adminWASHINGTON DC. — Louis van Gaal claims he has inherited a “broken” team at Manchester United. Defending champions United finished seventh last season, their lowest-ever English Premier League finish, and missed out on the Champions League for the first time in 19 years. Van Gaal said: “When there is success you have a very good squad, and now I have to follow and the squad was broken, I think. When you look at the squad, there is quality.
“There is Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck. You also see Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini, and you see Ander Herrera.
“There are a lot of players that can play in the same position. It is not in balance. It’s more difficult to succeed in a difficult situation than in a fantastic situation.”
Van Gaal will not get drawn into any mind-games with Jose Mourinho this season, and says he still regards the Chelsea manager as his “friend”.
Mourinho controversially claimed earlier this week that the Old Trafford giants were paying over the odds for Luke Shaw, a £27 million signing from Southampton who reportedly now earns in the region of £100 000 a week.
The Special One said paying that kind of money to the 19-year-old would have “killed” the London club.
United boss Van Gaal hinted he would speak privately to Mourinho about the matter.
Many saw that as a sign the two former colleagues were set for a rocky relationship this season.
Mourinho, who worked as Van Gaal’s assistant at Barcelona for three years, has a record of trying to wind up fellow managers.
But Van Gaal is sure he will have a harmonious relationship with the Portuguese this term even though both he and his former protege are in charge of teams vying for the title.
“I don’t think I will fall out with him. He is my friend,” Van Gaal said of Mourinho.
“I don’t think (I will fall out with) all the other managers. I have full respect for all my colleagues.
“For me (mind games) are not so interesting. I have to manage my club. That is already difficult enough. I am not concerned with other clubs or other managers.”
Van Gaal, of course, is the second man to have a go at trying to fill Ferguson’s shoes.
David Moyes failed terribly last year, guiding United through their worst English Premier League campaign in history.
The Red Devils finished seventh under his stewardship, and they now face a season without European football for the first time in almost two decades.
When asked whether directly following Ferguson would have been harder than succeeding Moyes, Van Gaal said, “No. I don’t agree.
“I had to follow Bobby Robson at Barcelona the year after he won three titles and there wasn’t a problem (Van Gaal won the league that year).”
Meanwhile, van Gaal has accused Luke Shaw of returning from the World Cup unfit.
Shaw, who joined United from Southampton for £27 million this summer, trained alone from the rest of the squad at Washington’s FedEx Field.
Van Gaal revealed Shaw is not fit and that he ordered the 19-year-old England defender to train on his own in order to bring his fitness up to the required level.
Shaw returned a day earlier than the rest of United’s England’s World Cup contingent after a holiday in Spain, in a clear indication of his desire to impress Van Gaal, but the Dutchman has clearly been unimpressed with what he has seen.
But in what amounted to a clear warning to the rest of his squad that he will not tolerate players who are not at peak fitness, Van Gaal said: “He is okay but I am always a trainer who sees the individual and what an individual player needs.
“I think he [Shaw] needs to be fit and he is not very fit, therefore he can’t perform what I want.
“He has to be fit first and to train individually.”
Asked why he felt Shaw was so unfit, despite having just returned from the World Cup, Van Gaal said: “I cannot judge that. I see what I see and I have spoken with him and we have made a programme for him, and he agreed with me.
“But I have heard good messages from Tony Strudwick (United’s fitness coach). I have to wait and see.” — The Mirror.
Online Reporter