Henry baffled by Van Gaal's use of Rooney & Van Persie

The former Arsenal striker says West Bromwich Albion, who pulled off a shock win at Old Trafford, would have been happy to see the strike duo playing in midfield

Thierry Henry has criticised Louis van Gaal's tactics after Manchester United suffered their third straight Premier League defeat, going down 1-0 at home to West Brom on Saturday.

The hosts struggled to break down a disciplined Baggies side, despite boasting nearly 80 per cent possession, with Chris Brunt's deflected free kick on 63 minutes proving decisive.

Robin van Persie returned to the starting line-up for the first time since February, but missed a second-half penalty, and saw a late chance superbly saved by Boaz Myhill, before dropping into midfield alongside Wayne Rooney late on.

Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria were both introduced as substitutes with Marouane Fellaini pushed furthest forwards as United sought an equaliser but Henry feels Van Gaal must take some of the blame for the club's latest loss.

"If you play and you need to score a goal at Old Trafford and you're losing against West Brom. If I'm playing for West Brom and I see Rooney in midfield, Van Persie in midfield… I'm happy," he told Sky Sports.

"You're not scared. I thought at a certain moment that he was going to change that and put Robin higher up the field and maybe Rooney too, guys that can score in some key moment. But they stayed in midfield."

United are still on course to finish in the top four as they sit four points ahead of Liverpool with three games left to play but Dwight Yorke has warned they must spend big to improve their squad this summer.

"How much does Van Gaal need to spend in the summer? A few million that's for sure," he told Sky Sports. "Can you put a price tag on how much they're going to spend to really make the team better?

"We've seen them spend £150 million (€200m), has the team improved? Slightly. I would think he definitely needs to bring in two or three players. I'm sure he knows the type of players he needs."