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Louis van Gaal undecided on Manchester United back four

Louis van Gaal hints that Phil Jones's place in the Manchester United defence is not yet certain, despite the Englishman featuring heavily during pre-season.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has admitted that he is still not yet certain of his defensive set-up for the coming season.

The Dutchman has made a decision over three of the four places at the back, but one position in the heart of defence remains up for grabs.

Phil Jones was expected to land that right-sided role, having started all of United's pre-season games to date, yet Van Gaal seemingly remains unconvinced.

"I have to start with the formation and when the formation is doing well, I let them play in that formation," he is quoted as saying by ESPN. "I think I shall play [Luke] Shaw with [Matteo] Darmian, and with Daley Blind.

"The right central position I have to consider. I am very pleased with the performance of Darmian, and you can see he can play on the right and left. Also, a benefit of this year's tour is that we don't have any injuries. Last year I was forced to use, for example, Tyler Blackett and Jesse Lingard in the first Premier League match.

"Now, I have a wider selection and I can use everybody who I think I have to use. There is more competition now and there is more balance in the selection. I have a lot of confidence to start the competition."

Man United lost 2-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in their final pre-season outing in the early hours of Thursday morning.

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