Louis Van Gaal Comments on Role as Manager of Manchester United

Things are going pretty well for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal. His side is just two points off of the lead in the Premier League and top of its group in the Champions League. 

But it's not because of anything he is doing, apparently. 

Van Gaal spoke with the Telegraph's Ben Rumsby on Wednesday about how his elaborate coaching staff leave him with not much to do: "I don’t do anything—nothing! I delegate. I delegate, and I earn a lot of money."    

The 64-year-old has been managing since 1991, just four years after his last season as a player at AZ Alkmaar. He's managed some of the top European clubs since then, such as Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and the Dutch national team. 

A lot has changed over the years in terms of coaching staffs, and Van Gaal has adapted well given his successes that have included Champions League triumphs and seven domestic titles:

"I’m from a time where you [the manager] did everything," he said. "Now I’m the manager and I have a sports science department, I have a scouting department, I have a medical department, I have assistant managers, I have assistant coaches."

These days, Van Gaal focuses on certain aspects of coaching, as he told Rumsby:

"

When you see my press conferences, I’m discussing a lot my philosophy...It takes always a little bit of time to transfer the message. I’m training in the brain - a lot of things in the brain - because football is not a sport of legs, it is a sport of brain, and tactics. So, that takes a lot of time. All the players have to sustain that process and that’s not easy. Praise is better than to be negative, it is true. But, sometimes, I’m sorry, you have to be negative also.

"

There hasn't been much to be negative about lately. Manchester United have not lost a game since an Oct. 4 Premier League loss to Arsenal. A somewhat easy league schedule that has them playing Watford, Leicester, West Ham and Bournemouth in their next four matches looks like United will continue challenging for the top spot in the Premiership. 

And even if Van Gaal isn't doing much by his standards, some credit for the team's success has to go to him.

Stats courtesy of UEFA.com.