Van der Sar: Giggs can flourish under Van Gaal

Edwin van der Sar believes Ryan Giggs will ultimately become a better coach by working alongside Louis van Gaal at Manchester United.

Van Gaal was installed as the new United boss last week, the Dutchman taking over from club legend Giggs who was handed the reins on a temporary basis following David Moyes’ forgettable 10-month spell.

Giggs will remain at Old Trafford as assistant manager after calling time on his illustrious playing career.

And former United goalkeeper Van der Sar, who was coached by Van Gaal at Ajax, believe Giggs can only benefit from working alongside someone of his compatriot’s experience.

“I’m sure under the guidance of Louis he (Giggs) can become an even better coach or manager in the future,” Van der Sar told BBC Radio 5 live.

“Even when I played with him he was busy with his coaching badges and the philosophy of the club is in the right hands with him.

“Ryan is going to be there as assistant manager and that should be enough, with his experience, to bring United in a better frame than this year.”

United endured a difficult campaign in the Premier League, surrendering their league title meekly to local rivals Manchester City and eventually finishing seventh in the table.

But Van der Sar believes that under the stewardship of Van Gaal – who will join United after leading the Netherlands at the FIFA World Cup – good times will return to Old Trafford.

He added: “The main thing is he has the pedigree. He’s won trophies in Spain and he did an excellent job in Germany with Bayern Munich, that’s also not an easy club to go to with all the powerful people that are there in the stands.

“He also has experience with the national team being at the World Cup so he has the respect of the players I presume.

“He likes attacking football, he’s tactically very strong and he likes to prepare teams to the smallest detail. He has a very clear vision on how he wants to play and I think that’s very important at United.

“I’ve been there six years and the way the supporters want Man United to play, I think that’s very important to bring United back to the place where it belongs.”