adminNew Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has never been afraid to have an argument or make it clear who is in charge.
From star players to influential club legends, the 62-year-old Dutchman has made a few enemies during his 42 years in football, the past 23 of those coaching some of Europe’s leading clubs and the Netherlands national team whom he led to third place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
During his first news conference at Old Trafford, Van Gaal insisted he was more “democrat” than autocrat, extolling his “strong personality” — a trait, he reminded his audience, he shares with former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
But why does Van Gaal come to English football with such a fearsome reputation? BBC Sport gets the inside story on his biggest bust-ups.
Falling out with his manager
The time he was told he was too slow
Louis van Gaal never lacked confidence and his strong personality was there, even as a player.
He made his name as a midfielder with the Royal FC Antwerp, under Guy Thys, the legendary Belgian coach. “I was annoyed that he did not always play me,” Van Gaal later recalled. “I was one of four foreigners and he could only play three in those days. Thys reckoned I lacked pace.’’
Thys said: “He’d come up to me and ask me why I did not play him. ‘Boss, I am the best player, aren’t I?’ And then I would tell him he was not. He could not believe that.
“I do admit he had by far the strongest personality of all the players I have come across. But, sorry to say, he was slow . . .“
One of Van Gaal’s best performances came in a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa in the home leg of the Uefa Cup tie in 1975. “That day against Villa he was absolutely brilliant,” Thys remembered.
“For the return match he asked how he should play. I said: ‘Like you normally do, slowly.’
“I remember that conversation well. He could not see the funny side of my answer. But we needed to take the pace out of the game.
“And it worked. We beat them in Birmingham 1-0. And Louis was fantastic again. He never played such a brilliant game again.’’
Van Gaal was infuriated by Thys’s negative approach to the second leg. He felt Antwerp should have kept attacking.
“I had respect for him as a person, but I did not rate him as a coach,” Van Gaal said. “Probably because he put me on the bench too often. I reckoned I should play.
“He did not.’’ Van Gaal was so unhappy in Belgium football he wanted to leave. “I wrote 80 letters to get a job elsewhere. I only got one or two replies, but I did get my move,” he said.
“Thys threatened to stop me from leaving by demanding a big transfer fee. So I said, do what you like, but I will take my old job of PE teacher again, if you do that. No sweat at all. So they let me go.’’
Falling out with the best player in the world (and the Spanish press)
The time Rivaldo wanted to change position
In 1999 Van Gaal was in charge of Barcelona and Rivaldo was at the peak of his powers.
The brilliant Brazilian inspired Van Gaal’s side to their second consecutive La Liga title from out on the left wing, collecting the Fifa World Player of the Year award in the process.
Boudewijn Zenden, who was with Barca at the time, recently recalled what happened next: “Rivaldo thought he was better off playing behind the strikers, so when he won the Golden Ball he just said to Van Gaal: ‘I don’t want to play on the left anymore. I want to play behind the strikers.’ Van Gaal said: ‘Right. that’s your decision’ and he sat on the bench — because only the manager decided where he would play.”
Although he quickly got back into the team, Rivaldo only scored 12 league goals that season — down from 24 the previous campaign — and Van Gaal left after Barca failed to retain the La Liga title.
His departure was celebrated by the media, who had disapproved of his stance with Rivaldo and also disliked Van Gaal for his aggressive attitude towards them and failure to fully learn either Spanish or Catalan.
Upon his departure, Van Gaal famously announced to the media: “Friends of the press, I am leaving.
Congratulations.”
Falling out with the world’s most famous Dutchman. Continually . . .
The (many) times he has clashed with Johan Cruyff
The Dutch nation can be divided in two halves in terms of their loyalties – pro-Cruyff and pro-Van Gaal. The two men have never got on. They are opposites: Cruyff, the world-class player who naturally became a manager. Van Gaal, the ordinary player with an academic background who became a world-class manager.
The annoying thing for Cruyff was that Van Gaal followed him to the two biggest loves of his life, Ajax and Barcelona, and was successful at both.
In his autobiography, Van Gaal alleges the feud began in 1989 when he hurriedly left a dinner at Cruyff’s house without thanking his host for the meal after receiving a phone call informing him of the death of his sister — a claim rejected by Cruyff. — BBC.
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