Xavi admits he initially thought Louis van Gaal was an ‘idiot’ at Barcelona

The former Barcelona captain Xavi admits he initially thought Louis van Gaal was an “idiot” but changed his mind after a week working with him.

The former Spain international was a youngster breaking through at the Nou Camp when Van Gaal was in charge at Barça and his first impression was not favourable.

However, he soon altered his view though he admitted the 64-year-old, now at Manchester United, was “poorly valued in the media”.

“After two days of training under him I thought, ‘Who is this idiot?’ After a week, I thought, ‘He’s right.’ He’ll always be in my heart, Louis van Gaal,” Xavi, now playing for the Qatari club Al Sadd, told espnfc.com.

“[He is a] good person, very good trainer. He has a very strong character but he’s calm in the Premier League because there’s less pressure.

“He’s much calmer than when he was at Barça or Bayern Munich. He’s honest, methodical and a real perfectionist. He’s very demanding, he’s strict and he wants to achieve the highest levels possible. He’s a tough fighter, yet he put trust into me when I was 17 and 18 years old.”

Cristiano Ronaldo: I want to retire with 'dignity', not in USA, Qatar or Dubai

Cristiano Ronaldo said Friday that he wants to end his career “with dignity” and not playing in “the United States, Qatar or Dubai”. The Real Madrid and Portugal star, the subject of a new documentary that premiered on Monday in London, said Thursday in an interview on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show that he expected to play six or seven more seasons and hoped to finish his career at the highest level. The remarks ostensibly referenced the recent wave of top players who have finished their careers outside of Europe’s top leagues, among them MLS imports Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, along with Xavi, the lifelong Barcelona midfielder who signed with Qatari club Al Sadd in May. “That does not mean it’s bad play in the leagues of the United States, Qatar or Dubai, but I do not see myself there,” Ronaldo said. Ronaldo, who turns 31 in February, became Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer last month and has th...

Falkirk chairman calls for restructure of ‘outdated’ Scottish league

The format of the Scottish league is outdated and should be restructured with a 16-team Premiership to help boost football in the country, says the chairman of second-tier promotion-challengers Falkirk . Speaking at the club’s AGM, Doug Henderson said the slide of Scottish football, from falling attendances to the poor performance of the national side and their top clubs in Europe, would continue unless steps were taken to change the current system. Scotland were the only team from the British Isles not to qualify for next year’s European Championship and Celtic , Scottish champions for the past four seasons, regularly fail to make any impact in European competition. Scottish football’s top four tiers are currently organised into a 12-team Premiership with three lower divisions each containing 10 teams. “Reflecting economic reality and the need for premier division full-time football, I believe that we must put vested interest aside and reform our lea...

Young people to lose access to unemployment benefits as part of welfare reforms

YOUNG people will not be able to get unemployment benefits until they turn 25 under reforms introduced by the Turnbull Government today. The coalition has unveiled wide-ranging welfare reforms in parliament today, including changes to the Newstart program. It hopes to stop people aged 22 to 24 getting Newstart or the Sickness allowance, and they will instead be shifted to the Youth Allowance payment. This will reduce the amount of money that they will be able to get, costing a single person living away from home about $90 a fortnight. They will also be required to study in order to qualify for the payments. “The key aim of this measure is to provide incentives for young unemployed people to obtain the relevant education and training to increase employability,” according to an explanatory memorandum for the bill. However, it says Youth Allowance does allow students to earn a higher amount of money from part-time or casual work than Newstart, before this begins imp...

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