Ed Woodward, the man responsible for hiring Louis Van Gaal to Old Trafford, insists there is a feel-good factor surrounding what he describes as 'the biggest club in the world'
Louis van Gaal takes charge of Manchester United for the first time in the early hours of Thursday morning with the man who sealed his appointment claiming that the Dutchman’s “aura” is already banishing memories of David Moyes’s disastrous year-long reign as manager.
Exactly a week after arriving at Old Trafford following his run to the World Cup semi-finals with Holland, Van Gaal’s United face LA Galaxy at the Pasadena Rose Bowl aiming to take their first steps towards erasing from memory a miserable campaign last season.
Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, insisted that the Dutchman’s arrival had generated a feel-good factor within the club, claiming that the 62-year-old’s philosophy was “in sync” with the traditions of a club still coming to terms with the underachievement and turmoil of last season which led to the team finishing seventh in the Premier League and missing out on European qualification for the first time since the Eighties.
“As I look back, I just feel a lot more positivity in terms of this coming season,” Woodward said.
“Part of that is simply because of what Louis did at the World Cup because I think it’s given us a bit of an aura around him. He was one of the managers at the World Cup who was proactive. He did more things in games that gave him a bigger profile.
