Van Gaal - the character

Alock1

Wears XXXL shirts and can't type ellipses
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Nov 30, 2011
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So, what does everyone make of Van Gaal as a character, of his personality?

And what moments can you share where you think this really shines through?

I can think of a number from recent press conferences alone, but will start things off with no thoughts but this video



Less about his football philosophy and manager cliches a la 'he is a winner' preferably and more about his traits, his idiosyncrasies etc. or just cool videos/gifs/stories.
 
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I so hope we get to see a trophy parade with him.
 
:lol:

I'd seen the 2nd before, but not the first. Brilliant.
 
Van Gaal's character is class. He exudes more authority and calm confidence than any other manager in the league.

There's an air of footballing royalty to the man. Yet he's still got an edge, he's still slightly mad and maverick.

I think he's a great character.
 
Still waiting for him to lose it with Geoff Shreeves.
 
I love his honesty. He also has that aura about him that says "relax, everything is going to be alright".
 
He has a plan and a vision for the club, and has well proven and founded confidence in himself to bring us forward. When he speaks you listen.

Must be great for the players to have someone like that in control; certainly looks like they're all buying into his philosophy.
 
Insanity said:
I think he is a blowhard. A bit too much of me, me, me for my liking.
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I agree. He's arrogant, but not in an endearing way (like Mourinho, for example, although he can be annoying too.). Fantastic manager though, no complaints there. I just don't like listening to him talk.
 
Personally, I love hearing him talk (first time ever I'm watching every pre-match and post-match interview, and with almost as much anticipation as for the match itself). All the words used above to describe him are accurate, exudes this impeccable air of confidence, makes you feel as if anything you want to tell him he already knows and was on it yesterday. And the fact that he's slightly unpredictable and edgy is awesome.
 
I think he mixes arrogance and humility in a good way. He knows he must appear strong, he's experienced and has a right to be confident in his own abilities, but at the same time he's pretty honest, and he expects the same standard of himself as he does of everyone else. I don't think he thinks he knows better than everyone else, but he knows what he has to do better than everyone else.

And it's obvious that he's a perfectionist and workaholic, almost to the absurd. Remember how he wanted the journalists to take notes on how good Falcao's English was? :lol: And all those notes he takes?

He does seem a bit extra edgy with journalists. When you see the pics from the training ground, he's all smiles. I can see why the players like him, he seems like a guy it's easy to believe in. Compared to Moyes, he must seem like the Second Coming.

From "I don't know what we have to do to win, but if we watch videos of Jagielka and aspire to be like City, it might work out"

to

"My philosophy is to dominate the game and score goals. If you buy into it, I guarantee you we will win things. You have three weeks to show that you're good enough. If you prove it, you'll have gained my trust, and if not, you're out"
 
I think his confidence is great my favourite part of his personality. I don't care whether or not managers have charisma or are entertaining, as long as they exude confidence, and Van Gaal definitely does. Tactics and formations don't matter if the players don't believe you know what you're doing right.

And he is smart:

 
Also, I like the way he says "shall" and "philosophy".
 
Personally i love the mans character. I equally love how its impossible to put words in his mouth ie "i did not say that, that is you (the journos and media) who say this" never minces his words, even in good spirit when things are going well he always seems grounded and incredibly realistic. Ticks most boxes of what it takes to be a Manchester United manager.
 
I like van gaal and i love hearing him talk, i find his uncompromising in your face attitude fascinating. My favorite thing about him is when he answers a question with just "no" followed by a couple of seconds of awkward silence.
 
He seems to be an authoritarian person, very strict and self-disciplined. He once told that his daughters have to speak formally with him because he attaches particular importance to fine manners. Another rumor is that he once scolded at Luca Toni at Bayern during dinner because of Toni’s missing table manners.

I think he is an authoritarian person but at the same time he is playing with this image:

(1) The demanding respect aura he created makes things easier for him in the daily job. The players do what he wants. The journalists are always a bit afraid of him.

(2) This aura is just perfect when it comes to your general image. Nobody expects him to be funny or nice… but when he smiles a bit or when he makes a little joke, everybody says “Look, he is not that strict and arrogant. He seems to be a nice, warm-hearted person on the inside.” (The gif of him celebrating the trophy with Bayern is a perfect example: The German media were full of pictures of the celebrating Van Gaal. The newspapers had big stories about his personality, they nicknamed him “Feierbiest” (Party-beast). And suddenly he was everybody’s darling.)
 
