Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of Louis van Gaal's pre-match press conference ahead of Manchester United's match against Aston Villa this weekend.
The team are up to third in the Premier League table following their win over Liverpool last weekend, leaving them eight points behind leaders Chelsea.
United have won their last six outings in the league, with the only loss in their last 11 coming against local rivals Manchester City last month.
The manager is due to speak to reporters at 12.30pm.
Good afternoon. Manchester United will be looking to make it seven league wins in a row when they travel to Villa Park tomorrow afternoon. Louis Van Gaal will be taking time out from his preparations to update the media in around 15 minutes.
Injuries have been a big story for the manager at the start of this season, particularly in defence. However, Phil Jones made a return to action last weekend, while Luke Shaw has indicated that he is nearing his return to action.
This match marks the start of a run of tricky festive fixtures for the team. They host Newcastle on Boxing Day before travelling to Spurs two days later, while an always-difficult visit to the Britannia Stadium awaits on New Year's Day, so Van Gaal will be keen for his side to maintain their strong recent form going into the Christmas period.
The squad has already been out at the club's Carrington training ground this morning. Here are a few images of the team getting ready for tomorrow's match:
Check out some pictures as #mufc put the work in at the Aon Training Complex ahead of facing Aston Villa on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/ANIcF8ml8T
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 19, 2014
Don't forget, as with all Premier League matches, we'll have live build up to this game from an hour before kickoff, as well as team news, player ratings, post-match reaction and much more, so make sure you're with us tomorrow afternoon as well.
Michael Carrick has also been speaking this week. He told the club's website: "We've had some really good performance of late and others when we've struggled to win. But in some ways that isn't unusual. In season where we have been successful, there have been periods when things haven't gone for us but we've found a way to get through it."
Right then, the manager is ready to go, so let's hear from Van Gaal...
INJURY UPDATE: Van Gaal starts by confirming that Angel di Maria is close to full fitness, and could feature on the bench tomorrow afternoon after a spell out with a hamstring problem.
Van Gaal is getting ready for the mad Christmas run in England for the first time, and has revealed that he has been taking advice from Sir Alex Ferguson in the run up to the festive period: "I have spoken with Sir Alex Ferguson. He says there is not a problem. We have won, but for me it is also about the performance. If we perform we shall win more matches. That it what I want."
Despite his side winning their last six matches, Van Gaal insists that his side can still improve: "I am still looking for a game that is closer to the perfect game than we have given until now. For example, the match against Hull was a great game, and that I have already said. I want to see more games like that. We dominated for 90 minutes, but too few games we are dominating for 90 minutes."
Expanding on the news about Di Maria's potential inclusion on the bench, Van Gaal says: "He has trained this week with us but he's not match fit after one week. Maybe I shall select him for the bench, or maybe not. I have to make my decision because we have one training session to go."
On this weekend's opponents, Van Gaal reveals that he is expecting a difficult game: "They haven't lost so much. They draw, they win and when they lost it's always by a one-goal difference. It shall be very difficult."
Despite his side's results, Van Gaal reiterates that performance is just as important to him: "For me, the performance is very important. When you perform well, you win more and that's what I want to show to the fans. The players want to show that. The guarantee of wins is much bigger when we perform better."
Another player who has been fighting for fitness recently is Radamel Falcao, and Van Gaal isn't giving anything away about his involvement this weekend: "He shows fitness in the training sessions, so maybe I shall select him for the bench, or maybe I shall select him for the [starting] lineup. Wait and see."
There's been talk of the club negotiating a new contract with David de Gea in recent weeks, but the manager says: "No news, otherwise we would give that news."
Right then, that's all from Van Gaal this week, so join us again tomorrow to find out if his side can continue their winning run. Until then, thanks for joining me this afternoon, goodbye.
Written by
Sian Cowper
Sian Cowper
