Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal last night faced the English media. The Dutchman faced a number of questions ranging from the United squad, to the potential signings he could make. Courtesy of The Daily Mail, we have the highlights of the United boss’ interview.
The following interview, both questions and answers, are directly sourced from The Daily Mail.
LOUIS, YOU SAID LAST YEAR THE UNITED SQUAD WAS BROKEN. DO YOU THINK IT IS WELL FIXED NOW?
“We only have a better balance of the team. Now we have all the positions double occupied and that is what I said in many, many press conferences last season that we were not in balance and I have to play with players in other positions than they normally have to play in or can play.”
THERE WAS STILL A BIG GAP TO CHAMPIONS CHELSEA LAST SEASON. HAVE YOU GOT ENOUGH TO MAKE THAT UP?
“The gap is only the consequence of our bad start because after the bad start you will be amazed. I don’t know [if we will make a better start this season]. That could happen again but every day I say to the boys: ‘Our first game against Tottenham Hotspur is the most important.’ The performance against Barcelona here [a 3-1 win] was much more important than the result. OK, the result is fantastic but we were lucky also. If we’d had that luck against Chelsea away last season, you never know.”
YOU HAVE SO FAR LET 17 PLAYERS GO AND BROUGHT IN 10. DID YOU EXPECT TO MAKE THAT MANY CHANGES?
“I believe in refreshment. You need that, to keep the spirit in the team and also the challenge to be in the line-up and before my time it was not done like that. We had a lot of old players – 35, 34 – so we needed to do that but it was difficult for me because I was new and I had to do it at once.
After that I made my selection. In my preparation I let players go and we bought up to the last day of August last summer.”
CAN YOU STILL ACHIEVE IN THREE YEARS WHAT YOU HOPED?
“I hope I shall end my career with the championship of course. That would be fantastic because that is also the aim of Manchester United. My personal aim is that I shall be a manager with four championships in four different countries and in my opinion the best countries of Europe.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR DECISIVENESS IN DECISION-MAKING BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY WOULD HAVE LET VAN PERSIE LEAVE?
“That is also a process. It is what we have experienced in the whole season with each other. You have to oversee all the aspects. People have written that Van Persie is my favourite player and that I protect him and yes maybe I have done that. But in the end you always have to evaluate which players have contributed to our fourth place, which players a little bit and which players no contribution, and then you make decisions but you make decisions on facts and not on other things. There is also the choice for Wayne Rooney. People have written all season that Rooney is a striker but now you ask about Van Persie.”
IF ROONEY GETS INJURED HOW CAN UNITED SCORE ENOUGH GOALS?
“You have seen Januzaj and, in two weeks Chicharito, or maybe I buy another striker. I have to evaluate always that process.”
CAN ROONEY DO FOR YOU WHAT SERGIO AGUERO DOES FOR MANCHESTER CITY OR DIEGO COSTA FOR CHELSEA?
“Rooney has said that he scores at the minimum 25 goals. Last season I had a top scorer with 12 goals and Van Persie had 10 goals. So when I have a striker that scores 25, and Rooney is more or less saying that, then I am better off. Not only Rooney has to score but other players have to score and we have to concede less.”
WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT YOUR FIRST YEAR BACK IN CLUB FOOTBALL, HAVE YOU REALISED HOW MUCH YOU MISSED IT?
“I like to be on the pitch coaching and communicating with younger people. And with my job as the national coach you are only with them eight times in a year so that is a big difference. But because of our success with the Netherlands it was fantastic. But that’s because of the success and the low expectations of the people in the Netherlands.
So that was a big surprise and it brought a lot of gratitude and normally in the Netherlands you never get gratitude. But because of the unexpected success it was fantastic. And I have challenges for myself. I have said already I want to work and be champions in the four strongest countries in Europe. So one of the challenges was that I wanted to participate in World and European Championships. And I said six months before I went to the World Cup that I wanted to come back to club football. So I have also ambitions and goals in my life. And that I have done. And after the World Cup I said I would go to the Premier League and after that clubs were coming for me.”
