Louis van Gaal has revealed that he did not want to retain the services of Robin van Persie

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has revealed that he did not want to retain the services of Robin van Persie because he felt that there was too much competition for strikers in the team.

The Dutchman was allowed to leave Old Trafford in the summer, but that decision has received a lot of criticism especially in the wake of poor performances from the current crop of strikers at the club. United only have Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney being capable of playing up front. The club has so far resisted any attempts to sign new additions in the January transfer window.

Van Gaal says that he never believes in too much competition. United had Javier Hernandez and van Persie competing for a first-team spot along with Wayne Rooney. Following the arrival of Martial, this number swelled to 4 strikers in the squad. Since the Dutchman favoured playing a lone striker, there was no need for such a large number of forwards. The decision, however, has backfired on Van Gaal, whose team have struggled to score goals especially at home. The latest 1-0 loss against Southampton at Old Trafford has only reiterated the need for an experienced forward capable of finding the net regularly.

"I don't believe too much in competition. I believe in trust and confidence. Maybe that's wrong, but I have done it all my life as a manager. I give trust to the players. We could have kept all the strikers, but then there would have been a lot of strikers in the stands. They're not happy then, they want to leave. It's the story of Hernandez, for example. He wants to play, but I can imagine that he can't always play.Too many strikers of high quality for the same position is too much pressure, but now I don't have the chance to change,” said Van Gaal.