Van Gaal: no winter break hits English clubs' European challenge
English clubs would never properly compete in the Champions League until they are given a winter break, says Van Gaal
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Your support makes all the difference.Louis van Gaal, the only current Premier League manager to have contested three European Cup finals, said English clubs would never properly compete in the Champions League until they are given a winter break.
For the first time since the first season of the Premier League in 1992-93 there will be no English representatives in the business stages of any European competition.
“The world is changing and it is not the same as 20 years ago. Then the English Premier League was right up here,” said the Manchester United manager making a gesture high with his hands. “There was a lot of money and a lot of players came to the Premier League because they were paying well and took the Premier League to a high standard.
“But other countries developed and the one advantage they always had was a winter pause, while we have to play four or five matches in two weeks. How many matches have Bayern Munich played in the meantime? That is the difference.”
Van Gaal added that he had awarded the United midfielder Michael Carrick a one-year extension to his contract. “I think of him as my trainer-coach on the field because he is a very intelligent footballer,” he said, adding that he hoped he could change Anfield as Wayne Rooney’s hoodoo ground. The United captain has scored only once at Liverpool. “It could be a mental thing,” he said. “I cannot deny that. I don’t know if Wayne has a block about Anfield – he is a very experienced professional, he has played on most of the great grounds in the world.
“I don’t think he could be influenced by the Liverpool fans but I do know that the ground has not been an easy one for Manchester United over the years – but now I am the manager maybe we can change that.”
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