Van Gaal's Guys: Marcel Bout

An assistant coach who specialises in opposition scouting, Marcel Bout joins Manchester United with a reputation for achieving success with various top-flight clubs around Europe.

The 51-year-old Dutchman began his coaching career with Feyenoord in 1995 and worked for the Rotterdam-based club until 2004, when he took a job at FC Volendam. Both roles involved various duties that circled around youth team management and scouting.

Bout’s path eventually crossed with Louis van Gaal's in 2006 upon his appointment as youth team coach at AZ Alkmaar, where United’s new manager had just finished his first season in charge of the first team. As part of a successful backroom staff, the pair went on to win the Eredivisie title ahead of Steve McClaren’s FC Twente and Dutch giants Ajax.

Van Gaal became manager of Bayern Munich in the summer of 2009, while Bout adopted the role of head coach at Telstar. The pair were reunited in Bavaria a season later, however, just after Bayern had claimed a historic league and cup double. The German Community Shield followed before van Gaal’s departure at the end of 2010/11.

Bout remained part of Bayern's backroom team and moved up to assistant manager alongside interim boss Andries Jonker. He was then retained by Jupp Heynckes, before taking a job as assistant coach, technical analyst and scout with the Netherlands Under-21s. Here, he would once again work closely with van Gaal, who remains the national team manager for this summer's World Cup in Brazil.

Together, when the prestigious tournament is over, Bout and van Gaal hope to bring the good times back to the Theatre of Dreams.