Louis van Gaal has insisted there has been an overreaction to Manchester United's 5-3 defeat at Leicester and argued his side have been defending well this season.
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The Dutchman claimed his side would have been closing in on second place if they had managed to hang on to their 3-1 lead at the King Power Stadium and suggested that was a freak result.
While United lost 4-0 to League One MK Dons in the Capital One Cup, they had only conceded three goals in four league games before meeting Leicester.
And manager Van Gaal said in a news conference. "It is not a regular occurrence. When you see our figures in the Premier League, except this match then we are defending well.
"The average is less than one [goal a game conceded] and we scored a lot of goals. I think we are fifth or sixth [top scorers]. I see it differently to a lot of journalists."
United had beaten QPR 4-0 the previous weekend and Van Gaal added: "We had one win and should have won when you are 3-1 ahead after 60 minutes, you have to win.
"Then we are two points off the second position in the table so because of the loss, we are sitting here and you talking like that and questioning me like that. If we win this game it is a different story."
Van Gaal was adamant his players had not seen a different side of him after the Leicester game, saying: "I don't think my players are robots.
"They are human beings and I think that human beings make errors, faults and I am a manager who always wants to evaluate, discuss and so on. That is the way I do it. This week is no different."
United were in fine form in preseason before enduring more mixed fortunes when the competitive games began and Van Gaal said: "This club is in transition. We don't know in advance when the difficult moments will be.
"When we started we won everything in very difficult circumstances. Now we are again in very difficult circumstances [but] we can win."