Asked if United could win the Champions League with an Ajax-style blend of ages, he replied: “Yes, I believe in that”.
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“When you see Manchester United, and how many young players we have and play, we are starting with Luke Shaw, Memphis Depay, Adnan Januzaj, then Jesse Lingard, Paddy McNair…” This is the club of 20 league titles, three European Cups, and a heritage of attacking football that has featured the holy trinity of Best-Law-Charlton and Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. You have to play the game.
Whether or not that comes back to haunt United remains to be seen, but they will certainly need to be focused on the task in hand in order to avoid an upset.
Despite being linked with a number of targets, Van Gaal insists he does not need to sign a striker before the transfer window shuts on Tuesday. Van Gaal has a reputation as an educator – he describes himself as a “trainer/coach” – and has been trying to inculcate his players with his “philosophy” since his arrival last summer.
Last summer, Manchester United were left bare in all areas of the pitch by a haphazard approach to recruitment which ended up in the failed Falcao experiment.
Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United have been at their best at the start of the 2015-16 campaign when they’ve been without the ball.
“I don’t think that we have a danger”, Van Gaal said about complacency, “because the players shall know that Bruges is a very hard club to beat”. “Now we are continuing with a lot of clean sheets so that is very important but we have to improve when we have the ball”.
This was a striking admission from Van Gaal but the fact is that his team is neither creating nor converting as many chances as expected. As a result, that likely means Wayne Rooney will continue to lead the side despite his goal-scoring drought.
Moments after Marouane Fellaini had nodded in a 95th minute header at Old Trafford, Van Gaal was preaching a message of caution.
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Lazio is looking to reach the Champions League group stage after an eight-year absence and ensure there will be three Italian representatives.
