Louis van Gaal has said he inherited a “broken squad” at Manchester United from David Moyes. The manager was referring to what he regards as its lack of balance.

The Dutchman, asked whether following Sir Alex Ferguson would have been harder than taking over from Moyes, replied: “No. I don’t agree. I had to follow Bobby Robson at Barcelona the year after he won three titles and there wasn’t a problem [Van Gaal won the league that year].

“When there is success you have a very good squad and now I have to follow and the squad was broken I think.

“When you look at the squad, there is quality. There is [Wayne] Rooney, [Robin] van Persie, [Javier] Hernández, [Danny] Welbeck but you also see Juan Mata, [Marouane] Fellaini and you see [Ander] Herrera. There are a lot of players that can play in the same position.

“It is not in balance. It’s more difficult to succeed in a difficult situation than in a fantastic situation.”