A FORMER BAYERN MUNICH chief has claimed that Louis van Gaal made stars cry with his “merciless” criticism and “insane presence” while in charge.
The legendary Dutch coach, 72, announced ahead of last year’s World Cup in Qatar that he was battling prostate cancer.
He still took charge of his country for the tournament, but he stepped down after their quarter-final penalty shootout defeat to eventual winners Argentina to begin his health battle.
The ex-Manchester United boss then opened up on his struggles and said it will be a “miracle” if he can go to the toilet by himself as he discussed his cancer fight.
Van Gaal said he was waiting to discover whether his recent operation had been successful.
He also explained that 25 radiation treatments have been carried out to treat the aggressive form of prostate cancer, and he hopes that another medical procedure will provide him with good news.
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However, that has not stopped him from returning to football as he headed to his former club Ajax, who have made a disastrous start to the campaign in Holland, as an adviser a fortnight ago.
The Amsterdam side are desperate to use his knowledge to help transform their troubles – and he has plenty of experience to call on.
He has managed some of the biggest clubs on the planet, and that includes his two-year spell at the helm of Bayern Munich from 2009.
He guided them to the double during his first season and the DFL Supercup the following campaign as well as the 2010 Champions League final.
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However, according to Bayern’s then sports director Christian Nerlinger, 50, the players were pushed to the extreme by Van Gaal.
And he was so intense that it even led to some of their biggest stars breaking down in tears.
Nerlinger told Bild: “His analysis were respectful and not offensive, but so hard that one or two players even cried.
“Deficiencies were pointed out mercilessly, every bad pass was discussed.”
That led to players no longer wanting to take risks on the pitch as Nerlinger said they “were afraid that the bad passes would be dissected the next day.”
The ex-chief added that his style was “rough” as he said: “He exerted a brutal amount of pressure just with his insane presence.”
However, he was keen to stress that Van Gaal had laid “the foundation” for Bayern’s later successes.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
