With a third of the season gone,Louis van Gaal is well into his tenure at Manchester United with visible progress being made
The manager will now taste his first taste of the traditionally clustered festive period where recovery and lack of injuries will be key. The Dutchman however has revealed that he does not support the fixture congestion as it leaves players with minimal recovery periods and forces family commitments to take a back seat. Speaking to reporters Van Gaal said, “I cannot change it(the fixture list), I don’t think it is good for the players that they play within two days of a match.December shall be like that, and we have also family. I also have a wife, and kids and grandchildren and I cannot see them at Christmas.”
Van Gaal also added,”But, I want to work in the Premier League so I have to adapt and I shall adapt.”
It will also be a challenge for United’s new signings as winter breaks are the norm in in many European leagues.
Van Gaal is not the first United manager to complain about the December frenzy,Sir Alex Ferguson repeated his call in April 2011 for winter breaks to be introduced,”I have been saying this for years,” the United boss told satellite radio station Sirius XM at the time
“It is not just to give the players a rest. It is to get rid of all the little injuries they carry. It would also freshen everyone up mentally, including my staff because they could do with that break as well. But somehow they just will not listen to the people who really matter in the game, supporters, players, staff and coaches.
That’s when maybe you think TV has too much power.”
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