Friday, 31st October, 2014
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal insists he knows the importance of the derby against Manchester City on Sunday, due to Ryan Giggs' passionate and tension-filled presentation on the opposition.
Giggs often locked horns with the Citizens during his playing career at Manchester United, but now as Van Gaal's assistant he will be forced to watch events unfold from the dugout.
But the Welshman has done his best to make sure the entire Manchester United squad understand the importance of the game, with his presentation even having an influence on Van Gaal himself.
"This is the biggest derby that I shall manage", Van Gaal, a former Ajax, Bayern Munich and Barcelona coach, told a press conference today.
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"It is one of 38 [Premier League] matches we have to play, but for the fans it is unbelievably big as a rivalry and I have felt that also with a lot of the players in the squad, but also especially with Ryan Giggs.
"When he presented the analysis on City, I felt more tension with him. It was good to see."
Van Gaal also admits he has taken encouragement from Manchester City's recent dip in form, the Citizens' last match being a 2-0 League Cup defeat to Newcastle United.
"That is our goal, to win. It is possible, we are growing, we are developing ourselves. What we have seen of City in the last few matches was not so good. You never know."
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