Louis van Gaal begins a new era in his career and opens the next chapter in Manchester United's history this week when he arrives in Manchester to take up the reins as manager and assumes control of preparations for the 2014/15 season.
In an exclusive MUTV documentary, 'Louis van Gaal: The story so far,' which aired on Monday to mark the launch of the channel's switch to HD, former players and colleagues painted a picture of the Dutchman's management style and successes.
MUTV visited Holland, Spain and Germany, van Gaal's former haunts as manager with Ajax, AZ Alkmaar, Barcelona and Bayern Munich and in each country found players, club staff and journalists enthusing about his successes, entertaining press conferences and lasting legacy of his football philosophy.
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"For me, he was an amazing coach," says Ronald de Boer, a star during Ajax's successful spell in the 1990s. "If you look back through the names in that team, Edwin van der Sar, my brother, Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, you think that all those players are stars'. But at that time we weren't stars, we were just up and coming players turning into stars. Van Gaal worked well with younger players and he was telling us which direction we should go. He did it with so much passion and belief so we followed him. And he was always right."
Clarence Seedorf, De Boer's team-mate at club and national team level, added: "He is a coach who knows how to pass his philosophy onto his teams. What you saw in the Ajax period when I was there, that is van Gaal. He is a great coach and his career speaks for itself."
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Brian Roy, a former player and now coach in Ajax's player development set-up, says his old boss had a huge influence on his career before and after hanging up his boots. "He made you think differently as a player by asking questions and also with his enthusiasm during training," he said. "I really appreciated that and it's something I've taken on (as a coach) with the boys now at Ajax. That enthusiasm gave me a lot of power. It made me feel good. Together with Johan Cruyff, they are the two icons of Ajax."
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Ex-United player Terry Gibson, formerly a scout in Spanish football and now a TV pundit, watched with interest during van Gaal's two spells at Barcelona. Gibson is excited by the alliance he will strike up with Ryan Giggs as his assistant. "Van Gaal is going to enjoy working with Ryan Giggs," he said. "He is a hands-on coach, he will be on the pitch every single training session and Ryan can learn so much from him."
It's on the training pitch and in matches that van Gaal's work can be best judged, but Marcel van der Kraan, a journalist for De Telegraaf in the Netherlands, says his press briefings are as entertaining as his brand of football, "He will bring a sense of humour, hilarious press conferences and great football to the Premier League."
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