Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho used to live 15 metres apart... now when Manchester United face Chelsea at Old Trafford, they'll be separated by 15 metres on the touchline

  • Louis van Gaal's 'good cop'  at the Nou Camp was Jose Mourinho 
  • The Dutchman promoted Mourinho to the point where he took training sessions at Barcelona and gave match day team talks
  • The pair lived barely 15 metres apart in an upmarket apartment block 
  • On Sunday, the will face each other on the touchline at Old Trafford  

Louis van Gaal has an attention to detail and a belief in small margins that can startle even experienced footballers. 

At Manchester United he obsesses about dining arrangements. At Ajax in the 1990s he banned newspapers from the training ground. At Barcelona several years later, it was mobile phones.

All bad cops need a good cop, though, and during his years at the Nou Camp between 1997 and 2000, he had one. His name was Jose Mourinho.


Former Barcelona winger Simao, signed by Van Gaal in 1999, recalled: ‘Van Gaal would get mad at anything. Everywhere. Everything. He was very demanding. He banned telephones. You had to watch out. 

VIDEO Scroll down as Louis van Gaal says Jose Mourinho is a modest and emotional man

Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho pictured on the training ground in 1999 during their time at Barcelona 

Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho pictured on the training ground in 1999 during their time at Barcelona 

Van Gaal (middle row second left) and Mourinho (middle row right) pose with the Barcelona squad in 1997

Van Gaal (middle row second left) and Mourinho (middle row right) pose with the Barcelona squad in 1997

‘Mourinho, though, was different. He was very relaxed, making jokes. In the morning he would give me the newspaper and talk to me about the news. He was very attentive.’

Seventeen years ago, Van Gaal’s reputation was at its zenith. A European Cup winner already with Ajax, he was to win two La Liga titles during his short stay at Barcelona.

Mourinho, barely into his mid-30s, was Van Gaal’s ‘No 3 assistant’. Having served as a translator and opposition scout for Van Gaal’s predecessor Sir Bobby Robson, the Dutch coach promoted him to the point where he took training sessions and gave match-day team talks.

In Sitges, the upmarket resort 25 miles south-west of Barcelona, the two men lived barely 15 yards from each other in an apartment block. Often, they would meet around their dining tables to talk football.

On Sunday the managers of Manchester United and Chelsea will be 15 yards apart again, this time on the touchline at Old Trafford. To chart the most recent and most significant twist in an enduring friendship, however, we have to go back to London’s Savoy Hotel and a Football Writers’ Association dinner in honour of Mourinho on January 19 this year.

Van Gaal — approaching a World Cup with Holland — flew in to honour his friend. Accepting his award, Mourinho said: ‘I must thank my assistants, my players and Mr Van Gaal and Mr Robson, my two bosses.’

By way of reply, Van Gaal said: ‘I am always portrayed as the arrogant Louis van Gaal but now I am humble. Because now he is better than me.’

Nice words make nice headlines and this was no different but it was a private conversation later that night that altered the course of Van Gaal’s career and took us in part to the spectacular reunion we anticipate in Manchester on Sunday. 

Already considering an offer from Tottenham to come to the Barclays Premier League for the first time, Van Gaal was urged by Mourinho to make what may be the final great leap of his illustrious career.

‘I had been pestering him about it,’ said Mourinho. ‘I told him to come, that he would like it here. The English game suits his organisational ability.’

Tottenham were to be the great losers. David Moyes’ April sacking at United saw the London club eased aside as Van Gaal accepted the kind of invitation he perhaps feared would never come his way again.

On Sunday Van Gaal meets Mourinho in the early stages of a difficult United evolution process. In football terms — with United already 10 points behind Chelsea — Van Gaal is a little vulnerable. When the men first met in Spain in 1997, the opposite was true.

