Van Gaal And Mourinho Set For Tactical Battle

Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho will lock horns on Sunday and many are expecting a tactical battle between the two master technicians.

The pair worked together at Barcelona when van Gaal was in charge of the Catalan giants and there is enormous mutual respect between them. Despite coaching some of the biggest clubs on the planet, they have only met once in a competitive fixture - the 2010 Champions League final.

Mourinho came out on top on that occasion as his Inter Milan side defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 with a brace by Diego Milito at the Bernabeu. The win secured a Treble for the Serie A side but van Gaal will be determined to come out on top this time around at Old Trafford.

The duo also faced each other in the Franz Beckenbauer farewell match soon after Mourinho joined Real Madrid in the wake of his Inter success. Real won on penalties in Munich after a draw in the exhibition game.

Both men are deep tactical thinkers and it should make for an absorbing encounter this weekend when the Portuguese coach brings his Barclays Premier League leaders to Manchester. Despite their friendship, the high stakes mean a real battle should unfold at Old Trafford.

Reds midfielder Daley Blind explains to United Review, the official matchday programme: "We have to play our own tactical game and then we have to play as a team to win. Maybe it will be a tactical affair. I think both coaches are very strong at that point, so maybe it will be a tight game."

Award-winning author Jonathan Wilson analysed the upcoming clash in some detail during an interview with this month's Inside United magazine and feels the United boss could have something up his sleeve. "In some ways, having a bad start could be a good thing in the long term," Wilson explained. "It has happened a few times in his previous roles and it makes him think, and he'll think of something utterly ridiculous and brilliant which will work, because that's what he always done. Van Gaal always finds a way to make it work.

"I think Chelsea will play it tight again, as they did against the top teams last season, and look to strike on the break. The pace and strength they have is built for that approach. It would seem an extraordinary position to take, but sitting deep could work for United."

The opposing managers know each other inside out and this only adds to the intrigue surrounding how the two teams will line up. "We have been observing each other ever since [Barcelona] and been sending text messages," revealed van Gaal. "Little did I know he would be such a great coach. He was an excellent coach then but now he is one of the best in the world and I don't think many coaches can make that declaration."

Similarly, the Chelsea chief hailed his former boss as the best coach at the World Cup finals: "He did a fantastic job with a [Netherlands] team that, in my opinion, was not strong enough to arrive where they arrived. He is a very, very good coach and he'll be great for United. We are both great coaches; it's what we were born to do."

For all of the swaggering self-confidence of this statement - and we have grown to expect nothing less from the successful Blues manager - any football follower on the planet would surely have to rank van Gaal and Mourinho among a very small group of elite coaches in the game. The world awaits a strategic tussle of epic proportions. Let battle commence.