Man United missing ‘20-goal striker’ — Van Gaal

LONDON — Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says his expensively assembled squad has not challenged for the Premier League title this season because they do not have a prolific striker like their rivals.

Despite spending more than £150 million ($231.48 million) in the close season, including a six-million pound season-long loan deal for Colombia striker Radamel Falcao, United have looked uncharacteristically subdued when going forward during the campaign.

Van Gaal has come under scrutiny for implementing a number of different formations and playing forward Wayne Rooney in central midfield as United have struggled to keep pace in the title race, with his team in fourth.

The Dutchman claims the club are 13 points adrift of leaders Chelsea and eight behind local rivals Manchester City in second because his strike force have failed to match the scoring exploits of Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero, who have 17 league goals each for their respective teams.

Netherlands captain Robin van Persie is United’s top scorer with 10 league goals, while Rooney and Falcao have struck eight and four respectively.

“We cannot deny that at this moment we don’t have a striker who scores 20 goals in the season,” Van Gaal told reporters ahead of Sunderland’s visit to Old Trafford in the league on Saturday.

“Robin van Persie cannot deny it, Falcao cannot deny it and Rooney — but he is not playing there so much any more.”

United will have to make do without injured Van Persie for Saturday’s match.

Van Gaal sold England striker Danny Welbeck to Arsenal and loaned Mexico’s Javier Hernandez to Real Madrid as part of a summer overhaul after taking over at Old Trafford, putting his faith in 19-year-old James Wilson as the fourth striker.

However, the Dutchman said a lack of goals from the current quartet did not mean he would look for more attacking reinforcements at the end of the season.

“This doesn’t tell anything about next year,” Van Gaal said on Friday.

“They can be having an unlucky year and I have to take account with these aspects and I have to decide, with my staff, if it is these aspects or other aspects.”

Manchester United could be without their first-choice striker for a critical stage of the season after van Persie was ruled out for a “long time” by manager Louis van Gaal on Friday.

The Netherlands international was hurt in United’s 2-1 loss at Swansea last Saturday and left the Liberty Stadium on crutches, with a protective shoe on his foot.

Van Gaal didn’t give an exact timescale of Van Persie’s absence but said it was an injury that “takes a long time — it’s not one week or two weeks”.

That would mean Van Persie definitely missing United’s next two Premier League games — against Sunderland on Saturday and Newcastle on Wednesday — and also the FA Cup quarter-final match against his former club, Arsenal, on March 9. After that, four of United’s next five matches are against Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea — all members of the current top seven.

Van Persie’s latest injury has come just as United cling to the final Champions League qualification spot in the Premier League, which is a minimum requirement for Van Gaal in his first season at Old Trafford.

United dropped to fourth in the standings after the Swansea loss, and Tottenham and Liverpool are one and two points behind, respectively.

“It is because of the rat race between five clubs that we have to win, we have to be there,” Van Gaal said ahead of the Sunderland match. “You have to win your matches because the other clubs are winning their matches.”

Van Persie has remained United’s first-choice striker, despite scoring just 10 goals this season — way down on his total from recent years. He was top scorer in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, with 30 and 26 goals respectively.

In his absence, Van Gaal has to decide who to recall out of Radamel Falcao, United’s expensive loan signing from Monaco, and youngster James Wilson. Wayne Rooney has recently returned to his usual role as a second striker after playing for two months in midfield.

United could also do with Argentina midfielder Angel Di Maria replicating the lively performances he produced at the start of the season.

“I’ve had a couple of games where things haven’t gone as well as they could have,” Di Maria said. “I think it’s part of that settling-in process to the English game.

“I started off quite well but I think that then made expectations rise and everyone thought I would just carry on in the same way. But football is like that, sometimes you have these ups and downs.”