Louis van Gaal admitted that Manchester United 'did not play as a team' and bemoaned Manchester United's lack of top quality defenders following the shock defeat against Swansea on his competitive debut at Old Trafford. Van Gaal became the first United manager to lose a home Premier League match on the opening day of the season after goals from Ki Sung-yueng and Gylfi Sigurdsson stunned a home crowd expecting life under the Dutchman to be a big improvement on last season's woes. The 63-year-old former Ajax and Barcelona boss was even forced to ditch his much-hyped 3-5-2 formation at half-time with United struggling to create any chances. The team switched to a flat back four which included Tyler Blackett and Chris Smalling in central defence, Ashley Young at left back and Phil Jones at right back.
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Manchester United slump to defeat against Swansea at Old Trafford
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Louis van Gaal suffered Man United's first Premier League opening day loss at home
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United manager ditched his much-hyped 3-5-2 formation at half-time
'Explaining his decision to change from his favoured 3-5-2 shape, Van Gaal said: 'I had decided to change formation in the first half because @placeholder made the pitch big and 4-3-3 is a better formation to press with.'