The Dutchman has endured an indifferent start to his tenure at Manchester United 

The Dutchman has endured an indifferent start to his tenure at Manchester United 

Mourinho, who has guided Chelsea to the summit of the Premier League, shakes hands with Neil Warnock 

Mourinho, who has guided Chelsea to the summit of the Premier League, shakes hands with Neil Warnock 

Van Gaal and Mourinho at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya circuit during the 1997-1998 campaign 

Van Gaal and Mourinho at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya circuit during the 1997-1998 campaign 

 
Mourinho and Van Gaal pictured together in 1998

Mourinho and Van Gaal pictured together in 1998

Sir Bobby Robson's relationship with Mourinho is well chronicled. What is less well known is that a young man in whom Robson saw so much potential was beginning to be lampooned a little at the Nou Camp when his mentor was moved aside to make way for Van Gaal.

Robson loved Mourinho. The Portuguese was much more than a translator to him — he was a confidant and a trusted scout. But in the boardroom at the Nou Camp that was what they rather sneeringly called him. El Traductor.

Van Gaal changed all that. Encouraged by Robson to keep him on, the innovative Dutch coach then took the leap of faith that his predecessor subsequently admitted he had been reluctant to take without harder evidence of Mourinho’s true capabilities.

‘Sometimes I think I was the only guy left who believed in Jose,’ said Van Gaal. ‘When Bobby left, Mourinho was angry. His position would be disappearing.

‘But I was impressed with his personality so he was kept on, initially for a year. When I told the club he had to stay, they weren’t pleased.

‘To start with he was still just a translator but gradually he became as valued as my other assistants. We did a lot of positional play in sessions. Then you can see if someone can really coach. He could.’

It was in Van Gaal’s second year that Mourinho made the real transition, given first-team coaching responsibilities for the first time.

In Patrick Barclay’s excellent biography Mourinho: Anatomy of a Winner, former UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh recalls his own visits to Catalonia. ‘Jose had been totally integrated in what Bobby Robson was doing,’ Roxburgh tells Barclay. ‘Then Louis van Gaal moves in. Totally different, highly structured. And Jose gets a whole new education in how to structure a day’s training. 

Mourinho was widely considered as Van Gaal's 'good cop' during their time together at Barcelona

Mourinho was widely considered as Van Gaal's 'good cop' during their time together at Barcelona

‘Even better, he gets practical experience through being handed the team for matches. At half-time Louis would go into the dressing room not to talk to the players himself but to listen to what Jose was telling them. Then later he would discuss it with him.

‘So now Jose had gone way beyond the shadowing phase. He was actually managing a team. Barcelona! It was like the ultimate finishing school.’

Theories of what Van Gaal and Mourinho initially saw in each other abound. There are, however, clear similarities.

Neither man achieved as much as they would have liked as players and both were teachers.

Perhaps crucially, though, Van Gaal knew that coaching assistants could make the step up if they were good enough, having done exactly that at the age of 35 under Hans Eijkenbroek at AZ Alkmaar and then again under Leo Beenhakker at Ajax in 1990. 

Mourinho sold then-Chelsea player of the year Juan Mata to Manchester United in January 2014

Mourinho sold then-Chelsea player of the year Juan Mata to Manchester United in January 2014

To this day both coaches are unstinting in their work ethic and their belief in the team over the individual. ‘Players count for nothing, the team is everything,’ is how Van Gaal likes to put it, while author Martin Meijer attaches a description to the United manager that could just as easily fit Mourinho.

‘Van Gaal is a fascinating contradiction,’ writes Meijer in Louis van Gaal: The Biography. ‘An ultra-individualist utterly devoted to the collective effort.’ 

At Barcelona, Mourinho learned early lessons in team management. He saw, for example, Van Gaal take on the great but obstructive Brazilian Rivaldo, shunting him out to the left wing and then leaving him out altogether.

Just last summer at Chelsea, Mourinho displayed similar ruthlessness by suggesting Frank Lampard leave Stamford Bridge. Previously he sold Player of the Year Juan Mata to United. 

When Lampard scored for current club Manchester City to deny Chelsea a victory early this season, Mourinho did not flinch. ‘It does not matter,’ he said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Mourinho’s time under Van Gaal at Barcelona nurtured an ambition that could only be fulfilled elsewhere. Van Gaal’s players noticed.

