Ten things you may not know about the favourite to succeed David Moyes at Old Trafford.
10. Louis van Gaal revealed his testicles to the Bayern Munich squad to prove he ‘had the balls’ to drop any one of them.
“The coach wanted to make clear to us that he can drop any player, it was all the same to him because, as he said, he had the balls,” Luca Toni is quoted as saying by ESPN.
“He demonstrated this literally (by dropping his trousers). I have never experienced anything like it, it was totally crazy. Luckily I didn’t see a lot, because I wasn’t in the front row.”
9. After stints with Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AZ Alkmaar, Louis van Gaal’s win percentage at club level is an impressive 61% (stat via the Independent) from over 800 matches (better than Sir Alex Ferguson but worse than his former assistant Jose Mourinho).
8. Louis van Gaal is currently in his second stint as Netherlands boss. During his first spell in charge of the Oranje, he claimed, “Louis van Gaal has nothing more to learn,” before promptly stepping down after failing to qualify for World Cup 2002.
7. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is a protegee of Louis van Gaal. The Portuguese was given his first job by the Dutchman as assistant manager at Barcelona.
“I am always ‘the arrogant Louis van Gaal’, but now I am humble because now he is better than me,” the Dutchman is quoted as saying by the Independent.
Van Gaal believes he differs from Mourinho is one vital area, however: “Mourinho teaches his team to win at all costs, while my objective is to win with style and attacking play, which is not so easy.”
6. Louis van Gaal unashamedly takes the credit for Pep Guardiola’s style and success, claiming the Spaniard is simply following his lead.
“Guardiola follows the Van Gaal Philosophy. So I’m not surprised Bayern have hired Guardiola. Bayern always hire the best managers,” the Dutchman said last year.
5. During his time at Barcelona, Louis Van Gaal said he dreamed of seeing the club line-up with eleven players from its famous La Masia academy. The idea was laughed at but 10 years later on November 24th 2012 against Levante, Van Gaal’s dream became reality.
4. Louis van Gaal was so furious that Marcel Desailly was not sent off for a dangerous challenge in the 1995 Champions League final between Ajax and AC Milan that he performed a flying kick on the touchline, in imitation of the Milan defender’s tackle.
3. When he was Barcelona manager, Louis van Gaal met a young Jordi Alba (the Spain international was a Barcelona youth player before joining Valencia and subsequently re-signing for the Catalans) and asked him, in English, what position he played.
2. Louis van Gaal physically assaulted a 14-year-old Gerard Pique when the Dutchman was Barcelona manager.
“Piqué’s grandfather was even a club director, and one day he invited Barcelona’s coach Louis van Gaal to lunch. “This,” he said, introducing the young Gerard, “is my grandson – a centre-back for Barcelona’s youth team.” Van Gaal looked at Piqué and, without warning, pushed him over. Towering above the 14- year-old, he barked: “You’re too weak to be a Barcelona defender.”
1. Van Gaal has a long running feud with compatriot Yohan Cryuff, dating back to a dinner invitation.
“Van Gaal, along with the Koeman brothers, had taken up an invitation to have dinner at the Cruyff family home,” reads an article from the Guardian.
“”The phone rang, it was for me,” recounted Van Gaal in his 2009 autobiography. “It was my family, ringing to tell me my sister had died. I rushed out immediately. Later I heard that Johann was angry I didn’t thank him for the meal.””
“Van Gaal really has Alzheimer’s if he writes stuff like that. You wonder whether he has one or two screws loose,” responded Cryuff.