Louis van Gaal calls Jurgen Klopp a crowd-pleaser

By Stephen Turner

Saturday 16 January 2016 18:35, UK

Louis van Gaal says he can see why Jurgen Klopp's brand of aggressive football is a winner with supporters.

Van Gaal and Klopp will send their sides out for one of football's fiercest rivalries on Super Sunday as Liverpool host Manchester United for the first time since the German arrived in the Premier League.

And the United boss, whose possession-based style has come in for heavy criticism from sections of his own fans this season, understands why his opposite number is already a hit at Anfield.

"You can see his hand and that is very important when he is the manager," said Van Gaal, who went up against then-Borussia Dortmund boss Klopp four times during his time at Bayern Munich.

"You can see a very aggressive and pressing kind of play in Liverpool's game.

"Of course, he has to learn also the Premier League, the rhythm of the Premier League, and I think he knows already the difference between the Premier League and German Llague.

"But he is very capable to be a manager in the Premier League because he has always played this kind of football and I think the fans shall love it."

The importance of the fixture is not lost on Van Gaal, who has won all three of his Premier League meetings with Liverpool.

"It's how the fans are seeing it, and I feel it also already," he added. "You can see it also in the faces of the players. Last season, for example, Steven Gerrard is on and sent off within 30 seconds.

"We need to be aggressive but also under control, and that's always difficult because the passion to play these kind of games is very high."

Adnan Januzaj is in contention for a place on the bench at Anfield, but Van Gaal expects this weekend to come too soon for Bastian Schweinsteiger, while Michael Carrick remains out.