At least one person believes Louis Van Gaal did something good while coaching Manchester United. The only problem comes when that person is...Louis Van Gaal.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of Saturday's FA Cup clash against Everton, the Dutch coach referred to Marcus Rashford's performance since making his debut with the Red Devils. But while doing so, he praised himself for having what it takes to debut a young player.
"You need always guts to put youngsters in the squad and also in the line-up but, of course, the academy and all the academy coaches have credit for these players, also the scouts who discovered these boys. I am a little part of it. But that part is very important because you need the guts to do that," Van Gaal said.
Rashford has scored seven goals in 13 matches for Man United since his debut back in February.
LVG referred to some big names in the business that begun their career under his supervision. The Dutch tactician took credit for some top footballers, including Patrick Kluivert and Andrés Iniesta.
"I have had that at all my clubs because I give youngsters the chance to do that. I went to Ajax and Patrick Kluivert, 18 years old, made the same performance as Marcus Rashford. I can give a lot of examples of that, it's not new. At Bayern Munich it was Müller, at Barcelona, Xavi and Iniesta. Age is not the issue, quality is the big issue,"Van Gaal added.
Even after enduring quite a lot of criticism in his second season at Old Trafford, Van Gaal still believes the team is making progress. Their FA Cup semi-final spot speaks for itself, according to the former AZ Alkmaar boss.
"We are further than last year. Then we were in the quarter-finals, now we are in the semi-finals. That means we are better than last year. We are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and still in the race for fourth position in the Premier League, and that is our aim," the coach concluded.
