Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has slammed Paul Merson after the ex-Arsenal man claimed Liverpool should not bother with the Champions League and instead focus purely on the Premier League.
Paul Merson: “The quicker Liverpool go out of the Champions League, the more of an unbelievable chance they have to win the league.”
Louis Van Gaal to Dutch TV after viewing the clip of Merson: “This man is not normal. Liverpool shouldn’t take his bad advice into consideration.” pic.twitter.com/vrVhp2rgvN
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) January 5, 2019
Van Gaal is absolutely right – the FA Cup, yes, but not the Champions League!
We can see what Merson means, but to sacrifice the Champions League is never going to happen – and nor should it.
The Reds don’t face Bayern Munich in the last-16 of the tournament until mid-February, with five league games to come until then.
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If anything, a victory over the two legs against Bayern would improve the players’ confidence and hopefully continue momentum, depending on the results between now and then.
With a squad much larger than in previous seasons, there is no reason why Liverpool can’t go far in both competitions – that’s exactly why investment was made in the likes of Fabinho and Naby Keita, as well as Xherdan Shaqiri.
Giving up on Europe is absolutely not going to happen.