IF THE UNITED BOARD CAME AND OFFERED YOU A NEW DEAL WOULD YOU TAKE IT?
“You never know, you can never say: ‘I go.’ I have already said to my wife it might be that we extend in Manchester but normally I have said to my wife that after 55 years I quit. And I am still in business and in two weeks’ time I will be 64!”
BUT IF YOU DIDN’T WIN THE TITLE IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS COULD YOU STILL WALK AWAY?
That would be a pity! And then Manchester United shall fire me!
IS THIS LOUIS VAN GAAL’S UNITED NOW?
“No, it’s not my Manchester United. Why? Because we have to look for more balance in the team and for more creativity. The second goal against Barcelona was a marvellous goal. And we need not only what we have trained in the training session but also we need the creation of the players themselves. And then that has to be a mix. Therefore you need creative players. For example, Chelsea have Eden Hazard, Willian and Oscar. There is a lot of creativity there. And you need that because you have to break down teams that park the bus. Next year there might be more teams who are parking the bus.”
BUT DON’T YOU HAVE CREATIVITY NOW?
“No, you [the questioner] don’t have a good vision I think. We can use much more creativity.”
DO YOU NOT HAVE THE PLAYERS TO DO THAT?
“We look for more creativity. So now we have Wayne, Mata, Depay, Young, Januzaj, Wilson, Herrera. So we have to compare. So Young has had a fantastic season but he is not a Neymar and we have to compete with that kind of class.”
CAN WE TALK ABOUT ANGEL DI MARIA?
“I would rather not talk about that.”
UNITED FANS LOVED YOUR SPEECH AT THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR DINNER. WAS IT DELIBERATE?
“No, that’s who I am. It’s not deliberate. It’s not that I think advance that I have to say that. It’s my feeling. My feeling of the season. An intimate celebration and I didn’t expect that it should be filmed on YouTube but you have seen Louis van Gaal – who I am. And I say the things how I feel and I think had we beaten Chelsea away it was still going to be very close I’m still thinking of that game, we were much better and we lose and they have one chance and they scored and we had a lot of chances and we had 80 per cent more possession. It was nearly a perfect game. But we don’t score. And that’s the most important thing. Barcelona could have scored two-zero already and they don’t score, so one post and one De Gea was saving. After that we scored and then it is a different game. And that’s the same thing then [vs Chelsea] at that time.
We don’t score and they score and that is the difference in the game. At that time if we win it, the gap was five points and the pressure was high.”
IS THAT THEY TYPE OF THING YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU ARE ON HOLIDAY IN PORTUGAL?
“No, I’m thinking at that time, they have Hazard, he can always make goals, he can always make an action and decide a goal. Manchester City have Aguero, it’s the same type. Barcelona has Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. We as Manchester United have to compete with these clubs. So we have to look also for that kind of players.”
ARE YOU STILL LOOKING FOR HIM?
“Of course. Because when it is possible to buy for a reasonable price players from that level we shall do that because they can contribute that they are better. So I think with Schneiderlin, with Schweinsteiger, with Depay, with Darmian, we are better than last year. But we have to be much more better and then I say to you that is the creativity of my players in the front.”
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL LOUIS VAN GAAL PLAYER?
“He has to know what he’s doing as a player as a team player and when you are a Louis van Gaal player then you don’t know only your function in your position but also the other functions in their positions and then you can help each other much more. Then you are improving always the team.
That’s why you have to improve your vision not only in your position but you also have to know what the team needs. When you have seen today Barcelona – the pressing and how they expect where the pass is coming from – that’s fantastic to see. That is it.”
CRISTIANO RONALDO HAS STAR APPEAL. DO YOU EVER SEE HIM COMING BACK TO OLD TRAFFORD?
“He may come but it is not possible.”
UNITED FANS WOULD LOVE IT. WHAT ABOUT YOU?
“Yeah, of course. But that’s not possible.”
WHY NOT?
“Because you have the club, Ronaldo and then you have Manchester United and how much Manchester United want to spend.”
All in all it was a very revealing interview. Van Gaal seems to be fitting into his role more so, and his handling of the media is quite admirable.