I cannot tell a lie, folks. I’m a little bit in love.
Louis van Gaal, of course, looks all the
more beautiful because of who he’s
replacing. Even without the Moyes
effect, however, Van Gaal’s entrance
has been not so much a breath of fresh
air as a high-powered air-conditioning
unit on a hot day.
So what has been so great about him?
Let’s take a look at my top five favourite things he’s done so far.

5. His unique use of language
This is the first time United have ever
had a manager whose first language is
not English. Van Gaal has an excellent
grasp of the language, but there are
some beautiful idiosyncrasies in his
pattern of speech.
Firstly he always calls himself a
“Trainer-coach”. He rarely says one or
the other, and rarely says manager.
Secondly, he always calls his squad or
team his “selection”. Thirdly he called
pre-season “preparation time”.
All three of them are telling, in some
way, of his approach to the job. He IS a
“trainer-coach,” a manager determined
to get the best out of his players by
improving their capabilities. Witness his
management of the Dutch national
team, or Ashley Young’s excellent pre-
season. The squad IS the “selection”,
those lucky enough to be chosen, those
available to be chosen from. And pre-
season is preparation time. It’s not
“shake a bunch of corporate sponsors
hands and fly round the world” time.
Which leads nicely to point number 4.




therepublikofmancunia.com/top-five-endearing-things-louis-van-gaal-has-done-at-manchester-united-so-far/#respond

[color=#990000][/color]4. He’s already picking his fights
In his very first press conference, Van
Gaal was introduced by United’s press
officer. With the slightly awkward
invitation to “say a few words about how delighted he is to have joined the club”
Van Gaal instead responded by talking
about what an honour it was to meet
Bobby Charlton. Or rather SIR Bobby
Charlton, as he immediately corrected
himself.
He also said the pre-season tour was too long and whilst he understood the
corporate needs of the club he felt
football had to come first. Speaking ill of Sir Alex is, of course, taboo, but Fergie never spoke out against the commercial demands of the club which made him a very wealthy man. Van Gaal immediately set out his stall
immediately as a football man.
United desperately need a “football
man” in charge, given the lack of
footballing nous in the upper-echelons of the club’s management structure. Van Gaal can, and apparently will, seek to be that.

3. The Passing
Look. I like passing. Not, like, in a Pep
Guardiola/Arsene Wenger “it’s the only
way nothing else matters” sort of a way.
Just in the sense that lovely passing is
often a really effective way to get the
round thing into the rectangle thing and then score. Football at its best has a beautiful simplicity. Passing was
invented as a way to get the ball closer
to the goal and when it’s done right it
really works.
And within, quite literally, two weeks of
starting in the job, Van Gaal had got
United passing. The opposition was only LA Galaxy, of course, but not long after that, United repeated the feat against Real Madrid, not at their best, certainly, but still a fairly decent outfit.
There’s been all sorts of different kind of passes. One touch flicks, carefully
weighted through balls, long raking
diagonals, and pinpoint crosses, with
more of a purpose than just sticking it in the mixer and hoping for the best.
United’s style of play in pre-season has
been transformed, and if he keeps this
up, I’ll love him forever.