Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal feels that he took over a "broken" squad from David Moyes at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils, who had won the English title in 2012/13 with 11 points to spare, endured a very disappointing campaign under former boss Moyes, missing out on European football for the first time in 19 years, after finishing seventh in the Premier League last season.
And van Gaal hinted that he would have been happier inheriting Sir Alex Ferguson's successful squad rather than Moyes' "broken" one.
"When there is success you have a very good squad, and now I have to follow and the squad was broken, I think," said van Gaal.
Despite admitting that the current Manchester United team has no shortage of quality, he feels the squad lacks balance due to there being too many players capable of playing in the same position.
"When you look at the squad, there is quality. There is Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck. You also see Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini, and you see Ander Herrera," van Gaal observed.
"There are a lot of players that can play in the same position. It is not in balance. It's more difficult to succeed in a difficult situation than in a fantastic situation."
Van Gaal will now be trying to make amends for the mistakes made by Moyes last season.
When asked whether he would have endured the same fate as Moyes if he would have succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson, the Dutchman replied: "No. I don't agree. I had to follow Bobby Robson at Barcelona the year after he won three titles and there wasn't a problem (Van Gaal won the league that year)."
Meanwhile, the Dutchman doesn't think that his relationship with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will "fall out", despite the latter criticising the Red Devils for paying over the odds for Southampton left-back Luke Shaw.
"I don't think I will fall out with him. He [Mourinho] is my friend," said Van Gaal, who added that he is more concerned with managing his own side rather than play mind games with other managers.
"For me [mind games] are not so interesting. I have to manage my club. That is already difficult enough. I am not concerned with other clubs or other managers."