Swaters16 said:
I've been surprised at how composed he's been all season really, since he is a bit of a madman
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Yeah, this. In the build up to him taking over, journos and armchair experts seemed hellbent on reminding everyone just how mental he is, and how he probably won't see out the full season, as he quits the club and a blaze of controversy or something. I think it was all a bit blown out of proportion.


I like him a lot. I find myself always watching or catching up with his press conference and post-match interviews as I am always interested to hear where he is coming from at that particular time. I got bored of hearing David Moyes speak by the end of September, and really didn't bother with his pressers or anything.

There's just something quite captivating about Louis. Even when he's not saying anything particularly new or exciting, he has a presence about him that I believe fills us, the supporters, with a great deal more confidence than Moyes ever did.
 
He is extremely honest. He doesn't blame injuries and other misfortunes when he loses a game. He is very focused on getting the team play the way he wants them to play as he is very confident that it is the way they will win.

I think he is a very likeable manager, very intelligent and his way of dealing with the media is fantastic. Straight up, no beating around the bush and just honest.
 
I like him, considering how good the dutch are at learning language and obviously his english is good, would like it to be slightly better so he can really start giving some chat in interviews.

Its a shame not to see him on the sidelines! He did it a bit for Holland so surprised he doesnt ever come down for Utd.
 
He leaks confidence, not only are the players benefiting but even after a draw or loss he makes me confident in his interviews, its easy to trust and believe in this man.

He's never getting carried away, just last week some reported said something about ''you said you have momentum'' which LVG didn't say and corrected him there and then, had that been Rodgers he would've spouted some shite about going for the title.

He doesn't make excuses, even with the injuries and ''juice'' stepping up he was expecting them to produce.

Tactically sound.

Extremely honestly (as stolen from above)

Makes players better, there's no way Fellaini or Young would be playing this well without him, even Rooney is in the form of his career and looks a completely different player.

He might not be the best manager in the world but he's certainly up there, I fully expect him to bring glory back to Old Trafford for his time here.
 
I think he's great. I actively look forward to his interviews and conferences, whereas with Moyes I usually expected a cringe fest akin to David Brent.
 
Kant-ona said:
He seems to be an authoritarian person, very strict and self-disciplined. He once told that his daughters have to speak formally with him because he attaches particular importance to fine manners. Another rumor is that he once scolded at Luca Toni at Bayern during dinner because of Toni’s missing table manners.....
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But that's at least not weird in the Netherlands. I don't know if it's standard educational practice, but I've also heard that it's not very uncommon.

Still, he is definitely an authoritarian person.

To be fair, he has changed his behaviour. He appears to be much more relaxed nowadays than in his time at Bayern.
The way english journalists are addressing him (calling him more or less casually "Louie"), he wouldn't have tolerated that in Germany (but again, german culture is in that respect different to english culture).

Now, he is accepting that. That shows to me, that even in his age, he is quite able to adapt himself to a new environment although he stands by his basic traits (authoritarian, disciplined ect.). That's a big plus in my eyes.

Essaux said:
He is extremely honest. He doesn't blame injuries and other misfortunes when he loses a game. He is very focused on getting the team play the way he wants them to play as he is very confident that it is the way they will win.
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In that respect he should be an idol for every manager. He also doesn't take every opportunity to criticize the referee (unlike Mourinho e.g.).

IwatUwat said:
I like him, considering how good the dutch are at learning language and obviously his english is good, would like it to be slightly better so he can really start giving some chat in interviews.

Its a shame not to see him on the sidelines! He did it a bit for Holland so surprised he doesnt ever come down for Utd.
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That surprises me also. But maybe he tries to keep calm, focus more on the things he can actually influence. It shows again that even in his age, he is still changing and trying things in a different way.
 
Cina said:
I think he's great. I actively look forward to his interviews and conferences, whereas with Moyes I usually expected a cringe fest akin to David Brent.
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Indeed. I also think it's refreshing watching him being disappointed with a win if we've not played to his standards. With Moyes he seemed pleased with a loss if he thought we played well. You won't catch LvG saying we aspire to play like other teams either.
 
There's been no sign of the madman the Dutch media promised us. No ball flashing, no journo bashing etc.. I was expecting some fireworks from him so a bit disappointed.
 
Just extremely impressed and excited so far. I really hope that he's able to fulfill what he is trying to do, and that he might take a year or two extra.
 
akash02 said:
There's been no sign of the madman the Dutch media promised us. No ball flashing, no journo bashing etc.. I was expecting some fireworks from him so a bit disappointed.
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I think he's a bit like Fergie in that he mellowed out in his sixth decade.

