Van Gaal and Rooney might be on a collision course

Manchester United have been warned that Louis van Gaal's potential appointment as manager could put him on a collision course with senior players such as Wayne Rooney.

Mehmet Scholl, who won eight Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich and was their reserve team coach under Van Gaal, believes the Dutchman is a "genius coach" who will guarantee success for United. But he is unsure how long this will last.

Van Gaal is expected to be appointed by the middle of next week – he wants a deal in place by May 7th when he joins his Dutch-based players to begin their World Cup preparation.

And Scholl said: “He’s very strict and severe. So the players just have the chance to follow him or they are out and he takes the next players. He’s very good with young players. I think everywhere he was he had some problems with big players and the staff.”

Van Gaal, who is the Netherlands coach until after the World Cup, has previously managed Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar and Bayern. Though he has won championships with all these teams, the 62-year-old’s longest tenure was his six years at Ajax before spending three at Barca, four with AZ and two at Bayern.

Scholl said: “There are 26, 27 players and he is looking for the 14 to follow him – 14, 15, 16 to follow.

“He’s good in motivation but this is not his main character thing. His thing is really working on the pitch – that’s brilliant. And that’s how the players learn. Some of the players, I can tell you, like Rooney, I don’t think he has to learn anything more.

“So that will be difficult for him if the coach says: ‘You have to do it in a completely different way. Whatever you did until now, change it’.”

Van Gaal enjoys a close relationship with Robin van Persie, naming him as Netherlands captain, and the pair were regularly seen together at matches during Van Persie’s recent recuperation from a knee injury.

"I think the education is the thing," said Scholl. "The thing Van Gaal teaches is the same thing Van Persie learned from the very beginning. So there, I think, there will be no big problem. Of course he is a big player but he is a Dutch player. That's the difference to Rooney."

Truncated periods
Asked about Van Gaal often staying for only truncated periods with clubs, Scholl said: "Yeah, I think he's for the moment exactly the right coach for United and United will be successful again with him. That's without doubt. The thing is he wants a lot of things from the players and it is not easy to satisfy him and so after several months, one or two years, it gets less what the players learn.

“We’re not computers. Sometimes the brain is full. And he still wants you to learn, to learn, to learn, high level, every day.

“Is it annoying? No. It’s exhausting. They lose power. That’s what happened at Bayern Munich. And that’s why he often picks young players because they learn and learn and learn. I don’t know if he is working still the same. I just can tell you what happened in Bayern Munich.”

Van Gaal’s CV shows four Eredivisie titles, two in La Liga, one Bundesliga, the Champions League and Uefa Cup.

“He’s a brilliant coach. The way he likes his team to play is absolutely brilliant,” Scholl said. “His main thing is to keep the ball, to be proactive not passive.

"He is a genius, he's one of the best I've ever seen. For the big stars it is not easy to work with him but for the young players he is brilliant." –
Guardian Service