Louis Van Gaal's Manchester United Title Claim Rubbished by Gary Neville

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has dismissed Louis van Gaal's claims that his side can win the Premier League title.

Daley Blind rescued a point for United against West Brom, a match the Red Devils could have easily won or lost. Now sitting 10 points behind leaders Chelsea ahead of a nightmare run of fixtures—starting with the Blues on Sunday—Van Gaal still thinks his side can claim the prize.

"Call me arrogant but we can still catch Chelsea," said the Dutchman, reported by Laurie Whitwell of the Daily Mail. "I have done it before."

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Neville believes this simply won't happen. It's conceivable that, by the time United have faced Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal across the next four matches, they could be at least 19 points behind the leaders. Neville outlines the upcoming run as a reason why United will fall short, per the Daily Mail's Thomas Jacobs:

"

At this moment in time this Man United team isn't good enough to win the league. Louis Van Gaal asked for three months when he came in and he's reassessed that. It's a tougher job than he imagined and in the next eight games they've got tough opponents. At the start of the season after eight games you would have said they would have been on 16 or 17 points. There's been a lot of upheaval. It's been tough for him.

"

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Neville adds that Van Gaal "was drunk with praise" after the World Cup and that results have now "sobered him up slightly." The Sky Sports pundit admits "he will get it right" and cites injuries as a factor in United's poor start.

Twelves points from eight games is just one more than David Moyes managed at this stage of last season. Considering the Scot did so without major investment and after an extremely tough run of opening fixtures, there's no doubt Van Gaal's side need to quickly find some form.

Swansea, Sunderland, Burnley, Leicester and West Brom have taken points off United this campaign. Only the Welsh outfit are in the top half of the Premier League. Van Gaal's side played some decent football during the draw with the Baggies—enjoying 63 percent possession, per WhoScored.com, and controlling much of the tempo—but an away win still eludes the side.

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Defensive frailties limit United's chances of success, highlighted by West Brom scoring their only two strikes on target at the Hawthorns. Luke Shaw was caught wildly out of position for Stephane Sessegnon's stunning opener, while Phil Jones pushed too high up the pitch to let Saido Berahino restore the home side's lead.

Van Gaal noted "individual errors" cost United three points after the match, per Sky Sports. While many will take heart from the side's ability to draw level twice, failing to secure victory after creating so many chances—22 shots with just eight on target—will make United drop into the bottom half with alarming speed if this continues to happen.

Granted, both Jones and Shaw have suffered a lack of football this season, but Van Gaal doesn't have many others he can rely on.

The Dutchman will be hoping Diego Costa isn't fit for Chelsea, and that the ominous signs of Sergio Aguero's form can be halted in front of the Etihad crowd. Then there's the Danny Welbeck factor, a player who will no doubt aim to romp through the defence he left behind at the beginning of the season when United travel to the Emirates.

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The ultimate goal this season shouldn't be to win the Premier League, however, it should be to land a spot in the top four. Phil Neville believes this is achievable:

"

“@keith_connor: @fizzer18 what position do you think United will honestly finish this year? ?” Top 4

— Philip Neville (@fizzer18) October 21, 2014"

One win from United's upcoming three fixtures with the elite would most likely be acceptable. This serves as a marker of how limited the squad is right now, as it's quite likely the trip to face City could be an exercise of damage limitation. Van Gaal needs a clever game plan to be fully implemented by his players—who, aside from Angel Di Maria—need to dramatically improve their form.

A failure to do so will see United miss out on the Champions League places, let alone the Premier League title.