Premier League boss and former colleague reveals his dislike of Manchester United’s Louis van Gaal.
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has spoken about his problems with Manchester United’s Louis van Gaal, the two managers working together at both Barcelona and Ajax.
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Manchester United will travel to St Mary’s stadium on December sixth where the pair will meet for the first time in the Premier League, and there is sure to be no love lost between the Dutch compatriots.
Koeman told The Indenendant that although they had previously worked together, their problems originally stem from when he was the coach at Ajax.
“We had a problem because I was the coach of Ajax and he [Van Gaal] came in as technical director,” he said.
“We had some problems in the relation between his job and my job. First he left Ajax and, after three and a half years I left, too. It was difficult because it was a problem in the relation in football.”
“But you know, if there is a problem in football relations then there is also a problem outside of football. Never more was there the contact that we had before. Sometimes a little bit fighting [dispute] between each other.”
When asked if Louis van Gaal had called him weak, Koeman responded, “Yeah, that’s true [that Van Gaal said that]. But that is his story. My story is different. If there is a fight with two persons, both are involved in the problem. It’s OK. It is the past and we look forward. I hope he will be very successful.”
The former colleagues have enjoyed starkly different starts to their Premier League careers, with Koeman and Southampton sat in second place while also boasting a recent cup victory over Arsenal.
Louis van Gaal on the other hand has registered just a single league victory with Manchester United, with the former giants of English football languishing in twelfth. United also went out of the Capital One Cup in the previous round in a shock 4-0 loss to MK Dons.