Louis van Gaal says managing Tottenham might have been better than Manchester United
"To win the FA Cup when, for six months, the media has a noose round my neck, is my biggest achievement.”
Wednesday 27 March 2019 07:27, UK
Louis van Gaal said managing Tottenham Hotspur might have been a better fit for him than Manchester United.
The Dutchman announced his retirement from football management in March after a 47-year career that began as a player at Ajax in 1972, before taking over the same club as manager in 1991.
Van Gaal spent two years at Old Trafford, qualifying for the Champions League in his first season after the club had finished seventh the season before, and winning the FA Cup in what would turn out to be his final game in management.
Looking back, van Gaal wondered whether White Hart Lane might have been a better destination for him in England, given the opportunity to work with young players.
"Tottenham were a better selection because Manchester United were an old team and I knew I would have to transform them," van Gaal told BBC Sport.
"Was it the wrong choice? Maybe, but I follow my heart. I worked at the number one team in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and now also in England.
"They had seven players over 30. We spoke about that at the job interview. In my first year we qualified for the Champions League. In my second we won the FA Cup."
Van Gaal's tenure at Manchester United came to an infamous conclusion, as he was sacked shortly after beating Crystal Palace at Wembley.
United had missed out on Champions League qualification on goal difference to Manchester City and supporter disgruntlement over perceived negative football was growing, as Leicester City stormed to an improbable Premier League title.
Jose Mourinho was appointed van Gaal's successor, a story the media had been reporting since the previous December and the manner of that appointment still riles van Gaal.
"I can imagine Woodward chooses Mourinho," said van Gaal. "He is a top coach. He has won a lot of titles. More than me.
"What I don't like is Woodward contacting my successor, knowing in his mind he will replace me and he keeps his mouth shut for six months.
"Every Friday I had to go into press conferences and be asked what I thought about the rumours. What does that do to the authority of the coach?
"To win the FA Cup when, for six months, the media has a noose round my neck, is my biggest achievement."
Given that van Gaal's extensive honours list includes three Dutch titles and a Champions League with Ajax, the double at Barcelona and coming within one game of completing the treble with Bayern Munich, that is saying something.
Defeat in the 2010 Champions League final to Mourinho's Inter Milan cost the Dutchman that day, and the looming shadow of the Portuguese would hang over van Gaal as he made his managerial bow.
