A defiant Louis van Gaal has stood by his decision to drop Radamel Falcao from the Manchester United squad against Southampton last week.
The United manager, who said the Colombian has to prove he is worth a place in the team, said he is not concerned whether outsiders understand his selections, providing that his players do.
Van Gaal said he preferred to have the quick James Wilson on the bench against Southampton rather than Falcao, although he also chose three central defenders among his replacements.
"That is for the players, not for you," Van Gaal said in a news conference Friday. "I have to compare and I decide. I have explained, now for the third time, as I did after the game. I have a game plan, we have the qualities of the opponents, then I have to choose, then I have to compare."
Van Gaal was irritated by the focus on Falcao by pointing out that Adnan Januzaj and goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard also did not feature on the bench against Southampton.
Falcao's agent Jorge Mendes criticised Van Gaal for omitting his client and the Dutchman agreed his comments were not helpful.
"Of course, but it doesn't interest me," he added. "It is the obligation of the manager to observe and analyse your selection, that you make a game plan, that you communicate with your players.
"Then you make a decision that players understand, but that is not so easy, because now you are talking about only Falcao. What do you think about Januzaj? He was not there. What do you think about Lindegaard? They were not there also."
Van Gaal is evaluating whether to stick with a back three in the long term, saying: "That's also comparing, what is the most suitable system for the players you have. I have played with a lot of different systems in my career."