Manchester United not strong enough – Allofs

Manchester United were not strong enough to progress in the Champions League, according to Wolfsburg sporting director Klaus Allofs.

Louis van Gaal’s side were eliminated from the competition on Tuesday, losing 3-2 away in Germany while PSV overcame CSKA Moscow to take second place in the group.

Allofs thinks they have not lived up to expectations this season and paid the price against Wolfsburg, who they beat 2-1 at Old Trafford in September after falling behind early on.

“At the beginning of the season everybody thought that Manchester United had a team with very great possibilities,” the 59-year-old said.

“But the last weeks have shown that United is not that strong yet, that is why we were definitely aware of our chances for the match.

“I mean, we saw the first match; we lost, but it was very close though. They are a great name and of course it is special to eliminate them from the group phase.”

Allofs has also been pleased by Andre Schurrle’s upturn in form, but confessed he would like to see him convert more chances.

“For a certain time period he appeared inhibited on the pitch, you need positive experiences in such a situation,” he added.

“Now he has them for first with the team and I wish that he scores a bit more. I think only after two minutes he already had a very good chance, it would have been great if he would have scored.

“But you can see the positive trend.”