Good article on Van Gaal
'Welcome to the age of Van Gaal and the total person'
By Simon Kuper
Financial Times.
In September 1991, on the eve of becoming coach of Ajax Amsterdam, Louis van Gaal talked to his wife about how to do his first big job. "Should I do it like I thought it should be done, or gradually? I thought I should do it at once. She said, 'That's right. You must be true to yourself.'"
The Dutchman - now about to lead Holland to the World Cup - has been true to himself since. The methods of United's new manager are well known. Here's what to expect from him at Old Trafford:
? No respect for either the club culture or national culture. After Alex Ferguson became United's manager in 1986, he interviewed long-serving staff about the club's history, and listened to fans. Ferguson was learning what his new club stood for. Over time, he made himself the embodiment of United's culture.
Van Gaal won't do that. He's more like his former prot?g? Jos? Mourinho, who sets himself up as bigger than his new club. The Dutchman takes himself very seriously, often speaking of himself in the third person. In his previous jobs with giant clubs, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, he showed little interest in local status ladders or ways of doing things. He once told Bayern's chairman and club icon Karl-Heinz Rummenigge that he was sitting in Van Gaal's seat on the plane and would have to move. Van Gaal would do the same to Ferguson at United.
He disdains politeness, considering it a hypocritical foreign custom. Instead he prefers to tell people "the truth" to their face in the old-fashioned Dutch way. At Barcelona, he once informed the Spanish media that Spain was an excellent country to live in and a terrible one to work in.
? Clashes with the media. Confronted with a roomful of journalists, Van Gaal can rarely resist the urge to demonstrate that he is right and they are ignorant. "That's a stupid question," he characteristically told a BBC journalist last week.
Ferguson insulted journalists, too. But he was a proven winner at United, and virtually owned the place. If Van Gaal's rebuilding of United's team results in early defeats, and he is forever shouting red-faced at journalists in poor English (he has no gift for foreign languages), the media could make him pay. That happened at Barcelona.
? Brilliant tactics. Van Gaal grew up in Amsterdam-East near the then Ajax stadium, and aged 12 was already watching the training sessions of Ajax's great coach Rinus Michels. He became a classic Dutch coach, treating football as a kind of dance in space, with players constantly changing positions. United's captain Robin van Persie, a fellow Dutchman, will be delighted with his appointment.
During his years as a gym teacher for troubled youngsters, Van Gaal honed a genius for explaining things. Former players marvel at his detailed, crystal-clear instructions: before a Bayern friendly against an amateur team, he gave each player a research note containing an analysis of his opposite number and marching orders. After he coached little AZ to the Dutch title in 2009, one player marvelled that Van Gaal had prepared them so precisely for each match that they could almost play on autopilot.
During Van Gaal's stint at Barcelona in the late 1990s, both his young assistant Mourinho and his captain Josep Guardiola absorbed his thinking. Both have since become decent coaches. Van Gaal's new assistant Ryan Giggs couldn't wish for a better teacher.
? He will exhaust his players fast. United's players didn't see Ferguson every day. He didn't lead training sessions, and spent most of his week in his office. Van Gaal, by contrast, is omnipresent. The training ground forever resounds with his instructions and praise. This can be exhausting, particularly as he follows what he calls the "total person" principle, tracking every aspect of a player's life. One of his Ajax players, Peter van Vossen, reported that Van Gaal had toured his home and advised him not to paint his kitchen white. Van Vossen obeyed.
? He will take the credit. Former Ajax players say that once the trophy is won, Van Gaal publicly takes the credit for it. Victory is always his doing, even when it's secured long after his departure. He believes, for instance, that recent Champions Leagues won by Barcelona and Bayern were in large part his legacy. That may even be true.
? Conflict with stars. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the great Swedish striker who encountered him at Ajax, calls him "a dictator, without the slightest sense of humour". Van Gaal certainly likes obedient players, which often means youngsters. An established star like Wayne Rooney may find him less congenial. The need to renew United's ageing team will suit Van Gaal.
? A short tenure. Since leaving Ajax in 1997, he hasn't lasted long at any club. That's because he irritates so many different stakeholders. His mission at United will be to build a young side, win something fast, and prepare Giggs for the succession. Then he can take credit for Giggs' trophies too.
