New Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal becomes immediately agitated when he isn’t in some way involved in a game of football, according to sources who observed the Dutchman en route to England.
Leaving Brazil shortly after the Netherlands’ third-place play-off, Van Gaal flew to Holland then Manchester – a football-less period that he struggled to get through.
Crew from the private jet company that flew Van Gaal say that he loaded up his career on Football Manager as soon as he was allowed to operate electronic devices, but he became agitated during takeoff and landing.
“He was straight into a saved game that appeared to have been going for some time,” flight catering manager Claire Davies told FourFourTwo.
“All the players had these odd names that sounded genuine but weren’t real players, so you could tell it was something like 2035 on the game. Either that or he was managing in Holland.
“He became quite animated at times. You could see him gesturing at the little dots to get back and then to break. Then he’d bring on Tim Krul for some reason.”
Van Gaal was contented for much of the flight, but things almost became ugly when he was forced to put the laptop away to be served a meal.
“He wasn’t happy,” Davies recalled. “He kept saying it was ridiculous that his fixture list was being manipulated this way. He asked me lots of times whether I knew what kind of pressure managers are under.
“Eventually he allowed us to serve him, but then he immediately began trying to lay out formations with his food and successfully played the drinks cart offside by going to the toilet.
“It would seem to me that this guy really likes football.”
Van Gaal has always been known for his immersion in the game. His wedding last year, which took place at half-time in a Holland game, was almost marred by Van Gaal substituting himself for Patrick Kluivert after the vows to keep himself fresh for other upcoming ceremonies.
