VAN GAAL'S TEAM NEWS UPDATE FOR CUP FINAL
Louis van Gaal has confirmed Manchester United defenders Matteo Darmian and Marcos Rojo are available for selection, adding to his selection headache ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Darmian has not featured since limping out of the 1-0 win over Norwich City on 7 May, while Rojo missed the midweek victory over Bournemouth after picking up an injury in training on Saturday.
Morgan Schneiderlin also sat out that final Barclays Premier League match due to illness but the French midfielder was a notable presence during Thursday morning’s final training session. He faces competition from Marouane Fellaini , who hopes to start after serving his three-match suspension.
Van Gaal spoke earlier this week about the difficulty of excluding players from the 18-man squad to face Crystal Palace and, during his pre-match press conference at the Aon Training Complex, the manager admitted that his four returning players have all made that problem even harder.
“Yeah, there are many players in contention such as Rojo, who is not injured anymore, and Darmian is not injured anymore," van Gaal told reporters. "You have filmed the training session and have seen a lot of fit players, which makes it more difficult for me as I have to disappoint a lot of players.
“We have a squad of 27 players, so I have to disappoint nine players in advance. Of course the injured players are included in that nine, but I have to disappoint a lot of players. Then I have to select the team and disappoint more players. Some players are thinking that they could play.”
Asked if he ever experienced such a disappointment during his own playing career, van Gaal said: "I have one experience that I didn't play against Feyenoord, but not in a cup match. It was an ordinary match, but it was a derby with Sparta Rotterdam. That was a big blow for me."
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