Louis van Gaal is a character, this is news to nobody.
In his long and extensive managerial career, the outspoken Dutch manager has rarely held his tongue, and isn't one to shy away from controversy. Over the years he's given football some funny, and serious moments.
Van Gaal most recently made the headlines when he hit out at his former employers Manchester United amid Erik ten Hag being linked with the club.
Van Gaal urged his compatriot to look for an alternative destination:
But Manchester United are a commercial club, so it’s a difficult choice for a coach. He’d better go to a football club.
I’m not going to advise him, he’ll call me himself. But he must choose a football club and not a commercial club.
Van Gaal knows the club well, having been in the Old Trafford dugout from 2014 to 2016, where he lifted an FA Cup. He went viral on numerous occasions while he had the United job, and is remembered for his charisma in press conferences and interviews, more than for what he did on the pitch.
Van Gaal is now preparing to once again be in front of the world's media as he heads to Qatar in charge of Netherlands and The Sporting News has taken a look back at some of best career moments so far.
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Louis van Gaal sings his own chant
The Dutchman was quizzed in a press conference about the mood at Manchester United, after reports that he didn't enjoy the full support of the dressing room. This was on top of rumours of discontent amongst the fanbase.
Van Gaal rubbished the reports, going into some detail about how, after a conversation with Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick, he improved the mood amongst the players.
He also touched on the support he gets from the fans, doing a memorable impression of their supportive chants, which immediately went down in history.
Van Gaal touches on hair pulling
Van Gaal was giving a post game interview, where he was making a serious point to the interviewer about what he saw as unacceptable conduct during the game. Robert Huth had gotten a little too hands on with United's Marouane Fellaini, and tugged on the Belgian's hair.
He started by telling the interviewer that, were he to pull on his hair, the interviewer would react badly. Thankfully, for the man holding the microphone, Van Gaal didn't follow through on his threat.
Having made his point, he then decided it was taking a moment to clarify that hair pulling is acceptable in only one situation. "Sex masochism" as Van Gaal referred to it.
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Louis van Gaal offers mince pies
In an unusual press conference, Van Gaal touches on how his relationship with the media has detiorated during his time at Manchester United. Frustrated with reports that he's already been fired, and what he percieved to be quotes taken out of context by the press, he listed his complaints to the Old Trafford press corps.
However, despite the nature of the press conference, a prolonged soliloquy listing his feelings, he signed off by offering the assembled journalists wine and mince pies.
In the spirit of the festive season, he wished everyone in the room a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Louis throws his weight around
Louis van Gaal took umbrage with The Sun's Neil Custis, for what he considered to be unfair criticism of Wayne Rooney in recent weeks. Van Gaal's most memorable moments often seem to come when he's leaving a room, and this was no exception. He paused to single out Custis, labelling him as "fat man" which brought laughter from the rest of the journalists gathered.
Custis went on TV to discuss the back and forth afterwards, offering context for his side of the story. He went on to challenge Van Gaal's United side to pick up more points than he lost pounds over the remainder of the season, so at least Custis saw the funny side.
Jokes aside, it's fair to say that Custis doesn't have Van Gaal on his Christmas card list.
In 23 years of covering Manchester United the two worst were under Louis van Gaal. The most arrogant and rude manager I have ever come across. He has no right to talk about who should take on the best club job in the world.
— Neil Custis (@ncustisTheSun) March 28, 2022
Louis isn't good with names
At a pre-season press conference, Van Gaal was discussing the leadership group at Manchester United, while sitting next to Chris Smalling.
It was all going according to plan, as he explained that Wayne Rooney was the club captain, and Michael Carrick was the vice captain. He continued, mentioning that the next in line was the man sitting next to him, 'Mike' Smalling.
There was an awkward silence, before someone mentioned that his name was Chris. Thankfully, both player and manager could see the funny side of the mistake, and no harm was done.