Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has jumped to the defence of Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal. Carragher feels Van Gaal has been unfairly criticised.

He wrote in the Daily Mail: "When Louis van Gaal was unveiled last summer, what position did you imagine Manchester United would be in going into the final 10 games?

"If you envisaged them leading the title race, you would have been kidding yourself. There was never any chance of United finishing in front of Chelsea and Manchester City this season, not even after they spent £150.2million on new players and recruited a coach with a distinguished reputation.

"Yet given the way some people are talking about United at the moment, there seems to be disappointment and mystification that Van Gaal's team are in the middle of a fight to get into the top four and not perched in top spot, setting an unrelenting pace.

"They finished seventh last season and needed to make big improvements but the way it is being made out, you would think they were the only club who bought big when nothing could have been further from the truth. Van Gaal isn't the only manager to get financial assistance."