I watched one
of the best matches in the 2014/2015 Premier League yesterday – Chelsea vs Manchester
United.
I’m a Man
United supporter, I cannot deny it. But, apart from my preferences and my
tendency to say that, Manchester United were the best in the pitch. They controlled
the match since the very beginning. They had more ball possession. United was
the best-organized team in the field…
Apart from
the result, other, say, happenings always call my attention after the games–
what the manager is going to say. After all, the team did what they were asked
to, right?
Actually,
every single Louis van Gaal’s interviews may be really interesting because you never
know how he will react to the questions asked, even if he wins the match.
I would like
to say that I think Louis van Gaal is one of the best managers in the world. I like
the way he manages his teams. I had no doubt he would make a great job for Man
United this season! The team is better than the one that played the previous
season.
I would also
like to share this post, especially with the journalists, about how one should interview
Mr. van Gaal.
It’s very
funny. Enjoy it.
Congratulations on obtaining Louis
van Gaal. From
this moment on, you will be patronised, looked at with
disdain, and
haunted by a constant doubt if Mr. Van Gaal is flat out making fun of you or
being dead serious. Before you embark on the journey that is having a post
match interview with Mr. Van Gaal, you should make yourself familiar with these
ten ground rules.
1. Be prepared for any possible mood Contrary to many other managers, whether the match is won, drawn or lost
is no indication whatsoever of Van Gaal’s mood. Even if he has won and seems to
be quite happy, one wrong question can - and will - put him off.
2. Start neutral Begin with a question about the match just played. “How did your team
do?” or “What did you think?” will suffice. “You must be very disappointed” will not. That is because the match you saw and
the match he saw can be very different ones. Mr. Van Gaal is perfectly
comfortable declaring that a 0-3 loss at home to Sunderland was his team’s best
game all season, just because his players were doing what he told them to do.
It’s not always about what ends up on the scoreboard. Don’t enter the interview
thinking it is.
3. Don’t introduce yourself Or else he’ll know your name, remember it and use it against you. You will not be some anonymous guy with a microphone and a cameraman on his side;
you will be Gary, or Clive, or Tony, with whom he will or will not have a feud
from the get-go. (He will.)
4. Stay on topic If the interview is about the game, you talk about the game. Not about
the next game, transfer rumours or whatever happened on the training pitch.
Every question about anything else than the game just played will derail the
conversation.
5. It’s his language now, not yours Mr. Van Gaal will come up with new additions to the Oxford Dictionary.
In Germany, he inadvertently (or was it?) introduced the phrase Der Tod oder die Gladiolen, a Dutch saying meaning literally “death or the
gladioli”: all or nothing. This is because if Mr. Van Gaal speaks your
language, it is no longer your language, it’s his. It is not Mr. Van Gaal who has trouble speaking English, it is you, for not going along with his obviously
much better interpretation of it.
6. Try to avoid the meta-interview An interview with Mr. Van Gaal will almost inevitably wind up being an interview about the interview, or more specifically, him asking questions about your questions. This
will be the moment you feel the conversation is slipping away from you. Switch
back to the studio, or it will end up on YouTube.
7. Don’t repeat the question Never mind - you will fail at this. You won’t fool him, even if you
think your follow-up question is a cleverly rephrased, well disguised one. He’ll say: “I just told you”. This is inevitable. Don’t try to avoid it, just try to get over it as
smoothly as possible, like you would at a speed bump.
8. Keep on your toes. At some point, you will think Mr. Van Gaal is joking. Sure, he does it with a straight face, but he’s joking, he must be.
He’s mocking you. Or is he really this angry about this little thing you just
said? No - it can’t be. You start to stammer. Ha! He’s just taking a… wait, is
he? You will never know, as only Mr. Van Gaal knows. And he never breaks
character.
9. Distinguish fact from opinion This is hard, as only Mr. Van Gaal can determinewhich are facts and
which are opinions. Which team was disadvantaged by the ref, or which team should have won based on the number of
chances? He, and only he, will have the answer.
These are the facts. Your facts are opinions. After the 1-1 draw of The
Netherlands against Ecuador, he called the 0-1 an “unfortunate ball moment”: nothing to do about it. In Mr. Van Gaal’s world, this makes perfect
sense. In your world it may not, but you are not to point this out, as he will call you dumb.
10. Stay under three minutes Try to get everything you need within that window. After that, the
chances of hitting a conversational speed bump will statistically rise. You’ll
start wandering into other realms of conversation (how about this or that
rumour, Mr. Van Gaal?), or you will ask a question a second time, or he will
say you did. After that, you’re on your own. Good luck, mate.
From: http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/05/21/british-journalists-follow-these-ten-rules-for-interviewing-louis-van-gaal/ [19 April
2015]
PORTAL DA
LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the
persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites
referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such
websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
In some
instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here;
therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so.
Thank you very much.
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