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Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has offered an insight into the working environment Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal promotes, and claimed the experienced tactician strikes fear into his players. Koeman worked with Van Gaal as a player and a coach at Barcelona, but the duo fell out when they endured an unsuccessful working relationship as they filled the roles of head coach and sporting director at Ajax. Van Gaal's renowned eagerness to assert his authority on a dressing room shines through in Koeman's words. "When you bring Van Gaal in the house, you bring in quality, but you also bring in someone who thinks he knows everything and that will cause clashes," Koeman is quoted in the Daily Mirror. "There is a big difference between him and me as managers. I was his assistant at Barcelona after the World Cup in 1998. I learned a lot of things from him, but the way he handles his players is totally different from the way I work. I don't put as much pressure on the shoulder of players. "When you have Van Gaal in charge, it is a fact that there is fear in his team. The players have a fear for mister Van Gaal. That is not always good." Koeman went on to suggest the Dutch Football Federation were eager to appoint a less confrontational character as national team boss after Van Gaal's tenure as head coach came to an end after last summer's World Cup finals, with his name mentioned with the post before it was handed to the experienced Guus Hiddink. "After Van Gaal coached the Dutch national team at the World Cup, the Dutch federation had to decide to bring in a manager who would bring in a soft touch," suggested Koeman. "The players needed an arm around their shoulder. A manager who is calmer than Van Gaal."
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