Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes the dressing room at Old Trafford was in danger of becoming too cosy an environment for his players as they struggled to emerge from their mid-season crisis.
Wayne Rooney's deft flick gave United the win against Swansea last Saturday
Van Gaal, renowned for trying to impose his philosophy on his players in the opening 18 months of his Old Trafford reign, said: “I think the atmosphere in our dressing room is very good, maybe too good because they are always protecting the dressing room, their colleagues. That is very good until a certain height.
• Manchester United vs Sheffield United preview
“We have also changed our approach to the players to make it more easy to take responsibility.
“I have stimulated them to think about football. The game is a brain sport and now you can let them think with you and therefore you can change your approach.
Man Utd have struggled for form this season
“The players take the commitment, for example, for the game plan and other kinds of decisions and then the commitment is higher and bigger I think.
“But we have to see how it shall work. We are trying everything to come to a solution but at the end it always comes down to we are better than the opponents. But we have to score goals.”
• FA Cup third round: 10 questions for the weekend
• Which Premier League giants are most susceptible to upsets?
United’s attacking options have been increased by the early return from loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Preston, respectively, of winger Adnan Januzaj and striker Will Keane.
Adnan Januzaj is back at Old Trafford
Keane, 22, could be involved against League One side Sheffield United in the third-round tie but Januazaj, 20, is not expected to play until next Monday night’s under-21 fixture at Reading.
Meanwhile, van Gaal has welcomed the expected arrival of Pep Guardiola in the Premier League from next summer but does not believe his own position is under threat from the Bayern Munich coach, who has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester City.
Louis van Gaal would like to see Pep Guardiola in the Premier League
Van Gaal added: “You have to set always your goals, as a manager also. He wants to sniff the culture of England and I wanted that also.
“I’m at the end of my career so for me it’s not so interesting. For me it’s interesting how I take care of Manchester United and after this season I still have one year to go.”
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét