Louis Van Gaal: Manchester United A “Healthy Distraction”

Louis Van Gaal like any coach at the world cup in Brazil right now, is a man under some pressure. On his shoulders lie the hopes of the Dutch team, a team thought to be perennial under-achievers, a description they have shared with the Spanish team until Spain won the world cup four years ago in South Africa. But Van Gaal is not new pressure; he has spent the better part of the last 3 decades of his life managing pressure from football competitions both at the world stage and at the European level.

Writing in The Mirror, David McDonnell in Brazil quotes Van Gaal as saying ‘the world cup is a championship clubs don’t take part in, so I am fully focused on the national team. Distraction? It may be a distraction…you can’t just focus monotonously on the world cup, so perhaps Manchester United was a good distraction. You can’t be fully focused on football for five weeks.” Holland opened their world cup campaign with the same team they ended it with four years ago: Spain! The Dutch team lost by one goal to Spain in the finals of the world cup four years ago but have now avenged the loss of 4 years ago by playing the favourites Spain 5-1. However, with Chile winning against Australia, nothing is guaranteed in the group just yet even though the Dutch have given themselves a massive chance of progressing with the win over Spain yesterday.

Added to this is the pressure of what looks like a transfer business in shambles at Old Trafford. The club would have loved to have sealed at least one or two deals before the start of the world cup but that has appeared to be an impossible task so far. And, expectedly, whether Van Gaal admits it or not, it is a source of massive pressure on any coach. A club in dire need of reinforcement is seemingly lagging behind while teams such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea that finished in the top four have already brought in fresh legs. It is understood that Manchester United’ new manager has handed Ed Woodward a list of his summer targets but unfortunately, all fans have heard this summer have been rumours and speculations which have seen Manchester United’s targets head elsewhere. This is bound to be very strange for United fans and may be to Van Gaal himself. So, admittedly, Van Gaal will be under some pressure from both country duties and United responsibilities.

Van Gaal would probably have learned that it is important to try to multi task on both jobs if he is to get the kind of players that will help him start his Old Trafford career on a sound note.