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Anderson slams Van Gaal for robotic behaviour

Former Manchester United player Anderson slams Louis van Gaal for his silly instructions and robotic behaviour towards players, and also accused him of forcing out several stars from Old Trafford.

Louis van Gaal

Bengaluru, January 18: Former Manchester United player Anderson slams Louis van Gaal for his silly instructions and robotic behaviour towards players, and also accused him of forcing out several stars from Old Trafford.

The Brazilian arrived at Old Trafford for £20m in 2007 as a 19-year-old midfield prodigy and won the prestigious Golden Ball award while he was at Porto. There was a lot of hype regarding him and at the start of his United career and it looked like he could fulfill that potential. However, he never achieved his potential, as injury and fitness issues took their toll and things got worse after the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.

The midfielder was sent on loan under Moyes's reign to Fiorentina in January 2014. However, after the arrival of Van Gaal, just six months into his first season, the midfielder was frozen out which eventually made him return to his native country in 2015 with Internacional. And now the midfielder has lifted the lid on his time under Van Gaal and claimed that the Dutchman's time in charge hastened his departure from United and slammed the way his old manager managed the Old Trafford side.

"I came back to United and [Louis] van Gaal arrived," he explained in an interview with ESPN.

"I respect Van Gaal, but football had changed and he was not successful anymore. He gave silly instructions for everything, even in training. He was like a robot. I decided to leave. I told Van Gaal that I wanted to leave. He said I could go."

"I was leaving a club, which wasn't the same. The spirit was going, players were leaving," he added. "How did he let a player like Di Maria go so quickly? He's a sick player. Van Persie lost the love, too. Everyone started saying: We'll go.

"Van Gaal's philosophy was no longer working. It's hard in the Premier League to play robotic: pass, pass, pass."

Anderson spent seven years at the club and went on to make 181 appearances with the Red Devils and was part of the United squad that won four league titles, two League Cups and the Champions League.

Story first published: Thursday, January 18, 2018, 14:29 [IST]
Other articles published on Jan 18, 2018