Ryan Giggs has explained how life as Manchester United assistant manager under Louis van Gaal was often “frustrating”.
Giggs served as assistant manager to Van Gaal throughout the Dutchman’s two-year tenure, being appointed in May 2014 and leaving the post upon Jose Mourinho’s arrival in summer 2016.
United won just one trophy in that time – the 2016 FA Cup – and Giggs has described how he felt in his role under the much-maligned manager.
“It’s not about biting your lip,” he told Sky Sports. “And it wasn’t just me, there were other coaches. You put your point across. Sometimes Louis would go __with it and sometimes he wouldn’t.
“He was the manager, he was the boss, and once Louis made that decision, you went __with it, even if you didn’t necessarily agree with it.
“As an assistant, it can be frustrating at times but also it’s a great job to have because ultimately the pressure isn’t on you.
“It was different in a lot of respects to what I’d been used to under Sir Alex for so long but I learned how to set up a team and different coaching sessions. Like anything, there were bits that you would take and bits that you wouldn’t.”