CAPE TOWN – Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has described his final six months at the club, saying it was like having a noose around his neck as he was not aware what the club was up to.
Van Gaal, who was sacked after guiding United to FA Cup glory in 2016, spent two seasons at the clubs and promoted the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard who have become mainstays in the club’s first team.
“The hardest thing was trying to survive as Manchester United's manager when I had my head in a noose for six months,” the Dutchman said in his interview with The Mirror.
“From January until the end of the season, my wife Truus warned me. She is a woman – and a woman has an instinct for things like this.
“I did not see what Woodward was up to, but women have different qualities than men. I really did not sense that they were plotting something.
“I was wholly convinced that I'd be able to see out my contract and have a third season at United. And it was the biggest surprise of my life when Woodward sacked me,” he said.
Despite guiding Ajax Amsterdam to the Champions League title in 1995, and winning countless other titles in Spain and Germany, Van Gaal described his achievements in England as the biggest in his career.
“You know, what I achieved at Man United I consider the biggest performance in my entire career.
“Bigger than any other trophy or what I did with Holland in the World Cup in Brazil. And, for more than one reason, I see my work at United as bigger than anything else.”