"Manchester United" strategist Louis van Gaal delivered an impressive speech at the club's awards ceremony, which later gained wide attention on social media.
The Dutchman had already presented the Player of the Season award to goalkeeper David De Gea and was then asked to conclude the evening.
Full van Gaal speech:
"Reflecting on the season is always difficult, but when you start with 13 points in 10 matches and you are the manager of the most famous club in the world, at the same time being a person of experience, it seems that you are not very popular among the fans. However, I arrived at Old Trafford, fought for 13 points in 10 matches and then I saw how I should behave."
"The audience applauds, stands up from their seats. I thought, how is this possible? How is it possible for the fans to support me? (applause) Thank you. That's why we were able to continue the work we started, not only me, but also the staff and especially the players. Playing in such a fantastic club like Manchester United is not easy, especially when after 10 matches you only have 13 points and you are led by a new coach who demands different things than everyone else. It's very difficult."
"After all the injuries, all the setbacks in the first part of the season, we did not stop maintaining team spirit. We stood up and, if I'm not mistaken, from 13th place we climbed to 3rd place in the league, which was the greatest achievement after such a poor start. We believed, not only the players, but the entire staff believed that we could finish second."
"I remember the meeting with the players, with captain Wayne Rooney... (speech interrupted by the audience) We decided to aim for the second place in the league. And I said: yes! We will fight for it!"
"However... Alright. Christmas! Arsenal! The FA Cup. The FA Cup, isn't it? Lost! Remember the FA Cup match against Arsenal? We were the better team, and in my opinion, the best player made a mistake. We lost that match and then we met and discussed what happened. Then we won six matches in a row!"
"Then we fought against Chelsea... that away match against Chelsea, do you remember? We had... no, no, no, no! You must listen! I ask you to listen, because at that time we had 50 points, and Wayne Rooney was sitting in the dressing room saying we need to fight for second place. We had won six matches and were going to play against Chelsea."
"Which team was better then? It's easy to decide here. I believe that, but it was true despite losing. In that match we experienced failure, but just imagine, we controlled the ball 80% of the time and had 10 real chances, while they had three... Three! And they won! If we had won that match, calculate how many points we could have collected, because then we lost two matches in a row, so it was three in total, but, you see, if we had collected 30 points then, and Chelsea now had only 80 points, we would have had a chance to become champions. So, I want to tell you: we are very close!"
"But as a manager, I know that 'if' does not count. We have to show more and believe not only in the players. The staff and the entire Manchester United organization also have to work as best as possible. Why? Because we have the best fans in the world. Thank you for that, we will meet again next season."
Immediately after that, van Gaal returned to the stage and, interrupting the event host, asked to thank the evening's musician:
"I want to say something. Hey, listen to the manager!"
"Ryan Giggs told me, and he is right, he is always right, but in this case - especially right. I told you that we have the best fans in the world, but tonight I was a bit disappointed."
"Yes, I will say why. I saw the girl who plays the saxophone fantastically... Huge applause to her!"
Former Manchester United player Gary Neville, who was particularly impressed by the coach's speech, said that van Gaal would be a great fit for the leadership of the British Labour Party, as his debates with Conservative representative David Cameron would worth more than the recently signed record Premier League broadcasting deal.
