With one fit central defender available for United's home game with West Ham,
Van Gaal believes he can do to Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans
what he did to Arjen Robben
Louis
van Gaal claims that Manchester
United’s injury-prone defenders will overcome their recurring
fitness nightmare by following the same path which led to Arjen Robben
reviving his faltering career at Bayern
Munich.
Van Gaal goes into today’s Old Trafford clash against West
Ham with just one fit centre-half – Marcos Rojo – due to the injured
Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans joining the suspended Tyler
Blackett on the sidelines.
Despite the club citing physiological data during the summer which suggested
Jones, Evans and Smalling would avoid the injury problems of recent seasons,
all three are again out with hamstring, ankle and thigh problems
respectively.
The three centre-halves have seen their progress at United stalled by repeated
injuries, raising concerns over their ability to produce a sustained run of
games in the first team.
But after helping Dutch winger Robben banish the injury problems that had
plagued his career prior to signing for Bayern in 2009, Van Gaal insists
that Jones, Smalling and Evans can make the same journey at United.
“I have been told about their [Jones, Smalling and Evans] injury records and now they are confirming that,” Van Gaal said. “But I have good hopes that we shall improve in that matter because normally I don’t have any injuries.
“As a good example, for a player who was many times injured – Robben – in my season he was never injured. How do make that happen? By training sessions and adapting to the level I require.
“It was not only Robben, but every player, and we are doing that here in the same way, only less than I have done with Bayern Munich. We have to improve the level and intensity so the players can play the game.
“Do I expect those methods to work here? Yes, of course. I am 25 years in this profession and you learn every year, but you gain a philosophy in all those years and then you apply that.”
The fragility of Jones, Evans and Smalling has added to the perception that United failed to recruit a seasoned, experienced centre-half during a summer in which they spent £153 million on new signings.
But despite losing almost 1,100 games worth of combined defensive experience following the summer departures of Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, Van Gaal insists: “My concern is never the age or the experience.
"My concern is the profile and you have to fit in the profile. I don’t want to buy players who don’t fit into the profile. There are a lot of defenders in the world but I don’t want to buy any defender.
“Age is not so important. I played with the Dutch national team at the World Cup, with Bruno Martins Indi and Stefan de Vrij – both 22. Neither had ever played in the Premier League or abroad. Now they are abroad because of the World Cup and I played with Ron Vlaar and he plays with Aston Villa.
“That was my defence and we did it very well at the World Cup and until Leicester [last Sunday] we had only conceded three goals in spite of the fact that we were not playing so well. Our defensive organisation was very good, but now you want to make everything negative and that’s not true.”
Having guided United to their worst start in the Premier League era, a failure to defeat West Ham today would increase the pressure on Van Gaal to produce an upturn in fortunes.
The former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern coach is confident that an improvement will come.
“I have been told about their [Jones, Smalling and Evans] injury records and now they are confirming that,” Van Gaal said. “But I have good hopes that we shall improve in that matter because normally I don’t have any injuries.
“As a good example, for a player who was many times injured – Robben – in my season he was never injured. How do make that happen? By training sessions and adapting to the level I require.
“It was not only Robben, but every player, and we are doing that here in the same way, only less than I have done with Bayern Munich. We have to improve the level and intensity so the players can play the game.
“Do I expect those methods to work here? Yes, of course. I am 25 years in this profession and you learn every year, but you gain a philosophy in all those years and then you apply that.”
The fragility of Jones, Evans and Smalling has added to the perception that United failed to recruit a seasoned, experienced centre-half during a summer in which they spent £153 million on new signings.
But despite losing almost 1,100 games worth of combined defensive experience following the summer departures of Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, Van Gaal insists: “My concern is never the age or the experience.
"My concern is the profile and you have to fit in the profile. I don’t want to buy players who don’t fit into the profile. There are a lot of defenders in the world but I don’t want to buy any defender.
“Age is not so important. I played with the Dutch national team at the World Cup, with Bruno Martins Indi and Stefan de Vrij – both 22. Neither had ever played in the Premier League or abroad. Now they are abroad because of the World Cup and I played with Ron Vlaar and he plays with Aston Villa.
“That was my defence and we did it very well at the World Cup and until Leicester [last Sunday] we had only conceded three goals in spite of the fact that we were not playing so well. Our defensive organisation was very good, but now you want to make everything negative and that’s not true.”
Having guided United to their worst start in the Premier League era, a failure to defeat West Ham today would increase the pressure on Van Gaal to produce an upturn in fortunes.
The former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern coach is confident that an improvement will come.
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