Wednesday, July 23, 2014

LOUIS VAN GAAL RIPS INTO MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYERS FOR BELOW PAR EFFORTS AT TRAINING IN LA BUT ALSO DISHES OUT PRAISE WITH HIGH-FIVES

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal revealed flashes of his famous temper during the club’s public training session at the Pasadena Rose Bowl on Tuesday night.
Van Gaal has only been working with United’s players for less than a week since arriving from World Cup duty with Holland and has promised to judge them all with an open mind.

But onlookers at United’s work out in California saw the 62-year-old admonish and praise his players in equal measure during a fascinating session ahead of Wednesday night's tour match with LA Galaxy at the stadium that hosted the 1994 World Cup Final.

Two sides: Louis van Gaal's famous temper was on show in Los Angeles as Manchester United prepared for their friendly against LA Galaxy

Leading the way: A candidate for Van Gaal's captain's arm band, Wayne Rooney leads the line-up of United stars in warm-up drills

As members of the public and the media looked on, Van Gaal set his players the task of shooting only with their left foot during practice drills at the Rose Bowl and was quick to rip in to players such as new signing Luke Shaw and midfielder Darren Fletcher when they failed to hit the target.
Observers were surprised at how annoyed Van Gaal seemed when players were not successful and he certainly seemed happy to put players in their place in front of hundreds of fans who had queued up to watch the United squad in action.
What particularly annoyed Van Gaal was players missing the target completely or shooting too close to the goalkeeper.
Equally, though, Van Gaal was soon exchanging high fives with players who did score with their ‘wrong’ foot and seemed particularly enthusiastic when centre halves Phil Jones and Jonny Evans managed to hit the target.

Lighter side: Van Gaal, here with Ryan Giggs, has a notoriously fiery temper but also shows his sense of humour and willingness to dish out praise when it's deserved

'You are supposed to be a defender,' Van Gaal said to Jones as they smacked palms in a manner reminiscent of the celebration he shared with United striker Robin van Persie after he scored for Holland in their opening World Cup destruction of Spain in Salvador last month.
Speaking before the session, Van Gaal had indicated that each player would be given a chance to prove themselves to him.
'At this moment, I cannot say anything about the squad and additions,' he said.
'I want to learn about my players and get to know them. When I am the coach and when I give the orders to my players to play a certain way, I want to see how they perform.
'That is why I cannot answer this question just now. I want to give all players the chance to show themselves under my guidance.'

Old mates: Rooney (right) speaks with United legend David Beckham, who also made an indelible mark on football in the United States with his stint at the Galaxy

No comments:

Post a Comment