Louis van Gaal had a message for club legend and Sky pundit Gary Neville:
“Watch what you say about Manchester United.”
The Iron Tulip said this in response to Neville’s opinion that Sunday’s game between Manchester United and Liverpool will be “the Dog and Duck against the Red Lion.”
Van Gaal admitted his side was indeed very lucky to have won at Southampton today, and that there’s plenty of room for improvement with his side. He also admitted that the club is lucky to have ascended to third place, but he took exception to Neville shooting his mouth off and calling United a “pub side.”
“He can say everything because he’s an ex-legend. But as an ex-legend, you have to know what you’re saying,” said Van Gaal.
Pressed further, the United boss appeared to imply Neville should be more respectful to his former club. He said: “You can interpret that (as you like). It’s not difficult when I say he has to pay attention to his words.”
It’s all very reminiscent of what England Manager Roy Hodgson said on May 20th. He also made a “pub team” remark in regards to United.
“You can organize a pub team not to let in six goals against Manchester United,” Hodgson said. Here’s the full quote.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2