Edwin van der Sar has named Louis van Gaal as his favourite manager, despite spending six years playing under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
When comparing the best goalkeepers in Manchester United’s history, Edwin van der Sar ranks highly with Peter Schmeichel and David de Gea.
The only regret United had with Van der Sar was not signing the Dutch stopper earlier in his career. Even signing at 34, the former Ajax and Juventus keeper had time to show his class at the very highest level.
Van der Sar won four Premier League titles at United, as well as the Champions League, the Club World Cup, and two League Cups.
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Edwin van der Sar picks Louis van Gaal over Sir Alex Ferguson
Van der Sar maintains that Louis van Gaal is the best coach he ever played for.
The iconic Dutch coach served as United manager between 2014 and 2016, culminating in FA Cup glory just days before his dismissal.
Van Gaal struggled at Old Trafford, but there was a feeling that he was past his prime, or that the modern game had left him behind.
The biggest positives that came under Van Gaal include winning the FA Cup and introducing a young Marcus Rashford to the world. Other than that, his spell was marked by underwhelming performances and poor recruitment.
However, despite all of that, Van der Sar says Van Gaal is the best coach he has worked with.
During a 19 quickfire session with former United teammate Gary Neville for The Overlap, Van der Sar revealed that Van Gaal was the best coach he had during his playing years.
When Neville pressed the former goalkeeper on whether Van Gaal was better than Sir Alex Ferguson, the 55-year-old replied: “Yeah.”
Meanwhile, former Barcelona midfielder Andreas Iniesta has told Senen Moran that Van Gaal is the manager he had in his career who surprised him most.
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Louis van Gaal handed Edwin van der Sar his Ajax debut
Not only did Van Gaal play a significant role in Ajax signing Van der Sar from VV Noordwijk, but he also gave the goalkeeper his debut at the Eredivisie club.
Van der Sar became the starting goalkeeper and eventually won the Champions League in 1995, after a 1-0 win over AC Milan in the final. They famously had an unbeaten record for the entire 1994/95 season in the Eredivisie and Champions League.
They formed a reunion between 2000 and 2002 when Van Gaal served as head coach of the Netherlands for the first time, but they didn’t enjoy the same level of success from their time together at Ajax.
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