Everton 3 Manchester United 0: United's complacency has gifted Liverpool a chance, says Louis van Gaal

His team put in a below-par performance at Goodison Park

Louis van Gaal looks on at Goodison Park (GETTY IMAGES)

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal said his assistant Ryan Giggs detected the reek of complacency among the players in the Goodison Park pre-match warm-up but it was too late to rectify in the dressing room, before the side plunged to a 3-0 defeat.

“I have seen that our motivation, inspiration and aggression was not so high as the opponent and in sport you shall always be compared to your opponent and that was the reason,” said Van Gaal, who revealed that his Dutch assistant Albert Stuivenberg also detected this weakness. He said he was unsure whether a conviction among the squad that they have achieved their top four target had been a contributory factor. “That is the difficulty. You cannot analyse exactly what is the reason,” he said. He said this week’s training sessions had given no clue of what was to unfold at Goodison, where United have now lost on three consecutive occasions.

Everton 3 Man United 0 report

The defeat means that Liverpool, who play twice before United face West Bromwich on Saturday, could trail them by one point by then. Van Gaal – who disclosed that Wayne Rooney had been substituted late on because of a kick on the knee and Marouane Fellaini for his own protection against a red card - agreed they had given Brendan Rodgers’s side hope. “Yes, you give the light to your opponents. I said that, that way,” he said.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez rejected Van Gaal’s idea that motivation has been lacking, insisting that his side had been superior in every department. He singled out 20-year-old defender John Stones for “a defensive display [which] was his best since he was playing in the first team” and James McCarthy.

“James is a sprinter playing in midfield. He copes better with one game a week, the stats will tell you. It has been a demanding season. Now the fitness levels are fantastic for playing one game a week,” he said.