‘I asked them to kill the game off’ and Manchester United obliged, says Louis van Gaal

'If you remember the game at Leicester, we didn't kill the game' but on Saturday Manchester United got the job done, said Louis van Gaal after his side's 3-1 victory.

Manager Louis van Gaal of Manchester United waves to fans following his side's 3-1 Premier League win over Leicester City on Saturday. Michael Regan / Getty Images / January 31, 2015

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will welcome back Darren Fletcher to Old Trafford if the Scotland international's proposed move to West Ham United collapses before the end of the transfer window.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce announced on Saturday that a deal which looked to have been on the verge of completion 24 hours earlier had fallen down due to a disagreement between the clubs over whether the United veteran would make the move on loan or on a permanent basis.

"I don't know what's happening," said Van Gaal, speaking after his team had beaten bottom-of-the-table Leicester City 3-1 at Old Trafford to move up into third place in the Premier League ahead of Southampton's match against Swansea City on Sunday.

“When you allow your player to go to London for the medical and there is no problem, then in the end there is no agreement ... that’s strange.

“I want to help Fletcher and that’s my only concern. I am very happy as a manager that he is coming back.

“He is my third captain but because of the competition here he is not playing so much. That is why I want to help him.

“I don’t know what is happening there. But on Friday the agreement was definite and on Saturday it was off.”

Van Gaal was highly delighted by United’s performance in which first-half goals from Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao and a Wes Morgan own-goal gave his side a commanding lead before a late consolation effort from Marcin Wasilewski.

Given that United squandered a 2-0 lead to lose 5-3 in the corresponding fixture at Leicester in September, Van Gaal was especially pleased with the manner in which his side killed off the contest in the second half.

“I asked my players to play like a team in all the main moments of football,” said the Man United manager.

“So not only in ball possession, but also when the opponent has the ball and also in transition. I have given my team a compliment for that.

“At half-time there was not much to say so I asked them to kill the game off because if you remember the game at Leicester, we didn’t kill the game.

“But I think we killed the game too much. A lack of concentration meant they scored but it was still a very good result. They have scored but we could have scored two or three more in the second half.”

Leicester manager Nigel Pearson was pleased with aspects of his team’s performance.

But he conceded that the visit to Old Trafford was unlikely to have had a major bearing on whether his club would remain in the Premier League this season.

“Games like this game today are bonus games for us,” Pearson said.

“Our season will be defined by how we play against sides around us. We don’t feel we gave ourselves the best chance of getting something out of it because we didn’t do enough with the ball.”

Follow us on our new Twitter home @NatSportUAE