Chelsea’s charismatic boss Jose Mourinho is of the view that Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has really stepped up to the task this World Cup and proven himself the finest football manager to be seen in the 2014 tournament.
Mourinho, 51, believes the Netherlands were not one of the world’s strongest sides on paper prior to the competition kick-off in Brazil last month and said Van Gaal has demonstrated some fantastic effort in leading his national team all the way to the semi final.
The Dutch sealed their position as third-place runners-up when they breezed a steady 3-0 victory over Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Brazilians in the play-offs yesterday.
Speaking as Yahoo’s Global Football Ambassador, Mourinho nominated his stand-out coaches of the tournament and explained why in his opinion, the Dutchman tops the lot:
“Vahid Halilhodzic (Algeria), Miguel Herrera (Mexico), Jorge Sampaoli (Chile), Jorge Luis Pinto (Costa Rica), Jurgen Klinsmann (USA), Jose Pekerman (Colombia) – all of them have been fantastic.
“But if I had to choose one, because I think he did a fantastic job with a team that, in my opinion, was not strong enough to reach where they got to, I would choose Louis van Gaal.”
Prior to the World Cup Van Gaal was confirmed as the man to take over from Manchester United flop David Moyes and lead the Red Devils in their Premier League campaign next season.
He will go head-to-head with Mourinho when Chelsea meet the Manchester giants over the coming months.
It remains yet to be seen as to whether the outspoken Portuguese will share similar feisty chemistry with the Dutchman as he did with previous Man United chief Sir Alex Ferguson, who retired a year ago following his 25-year reign at Old Trafford.