Man Utd: Louis van Gaal targets Premier League title

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says his ambition is to bring the Premier League title back to Old Trafford.

United thrashed promoted QPR 4-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday to give the Dutchman his first win since taking over in the summer.

"I want to win the Premier League title," he said.

"If it is not this year, then the second or third year. I want to give a championship to the fans."

Van Gaal, who won domestic titles in his first seasons in charge of both Barcelona and Bayern Munich, has been set a target of a top-three finish by chief executive Ed Woodward.

After scoring only twice in their first four games under Van Gaal, Manchester United produced a much-improved display against QPR.

The victory featured Angel Di Maria and Ander Herrera's first goals for the club, while Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata also scored.

Di Maria had a hand in three goals as well as getting on the scoresheet, although he was not immune from criticism from Van Gaal, believes there is more to come from his side.

"When you have a result of 4-0, then you can be happy as a coach, but you always have points you can improve," he said.

"We have always to analyse what we have done. The result is fantastic but we can get much better.

"I said [before the match] 'let's make a new start today'."

On Di Maria, Van Gaal added: "When you prepare three goals and make the first goal by yourself then you cannot play bad, but he had a lot of unnecessary losses so we can do better."

Van Gaal insists the main measure of success in his debut campaign will be United's final position in the Premier League, rather than their style of play.

"My teams are always focused on attack, but it is not our focus - that is to be in the first three. The most important thing is the trajectory," he said.

With the Champions League group stages beginning without them in midweek, Manchester United's next test is against another newly promoted Premier League side when they travel to Leicester on Sunday.

Ander Herrera - 8

Marked his return from injury with his first United goal, a precise effort from the edge of the box. Neat and tidy in possession and too cute for QPR to leave the midfield gaps they did.

Daley Blind - 7

Is going to be put under more pressure than he experienced here but showed game intelligence sat in front of United's back four, helping to snuff out a number of threats before they became too dangerous.

Marcos Rojo - 7

Played at left-back in a revised four-man defence and enjoyed a largely untroubled afternoon. Didn't show any great desire to get forward but content to stick to his job.

Angel Di Maria - 8

Louis van Gaal said the Argentine scored one and claimed three assists on his home debut, which is stretching his contribution somewhat. Nevertheless, an overwhelmingly positive display, not least because of the manner in which the home fans responded to him.

Radamel Falcao - 7

Had the Colombian snaffled one of the chances that came his way late on, it would have been the perfect day for Van Gaal. His movement and pace appear exceptional. Clearly much more to come.