Louis van Gaal Reportedly Upsets Manchester United Players with Training Regimen
Louis van Gaal's tough pre-season training regimen has reportedly rankled some of the Manchester United players as they prepare for Saturday's Premier League opener against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Red Devils returned to Manchester from their pre-season tour of the U.S. on Thursday following Wednesday's underwhelming 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Chicago.
According to Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News, the squad had to go straight from the plane to training after the eight-hour flight—and following their travails against PSG—a decision from Van Gaal that has not "gone down well" with some players.
Luckhurst noted that Van Gaal is historically tough when it comes to preparation, the Dutchman having ordered his squad on a walk of Santa Monica beach after a 12-hour flight to Los Angeles in pre-season last year—the aim being to "get the lactic acid out of [the players'] legs."
The players' grievances are likely to be short-lived if the Red Devils beat Spurs in Saturday's opening match of the Premier League season.
However, United will have to put in a better performance than they did against PSG, against whom their central defence continued to look vulnerable, per ByTheMinSport:
"Manchester United lost 2-0 to PSG last night. Always wise to let Zlatan through completely unmarked. https://t.co/2IMoTDeACZ
— ByTheMin Sport (@ByTheMinSport) July 30, 2015"
The defeat to the Ligue 1 champions was United's only loss in the International Champions Cup, as they previously beat Barcelona, San Jose Earthquakes and Club America.
United and Van Gaal know pre-season form often has little impact when the serious business of the Premier League rolls around.
After going undefeated last pre-season and winning the International Champions Cup, United lost to Swansea City on the first day of the 2014-15 Premier League season and won just one of their opening five games.
Van Gaal will be desperate to avoid a similar scenario in the upcoming term, as United could potentially challenge for the title, and he will be hoping his tough training regimen bears fruit against Spurs.
