Chris Smalling has given his backing to Louis van Gaal, claiming that the manager’s communication with the players is spot on.

He’s got his way of working and his philosophy but what people don’t see is the communication among the players. We have meetings about how we’ll press a team or how we’ll play a certain player and he listens to the player’s opinions so we can work together. So our working relationship is definitely improving.

It’s been up and down. We’ve still got a long way to go. It’s been a roller coaster and if the season was to finish now, we wouldn’t be satisfied.