Quotes from Louis van Gaal

I am amazed when people say I am single-minded.

Players can play bad, and certainly when you have only three days or six days training sessions in your legs, and you have to play 45 minutes. Everybody can say that it's easy to step in, but it is not easy.

I criticize the media for inventing stories.

When you have an older group of players, they play on automatic pilot a lot of the time, but with youngsters, you have more intuition.

You need always guts to put youngsters in the squad and also in the line-up.

I always tried to defend high up the pitch, to be in the opposition's half and play the game there.

I have a philosophy. I was convinced of it, and by winning trophies in four countries, I proved the philosophy worked.

I have been privileged during my management career to have won 20 trophies, but winning the FA Cup, which is steeped in so much history, will always be one of the most special achievements of my career.

I'm not the kind of coach who just goes out and buys players for the sake of it. I'm a coach who wants to - and can - improve players.

It cannot be a good thing when a club is run solely from a commercially-driven perspective.

With Ajax, I played Mexico in Mexico City, and our players could hardly keep up for half the match.

I worked at the number one team in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and now also in England.

Having managed in Holland, Spain, and Germany, I had always hoped for the opportunity to manage in English football and be part of English culture.

It's difficult to beat German teams. They don't play as attractively as, for example, you have it in the English league or in the Spanish league. But to break a German team is not very easy.

I watch the Premier League, the Spanish and Dutch leagues, and a little bit of the German league.

When I have signed for clubs, I have always spoken a long time with the CEO or with the owners, not only at United, but also at Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and I have the faith that they always support me.

Preparing your tactical formation is essential. Each player needs to know where he has to be, and that is why there needs to be mutual understanding: because you need absolute discipline.

I have to treat all of the players at the same level with the same rules and same demands. It's difficult to understand, because the outside world is thinking when you pay a lot for the player, then you have to put him in the squad.

Having coached Ajax, Barcelona, the Netherlands, FC Bayern, and Manchester United like I did, it is difficult for any offer to be interesting.

It is not normal that one team dominates for 20 years in a row as the champion.

To look at the players, to communicate with the players, to observe and to analyze - that's my job.

I am who I am: confident, arrogant, dominant, honest, hard-working and innovative.

I am open with the players, with my media officer, and also the media.

I am not a usual coach: it doesn't matter for me who are scoring the goals.