Louis van Gaal Says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 'Parks the Bus' Like Jose Mourinho
March 26, 2019
Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho both "park the bus" as coaches.
In a revealing interview with Simon Stone of BBC Sport, Van Gaal said the only difference in style between the pair is the Norwegian boss has found a way to utilise Paul Pogba and win with consistency. The Dutchman rejected the idea Solskjaer has brought back the attacking style of Sir Alex Ferguson since the interim boss replaced Mourinho:
"People think we have only had fake news since Donald Trump became president. In football we have had it for 50 years.
"The coach after me [Mourinho] changed to park-the-bus tactics and played on the counter. Now there is another coach who parks the bus and plays on the counter. The main difference between Mourinho and Solskjaer is that Solskjaer is winning.
"I am not there but there does look to be a change and the atmosphere seems to be better. It is also true that Solskjaer has changed Paul Pogba's position and put him into an area where he is much more important.
"But the way Manchester United are playing now is not the way Ferguson played. It is defensive, counter-attacking football. If you like it, you like it. If you think it is more exciting than my boring attacking, OK. But it is not my truth."
Solskjaer has been applauded for introducing an attacking brand associated with the club, but Van Gaal believes supporters and pundits are incorrect.
The former Ajax coach also denied his own United team were "boring" but revealed he had spoken to Ferguson about the issues at the club.
"Unfortunately, we are talking about a commercial club, not a football club," said Van Gaal. "I spoke to Ferguson about this and in his last years, he also had problems with it."
Van Gaal also commented about the development of Marcus Rashford, with the former coach plucking the youngster from the reserves to feature in his first team.
The 67-year-old said that Rashford's "modest" personality suggested to him he would succeed with the Red Devils.
Rashford has since gone from strength to strength, cementing himself as United's current striker.