Van Gaal's CV is impressive, but what's interesting is that by the standards of many top managers in the game today, his win ratios come out fairly low. His first job at Ajax saw him win an exceptionally strong 68% of his games, losing a mere 30 of 278 matches. That number dropped significantly for his next position though, with him winning only 56% of his games during his first tenure at Barcelona despite adopting a strong team. His time at the club was marred with confrontations with the media and his players over his attempts to implement philosophies which had worked at Ajax but did not seem such a good fit in Spain. His short-lived time in charge of Holland from 2000 to 2002 was an unmitigated disaster, with the team failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986 and only winning 53% of the 15 games van Gaal managed before being replaced by Dick Advocaat in January 2002. His luck didn't improve with a return to Barcelona, admittedly a team in the midst of a difficult transition with Rivaldo departing on a free and long-standing captain Pep Guardiola having moved on the year before. Nevertheless, his win ratio was no higher than it had been with Holland and he was sacked midway through the season. The club ultimately went on to finish sixth, their worst final position for fifteen years. A brief stint as technical director at Ajax also ended within the year, and it was only upon returning to management with AZ Alkmaar that he started to rebuild his reputation. The club were already on the ascent, having finished 5th and then 3rd in their previous two seasons, but van Gaal took them to the top of the Eredivisie in his third season in charge, winning a respectable 58% of his games at a club not considered one of the big players. His following stint at Bayern Munich saw him win 61% of his games while graduating a number of accomplished young players from the academy to the first team. Unfortunately his second season was much less successful than his first, and he was sacked in April after Bayern dropped into fourth place, even though his contract was already due to be terminated in the summer. His return to the Dutch national team has seen mixed results, with his win ration dropping to a disappointing 55%, but his record in the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup was excellent and his legacy will surely be judged on his team's performance once the tournament begins. Man United fans will have good reason to wonder which van Gaal will they be seeing at Old Trafford next season: the man who won the Dutch league with the unfancied AZ Alkmaar and laid the foundations for Bayern Munich's current success, or the man who clashed with his players at Barcelona and struggled for consistency on the international stage?
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
