LOUIS VAN GAAL has been blasted as “one of the worst people” and his Manchester United reign as “s***” in a blistering attack from former player Rafael da Silva.
The ex-United defender did not hold back when describing his hellish experiences during the two-year tenure of the Dutch manager.
Rafael blasted van Gaal’s management methods and lifted the lid on his turbulent final year at the clubCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Rafael won three Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson but the boss’ retirement signalled the beginning of the end for his Old Trafford stayCredit: Getty – Contributor
Van Gaal, 69, was brought in to try and steady the ship after David Moyes’ sacking but his time in the dugout was unpopular with some players.
Rafael, now 30 and playing his football in Turkey, has gone in two-footed on LvG’s underwhelming time in charge.
He told the Athletic: “I talk bad about some people, like Van Gaal. I don’t like Van Gaal.
“When they said Van Gaal was the manager, a lot of friends called me. I could not believe it, as a lot of people told me he does not like Brazilians (because of their style of play).
“They told me: ‘The first thing he is going to do is take you out.’
“Actually, it was the second thing because on the first day, he did not speak to me. On the second day, he said: ‘You can leave.’ I had not even trained and he said that. I could not believe it.
“I said: ‘OK.’ I still tried to battle for my place. I stayed one year with him. It was so, so hard. He is one of the worst people I have worked with.”
BORING SPEECHES
Rafael won three titles under Sir Alex Ferguson after joining in 2007 but could not get with any part of the regime that followed Moyes’ departure.
This included team meals, where he bemoaned Van Gaal’s boring speeches.
He said: “Every day, after breakfast, after lunch, or if we had dinner together, he would speak to everyone for 15 minutes about training, about what has happened, about everything, about life.
“You know when you start to stop listening to what someone is saying, because they speak so much? He wanted to show he could speak. But it was every day! All the time!
“You need to wait for everybody to finish their food to leave, which is fine, OK. But then we watched him talk, for 15 minutes, with all due respect, about s***. That is the truth, man. It was s***.
“He didn’t care how people are, he just wanted to think about himself – ‘I am like this, you respect me, you do like I want.’ That’s how he speaks.
“Players get tired of this. You don’t need to speak all the time. If we talk (about the culture of the club), he changed everything.”
BRUTAL EXIT
Rafael and his twin brother Fabio were once tipped for big things after coming through under Ferguson.
But Rafael had to call time on his stay in Manchester after a year under Van Gaal and departed for Lyon.
LvG would survive only a year longer at the club before being replaced by Jose Mourinho.
He won the FA Cup but found himself being ruthlessly replaced only days after that Wembley triumph after missing out on the top four.
It was the end of two years that were otherwise best remembered for dull football, the ill-advised signing of Angel Di Maria, an incredible 5-3 loss at Leicester and the emergence of Marcus Rashford.
Van Gaal also endeared himself to the fanbase after a deliberate pratfall on the Old Trafford touchline as he protested against Arsenal’s diving to fourth official Mike Dean.
Van Gaal hilariously mimicked Arsenal’s diving anticsCredit: Bradley Ormesher – The Times
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
