I won’t rule United with iron fist: Louis van Gal

Van Gaal arrives at fallen giants United with a well-earned reputation as tough taskmaster during a glittering coaching career which has included spells at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. But when he met the world’s media for the first time as United manager on Thursday, the 62-year-old Dutchman was adamant different aspects of his personality have made him successful rather than the hard-line approach that is frequently focused on. 

‘I am a democratic, empathetic human being. Of course I have a strong personality but the other characteristics are more important. And that’s the key of my personality. My reputation for being autocratic? It’s unfair. Because of the media. They want to show that part of the personality. Part of the personality is like this. But when you repeat that always everyone thinks like that. There is a lot of expectation, but also a great challenge because of that and therefore I have chosen for this club,’ Van Gaal said.