Louis van Gaal Talks About Welbeck, RVP & Injuries Ahead Of The Arsenal vs Manchester United Game

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal sat down with the press ahead of the crucial game against Arsenal this weekend. With the Premier League resuming after a fortnight, van Gaal had to answer several questions on injuries and the latest across Old Trafford.

Here are some of the extracts from his presser.

The Manchester United manager kept a full stop to rumours suggesting that Daley Blind will be out for six months and in fact said that he requires a 10 day rest before further examining his knee.

“He is not ready, he has a brace on his knee. It’ll be 10 days’ rest, then we’ll have another scan and say more about his injury. It’s not as bad as the doctors thought after the match, but it shall be a long story, I believe, but not six months or something like that.”

Rooney, who received his 100th cap for England last week became the youngest player to achieve the feat and Van Gaal wanted him to emulate the same with Manchester United.

“Rooney is the youngest player with 100 caps, it’s fantastic. His sons are standing there, proud, and the father is proud too. I have congratulated him but he now has to score for United.”

Van Gaal also had few things to say about the former Mancunian Danny Welbeck and his upcoming opponents Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.

“It’s the first time I’ve sat on the bench against Arsenal as Manchester United coach. I’ve only played once against Arsenal with Barcelona. Wenger was on the bench and was already eight years [into the job] with Arsenal. I admire the way they play because it’s attacking and you play for the fans. I think that’s nice. About the rivalry, it’s normal in sport.”

On Danny Welbeck and Robin van Persie facing former clubs: “A player (Welbeck) who plays in a fixed position in a team develops better. So he takes all the benefit that he plays every week. That was a question mark with Manchester United. So it’s very good to see him doing what I thought.

On van Persie: “He was an Arsenal player – it’s the football world. He has scored also three times, I have heard – I didn’t know that – already against Arsenal as a Manchester United player. That’s life, believe me.”

Watch the full video here:

Arsenal and Manchester United are currently in 6th and 7th place respectively separated just by a point and this weekend’s fixture will go a long way in deciding who gets the upper hand for the fight for the fourth place. With Chelsea running away at the top of the table, and City trying hard to catch them, 3rd and 4th places looks realistic for both the clubs as the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham are still struggling to find any sort of form.