Van Gaal's Admires Arsenal's Style Of Play

Louis van Gaal has spoken of his admiration for Arsenal's style of play ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium and says his side must be wary of how the Gunners respond after losing at home in midweek.

Arsene Wenger’s men suffered a surprise 3-2 defeat in the Champions League against Olympiacos on Tuesday evening, 24 hours before the Reds enjoyed a 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg at Old Trafford.

United, who beat Arsenal 2-1 at their ground last term, are approaching Sunday’s meeting at the top of the table but van Gaal admits his side will be up against what he believes to be the best technical team in England, and he is expecting a tough challenge.

“I think Arsenal are one of the best teams in the league, in a technical and tactical sense - maybe the best. I like the way they play,” the boss told MUTV. “Nevertheless, they haven’t won so much so you have to look for that improvement with their team. But I’m not their manager so I don’t have to do that!

“We played a very lucky game at the Emirates last season. I believe Arsenal were better, but we were better in the game in the FA Cup and we lost. That’s football. You can lose even when you are the better team. We also drew at home so that shows that we are equal more or less. Arsenal is a very good team with individual players from a high level, I think.”

When asked how he thought Arsenal would respond to the surprise midweek loss, van Gaal added: “That I don’t know of course because I am not there, I am here! I think Arsenal can come back from a defeat. They have shown that a lot of times.”

Van Gaal, who confirmed that Michael Carrick is available again after missing the win over Wolfsburg, revealed that he has already told his squad he does not want a repeat of what happened before the last international break when the Reds lost out to Swansea, and he hopes luck and other factors are on United’s side on Sunday afternoon.

“I think it’s the circumstances,” he said, when asked what makes the difference in matches against the top teams. “For example, Arsenal have one day more recovery but it’s also about the shape on the day because we are human beings and are not always at the highest level so that’s also important.

“Which players are in shape [form] is also important because you have players who can decide the match and you also have players in your squad that don’t decide the match so that’s also important. The referee is important. You also need a little bit of luck.”