Ryan Giggs has told the Daily Telegraph he does not miss playing after finally hanging up his boots to become Manchester United's assistant manager.
The winger, who turns 41 on Saturday, retired in May after 23 years in United's first team, when he made a club record 963 appearances.
Giggs is the most decorated player in the history of English football after winning 13 Premier League titles and the Champions League twice but said his four-game spell as United's interim manager at the end of last season convinced him to call time on his playing days and he has not regretted the decision.
"I have never been one to look back," Giggs said. "I think, having done the [manager's] job at the end of last season, that finally made up my mind to retire because I enjoyed it and I knew I was ready for the next step.
"I didn't miss playing that much, so it helped, in that respect, to clearly make up my mind that I was ready to finish. The way last season went had nothing to do with it really.
"I'd had bad seasons and disappointing seasons before -- last year was bad, yes, but it had no influence on my decision whatsoever.
"It would have been nice to go out on a high, but that had no bearing on it really. I just hadn't missed playing as much as I thought I would and I was ready for the next step."
Giggs was a player-coach under David Moyes and said he found it difficult to combine the two roles, adding: "This season, I know where my full focus is. I definitely feel closer to management now. Even in that short space of time, two or three weeks, whatever it was, I learned so much and it was just an unbelievable experience for me."
United endured a difficult beginning to Van Gaal's reign but Giggs feels Saturday's 2-1 victory at Arsenal could prove a defining result.
He said: "We are slowly getting there and Arsenal was a big game to win. It was the first away win, against one of the bigger teams, and it was a challenge we met."