ManU tour of US ends with loss – and optimism from van Gaal

In the final match of Manchester United's Tour 2015 presented by Aon, the Red Devils conceded a 2-0 loss to French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain. Taken as a whole, however, coach Louis van Gaal is happy with how the team is coming together.

After Manchester United's 3-1 win against the San Jose Earthquakes in the second match of his squad's tour of the US, Louis van Gaal did not spare his players any criticism of their performance. In fact, he quite frankly said that new signing Bastian Schweinsteiger had played "bad" in the match.

But after the Reds 2-0 loss against Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the International Champions Cup, van Gaal took an optimistic tone, despite the fact that the loss saw ManU finish third in the competition they won last summer.

"I'm really satisfied about the performance." (Coach Louis van Gaal summing up the tour)

He said "I'm not superstitious," but added that maybe the loss was good: "last year we won everything in the USA and then we lost the first [Premier League] match against Swansea."

Premier League next week

It's fitting that van Gaal is looking ahead to the first match of the Premier League, which is now just a week away. The Reds start of their 2015/2016 campaign on August 8 with a home match at Old Trafford against Tottenham.

"It's all about Tottenham now – that's what we've been saying since we got [to the US]," said Manchester's Michael Carrick. "That's when the business really starts."

The team spent over two weeks in the US, which gave the club's five new signings – Matteo Darmian, Memphis Depay, Sergio Romero, Morgan Schneiderlin, and Bastian Schweinsteiger – time to find their footing with their new teammates.

"We’ve had new players come in, quality players, and we feel they can give us an extra gear to what we had last season." (ManU superstar Wayne Rooney)

With the new season just around the corner, there are a number of ways you can keep up to date with all the latest Manchester United activity. On social media, be sure to follow @DHLManUtd on Twitter. You should also check out the DHL Manchester United page, where you can find all the details about Red Devils Battlestats – DHL's live match challenge that could win you an Ultimate Fan Weekend trip to Old Trafford!