louis Van Gaal hired to coach side, Giggs will be his deputy
Netherlands coach louis van Gaal was hired as Manchester United manager on Monday, tasked with repairing the damage from David Moyes’ disappointing 10 months in charge and reviving the fortunes of one of the world’s biggest clubs.
The 62-year-old Dutchman has signed a three-year contract and will take over at Old Trafford after the World Cup in Brazil, becoming the first United manager from outside Britain and Ireland. United great Ryan Giggs, who announced the end of his 23-year playing career, will be Van Gaal’s assistant.
“To work as a manager for Manchester United, the biggest club in the world, makes me very proud,” Van Gaal said in a United statement. “This club has big ambitions; I too have big ambitions. Together I’m sure we will make history.”
Van Gaal has experience of coaching — and winning league titles — at some of theworld’s top teams, but even spells at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich may not prepare him for the rebuilding job required at United.
The club has been in a state of flux since the retirement of Alex Ferguson last May after nearly 27 years in charge. Moyes, Ferguson’s successor, was dismissed last month before the team went on to finish seventh - its lowest placing since the Premier league’s inception in 1992.
United also failed to qualify for European football for the first time in 24 years.
Van Gaal is likely to be handed considerable funds to strengthen the squad to get United back in the Champions league, something the club’s American owners - the Glazer family - weren’t prepared to give Moyes. A return to Europe’s top competition will likely be the priority, followed by a desire to play the kind of attacking, dynamic brand of football expected at United but unable to be delivered by Moyes.
United has broken the mold by appointing Van Gaal.
In the club’s 136-year history, no previous manager has come from outside Britain or Ireland, a common occurrence at England’s other big clubs in recent years.
The notion of United hiring coaches in a bid to create a dynasty — something Ferguson uniquely achieved — also appears to have ended. After spending six years at Ajax, where Van Gaal guided a talented young team to the pinnacle of European football by winning the Champions league in 1995, he joined Barcelona in 1997 for the first of two spells — the first lasting three seasons and the second barely half a year. He has since coached AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch league and Bayern between 2009-11.
Giggs retires
After 13 league titles, two Champions leagues, 963 appearances and many more amazing memories, Ryan Giggs brought an end to his incredible 23-year playing career at Manchester United on Monday to take over as the club’s assistant manager.
British football’s most decorated player made the announcement in an open letter on United’s website, just an hour after he was named as the No. 2 for new manager louis van Gaal.
“For me, today is new chapter filled with many emotions - immense pride, sadness, but most of all, excitement towards the future,” the 40-year-old Giggs said.
Giggs will go down as one of the greatest players in the Premier league’s 22-year history. He is certainly its most durable, playing in every season since the league inception in 1992 - first as a flying winger before refining his game to play deeper in midfield.