Manchester United players celebrate
Manchester United players celebrate with Reece James (4th L) after he scored against the Los Angeles Galaxy during the second half of their international soccer friendly match in Pasadena, California July 23, 2014. REUTERS

Manchester United defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy, 7-0 in their first game under manager Louis van Gaal in the Chevrolet Cup held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

"The result always matters. With such a result you get confidence," declared Van Gaal via Manchester United’s official website.

“It is fantastic how they have performed today. When you see us train, you can expect something but not 7-0. It was a surprise, but they were beautiful goals and beautiful attacks."

Danny Welbeck opened the scoring with a 13th minute strike for the Reds before Wayne Rooney added two more (42’ penalty, 45’) late in the first half to build a 3-0 bubble at halftime. It was only the start of the scoring barrage as Matty James provided two goals (62’, 84’) and Ashley Young (88’, 90’) added insult to injury very late into the match.

Van Gaal also credited the new 3-5-2 system in place for United.

“The result always matters. With such a result you get confidence. We introduced a new system and played twice on the training pitch, 11 v 11. It is not very much, but the boys are willing to pick up the information. Last week, 10 players who played tonight were not even at our training complex,” added the manager.

The 62-year-old veteran manager Van Gaal handled Ajax (1991-1997), Barcelona (1997-2000, 2002-2003), AZ (2005-2009) and the Netherlands national team (2000-2002, 2012-2014) in previous stints. Van Gaal led the Dutch to a respectable finish in the recently-concluded 2014 World Cup in Brazil defeating the hosts in the third place match, 3-0.

While it was an impressive showing by Man U, the Galaxy’s embarrassing performance especially on defense proved that they are still not yet in the level of their European counterparts.

Manchester United faces AS Roma on July 26 at eh Sports Authority Field (Denver, Colordao), Inter Milan on July 30 at the FedEx Field (Washington, Maryland) and Real Madrid on August 2 at the Michigan Stadium (Detroit, Michigan)

Watch Manchester United’s drubbing of the Los Angeles Galaxy here:

(YouTube/ Football Daily News)