MANCHESTER United manager Louis van Gaal has bemoaned the lack of time at his disposal as he attempts to nurse an injury-plagued squad through his first Christmas in English football.
United have just 43 hours between their 3-1 victory over Newcastle United on Boxing Day and their visit to Tottenham Hotspur today, which kicks off at lunchtime.
It is a piece of fixture scheduling that clearly has not impressed the former Dutch national team manager, who said: “I can’t prepare my team like I have to prepare.
“We have unit meetings, we have team meetings, we have a training session, 11 against 11, simulating the opponents. We can’t do that now. We have to play within 48 hours.
“In UEFA and in Fifa it is forbidden to play within 48 hours, but it is England, so it’s different!
“I changed (Radamel) Falcao and I changed (Michael) Carrick for that reason, so we will have to wait and see how they recover because all the players now have to go to recover and eat properly.
“Then your body can recover better. Tomorrow (Saturday) morning, they have free time and rest because recovery is much more important than a training session now.”
To add to Van Gaal’s problems, a virus has swept through the United dressing room and ruled Belgian international midfielders Marouane Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj out of the trip to Spurs.
But at least United are showing no ill-effects on the field.
They took their unbeaten run to eight games thanks to two goals from Wayne Rooney, who also set up Robin van Persie for United’s third before Papiss Cisse claimed a late consolation for Newcastle from the penalty spot.
Rooney has been used in a midfield role by Van Gaal of late and it is a tactic that is paying dividends.
“He has the lung capacity to run for 90 minutes as a midfielder,” Van Gaal explained.
“So that’s why I also use him as a midfielder, but I can also use him a striker. But for the team at this moment, it’s better he plays in midfield.
The win kept United in third place and just about in touch with leaders Chelsea and Man City, although Van Gaal admits it will be difficult to overhaul the pair in the new year.
“If we win and they shall lose, then it’s easy,” he joked. “But Chelsea will not lose so easily. It will be very difficult.” AFP