Louis van Gaal likely to be without Radamel Falcao for Arsenal game Louis van Gaal will not be able to call on Radamel Falcao, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Rafael Da Silva when he selects his team for Manchester United's trip to Arsenal on Saturday week because of their injuries. Falcao has a calf injury, Evans a foot problem, Da Silva a muscular complaint, and Jones is recovering from a shin problem. All the issues are severe enough that they might not even make the bench for the game on 22 November at the Emirates. Asked if any of the quartet might return, Van Gaal said: "No, I don't think so because now some of them have already not played for five, six, seven weeks. They could sit on the bench because they can play 20 minutes but I cannot put a lot of players who are not 100% fit on the bench. You saw what happened with [Paddy] McNair [getting cramp against Crystal Palace] because the rhythm of the game is very high in the Premier League. While Robin van Persie has picked up a minor problem and is unavailable for Holland's friendly with Mexico on Wednesdaythere is confidence the United striker can return for Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier with Latvia. "Van Persie is not quite fit," said Guus Hiddink, the Holland coach. He trained today but he did not fully participate. I don't think he will be used against Mexico. The many injuries suffered by United this season have clearly hampered Van Gaal in his selections and none more so than in defence. The manager has been forced to field 11 different combinations at centre-back and along with Da Silva's current lay-off, Luke Shaw, the left-back, has also been injured. David de Gea has said that this has provided a challenge to him as goalkeeper. It obviously makes things very difficult but that's football and it's my job to be able to adapt to different situations. As a goalkeeper it's important to form a good understanding with your back four and become familiar with each other's positions on the pitch. It's difficult when the players aren't there but you have to adapt and concentrate on your job. The experience has definitely helped me improve. We would never use excuses but it's always going to be a big setback when we have injuries and some sendings-off as well. It makes everyone's work that bit more difficult. In terms of maintaining a solid level of performance we need to have the consistency of players in the squad so hopefully everyone will be fit very soon. That will help us continue to improve. Van Gaal, meanwhile, has been accused of having a "huge ego" by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the Bayern Munich president. The Dutchman was coach of Bayern from 2009-11 and Rummenigge told Germany's Spiegel magazine: "As soon as he presented his autobiography in a snobby restaurant I knew hard times were ahead. Louis van Gaal was not always easy care. He wanted to "Vangaalise" our club. He has a huge ego. Rummenigge, however, did describe Van Gaal as a "good and successful coach" and today the Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, echoed the United manager's recent criticism of one of the summer arrivals at United, Ángel di María. Ancelotti said the forward can "lose control sometimes." Ancelotti managed Di María last season, which culminated in the 26-year-old Argentina winger being voted the man of the match in Real's Champions League triumph in Lisbon, when they beat Atlético Madrid 4-1 after extra-time. Di María was sold to Manchester United in August for a British record £59.7m, with James Rodríguez, the Colombia forward, replacing him at Real. After United's victory over Palace, Van Gaal, who replaced Di María on 71 minutes, said of the Argentinian: "He has played in a very small space and he is a dribbler. But sometimes you cannot dribble, you have to make it a pass game and Di María is not a player who wants to give a pass every time he gets the ball.