Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has spoken of his delight at winning the Internatinal Champions Cup but set his sights on the opening game of the new Premier League season.
The Reds ended their impressive tour of the United States with a 3-1 win over Liverpool to win the ICC trophy, thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard.
A first trophy, albeit pre-season for Van Gaal, United are now returning to England to prepare for their season opener against Swansea City at Old Trafford next weekend.
And, the Dutch coach is fully concentrated on beating the Welsh side and beginning the new season with the best possible start.
“It’s nice for the fans in the USA and also at home that we beat Liverpool,” he said at his post-match press conference.
“I think we gave a lot of pleasure to the fans and that’s very important. Of course, it’s better to win than to lose in pre-season but the most important game is against Swansea City. That’s the one we have to win.”
Van Gaal then heaped praise on Wayne Rooney, who played an important part in turning the final against Liverpool around.
“He’s always a winner,” van Gaal said. “I think he deserved to win the award because he made a lot of assists and scored goals. But we also defended well – there are a lot of defenders who could also have been the most valuable player of this tournament.”
