Louis van Gaal's fall during Manchester United's Premier League match against Arsenal on 28 February was a perfectly executed piece of judo, according to Chelsea's interim manager Guus Hiddink. Van Gaal delighted the home crowd by throwing himself to the ground in front of the fourth official to remonstrate against what he thought was a dive by an Arsenal player. Van Gaal studied judo while as a school teacher in the Netherlands and Hiddink said it was faultless.

"I saw it. You could see that he has been educated also in his as a physical teacher because then you have practice in judo as well and he fell down perfectly. It was not very hard; it was very fluid he went down," Hiddink told reporters at a news conference on 29 February.

"I had also had some judo so I'm able to do so as well in the execution, yes, [but] I wouldn't do that."

Chelsea play Norwich City on 1 March before facing Stoke City on 5 March, and new Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato could make his debut in one of those games, with Diego Costa being rested. Pato signed from Corinthians in January on loan until the end of the season.

Related
Chelsea FC Manchester United FC