Louis van Gaal: Why I don't bother leaving the bench during Man Utd games

LOUIS VAN GAAL has told Alan Pardee, Jurgen Klopp and his fellow managers they are wasting their time venturing into the technical area during matches. Louis van Gaal very rarely goes into the technical area during matches Newcastle boss Pardew has had several touchline bust-ups with his fellow managers, including an infamous shoving match with Arsene Wenger, a head-butting incident with Hull midfielder David Meyler and an altercation with a fourth official. Former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson used to prowl the technical area late in games to cajole his players and put pressure on referees. But significantly, Van Gaal has left his dug- out seat only once since taking over as Manchester United last summer – and that was during a substitution – because he thinks it is a pointless exercise. He says players either cannot hear his instructions or understand them properly while referees will ignore any comments. 

"I don't see that I can have any influence when I am standing there shouting from the sidelines," he said. 

 "Sometimes I've done it in the past but that has been more of an emotional thing than the content of what you are saying actually being heard by the players. 

"I have never had a fight. I only use my voice, never my hands or something like that. They [the players] do not understand you or can't hear you because of the noise from the crowd. That's why I'm always on the bench. "You have trained them all week to read the game by themselves. It is much more important that they are more involved with the game, that they make their own decisions. It is like a child - you educate. 

"Sometimes they don't read the games well but then at least you have half-time to put things right or you can make a substitution. 

"Then you can say to the player who is coming on how they have to play in their position. You have to transfer that. 

 "I don't see that I can have any influence when I am standing there shouting from the sidelines" Louis van Gaal 

 "I also don't think I can influence the referee. When I was in my first year [at Ajax] I tried everything. But I learned over the years to be quieter.

" When it was pointed out Ferguson used to tap his watch to pressure referees into adding more time, he said: 

"You think the referee was looking at Ferguson? On television you can see that because every television station is recording the manager, I know. "But the referee is not looking at the television. Maybe he is after the match but then he can't change anything any more.

" Van Gaal also explained his copious note- taking during matches is all about bullet- point presentation in his half-time team talk. He added: "I do it for half-time when I can say the things that can influence the match. I write because the sequence has to be always the right way because the players remember the moments of the game in sequence. It's [the talk] more efficient then.