When Dutch national team manager Louis van Gaal talks, you listen. When he begs for a chance to manage in the Premier League, you give it to him.
But which club will give the Van Gaal the chance to coach in the PL for the first time?
Van Gaal, 62, will lead the Netherlands’ World Cup campaign this summer but is then out of contract with his homeland. The former FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Ajax manager, who has won 15 trophies including league titles in Holland, Germany and Spain in his illustrious coaching career, has now issued a massive ‘come and get me’ plea to desperate clubs in the PL.
Known across the world for his inventive coaching style and a disciple of the academy system at Ajax, Van Gaal is seeking one big challenge in this club coaching career. He hopes that comes in the English top-flight.
“It is my ambition to become coach of one of the big teams once again,” Van Gaal told reporters. “In the Premier League. I have never felt the atmosphere there before. And I also want to win the championship in four countries. That is my ambition. I want to accomplish that.”
Currently the British bookmakers have Van Gaal listed as the favorite to be the next manager of both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, as the Dutchman’s impressive resume speaks for itself. With his ambition to win a fourth league championship in a fourth country, Van Gaal is surely setting his sights on David Moyes’ position at United. With the Red Devils boss under increasing pressure, which is only set to grow between now and the end of the season, Van Gaal is a manager of real pedigree who has won trophies wherever he’s managed.
That sounds exactly what United need. As for Spurs, Van Gaal has been linked with that job for years. This late in his career, he probably wouldn’t want a job which needs plenty of work to make Spurs into a title contender. Some would argue they are in a better position than United to launch a title charge, but that’s not true. If Van Gaal turned up at Old Trafford, if Moyes was given the boot despite the club insisting his job is secured long-term, he’d deliver success.
Food for thought.