Ahead of the game against Everton, Louis van Gaal faced up to the microphones and let loose on Manchester United, saying “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. 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.”
Manchester United make the trip to China after the Euros, in late July. The Red Devils will play a derby against rivals Manchester City on July 25 in Beijing, just three days after the take on German giants Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on July 22, as part of their participation in the International Champions Cup
Van Gaal has experienced this before
Despite the trip becoming a problem, Van Gaal has a positive memory of a simlar experience with Sparta Rotterdam, athough he noted that the weather conditions will mean the Manchester United will not be able to train properly.
The Manchester United manager continued, “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,” Van Gaal said. “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.”
United need all the team-building trips at the moment, as the Red Devils have endured a disappointing season, with Louis van Gaal overseeing a campaign that has seen them be perpetually outside the top four.
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