With Louis van Gaal expected to be named the new manager of Manchester United later today talkSPORT has been talking with Dutch football expert Marcel van der Kraan who says that if appointed manager van Gaal will have all the players on a tight leash.
Reports coming out of Holland suggest the highly respected trainer is a ‘control freak’ demanding to know everything about his player’s personal lives.
When asked if these rumours were accurate van der Kraan said: “Absolutely.
“I don’t think Wayne Rooney will be able to drink half a lager anywhere around Manchester without Van Gaal knowing, because he’d have to report what time he’d be in bed at night on his laptop.
“He’d have to let him know whether he had spaghetti or chips for dinner, and if he had chips Van Gaal will be ready to meet him the next morning.
“It sounds funny, but all the Dutch players in the international side are having to do this now in the build-up to the World Cup.
“It’s almost like they have a daily blog, they have to report how they live. For Van Gaal it’s a very good guideline to see if he’s dealing with the right professionals.
“He’s a very committed professional and he expects the same from his players.”
Despite how harsh this sounds van Gaal also has a history of building good relationships with his players with Van der Kraan adding: “He does seem to protect his players but they do not have to fear him,” he said.
“He has that aura that the players actually do love him.”