Louis van Gaal was “unveiled” to the Manchester United media corps today. The Dutchman was greeted with a huge floral arrangement of 25,000 tulips from his native Holland yesterday (photo here), a warm welcome to a new Manager who does not lack for confidence. In his press conference a few hours ago he said:
“I have worked for Barcelona, #1 in Spain. I have coached Ajax, #1 in Holland, and I have coached Bayern Munich, #1 in Germany, Now I’m with Manchester United, #1 in England.”
Check out the Vine of this soundbite below, and then scroll down for the video of his entire press conference.
So, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea. I guess you are now all put on notice. But the bold statements didn’t end there.
“Manchester United is the biggest club in the world,” he also said.
He knows how high expectations are for him (I think this graphic of Louis van Gaal as Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio kind of sums up what’s anticipated. He is to be Man United’s redeemer after the disaster year that was David Moyes), and that’s why it’s great that he has a lot of confidence. You need a lot of self-confidence to achieve. Especially in a big job like this. A large job requires a large amount of self-confidence.
“The owners and CEO have a lot of confidence in me. I explained my philosophy and they were excited. Because of that I’m here,” said Louis van Gaal.
“I want to thank Sir Bobby for his welcome. I’m old enough to have seen him play. It’s a great honor to be welcomed by him. It’s a great honor to come into this stadium and be guided by Sir Bobby Charlton.”
Here’s the full press conference:
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