Dutch boss Louis Van Gaal owns a peculiar way of treating people around him. Ever since his time with Barcelona, Van Gaal has ben harshly criticized for his lack of "people skills", and his antics during his first season as Manchester United's coach have not pleased his colleagues and other team's execs.
Prior to his second game this season against Swansea City, Van Gaal boasted in confidence about his team's chances, claiming they were "the best team in the Premier League." This comments infuriated Swans' director John Van Zwenden, who called him an "arrogant bastard" on Dutch television. Following the game, which ended up with a 2-1 victory for Swansea, Van Gaal refused to shake hands with Swansea's coach Garry Monk, and stated the Swans did not deserve to win, and that the only reason for them to take three points on Saturday was due to "a deflection of a player that might have been offside." Swans' director took a swing at the former Netherlands manager through his Twitter feed, celebrating his team's victory over Man United.
Dear #louisvangaal It's not easy to beat @SwansOfficial and The wallpaperking !!! Wynd Street now !!!
— john van zweden (@johnvanzweden) February 21, 2015
"Van Gaal thinks he knows everything"-- Southampton's boss Ronald Koeman
Perhaps one of the most qualified people in the Premier League to know Van Gaal first-hand is Ronald Koeman. The current Southampton boss blasted United's main man for his way of handling his players.
“When you bring in Van Gaal you bring in quality but you also bring in someone who thinks he knows everything and that will cause clashes.When you have Van Gaal in charge, it is a fact that there is fear in his team and that is not always good. I was his assistant at Barcelona after the World Cup in 1998 and I learned a lot of things from him, but there is a big difference between him and me as managers," Koeman stated.
With Van Gaal's arrogant take on last Saturday's result, you had to expect some sort of reaction by the winning coach, and Garry Monk judged Van Gaal's view on the game, since he believes the Red Devils could be playing better with the kind of payroll they have.
"I'd rather be lucky than good. Yes we had to ride some pressure but you expect that with the players they have and they only had one shot on our goal," Monk replied to the Dutch boss.
United's latest loss against Swansea brought back criticism by fans and media, especially after a comparison between Van Gaal's term and the one led by David Moyes. Surprisingly enough, Moyes brought in better numbers than his successor, winning ten games away from home, while Van Gaal has only managed United to three victories away from Old Trafford.
With twelve games to go, how many battles will Van Gaal win, and will he be able to lead Manchester United into Champions League spots? Only time will tell.
