Louis van Gaal: 'Manchester United players ignored me'

Louis van Gaal has admitted that he is at a loss to explain why some Manchester United players abandoned his instructions during the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal this evening.

Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil inside the first seven minutes stunned the visitors, who went further behind when the Chilean slammed the ball past David de Gea on the 20-minute mark.

Van Gaal, who was appointed United manager in the summer of 2014, concedes that he has never seen his troops collapse so easily, and questions why 'half of his team' ignored his gameplan.

"I'm looking for [answers]. I never have seen this of my team before. That is the question I need to put to my players. You have to see the images," he told Sky Sports News.

"It was not only one player. Then I can take measure. But it was more than half my team that was not doing what we had agreed in our gameplan."

The defeat saw Arsenal leapfrog the Red Devils into second place on goal difference.