Van Gaal praises Manchester United's unsung pair Chris Smalling and Ashley Young

Chris Smalling and Louis van Gaal celebrate after United beat Wolfsburg in the Champions League

LOUIS VAN GAAL has paid tribute to Chris Smalling and Ashley Young as the unheralded stars in Manchester United rise to the top of the Premier League.

Centre back Smalling has made huge strides in the last year under Van Gaal while winger Young, a much-maligned figure in his early days at Old Trafford, has won over the fans with his unselfish displays and versatility. And both players have earned new long-term contracts from Van Gaal.
Young's club form has however been constantly overlooked by England boss Roy Hodgson who has not included him an international squad for two years.

But van Gaal says Young has proved himself a key figure in United's squad and praised his willingness ot play in unfamiliar roles.
He has played as a left back this season and came on at right back in place of Antonio Valencia at half-time of the Champions League victory over Wolfsburg last night.
“Ashley Young is very important,” said van Gaal. “He is a team player and not many players are actually team players.

“He is always thinking of the team, and he can play in a lot of positions. For a manager it is fantastic that he is willing to do that.
“He came in as a right-back, he hadn't played there so much I believe, but the second goal started with him.”
Smalling made an uncertain start under Van Gaal last season and was criticised by the demanding Duthcman after being sent off for two bookings in the Manchester derby last November.

Van Gaal praised Ashley Young for playing in unfamiliar roles

But since then he has finally emerged from the shadow of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic with a series of commanding performances at the centre of the defence to establish himself as a regular for club and country and his increasing authority has resulted in him being made captain when Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick have been absent.
Van Gaal says the player - who was bought for £10m from Fulham by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2010 - deserves all the credit rather than his coaching ability and man-management skills.
“I think that the player, when he does things, he does it always by himself," he added.
“I help him with advice, also with training sessions, demands, showing images to improve him, but he has to be open and he has to perform on the pitch.
“So he does everything himself. It is the greatest compliment you can give to Chris, and not me.

“As a player you need vacancies in positions, and when it is your position, you have more luck. That is always the same in football clubs.”
Van Gaal says his players are tired after playing six game sin the last 18 days. And to ensure his players are fully re-charged for Sunday's title showdown at Arsenal, van Gaal has given his squad the day off tomorrow to recover.
“The solution is recovery,” said van Gaal. “That is why it is so difficult to prepare for the match against Arsenal.
“As a manager you want to prepare on the [training] pitch, but you cannot do it [now] because you need the players to be fresh.
“The other solution is to change your squad, so we have to see the evaluation from the fatigue specialist, but I cannot tell that yet.
“The players have a day off on Friday, so we will have to wait and see on Saturday, then I can make decisions.”