That said, I'd like to see him put a bit more pressure on referees, either on the touch-line during games or in interviews afterwards. It's all very well being measured and calm but I reckon fear of Fergie got us a point or two each season. Van Gaal's a big character who could probably be doing a bit more to get in the head of referees.

Other than that, his personality works perfectly for me. The arrogant and slightly enigmatic way he talks is a great way to impress the players and will help them believe their leader is a cut above other managers. Which is what you want.
 
He's certainly arrogant but as other have said I like his straightforward honesty. He says it how it is, is happy to give honest assessments of our performances even if he comes across as more critical of his own players than some other managers do. Not looking for excuses all the time which personally I like - I know SAF used to do it for a reason, but I used to be far less interested in his post-match rants blasting refs for this and that where he refused to admit what had really happened in a game.
 
Adebesi said:
He's certainly arrogant but as other have said I like his straightforward honesty. He says it how it is, is happy to give honest assessments of our performances even if he comes across as more critical of his own players than some other managers do. Not looking for excuses all the time which personally I like - I know SAF used to do it for a reason, but I used to be far less interested in his post-match rants blasting refs for this and that where he refused to admit what had really happened in a game.
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You can spin it whichever way you want I suppose.

When Fergie used to focus on a referee's performance after a poor display from United you would get people saying how clever he was, to take the attention away from his under-performing team to ease the pressure on them. That it was a sign of managerial strength to not hang the players out to dry after a bad result and a cunning ploy to heap pressure on the next bloke to referee one of our games. All part of the "us versus the world" bunker mentality that gave his teams such resilience and mental strength.

Feck knows, though. It's quite possible there was never any grand design. He was just a very angry man. Have to say I'm enjoying the honest perfectionism from Van Gaal.
 
Summit said:
Indeed. I also think it's refreshing watching him being disappointed with a win if we've not played to his standards. With Moyes he seemed pleased with a loss if he thought we played well. You won't catch LvG saying we aspire to play like other teams either.
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Yep, although even Fergie used to glamour up shit performances and results, but you could tell he was doing it purely for the sake of protecting the team, whereas Moyes seemed to do it to almost as a desperate attempt to make himself look less shit than he actually was. I'd say the fact that LvG is willing to be so harsh shows how confident he is.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I think he's a bit like Fergie in that he mellowed out in his sixth decade.

That said, I'd like to see him put a bit more pressure on referees, either on the touch-line during games or in interviews afterwards. It's all very well being measured and calm but I reckon fear of Fergie got us a point or two each season. Van Gaal's a big character who could probably be doing a bit more to get in the head of referees.

Other than that, his personality works perfectly for me. The arrogant and slightly enigmatic way he talks is a great way to impress the players and will help them believe their leader is a cut above other managers. Which is what you want.
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I'd like him to rip into referees and Journos the way Fergie used to.

Man, I miss Fergie...
 
Cerpin said:
I agree. He's arrogant, but not in an endearing way (like Mourinho, for example, although he can be annoying too.). Fantastic manager though, no complaints there. I just don't like listening to him talk.
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Really? LVG is very honest and tells it how it is, which is something i really admire about him and makes him so interesting to listen to. Mourinho since Madrid has turned into a bitter hyprocrite.
 
A few aspects of Van Gaal's personality and managerial ability which pass seemingly unnoticed and a reason why he is so popular among younger players is his ability to take up a sort of foster parent role. IIRC his own father passed away when Louis was 11 and from a very young age he had a kind of void in his life. Which is why he naturally gravitated towards powerful male figures - Rinus Michels and Leo Beenhakker primary among them. Most of his extroverted show of confidence can be construed as a form of him seeking validation from his peers and the general masses. A lot of orphans and children raised by single parents have similar tendencies. This is why he took up the role of a PE teacher in his younger days, in an effort to be close to younger children and mentor them in a way that he couldn't be groomed in his own youth. Even as a manager, he bonds rather easily with footballers like Depay (whose father walked out on him as an infant) and in general with players and coaches who seek his guidance as a father figure. The ones who revolt aren't considered a part of the inner circle and are either let go sharpish or cast aside in the manager's long term thinking.
 
One of the few remaining real characters in football, a joy to listen to. It helps he actually knows what he's doing.

I also like the direction I feel he's taking us to.
 
He's clearly a madman, but he's our madman. He's essentially the Anti-Moyes, which is just what we needed after last year.

The only slight criticism I can level at him is that he doesn't get involved enough in games, and seems content to sit and take notes when I would like to see him on the touchline barking orders and screaming at the 4th official over bad decisions. I'm aware that doesn't seem to be his management style though.
 
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