Former Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis has described his time at Bayern under Louis van Gaal as “crazy”.
The former Manchester United manager has been described as a difficult man to work with by former teammates but Demichelis also believes he is one of the greatest coaches in history.
The former Manchester City defender played under Van Gaal during his time at Bayern Munich where, in his first season in charge, the Dutch coach led the team to the domestic double and a Champions League final.
However despite their success together the Argentine did admit that they didn’t always see eye to eye.
“If I tell you about a great manager, but one who is completely crazy: Van Gaal. He goes a bit too far sometimes,” the retired centre-back told La Nacion.
“In one game we were winning 3-0 at half-time and he came into the dressing room kicking the door, the kitbags and shouting that everything had been a disaster.
“As captain, I had to calm him down: ‘Stop insulting us, have some respect.’ I played badly in the second half and the following day he told me that I had performed badly because I had emotionally unbalanced myself.”
The former Argentine international, who earned 51 caps, won a Premier League winners medal with Manchester City in 2014 and played 259 times in the Bundesliga with Bayern.
His time with Van Gaal was one that he will never forget as he described another incident under the controversial coach.
“If you were out for three weeks with a strain, you needed another three weeks of training to be able to play again,” Demichelis added. “That’s what he thought. I had an ankle operation, I made my comeback for Argentina but Van Gaal wouldn’t play me.
“One day, in a game for the starters against the substitutes, with him as referee, the goalkeeper gave me the ball and I smashed the ball in his direction, aiming at his face.
“It missed him by inches. There was a deafening silence and he said: ‘I ask you all that no one else gives the ball to Demichelis.’ We later ended up arguing in the dressing room.”
Van Gaal led Manchester United to an FA Cup and a fourth-place finish in his two seasons at Old Trafford but left in 2016 and has not been employed again since.
He also had successful spells at Ajax, Barcelona and AZ Alkmaar while managing the Dutch national side on two separate occasions.
Bayern, now managed by Niko Kovac, have struggled in the Bundesliga this season losing three of their opening 11 games and finding themselves in fifth place.
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