Now seriously re: Gaal: from those quotes I gather that it depends on the kind of person a player is how he will connect with LvG. He's rather big on rules and discipline and the players bashing him tend to be the more extroverted lot, so I can imagine there being a bit of a culture clash (this without wanting to delve into the subject of stereotypes, "Germanic" vs. "Latin" mentalities etc.) Van Gaal, being as domineering as he is, does not mince words in such an instance.
This is not very strange for Gaal. Neither is his press conference yesterday, although I have rarely seen him act so cringeworthy. He thrives on creating a siege mentality within his squad to improve cohesion - Mourinho did not learn that from just anybody. What has surprised me is his cluelessness and rigidity in setting up United's system. If there was one thing I'd have described Gaal as half a year ago, it'd be as a pragmatist. His Ajax, AZ, Barca and Bayern teams were all differently set up and the Dutch WC-formation was born out of necessity, when he saw 4 in the back did not work. That is why I find it all the more baffling he is so unwilling to change that which diesn't work and so willing to shoehorn players in the wrong positions. Cluelessness seems to be the most obvious explanation for this out of character behaviour, but I find its' sudden onset strange.
