‘A teacher, a legend… and a s***house’ – Ander Herrera recalls his three Man Utd managers
ANDER HERRERA has hailed the three Manchester United managers he played for as a “teacher”, “legend” and “s***house” as he recalled his time at the club.
The midfielder left Old Trafford in 2019 and recently opened up on his emotional departure.
Herrera enjoyed plenty of ups and downs during Mourinho’s memorable three year spell at Old TraffordGetty – Contributor
But before he left for PSG, Herrera played under three different United managers during a particularly turbulent period in the club’s recent history.
He arrived in 2014 when Louis van Gaal was the boss.
The Dutchman got the boot in 2016 only days after winning the FA Cup.
Jose Mourinho replaced him and after a successful first season, life at the club grew increasingly chaotic as his tenure spiralled out of control.
He was dismissed in December 2018 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turned his interim job into a permanent one after a remarkable turnaround in form.
Herrera only got to enjoy half a season with the Norwegian coach before his five-year stay at the club came to an abrupt end.
He revealed that he was huge fan of all three coaches for different reasons as he spoke to the UTD podcast.
The 33-year-old said: “Very different managers. Van Gaal I can say, positional game coach, like a teacher sometimes for young players.
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“Mourinho, a ****house coach. It doesn’t matter what you have to do to win, I just want to win, and we won. And Ole, a legend of the club.
“He believed so much in Sir Alex Ferguson’s philosophy and he wanted to bring that philosophy back to the club, but it was not easy. The players were different, the moment was different, football was different.”
Herrera added of Mourinho: “He is one of the greatest managers of all time. One of the most successful managers of all time. He discovered a new position for me, he made me a more defensive midfielder.
“In the first season we won three trophies: the Community Shield, the Europa League and League Cup. And we qualified for the Champions League so it was a very successful season.”
The Spaniard added that he learnt “a lot” from van Gaal and hailed Solskjaer as “one of the best people I have met in football.”
GettySolskjaer divided opinion among fans but Herrera revealed how much he enjoyed working for the Norwegian[/caption]
PA:Press AssociationLouis van Gaal won the FA Cup with United in 2016, the first major trophy of the post-Ferguson era[/caption]
The former Cardiff manager was eventually given his marching orders after a rollercoaster three years at Old Trafford.
The managerial merry-go-round continued as Ralf Rangnick oversaw a bumpy interim period before Erik ten Hag became the latest man to try and drag United back to success.
Herrera has warned the new coach that increased level of competition in the Premier League makes it harder for any manager to replicate Sir Alex Ferguson.
He said: “We have to realise that now the coaches are fighting against five or six teams to win trophies. Before, Sir Alex did amazing, but it was mostly Liverpool, Arsenal and United fighting for the trophies.
“So it is not easy for Ten Hag now to fight Tottenham, Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Arsenal and even Newcastle now. It is tough to be a Manchester United coach.”
