see how many players get chances in our team, it’s not a fixed person.

“It’s not a law that we will miss all the chances we create. It’s not like that in every match. I have great confidence that we shall score at Wolfsburg.

“I always have expectation. I always believe in my team and that’s the confidence I want to show.”

If PSV lose at home to CSKA Moscow or if both remaining Group B games are drawn, United will also move into the knockout stages, after Van Gaal guided them back into the competition with a fourth-place Premier League finish last season.

Van Gaal denied suggestions that scoring is the key priority for Tuesday’s game, insisting: “It’s a very important game for us at this moment, because of the situation.

“We’re not scoring from our many chances and we have to score at Wolfsburg. Because of that it’s an important game, that we score and come through in the Champions League.

“We don’t want to be eliminated. But in sport it’s always possible. You can’t win every year or every game. It’s not like that.

“The Premier League is not finished. It finishes in May, not now. [In] the Champions League, you could be out and that is bad for everybody, for the club, for the players and for the manager.”