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Victor Valdes: 'I am a very difficult person to work and live with'

Andrew Yates / Reuters

There's no point in criticising Victor Valdes for not being the easiest 'keeper to work alongside.

He's perfectly aware of that himself.

The Spanish shot-stopper, who's involved in a war of words with Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, admitted he's a difficult player to manage in an interview with Colombian news station RCN that aired last week. He also didn't hesitate to praise Pep Guardiola for his man-management when the pair were together at Barcelona.

"I am a very difficult person to work and live with," Valdes said, according to the Guardian. "I was very lucky to have so many season with (Guardiola). In addition to being a teacher to many of us, he was always able to communicate greatly with everyone and knowing how to adapt to talk to different people in the dressing room.

"That's the most challenging thing for a coach, to adapt their own pride to be able to speak to everyone with their different egos."

Valdes was not selected for United's preseason tour of North America, and when van Gaal was subsequently asked if the 'keeper would be sold, the manager simply replied: "Yes." As a result, Valdes watched United's opening Premier League fixture on Saturday, a 1-0 win versus Tottenham Hotspur, from the bench.

"I recriminate myself when I keep myself in the margins and let people down, especially those who expect better from me," Valdes said. "The day when I left Barca, because of the treatment I was receiving and my character, it didn't go as well as I would have wished. I drifted and then just left, I'm sure people expected much more from me."

Valdes signed an 18-month contract in January that had an option for a further year. Prior to that, he'd been completing his rehab at Old Trafford as a free agent after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee.

"If I was born again, I wouldn't be a football goalkeeper," Valdes added. "They convinced me I had a lot of talent but it's not an easy path and it hasn't made up for all the years of suffering. There have been many days when I haven't wanted to be there, but I do it since I was convinced when I was young.

"I have walked the path with discipline but it has brought me thousands of moments of suffering."

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