Blind Proud To Play For "This Beautiful Club"

Daley Blind reflects on his first season at Manchester United, revealing what it's like to work under Louis van Gaal and to walk out at Old Trafford on matchday...

On signing for United last summer... "It felt great, and it still feels great. It's a club you dream of playing for when you're a little boy, so it feels fantastic."

On working with van Gaal... "I was really excited for that because I knew that he could make players better. This year, I think I've learned a lot from him and I'm very happy that he has a lot of confidence in me, and that he brought me to this beautiful club. I'm thankful for that. You have to work very hard for him. He asks 100% of you every day, but that's good, it keeps you sharp and makes you better. He's very honest too, he knows what he wants and he's always himself – that's a great quality."

On the Premier League... "It's a different league to the Dutch league. The pace of the game is much higher here but I think I've adapted well – I think perhaps I could have done better in a few games at the end of the season. Overall, though, I think I've had a good first season and I can be proud of that."

On playing at Old Trafford... "It's great, it's a fantastic experience to play there. Every time you walk out onto the pitch from the tunnel you get the feeling that the fans are behind you – they're amazing."

On scoring his first United goal against West Brom... "It was a great moment for me, and an important one to get us a draw. I think it was a nice goal; during my time at Ajax it took me 100 games to score my first goal, so it was nice to be a bit quicker this time!"

On his captain, Wayne Rooney... "He's a great guy. He's always the first into battle, and he shows us the way. He's very important for the team, he scores some incredible goals as well. He's really, really good. He's a team player who plays wherever the coach needs him to; it's the same with me."

On challenging for the title next season... "I think we're not far off. If you look at the end of this season, we've done well and we've picked up a lot of points, even thought the last few games were difficult, but I think we have a good chance next year. If you look at the games we've played against the top teams, we've won a lot of points and a club like Manchester United will always aim to win the title. Next year, we're going to do that."

On United's team spirit... "I think in a lot of games this year we've carried on fighting until the end and got some points because of that. It’s important that we keep the spirit high in the team. It comes from the players and the dressing room is really great, everyone gets on really well with each other. We want to fight for each other, on and off the pitch, and that’s where the spirit comes from."

Daley Blind 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.