MANCHESTER, March 10- Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal insists he has no regrets about selling Danny Welbeck to Arsenal after the striker came back to haunt his former club by scoring the winner in Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final.
Welbeck came up through the Red Devils youth academy under former boss Sir Alex Ferguson, but was one of the first transfer casualties at Old Trafford in the off-season following Van Gaal’s appointment to the hot seat.
The England international was snapped up by the Gunners, while United brought in Radamel Falcao as his replacement, although it was Welbeck who made the difference in the cup this week, latching on to Antonio Valencia’s poor backpass before rounding David de Gea and slotting home to earn Arsene Wenger’s men a 2-1 win and their place in the semi-finals.
However, when asked whether he regretted trading Welbeck for Falcao, Van Gaal said: “He (Falcao) has scored four goals, had three or four assists and he stimulates the other players, so that is an aspect of the profession. But it is now easy for you to say that and you are happy to say that.”
Looking back over the game, the Dutch tactician felt aggrieved by the way his side let themselves down, saying: “It’s very disappointing when you give the victory to your opponent,” said Van Gaal. “When you haven’t lost because of the opposition, you have lost because of yourself.
“The players are very disappointed because they know that it could be different. Matches are decided by goals and you see the second goal, it was nothing, we gave it away. The man who did that was the best man of my team and that’s also disappointing for him.”