Van Gaal’s honesty is touching

WHEN I met Louis van Gaal in Faro, Portugal about a decade ago, he was the technical director of Ajax Amsterdam. His towering frame exuded confidence and authority. His piercing eyes bore into my face as I walked up to him and introduced myself as a Nigerian journalist on assignment to cover Super Eagles preparations for forthcoming Nations Cup finals.

With a brisk smile and a firm handshake he asked almost automatically: “Where is (George) Finidi; where is (Nwankwo) Kanu?” Of course, LVG managed the two Nigerian superstars in his all-conquering Ajax team of the mid-nineties.

I told him Kanu would join the team later, but that Finidi had retired. He asked if the latter was offered a backroom role in the team. He couldn’t hide his disappointment when I answered in the negative. LVG briefly lectured me on the importance of ex-internationals involvement in the national teams after their retirment from active playing days and urged that we should involve Finidi and his likes in our setup to facilitate growth as we could benefit from their “big” experience.

I made an unsolicited request on behalf of the Super Eagles by asking whether we could play a friendly match with his club since the two teams were staying at the same hotel – Ajax, by the way, came to Faro to escape the bitting winter of most European countries in their preparation for the second half of the season.

Looking straight ahead, LVG warmly but firmly said no to my request. The authority and finality in his tone persuaded me not to pursue the matter any further as we embraced and said our goodbyes.
Even though I was disappointed with his rejection of my request for a friendly match, LVG left me with some positive impressions. I admired his forthrightness and authority. And his nascent managerial sojourn in England has only reinforced my respect for the man.

On Saturday, United’s impressive six-match winning streak was snapped by a very determined 10-man Aston Villa to the bitter disappointment of the Red Devils manager. Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor was harshly red-carded for a foul charge on former Villan Ashley Young midway into the second-half. Opinions are divided about this red card, and you can sent your thoughts on the decision as well.

But when LVG was asked about his thoughts of ref Lee Mason’s decision to expel the Nigeria-born English forward, the United boss didn’t mince words by saying it wasn’t a red card offence. At a time many of his colleagues would have sided with the ref especially after the frustrations of dropping two points for the first time in seven matches, van Gaal maintained his brutal honesty and impressive dignity.

And rather than deride Aston Villa’s solid defensive display like a certain coach that we all know, LVG simply laid into his expensively assembled team for their inability to take advantage of a team with less personnel and obviously less talent.

I would never forget his post-match interview after United controversially lost 5-3 to Leicester City. LVG didn’t criticise the match officials in that defeat even when he had over half a dozen genuine complaints about the abject performance of the ref and his assistants at the King Stadium. And how many times did he say opponents played better and deserved better results against his team during their recent long stretch of victories.

Truth is the beautiful game will even be more beautiful if other managers could emulate LVG by criticising their teams rather blaming match officials for their failures. We must always remeber that refs and their assistants are human beings who get less help from the custodians of the game than they should.