adminLouis van Gaal will start work at Manchester United following the end of Holland’s World Cup campaign after being confirmed as the club’s new manager. Ryan Giggs will be his assistant manager. The 62 year-old Dutchman will become the first United manager from outside the British Isles after agreeing to succeed the sacked David Moyes at Old Trafford and is set to take charge for the first time when the club begins its summer tour of the United States by facing LA Galaxy in the Pasadena Rose Bowl on July 23.
An agreement has been in place with Van Gaal for some time, but United have now finally confirmed his appointment in order for the coach to focus on World Cup commitments with Holland, who face Spain in Salvador in their opening game on July 13.
With Moyes being dismissed after just 51 games in charge last month, United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward insisted that the club would pursue an experienced, trophy-winning coach in order to get the team “back to winning again.”
And Van Gaal, who won the Champions League with Ajax before going on to take charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, has won the race to land the United job, despite the club’s initially strong interest in Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Van Gaal enjoyed an unremarkable playing career in Dutch football before taking charge of Ajax in 1991 after working as assistant to legendary coach Leo Beenhakker.
At Ajax, he oversaw the development of the youthful team including the likes of Patrick Kluivert, Edwin van der Sar, Edgar Davids and Clarence Seedorf, which won the 1995 Champions League final against AC Milan.
And although he failed to replicate his Champions League-winning success with Barcelona and Bayern, Van Gaal was still able to win domestic titles with both clubs. United could be forced to wait until mid-July before Van Gaal takes charge, however, with Holland one of the teams fancied to challenge for the World Cup in Brazil.
With the club’s pre-season tour of the United States due to commence with a training camp in California on July 17, there is the possibility that Van Gaal will fly straight from the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro three days earlier in order to link up with his new team without a summer break. — Telegraph
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