Louis van Gaal gives increasingly intense interview as irritation with BBC grows following Manchester United defeat to Chelsea
Manchester United manager unable to disguise his derision at line of questioning
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Your support makes all the difference.Louis van Gaal gave a tense interview with the BBC following Manchester United's defeat to Chelsea.
The Dutchman had just seen his side dominate in every department at Stamford Bridge, but not on the score-sheet. It seemed the frustration at the outcome, one that has dented hopes of a second-place finish in the table for the Red Devils, carried over into his post-match interview.
It appeared that the former Netherlands manager was unhappy at being asked to confirm if he genuinely believed he had just seen his team's best performance of the season. It also appeared he was less than satisfied with the referee's performance, particularly in relation to a foul on Radamel Falcao in the build-up to the only goal of the match scored by Eden Hazard.
Below is the full transcript from the interview...
BBC: Louis, do you feel unlucky not to have won this game?
LVG: It doesn't matter how I feel, I think.
BBC: But on possession, and on the amount of time you spent in Chelsea's half, you would say that you were at least as good as they were?
LVG: I don't have to say it. In football it's only counting the goals and they scored one goal. It was the first shot on the goal and, against Crystal Palace, I believe it was in the 90th minute, so they did better today.
BBC: Are you frustrated by what you've seen?
LVG: I am not frustrated, I am very proud of my team. Why do I have to be frustrated?
BBC: Just at losing the game...
LVG: We played the best match of the season.
BBC: Is that how highly you rate the performance, yeah?
LVG: Yeah, you don't?
BBC: No, I'm just interested in how you see it...
LVG: Okay, that's good ... that you are interested.
BBC: You changed things around today because you had to. Did it work exactly as you intended it to, with Wayne Rooney back in midfield?
LVG: When I say that we played the best match of the world, and is this a rhetorical question, I think.
BBC: What about the incident at the end? Should you have had a penalty?
LVG: When you want to evaluate the referee then also you have to evaluate the first goal. In my opinion that's the main decision of the referee.
BBC: Are you taking issue with what you feel maybe is a foul on [Radamel] Falcao?
LVG: Maybe you can watch on television. Repetition, maybe.
BBC: Do you think it was a foul on Falcao in the build-up?
LVG: So! You know that?! Okay...
BBC: Thanks, Louis.
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