Van Gaal’s couple of world cups have really enhanced his stature I reckon. We often talk about international management as a retirement job, but there’s something about managing big egos through an intense tournament, under the highest scrutiny, that’s really a very different kind of test to club management. Was reflecting recently that I don’t really think about Ferguson very much anymore, whereas if I think about really top-level managers from that era it’s your van Gaals, Capellos and Lippis that come most to mind. Ferguson feels like a much smaller, more domestic concern without those biggest occasions.
