Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Van Gaal and Enrique start their rescue missions

Monday saw big changes at the top of two of Europe's biggest clubs as Manchester United appointed Louis van Gaal their new manager and Barcelona replaced Tata Martino with Luis Enrique.

Both new men have a significant amount of work to do. United endured their worst season of the Premier League era under David Moyes, who was sacked just 10 months into a six-year contract in April.

Barcelona, meanwhile, lost legendary former manager Tito Vilanova to throat cancer, unpopular president Sandro Rosell to the Neymar contract scandal and both La Liga and the Champions League to Atletico Madrid.

For United, Van Gaal is a proven winner with his own distinctive philosophy who has shown a talent for developing young players and playing expansive, attacking football.

Barcelona hope Enrique, another former La Masia graduate, can provide a return to the dominant passing style refined under Pep Guardiola and Vilanova and the unprecedented level of success which it brought about.

Only time will tell if either man has the right tools for the job, but there promises to be plenty of drama along the way.
Tuesday, 20 May 2014 12:18

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