Louis van Gaal was not pleased with Angel di Maria‘s remarks about the Dutchman being the worst coach he has ever had.
The two men coincided at Manchester United after Di Maria departed from Real Madrid. They will face each other on Friday, in the Netherlands’ quarter-final duel against Argentina.
“Angel is a very good player, he played for United and had a lot of personal problems,” Van Gaal told the pre-match press conference.
Van Gaal is currently focused on leading the Netherlands at the World Cup, with a quarter-final against Di Maria’s Argentina looming on Friday evening. But ahead of the match, he was asked to respond to comments from the Juventus winger, who called him the “worst coach of my career”.
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“The fact he would refer to me as the worst trainer, he is one of the only players to have said that,” Van Gaal replied. “It’s usually the other way round. It is sad, I don’t like that Angel said that but it’s a pity… but it’s the way it is. A head coach has to take decisions that don’t always end well
The Dutchman went on to discuss about his preferred style of play and how his philosophy evolved over the years.
“My style has evolved because football has,” Van Gaal added.
“At Ajax it was very attacking. At Barcelona I learned that you can’t always be attacking-minded. I changed my mind, and I developed my new vision at that 2014 World Cup.
“On a personal level, I have more patience than before. Maybe my personality hasn’t changed so much in terms of how I see football.