Manchester - Louis van Gaal started a new era at Manchester
United on Wednesday as the Dutch manager arrived for his first
day in charge of the fallen giants.
Just days after securing the Netherlands' third place finish at the
World Cup, van Gaal jetted into Manchester to begin the task of
restoring United to their position as the Premiership's pre-
eminent force.
The 62-year-old Dutchman was appointed as replacement for the
sacked David Moyes two months ago, but his World Cup commitments
meant he had to wait until now to officially take the reins at Old
Trafford.
Van Gaal faces a significant rebuilding job after United endured
a miserable campaign under Alex Ferguson's hand-picked
successor Moyes, finishing seventh in the Premier League and
failing to qualify for the Champions League.
With much to do, van Gaal, back in club management for the first
time since leaving Bayern Munich in 2011, was so keen to get down
to business that he opting against taking a holiday after the World
Cup.
The former Barcelona boss arrived in England on a private plane
and was whisked from the airport to United's Carrington training
ground in a Chevrolet car.
Van Gaal was welcomed by his new assistant, United legend Ryan
Giggs, and the club's chief executive Ed Woodward, who gave the
Dutchman a tour of the training ground after posing for pictures
posted on the team's official Twitter feed.
Dressed smartly in a blue suit, van Gaal may have raised a few
eyebrows in Manchester for choosing a blue and white tie -- the
colours of arch rivals and Premier League champions Manchester
City -- rather than the red of United.
Van Gaal had already sent an advance party to Manchester
ahead of his arrival and his assistant coaches Albert Stuivenberg
and Marcel Bout took the first training session of the day along
with Giggs before their manager's arrival.
After revealing earlier in the week that he hopes to emulate the
strong team-spirit which helped the Netherlands mount a strong
challenge at the World, van Gaal was due to meet his new players
for the first time before putting them through their paces in the
second training session of the day at 18:30 (SA time).
The two-a-day sessions are designed to boost the players' fitness
after the close-season and United's Brazilian defender Rafael
da Silva was keen to embrace the challenge, tweeting a picture
from inside the dressing room captioned 'Let's go, two sessions'.
Van Gaal, who won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995 and a
combined seven domestic league titles in Spain, Germany and
Holland, will be officially presented at a press conference at
16:00 on Thursday before flying out to the United States on Friday
for the club's pre-season tour.
United will play matches against the Los Angeles Galaxy, Roma,
Inter Milan and Real Madrid before beginning their Premier
League campaign at home to Swansea on August 16.
Those matches will give van Gaal his first chance to see new signings
Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera in action.
England left-back Shaw, 19, arrived from Southampton for £30
million, making him the most expensive teenager in the history of
the game, while Spanish midfielder Herrera cost £29 million from
Athletic Bilbao.
That £59 million spree isn't likely to be the end of van Gaal's
spending, with the manager reportedly keen to sign an
experienced centre-back following the departures of Nemanja
Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, while also looking to add more pace and
creativity on the wings.
Given United just announced a record £750 million kit deal with
Adidas, there is little doubt he can afford to continue splashing
the cash.
Also on van Gaal's to-do list is appointing a new captain to replace
Vidic.
United striker Robin van Persie filled that role with the
Netherlands, making him the favourite to take the armband.
But van Gaal must guard against annoying Wayne Rooney, who is
keen on being captain himself and is said to have a prickly
relationship with van Persie.
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