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Former Manchester United first team coach Rene Meulensteen believes incoming Old Trafford boss Louis van Gaal will need time in order to make his mark at the club.

The 62 year old, who led The Netherlands team to third place in the recently concluded World Cup in Brazil, is expected to take up his position as manager this week but the former coach doesn’t expect he will be able to deliver immediate success. (more…)

Former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs says that spending the last four matches of last season as the interim manager has been a major help towards his career. Giggs has revealed on several occasions that he wants to become a manager once his playing days came to an end. After he was announced as the replacement for David Moyes – at least on an interim basis, there was heavy speculation that Giggs could be the next permanent manager at United. However, the board decided to go in for an experienced a name in the form of Louis van Gaal.

Giggs, though, will be providing the club with some much-needed continuity, as he will be assisting van Gaal from the dugout. United have not decided to offer the likes of Paul Scholes the chance to continue their position at the club. Being offered this position is a privilege according to Giggs, who also says that he wants to make the most out of it and learn as much as possible from the 62-year-old. Van Gaal is regarded as the mentor for several top managers including Jose Mourinho. Giggs says that spending only four matches on the dugout last season helped him learn a lot.

Giggs’ first match incharge of United ended in a convincing 4-0 win against Norwich, but results that followed were not great.

“When I took the [interim] job there were a lot of things that I was quite happy with, but there was the odd thing where I thought ‘I’m not quite ready for this’. Well it wasn’t that I wasn’t ready for it, but I could do with a little bit more experience. I have gained that experience from Sir Alex [Ferguson] but last year I was still playing so I wasn’t really focused on the coaching and the other side of things,” said Giggs.

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Manchester United star Wayne Rooney has claimed that his former teammate Paul Scholes may have angered the club with his latest comments. Scholes recently stated that Rooney was past his best and that he will struggle to make an impact at the World Cup 2014. This comments have not been taken lightly by Rooney, who has reiterated by stating that United are not happy with the comments made by their former player. Scholes played with Rooney for several years before retiring from football last summer. He returned to the club as part of the coaching staff for the final four games of last season.

Rooney choose to respond to the comments by saying that everybody has their opinions and that he is just trying to prove that he remains as one of the top players in the game. The 28-year-old also stated that he is not focused on winning individual trophies like Cristiano Ronaldo. Instead, he wants to win trophies along with the team. Rooney has struggled to match the levels be achieved a few years ago. Scholes reckons that the world may have seen the best of Rooney since he has been playing top-level football for more than a decade. The former England international also reckons that Rooney may retire at 32 rather than at 36.

“I’m sure he’s upset a lot of people at Man United because they see me as worthy of signing a new deal at the club, so they obviously have got a different opinion to what Paul has. It was a big strange, I’ll be honest, but he has his opinions and he’s entitled to them. I don’t agree with it, but he’s probably the best player I’ve ever played with, so I’m not going to knock him as a player, but I don’t agree with his point. I’m sure he has his reasons for it,” said Rooney.

Manchester United could be set for more disappointment in the transfer market once again after Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben claimed that he is not looking for a move to the Premier league outfit. It has been rumoured in the last few days that Robben will be a major transfer target for the summer after the club failed to get Toni Kroos. The 24-year-old midfielder has been widely linked with United and it was reported that the Premier league outfit had agreed a £ 20 million deal with the German club.

Kroos was out of contract next summer and hence they decide to sell him for this substantial figure rather than lose him for nothing. Robben has also been linked with United as has been Thomas Müller. The appointment of Louis van Gaal – the former Bayern Munich manager – has led to a number of Bayern star being linked with the club. Robben was brought to Bayern Munich by van Gaal a few years ago. He has been an ever present for the club during this last few years, which is a relief to him following a period of trouble at Real Madrid.

He has been linked with a return to the Premier league where he played for three years with Chelsea but it seems that he is happy at Bayern for the time being.

“Manchester United? That’s not an option. I am staying at Bayern Munich. Period. And I cannot imagine that Bayern would want to sell me. I have only just renewed my contract and we are happy with each other. It would have been a different story had I been unhappy. I would have been open to a move then, because I had a great time under Van Gaal at Bayern. He has been very important for my career,” said Robben.

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Tim Sherwood was appointed as an interim coach of the first team of Tottenham as he replaced Andre Villas- Boas who got sacked back in December of 2013. Despite all of the pressure that Sherwood has been getting recently, he revealed that everything about his new job is a learning curve which he loves to do.

He added: “Any day in management is a learning curve. This has been a baptism of fire to be honest but it’s certainly something that I relish. (more…)