Louis van Gaal recently took over as manager of Manchester United, but the Red Devils almost missed out on getting him to Spurs. The Dutchman replaced David Moyes, who was sacked after a terrible first season in April, but he could so easily be doing the job Mauricio Pochettino ultimately got. Regarding the situation with Spurs, van Gaal said:
It was very close. Very close. As a little boy I was a fan of Tottenham Hotspur with the team of Jimmy Greaves when he was the champion. Jimmy Greaves was my idol. They had fantastic white shirts. So I was very close.
He has endured a tough start to life at Old Trafford, with just two Premier League points from three games against Swansea City, Sunderland and Burnley, as well as 4-0 defeat at League One side MK Dons in the Capital One Cup. However, he says he has no regrets:
No, I dont regret taking this job. Yes, it is a massive job I have taken on at Manchester United. I realise that. And the situation is not worse than I thought - I knew what I would find on my plate. I could have opted for an easier job. If I had gone to Tottenham, the job would not have been as enormous as here at United. I could have easily gone to Spurs. But I chose the biggest challenge of all the jobs in football. And I really wanted to join the number one club in the country, not Tottenham. Financially, Tottenham was kind of as attractive as Man United. But, in my eyes, Man United is still the number one club in England, Tottenham really is not.
