The Dutchman was wanted by both clubs in 2014
Louis van Gaal has conceded he may have made the wrong choice when he opted to manage Manchester United instead of Tottenham in 2014.
Van Gaal was appointed at Old Trafford in the summer after David Moyes’ dismissal. He rejected the chance to become manager of Spurs, who went on to appoint Mauricio Pochettino instead.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, the 67-year-old explains that the opportunity to manage United and restore them to their former glories excited him, even though opting to take on a more youthful Spurs squad might have been the better choice.
“Tottenham were a better selection because Manchester United were an old team and I knew I would have to transform them,” he says.
“Was it the wrong choice? Maybe, but I follow my heart. I worked at the number one team in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and now also in England.”
Van Gaal, who Wayne Rooney recently said was better tactically than Sir Alex Ferguson, was aware that the rebuild would take time – more than the two years he was given before he was replaced.
“They had seven players over 30,” he says later on in the interview.”We spoke about that at the job interview.”
Van Gaal accuses United of being a “commercial club, not a football club” in the same BBC interview. He also takes aim at the playing styles of predecessor Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and, not for the first time, is particularly critical of the club’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, and the way his departure from the club was handled.
Van Gaal’s final game at United saw the club win the FA Cup, beating Crystal Palace after extra-time in 2016. He was dismissed the next day following United’s fifth place finish in the Premier League and has not managed since, announcing his retirement earlier this month.
