Lesser known facts about Louis van Gaal

Some say he is a madman, some say he’s a genius. He’s particularly known for his pants-dropping incident which happened because he had no words to express, “I have the balls to drop anyone from the team”.

Van Gaal knows about his influence and the importance of every individual in the team. He is a classic football man who cares about the process more than the result. He might come out in an interview and say, “In the end it’s all about the result”, but the players will be made sure about his unhappiness with the performance.

Van Gaal also managed lesser sides to unlikely success. Last summer, he was on the verge of entering the World Cup final with an unfancied Dutch team.

The 62-year-old manager has spent a season in England as the manager of Manchester United now, and his first season at the helm has been enough to show what one can expect from in in the future.

Here are some lesser known facts about him.

Yes, it is true. That’s not something you’d expect Van Gaal to be, but it’s true. He is a fully qualified gymnastics teacher and has coached at many schools during his playing career.

His famous karate kick in the 1995 Champions League final against AC Milan should be evidence enough of his flexibility.

When Van Gaal first started coaching at Barcelona in 1997, he worked with a young Portuguese assistant named Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho was delighted to welcome his old mentor to the Premier League, saying, “He is a great football manager and I am happy he joins me in the same country and the Premier League, but more important than that, he’s a great guy, a great man and I wish him good.”

Some of the best players in the world were given debuts under Louis van Gaal. Barcelona stars Carles Puyol, Xavi and Andres Iniesta were all given their debuts by the Dutchman, while Ajax legends Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert also started playing under the Dutchman.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Manchester United youngsters like Adnan Januzaj, Andreas Pereira, James Wilson and Paddy McNair play a bigger role for the club in the coming years.

Louis van Gaal first joined Barcelona in 1997 after a magnificent and trophy-filled career at Dutch side Ajax.

He started off well, winning the La Liga title and Copa Del Rey in his first season and managed to retain the La Liga title the following season. But after a feud with Brazilian star Rivaldo and heavy criticism for his managerial antics, he departed in 2000.

He then returned to Barcelona in 2002, but fared worse than he did in his first stint at the club.

Van Gaal managed Ajax’s golden generation from 1991-1997. During his time there, he won three domestic titles, a UEFA Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Champions League.

His most successful season was in 1994-1995, when he led Ajax to an unbeaten season in both the domestic league and the Champions League, going on to complete the treble by winning the UEFA Super Cup.