Frank Lampard is mobbed by his Man City team-mates after scoring against his old club earlier this season 

Frank Lampard is mobbed by his Man City team-mates after scoring against his old club earlier this season 

‘Mourinho wanted to know everything that was going on,’ recalled defender Michael Reiziger. ‘The players liked that but I’m not sure Van Gaal did. They both wanted to be the one who spoke the most.’

Van Gaal’s own summation of the period hints at occasional clashes, too. Ultimately, though, it points only to irresistible talent.

‘He was an arrogant young man who didn’t respect authority that much, but I liked that,’ said Van Gaal.

‘He was not submissive, used to contradict me when he thought I was in the wrong. But finally I wanted to hear what he had to say and ended up listening to him more than my other assistants.’ 

 

The statistics from the 2010 Champions League final were remarkable. Mourinho’s Inter Milan team had beaten Van Gaal’s Bayern Munich 2-0 despite having only 34 per cent of the ball.

It was perhaps the night the balance finally tipped between the two men.

Mourinho now had two European Cups to the Dutchman’s one and his belief in solid, pragmatic football had proved enough to frustrate and conquer a Van Gaal team designed to thrill.

Despite their friendship and their identical core beliefs of management, Mourinho and Van Gaal have always seen the actual game slightly differently.

Winger Arjen Robben has played for both and said: ‘Mourinho puts out a winning team. It does not matter if it plays nice football.

‘The philosophy of Van Gaal is that he wants to win by playing special football.’

Robben’s analysis may be simplistic as there are similarities, too. Both coaches, for example, are slaves to systems, structure and organisation. 

Mourinho and Van Gaal pictured together ahead of Inter Milan's triumph against Bayern Munich back in 2010 

Mourinho and Van Gaal pictured together ahead of Inter Milan's triumph against Bayern Munich back in 2010 

‘The attention to detail, with the use of PowerPoint and technical planning that Mourinho uses so much, is pure Van Gaal,’ said Pep Segura, the former Barcelona coach.

Nevertheless, the notion that Mourinho has been reluctant to embrace his mentor’s extravagant playing philosophy is one Van Gaal is not shy of alluding to.

‘Jose trains to win and so do I,’ said Van Gaal. ‘But I also choose to express good football. He has more belief in defence than attack. My way is more difficult.’

Anyone who has seen Mourinho’s Chelsea play this season will not complain of lack of entertainment.

The Premier League leaders have scored 33 goals while the signing of Cesc Fabregas has made them easier on the eye.

On Sunday at Old Trafford, it may be more difficult, even if it looks as if Diego Costa could win the race against time to be fit.

Mourinho holds aloft the European Cup after Inter Milan saw off Bayern Munich in the 2010 final 

Mourinho holds aloft the European Cup after Inter Milan saw off Bayern Munich in the 2010 final 

If Mourinho has to find another way he will, but let us not forget it was Van Gaal who admitted to throwing players up field and ‘kicking it long’ as his Holland side overcame Mexico in the last five minutes of a memorable World Cup win in Fortaleza last June.

‘Football is about balance,’ said Mourinho. ‘I don’t believe in crazy defending. That’s wrong. I seek balance.’

As Manchester United’s peculiar season rolls on, Van Gaal would love some of that. ‘Chelsea are a balanced team and I’m looking for that,’ he said.

Whatever happens, Van Gaal will embrace his friend on Sunday and smile in recognition of a world that continues to turn. For once, he is the one doing the chasing. Do not expect too much humility, though. Van Gaal is in no rush to swap CVs yet.

‘Mourinho was the first one I texted when I got the United job,’ revealed Van Gaal. ‘He was the first one to text me back. He said he was jealous of my list of clubs.’ 

Cesc Fabregas scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea against Crystal Palace last weekend 

Cesc Fabregas scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea against Crystal Palace last weekend 

The Spaniard ran away to the visiting supporters with his arms open before thumping the Chelsea badge 

The Spaniard ran away to the visiting supporters with his arms open before thumping the Chelsea badge 

Like our Manchester United Facebook page.