Louis Van Gaal was one of football’s great tacticians, but he was also prone to making some really bizarre comments.
When the Dutchman took the Ajax job in 1991, he congratulated the club on signing the “best coach in the world.”
It’s fair to say Van Gaal has a high opinion of himself, although he did lead a young but extremely talented Ajax squad to the UEFA Champions League in 1995, and probably should have won it again the following year.
That turned out to be the crowning glory of his career, which had mixed results thereafter. Although he would go on to win La Liga and Bundesliga titles, he would have a busted second spell with Barcelona and fail to qualify for the 2002 World Cup with Netherlands.
Van Gaal was almost always a guarantor of success however, winning trophies with every club he has managed in his career, the last of which was the FA Cup with Manchester United in 2016.
His propensity to argue with people is notable, having fallen out with the likes of Johan Cruyff, Rivaldo and Ronald Koeman. One suspects he couldn’t care less, once stating in the third-person that he “has nothing left to learn.” Good luck with that, Lou.
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Words by Ste McGovern