Van Gaal Slams China Pre-season Tour

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has criticised the club's decision to tour China as part of their preparations for next season.

United are due to play games against Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City in the International Champions Cup, a friendly tournament held in Beijing.

The Red Devils' opening match against Dortmund will be played on July 22 - just 12 days after the final of Euro 2016 in France.

And Van Gaal, who has played in a pre-season tournament in China during his time with Sparta Rotterdam, says the planned tour is "not a very good preparation" for his side.

"I was involved in every step of the planning, the club wanted to go for a fortnight but I got it down to eight days, which is more like six days," said the Dutchman.


"I have played as a player in a tournament in Shanghai and we could not train. It is only because of the commercial reasons that we are going.

"I know a club like Manchester United must do that, but it is not a very good preparation, because we will have a lot of players involved in the European Championships who will be tired.

"I shall try to do some training but the humidity is so high that when I was there we could only do it at seven in the morning or nine in the evening.

"Having said that, when I was with Sparta Rotterdam we won the tournament. Then we went home and won the next six league matches.

"The training was no use, but it seemed to work from a team-building point of view."

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