Louis van Gaal Slammed for 'Arrogant' BBC Interview in Sport Magazine Column

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has been labelled "rude, arrogant and childish" by Sport Magazine writer David Flatman, whose latest column appeared on talkSPORT.

Flatman refers to a BBC Sport chat Van Gaal carried out with interviewer Guy Mowbray, who spoke to the manager after United lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The discussion was labelled "prickly" by BBC Sport, and left Flatman irritated: "The way in which he spoke to BBC reporter Guy Mowbray post-match was disgusting. He was rude, arrogant and childish. This wasn’t the reaction of a proud man on the defensive; it was a venomous outpouring from a man who, last Saturday, forfeited a chance to be sporting, and his dignity with it."

Jon Super/Associated Press

After stating the Red Devils put on their "best match of the season," Van Gaal began responding to Mowbray in a difficult manner, per BBC Sport (transcribed by the author of this article). Mowbray's follow-up of, "That's how highly you rate the performance," was met by, "Yeah, you don't?"

Van Gaal also said: "It's good that you're interested," and asked Mowbray if he was posing a "rhetorical question" when enquiring whether or not the Dutchman's tactical changes worked. Discussing an alleged foul on Radamel Falcao, which could have led to a penalty, Van Gaal said: "Maybe you can watch on television."

The full interview can be seen below:

United dominated possession for large portions of the match, per Squawka:

However, the visitors failed to make many worthwhile opportunities and were sucker-punched by Eden Hazard's neat finish just before halftime.  

Bogdan Maran/Associated Press

United were without the injured Michael Carrick, Ashley Young, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo, deploying a makeshift defence to largely good effect in west London. Despite the loss, the performance was a positive one against the soon-to-be-crowned champions. The club's confidence certainly shouldn't be knocked by their failure to grab a point.

Van Gaal is often a stern, difficult-to-deal-with character. He's been this way throughout his career and isn't going to change now.

The 63-year-old doesn't take kindly to questions which possess an obvious answer and is often keen to waste the interviewer's time if he feels they are doing the same to him. That said, his personality can switch from jovial to unfriendly in a matter of seconds.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Upon his arrival in 2014, Eurosport, via Yahoo! Sport, published the following to sum up what fans can expect from Van Gaal:

"

Van Gaal is a dominant, controlling, even arrogant type-A character, with little time for the foolish and even less time for the precious.

Those acquainted with Dutch culture will know that the progressive veneer barely masks a straight-talking directness that many find blunt or even rude; Van Gaal fits this mould, and regularly comes into conflict with players, directors and the press.

"

Few would argue against this analysis. B/R UK's Ryan Bailey and Stan Collymore recently assessed whether United are better off with Van Gaal in charge:

Van Gaal, like United legend Sir Alex Ferguson, possesses a sense of authority which the club needs. Predecessor David Moyes couldn't assert this ability to keep people on their toes and ultimately struggled to get his squad in check.

United fans won't worry one iota if Van Gaal leads the team to Champions League qualification this season and silverware in the coming years.