Van Gaal is a very prestigious coach in Europe, not only in his ability to coach, discover and nurture young players, but also in his teaching of experience, contributing to training a generation of talented young coaches.
In addition to Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique or Ronald Koeman – famous coaches today – were all taught by Van Gaal.
New ghosts, old ghosts
In 1997, Louis van Gaal came to Barca to inherit the head coach position left by his predecessor Bobby Robson.
It was Bobby Robson who, after resigning, recommended Mourinho to Van Gaal and asked his successor to give `this great guy` a position on the coaching staff.
The knowledge acquired from Van Gaal became a valuable asset for Mourinho to later become an outstanding coach.
This summer 2014, Van Gaal took over the hot seat at Old Trafford.
Mourinho’s calm and confident attitude does not necessarily come from his inherently arrogant nature.
Through the first eight rounds of this season, Mourinho’s Chelsea played strongly and remained at the top and are the only unbeaten team in the Premier League.
Van Gaal is gradually adapting to new life in the Premier League.
A special student
Van Gaal and Mourinho once met when Bayern Munich clashed with Inter Milan in the 2010 Champions League final. At that time, Inter under Mourinho defeated the `Gray Tigers of Bavaria` thanks to two goals from Diego Milito in a match in 2010.
Mourinho’s victory that year was very convincing.
The battle at Old Trafford this weekend will be a match filled with tactical calculations by two strategists.
The ideology of Van Gaal and most of his players is a proactive style of football with ball control as the key and an emphasis on short passes.
Mourinho knows how to invest in defense.
The answer will be on Old Trafford at 11pm on Sunday evening (Hanoi time) October 26 this week.
Naomi