A man of van Gaal's temperament riles a lot of feathers, and he's never been shy of venting his feelings at the assembled media. Once again, his first stint at Barcelona provides the most compelling example, with him launching into a furious outburst against a reporter asking for details about his fractured relationship with superstar Rivaldo. The press conference in question is quite something, as the manager rages in somewhat fractured Spanish about how the media are always 'muy malo' (very bad) towards him. Like Ferguson, who famously refused to talk to the BBC for seven years following a dispute over a documentary about his professional relationship with his football agent son, Jason, van Gaal is rumoured to have a blacklist of publications he refuses to talk to and supposedly requests copy approval over any one-on-one interview. There are plenty of managers in the game who don't always see eye-to-eye with the media, and the prickly Sir Alex suggests it may not be such a big deal once van Gaal sits down for his first press conference as United manager. However, after the press' enthusiastic reporting of David Moyes' struggles at Old Trafford, it would be helpful for United to have someone willing to seduce the press back to their side in order to lessen the pressure as they attempt to rebuild their squad. Van Gaal's reputation as one of the sport's elder statesmen will give him a certain amount of protection, but he's got a massive job to do at United and clashes with the press would only threaten to further destabilise the club during an important transition period.
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.
