Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says that his counterpart over at Manchester United was misguided to get involved with West Ham manager Sam Allardyce while trying to defend his long ball tactics.
The Dutch manager even went so far as to produce a list of statistics that he handed out to reporters in an attempt to show that United were not playing long ball tactics during their 1-1 draw with West Ham at Upton Park.
Wenger said he would not have taken Sam Allardyce’s bait, a manager with whom the Frenchman has had a long-term bad relationship with.
“There was no reason for Van Gaal to defend himself,” argued the Arsenal boss. “Players have an intelligence. A team plays naturally to its strong point and an intelligent team knows how to exploit the strong points.
“I don’t think Van Gaal said to them go longer. When they see [Marouane] Fellaini on the pitch, the guy at the back says, ‘Ah, I can kick it to Fellaini.’ Then [Robin] van Persie or [Wayne] Rooney can score the goal. This is normal.
“When we have [Olivier] Giroud in the team, the players understand quickly when they can play a bit longer, cross the ball more. If we win the ball in the air, you can go for the second ball.
“I play the game that is most suited to our players. A big club has a reason to try and win with style, but first they have to try and win. If you are chasing the game in the last five minutes you do not always want the short ball.
Man United went a bit longer at West Ham to try and get an equaliser. It was completely logical.”
