“?After months of speculation, Louis van Gaal’s tenure as Manchester United manager finally came to an end, in spite of the Dutchman’s FA Cup triumph on Saturday.
Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is set to replace Van Gaal as manager, but it seems that he would not have lasted past this season even if he had secured Champions League football.
WATCH: Hear from Mourinho as he gets ready to replace Louis Van Gaal and Brendan Rodgers on why he joined @celticfc. https://t.co/l2H32qXTjX
The “?Independent claims that the coach had lost the dressing room, and that many of his players were frustrated with his methods.
The discord set in when he took over United after taking Holland to the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup. He was reportedly displeased with the team’s arrangements for the US Summer tour, and changed the players’ hotel from a luxury Beverly Hills location to a budget Holiday Inn which was closer to the training venue, before a match against LA Galaxy.
The publication reports that a source close to the players revealed that the Dutchman’s rigid “training at 8.30, sent to rooms for a couple hours rest, training after lunch, back for video meetings and tactics discussion, back to rooms, supper of toast and then bed at half ten – every day for 14 days” left the squad drained, which also resulted in their worst start to a season in 25 years.
Van Gaal also took away the Monday rest day which was normally given to the players under Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes after a Sunday match. He would have them report in to watch video footage of the previous game, often lambasting them in front of each other.
Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick had sat down with the manager, asking him to soften his approach in order to avoid shattering the players’ confidence.
Van Gaal did soften his stance, but instead of video sessions, he sent emails containing video clips, along with notes – mostly critical – to all the squad members, the majority of whom didn’t even bother to open them until they found out that a tracker was attached to notify the boss of when the emails were opened, .
This only resulted in the players opening the emails but not actually viewing them.
One senior player was also angry at the fact that the coach had instructed the team never to shoot with their first touch of the ball.
Van Gaal, it is understood, annoyed several members of the squad with his special treatment of players such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, who basically played whenever he wanted after his injury. The mismanagement of Memphis Depay was also a source of frustration.
The emergence of Marcus Rashford, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Jesse Lingard was a major positive for Van Gaal, yet stories of one youth player requesting hard-boiled eggs from the club chef to take home, as he couldn’t boil eggs himself, just showed how much pampering the youngsters received.
Mourinho should be easier character to handle, but the Portuguese has his own issues when it comes to man-management (and medical staff) as well. Just look at how it fell apart at Chelsea.
His presence in the United dressing room, however, should be well received by the players.
Van Gaal, meanwhile, could leave with his head held high, having just won a major trophy. And besides, he never wanted to stay on for three years anyway.
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