Louis van Gaal on José Mourinho: 'I think he might even be better than me'

Posted Sunday, October 26, 2014 by theguardian.com

Louis van Gaal admits José Mourinho has a key advantage as they prepare for a first meeting in domestic football at the helms of Manchester United and Chelsea

Louis van Gaal with Ryan Giggs: 'I always like to keep one coach. He knows the culture, he can teach me and help me.'

Manchester United have created one Premier League record already this season. They have used 30 players in their eight games, and no team have ever done that before. No one else is close to that total this season and historically the previous high was 27, by Arsenal and Queens Park Rangers two years ago.

Louis van Gaal, who must feel a bit like Sven-Goran Eriksson did when he was first put in charge of England and began capping players just to have a look at them, did not realise his turnover was quite so high but was not surprised to find out. "I didn't know it was a record but I can imagine," he said. "Of course the amount of injuries we have had is the main reason, but I am reasonably open to giving a lot of players a chance too."

If United are way clear at the top of the player rotation league table, Chelsea, their opponents on Sunday in Van Gaal's stiffest test of the season so far, are close to the bottom. They have used only 19 players so far, which shows José Mourinho has stopped casting around in the dark - if in fact he ever did do that on returning to England last year - and identified a streamlined core of players with a strong sense of purpose. "I have only been here for three months," Van Gaal said. "José has been at Chelsea for longer so it is logical he is further on with his team development."

The respect between Van Gaal and Mourinho is well known, stemming from the time they worked together as manager and assistant at Barcelona. Since then Mourinho's career curve has somewhat eclipsed his former master's, with league titles in four countries, two Champions League wins and a treble in Italy, though one reason friendly relations have been maintained is that the pair have met only once as rival managers, in the 2010 Champions League final. Mourinho was in his second season at Internazionale, Van Gaal approaching the end of his time at Bayern Munich.

"That was the only time we have played each other until now," Van Gaal said. "The honourable Howard Webb didn't give us a penalty and we lost." If there is a certain bitterness detectable here it is because that final, in Madrid, could have made all the difference to Van Gaal's managerial CV. He too, was poised to win a treble. Victory to Bayern would have left him with two European Cups to Mourinho's one.

But Inter were superbly organised and their counterattacking game exceptionally efficient. Two goals from Diego Milito won the final and left Mourinho to confirm in the bowels of the Bernabéu that he would be appearing in the same stadium the following season as manager of Real Madrid. While Van Gaal is prepared to accept the greatness of Mourinho as a manager now, four years ago his feelings were possibly a little rawer. What did you say to him after the game? "Congratulations."

Ultimately, Van Gaal can accept some credit for launching Mourinho's coaching career, even if, to use Sir Alex Ferguson's expression, his protege did come back to bite him on the bum. Van Gaal could easily have cleared out Mourinho with the rest of Bobby Robson's backroom staff and brought in an assistant of his own, but though he hardly knew anything of the Portuguese, he saw something in him he liked.

Again, the story is well known - Mourinho was unimpressed with the way Barcelona were treating Robson and stood up for his boss so forcefully that Van Gaal was struck by his loyalty - but now the Dutchman is at Manchester United and speaking in English the logic behind his decision bears repeating.

"I always like to keep one," he explained. "I have just done that here with Ryan Giggs. He knows the culture of the club, he knows the talents we have here, he can teach me a lot about Manchester United and help me. It was just the same with José at Barcelona. He worked there for two years with Robson and knew everything about the club. He spoke good Spanish as well so he could also help me with the language. But it is true that what impressed me most was the way he spoke to the president of the club in defence of Bobby Robson. His anger was fantastic to see. So I said: 'You are my man.'"

So the two managers shaking hands for the first time as rivals in a league game at Old Trafford tomorrow know each other very well. Van Gaal knows Mourinho so well he is not prepared to believe Diego Costa will miss the game until he sees the team sheet. This is a meeting long overdue, and Van Gaal is ready for it, even if Chelsea are setting the early-season pace.

"José's teams are always very organised, that what makes him a very good manager," he said. "He is one of the top in the world, I think he might even be better than me but we can win this game, and if I can win a title in another country then I will be his equal again."