Van Gaal Recalls Rivalry With McClaren

Louis van Gaal and Steve McClaren will renew a friendly managerial rivalry this weekend when Manchester United host Newcastle at Old Trafford in the Barclays Premier League.

It began in 2008, when van Gaal was manager of AZ Alkmaar and McClaren was the newly-appointed boss of FC Twente. In Holland, they contested two Eredivisie matches and each recorded a 3-0 victory over the other while jostling for the Dutch title. The current United boss eventually prevailed, however, when his side upset the odds by claiming the championship crown by an impressive 11-point advantage.

Van Gaal left Alkmaar for Bayern Munich that summer but his path again crossed with McClaren's in 2010 when the latter was recruited by Wolfsburg. Their first meeting in Germany resulted in a 2-1 success for the Allianz Arena club, before a hard-fought 1-1 draw was played out in January 2011.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant departed shortly afterwards and he soon returned to England to further his reputation with managerial jobs at Nottingham Forest, Derby County and now Newcastle, which has led him towards a fifth match against his old opponent from Holland and Germany.

Writing in his United Review programme notes for Saturday’s match at Old Trafford, van Gaal shines a light on his history with McClaren and the closely-fought matches they’ve previously been involved in. “I know Steve is no stranger to you but he is also no stranger to me,” the manager explains.

“We were both trainer-coaches in the Dutch Eredivisie. For my last season as trainer-coach of AZ Alkmaar, it was Steve's first season in Dutch football with FC Twente. I am pleased to say that AZ Alkmaar were crowned champions at the end of that season! However, FC Twente finished second and went on to win the league the next season - a great achievement for them and Steve.

“Our paths also crossed in the German Bundesliga while I was at Bayern Munich and Steve managed the Wolfsburg team. Bayern went on to win the league that season, although I remember the matches between Bayern and Wolfsburg were very close and both matches had very late goals - Bastian Schweinsteiger scored for us in injury time to win the first match, and Wolfsburg also scored near the end of the game when the teams met again later in the season.”

Although they share a friendly rivalry, there is no doubt that van Gaal is determined to inflict another defeat on McClaren as United look to maintain a winning start to the 2015/16 season.

VAN GAAL’S RECORD VS McCLAREN

P 4 W 2 D 1 L 1. Aggregate score: 6-5 to van Gaal.

Match 1: 09/11/2008 | Dutch Eredivisie | AZ Alkmaar 3 FC Twente 0
Match 2: 03/05/2009 | Dutch Eredivisie | FC Twente 3 AZ Alkmaar 0
Match 3: 20/08/2010 | German Bundesliga | Bayern Munich 2 Wolfsburg 1
Match 4: 15/01/2011 | German Bundesliga | Wolfsburg 1 Bayern Munich 1