adminLONDON. — Liverpool’s stars looked delighted to be back in the swing of club football as they made themselves ready to return to face a Manchester United side hit by a rebellion by players over Louis Van Gaal’s tough training regime. United players are rebelling against the increasingly unpopular Dutchman’s rigid training regime and former Arsenal defensive stalwart, Martin Keown, believes the gaffer should listen to his men.
“Louis van Gaal is an intelligent boss but he has a massive ego and feels he knows best. “So it will be interesting to see how much player complaints will affect his methods. The training ground can be an intense environment but sometimes it’s better to keep things short and sharp so that players reach their peak intensity at the right time — on match day,” said Keown.
The United gaffer believes his team will win tomorrow.
“We will win on Saturday,” he said in a candid chat with BBC’s Dan Walker, but stopped short of saying they could win the league, believing a second or third place finish was more realistic and announced that he expects Ryan Giggs to succeed him as manager at Old Trafford.
“No, maybe third or second place is realistic, but I expect us to go for it next season,” he said
Van Gaal added that he believed United’s support was the best in the world:
“At Barcelona when the team is losing fans wave their white hankies, Munich fans start whistling and at Ajax the fans call for the previous manager.
“Manchester United fans get behind their manager, they get behind their team. That is why United fans are the best in the world.’
In sharp contrast, Brendan Rodgers was pictured laughing and joking with his squad as he prepared them for a visit to Old Trafford tomorrow.
And the Liverpool boss was given a timely boost ahead of the United fixture, as England striker Daniel Sturridge returned to full training, with the possibility that he could be back in action for the first time since April this weekend.
Sturridge, who has been sidelined after undergoing hip surgery in May, began training at Melwood late last month after conducting the first half of his rehabilitation programme in the United States.
His progress has been going smoothly and the fact that he has been given the green light to re-join the first team squad is a huge positive for Brendan Rodgers, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Manchester United.
No decision, however, has been taken on whether he will feature at Old Trafford.
Sturridge has not played for Liverpool since they beat Blackburn 1-0 in an FA Cup replay on April 8 and Rodgers has been adamant that Liverpool will not gamble with his fitness by introducing him to a game too early.
Even so, it is an encouraging sign for the Liverpool manager, whose side are about to embark on a hectic run of fixtures in the next few weeks that will see them play United, Everton and launch their Capital One Cup and Europa League campaigns.
Another player who will be fresh for that run of fixtures is midfielder Lucas Leiva, who was one of the few players left at the club over the international break.
And Lucas is looking forward to getting back into competitive action at Old Trafford and is hoping to treat the game as he would any other fixture.
“We have to try to approach it the same way we approach every single game but we know there (is) a lot of [talking] and the fans are more excited about it,’ the midfielder told Liverpool’s website.
“For the players that have never played (the fixture), they just have to try to approach it the same way they always do. You feel when you get there that it’s a different game but nothing is too different in terms of the football.
“We have to leave the excitement and emotion for the fans because that’s what they should do, be excited about this game. We are excited but in the right way.
“It’s probably one of the biggest games of the season,’ he added. ‘I think if you get a good result there it can give you a lot of belief and confidence going forward.
“It’s a team that will be challenging for the top four and titles so it’s a good opportunity for us to put the result against West Ham behind us and start again.” — Mailonline.
Online Reporter