West Bromwich Albion v Manchester Utd
The Hawthorns 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1
Louis van Gaal believes defeating West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns could inspire Manchester United to a title challenge, just as the Champions League victory over Juventus when he was in charge of Bayern Munich inspired the German club to win the Bundesliga. The manager said that a win tonight could do for Manchester United what that 4-1 victory in Turin in December 2009 did for Bayern, which was to put them into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. From there, Van Gaal's side reached the final, losing to Internazionale, and won the German Cup as well.
Van Gaal had a sticky start at Bayern, much as he has endured at Old Trafford this season, so he was happy to look back. “Do you remember when we had our revival?” he said. “We won 4-1 at Juventus, a fantastic game, and that gave us that psychological benefit.” He also cited United’s inconsistency in the latter part of matches after they faded in the 2-1 win over Everton. “But that was a very good game [Juventus] and against Everton we could not say it was very good. The first 60 minutes maybe, but a game lasts 90 minutes.” Catalyst With United out of the Capital One Cup, Van Gaal insisted the catalyst could come against West Bromwich or from any league encounter. “That can be any match but it cannot be every training session because a training session is different to a match, believe me,” he said. “You cannot simulate the match rhythm. We try to, but it’s different.”
Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal are all in the Champions League, and Van Gaal is not sure there is any benefit in having clear weeks to train. "When you can play the Champions League, especially the Champions League but also the Europa League, you can compare yourselves as a team with the better players, with a higher level," he said.
“When you are in the Champions League and it’s going well and you beat opponents, you are coming in a flow and then it’s not so bad to play all the matches.
"Maybe in my first year I have more chances to train with my players," he acknowledged. "That is probably better than all the matches maybe. But at the end of this it's always better to play in the Champions League and all the cups and play all the matches because you can compare yourself with higher-level opponents." Match fit Van Gaal now has only Jesse Lingard, Paddy McNair, Jonny Evans and Antonio Valencia injured, though some of his returning players need to regain match fitness. Asked if United can win the Premier League when they are all back, Van Gaal said: "Every team can win. You have your hopes but I do think there are stronger teams in the world now. We have to make a team . . . I hope we can fulfil that dream that we have together." Guardian Service
