Van Gaal lays into ‘not normal’ Merson over Liverpool rant

Matt Stead

Louis van Gaal had laid into Paul Merson over his recent Liverpool rant.

Merson told Sky Sports this week that Liverpool should “get out of” the Champions League as soon as they possibly can to aid their Premier League title aspirations.

Liverpool lead the Premier League table by four points after 21 games, and face Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16.

But Merson believes the club should ignore every other competition for their tilt at a first English top-flight league title since 1990.

“Get out of that. Get out of it. Get out. Make history. This team, this club has not won the league in 29 years. Get out of it. Win the league. Win the league. Get out of it. Get out. Get out.

“Seriously, these players can go down in history. The club, the manager…

“They’ve got to get out. Get out of it. Get out. You’re gonna win the league for the first time in 29 years. You don’t realise how big this is, in peoples’ lifetime.

“Yeah, for me that would be such a…if they go through – and they’ve got a chance – if they go through they get another game, more games for this team would be a nightmare. It would be a nightmare.

“The quicker they go out of these competitions, the more of an unbelievable chance they have to win the Premier League.

“Twenty-nine years now without the league, what an opportunity, you don’t want to keep playing game after game after game.

“They’ve not got the biggest squad in the world. These chances do not come along too often, you win it one year, and the next you’re blown away in 10 games. They’ve got to take that chance.”

Speaking on Ziggo Sports, Van Gaal offered a slightly more succinct response.

“This man is not normal. Liverpool shouldn’t take his bad advice into consideration.”

We miss him.