Van Gaal: 'A good way to learn'

Uli Hoeneß billed Saturday’s 60-minute meeting with Hamburg in Gelsenkirchen “the first proper match“ of the pre-season period. In the event, it was also a first defeat for new head coach Louis van Gaal. Following the 1-0 reverse to the northerners in the T-Home Cup semi-final, the Dutch boss took questions from reporters. fcbayern.de was there and summarises Van Gaal’s statements after the game.

Van Gaal’s reaction to the HSV match:

Louis Van Gaal, your team has lost 1-0 to Hamburg. What’s your analysis of the match?
Van Gaal: “I wasn’t particularly pleased with our performance today. We played very poorly. I’m always hoping we’ll improve from game to game. It didn’t work out today, and that’s a shame.“

What areas failed to please you in particular?
Van Gaal: “We gave away possession far too often. All HSV’s chances came about because we lost the ball. And when our opponents were in possession, we didn’t start pressing them at the right moment. We also had a lot of problems dealing with set pieces.“

So wayward passing prevented your team piecing together many moves?
Van Gaal: “It’s certainly a little strange. We’ve worked very hard on our passing game in training, and it went very well. But we’ll continue working extremely hard on that.“

There are still three weeks until the Bundesliga restart. How would you assess today’s defeat?
Van Gaal: “Fundamentally, it’s always better to win than to lose. In tomorrow’s third-place play-off, we’ll field eleven different players. I hope they do better than today’s team. We’re still in the first phase of pre-season. It’s important the players are given the time to put my philosophy into practice. I think we’ll be talking about an improved situation for our team in two weeks. The match was a good way for us to learn.“