Equally, the lost confidence in Van Gaal was hardly replenished when it was put to him that the team were not showing real signs of progress and he began his answer by pointing out they had done better in the Capital One Cup this season.

Strictly speaking, it was true. It was just bewildering to hear the manager of Manchester United thinking it was a legitimate point of defence that they had played two games in that competition this season, rather than the one they managed last year.

United beat Ipswich at Old Trafford and then went out in the next round to Middlesbrough on penalties; last season it was a 4-0 defeat at Milton Keynes Dons.

It is, as Van Gaal says, an improvement, just maybe not one that should be cited by anyone working for England’s biggest club, having just spent a quarter of a billion pounds.
-The Guardian