Getting up to speed.
Louis van Gaal does not seem to enjoy pre-season tours too much.
The Manchester United manager has appeared churlish, accusatory, cryptic and, at times, refreshingly frank during is side’s tour of North America. The only moment of levity cropped up when he called Chris Smalling the wrong name.
Van Gaal is nothing if not entertaining, however, and his honesty can often be portrayed in the wrong way.
So, when you read all about Bastian Schweinsteiger getting slated by his boss today, consider the context in which the Dutchman spoke.
Schweinsteiger began the second-half of his side’s 3-1 win over San Jose, last night, in centre midfield. His 45 minutes on the pitch were tidy but, in keeping with the downward arc of the friendly encounter, lacking in real pace or incision.
Van Gaal criticised his team for not pressing on from their 2-1 half-time advantage, and killing their hosts off.
Asked about Schweinsteiger, van Gaal said, ‘He was also bad. There was one highlight, I think, and that was Pereira.’
In the German’s defence, he added, ‘Players can play bad and certainly when you have only three days or six days training sessions in your legs and you have to play 45 minutes.
‘Everybody can say that it’s easy to step in but it is not easy. I think the first match he played very well, and now he played bad. But that is also a process and certainly when you only have one week of training.’
The manager hopes David De Gea can play against Barcelona on Saturday. "He was still injured tonight." #MUtour pic.twitter.com/qFlWzHYS8f
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 22, 2015
Van Gaal had 22-year-old goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in nets for the entire game as Anders Lindergaard and David de Gea are carrying knocks.
Oddly, van Gaal revealed that he asked de Gea to stand in goal for the pre-match warm-ups to offer his players a visual aid while shooting. He told the Spaniard that he should not over-extend himself to risk aggravating the knock he is carrying.
