Van Gaal Wants To Win Title For Fans

In an extensive interview, Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal looked back on the 2014/15 campaign. It aired first on MUTV and also features in the official season review DVD, which is out on 18 June. Here are some of the manager's key points...

BEATING LIVERPOOL… “I SCORED A LOT OF CREDIT WITH THAT VICTORY.” Not only did the Reds defeat Liverpool 3-0 at home and 2-1 away, van Gaal’s side avenged a 1-0 reverse against Manchester City with a convincing 4-2 triumph at Old Trafford. He laughs at the suggestion he was King of Manchester for a few days: “Maybe, maybe, but it’s just a match. Of course, it’s against City and it was also amazing because we were behind and we won 4-2 – it shows again the spirit in our team. I don't think we played our best match because that was against Tottenham, but we played a good match against a top team. I liked that very much.” But the triumph over Liverpool won plenty of favour: “I could feel it in the stadium and on the streets because people were so happy and crazy! I have scored a lot of credit with that victory.”

PREMIER LEAGUE LIFE… “FOOTBALL IS LIVING AND LIVING IS FOOTBALL.” While the dressing room facilities at English club grounds aren’t always up to van Gaal’s standards – “the accommodation for the players to dress themselves are in most stadiums not so good. And also the place for the manager, a lot of times I'm sitting on the toilet because there is no other place!” – he has found kindred people when it comes to his love for the game. “The way football lives in the minds of the people here is unbelievable. It is what I expected coming here and it’s fantastic to be here in England. Fans live football. Football is living and living is football here. That is not the case in Germany, in Spain it’s a little bit more like that, but not in Germany. It is fantastic to see.”

MAKING ROONEY CAPTAIN… “I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION. I’M VERY HAPPY WITH HIM.” Van Gaal has struck up an excellent understanding and rapport with his new skipper. “He is a democratic leader, he is not a dictator. I like democratic leadership. He is always setting an example for the other players and maybe Wayne is the example for the team’s fighting spirit. Sometimes he can cross the limits but when you review his season you can say that he is a controlled captain. He will always argue with the referee but he did it at the right moment in a positive way. So I think after one season I can say I made the right decision to make him our captain. I am very happy with him.”

BACK IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE… “IT’S NOT A PIECE OF CAKE.” “First we have to qualify because we have to play two matches to [enter the group stages of] the Champions League. That's not so easy. My colleague Arsene Wenger has said the right words – you can meet with a club that is halfway [through their pre-season] and you are at the start of the pre-season. It is a stressful period so I hope we succeed but still we have to be aware that it is not a piece of cake. I have a lot of confidence that we will qualify – first I want to hear the draw and then we shall talk again!”

TITLE TALK… “I WILL GIVE EVERYTHING TO BUILD A TEAM AS CHAMPIONS.” “The board of Manchester United shall say now we have to battle for the championship! I think it’s a fantastic challenge but it is also dependable on how we can purchase good players and how we can improve the balance in our squad. When you see against Arsenal what I had to do, I had to put players in positions that they never play. That's a pity because the balance in our selection was not good. You need two players for every position. But the board brought me here to win titles. I want to win titles for the fans but also for myself. The biggest challenge is what your ambition is, and my ambition is to win titles. It is not easy, everybody knows that and we shall fight till the end and I will give everything in me to build a team as champions.”

Louis van Gaal was interviewed for the official Manchester United Season Review 2014/15 DVD, which will be released on 18 June and is available to pre-order now from United Direct (store.manutd.com).