Manchester United appoint Louis van Gaal as manager

After waiting 27 years to appoint a new manager, Manchester United's attempts to fill the void left by Alex Ferguson focused on Louis van Gaal as the Dutchman succeeded David Moyes, who lost his job in April after enduring a miserable campaign in charge, CNN reports. While Moyes arrived at Old Trafford without a major trophy to his name, Van Gaal, who will step down from his role as Netherlands coach after the forthcoming World Cup, comes with real European pedigree. Making his name as a manager at Ajax, he led the Dutch club to three Eredivisie titles, the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. Van Gaal enjoyed further success at Barcelona -- guiding the side to back-to-back La Liga titles -- while another Eredivisie title followed at AZ Alkmaar, before he claimed a German league-and-cup double at Bayern Munich. The Dutchman will be expected to take United back to the summit of English football after the club slipped from winning the Premier League title last season by a margin of 11 points to missing out on Champions League qualification this term, for the first time since 1995. Despite Van Gaal's impressive track record, his appointment is potentially risky and Mehmet Scholl, who worked with the Dutchman during their time together at Bayern, warned United players not to expect an easy ride. "He's very strict and severe. So the players just have the chance to follow him or they are out, and he takes the next players," Scholl recently told The Guardian. "[Players] are not computers. Sometimes the brain is full. And he still wants [you] to learn, to learn, to learn, high level, every day. Is it annoying? No. It's exhausting. They lose power. That's what happened at Bayern Munich." Although Van Gaal impressed during his first stint in charge at Barcelona -- between 1997-2000 -- he lasted less than a year in the job upon his return in 2002, with a string of bad results proving to be his downfall. "If you treat your people bad, they remember," current Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano, who worked alongside the Dutchman at the Camp Nou told the The Daily Telegraph. "One day you make an error and they kill you. I've seen this in many clubs. Louis van Gaal has been a very good coach in many clubs but his style is very difficult. The same thing happened to him in Barcelona as in Bayern Munich" added Soriano. "He is very tough, people don't like him, but he wins. And one day you don't win -- and when you don't win, everybody that is angry with you will come back to you and try to kill you. "In the movies this works, in real life it doesn't." Ryan Giggs was placed in temporary charge of United following Moyes' sacking and will work as assistant manager under Van Gaal, who had also previously been linked with the Tottenham Hotspur job. The Dutchman is to be given a large transfer budget as he attempts to bring success back to the club, with the likes of Bayern midfielder Toni Kroos and Southampton defender Luke Shaw having been linked with a move to Old Trafford.