Manchester United vs Chelsea: Guus Hiddink and Louis van Gaal united only in struggle

Ironic that these two compatriots and contemporaries, whose career contours have criss-crossed, should find themselves in near identical situations

Guus Hiddink's Chelsea team are still feeling the aftershocks of Jose Mourinho’s departure (Getty)

Louis van Gaal and Guus Hiddink have been cut from the same cloth ever since their days in 1960s Amsterdam, where both liked baseball, both worked as mentors to unmotivated young people – a useful asset, considering their present circumstances – and graduated into teachers-cum-coaches.

Neither has ever lacked self-confidence, though Hiddink’s more winning ways with the press are the part of his armoury which has failed to impress Van Gaal down the years. “I explain much more than Hiddink does,” Van Gaal once said. “He never says a great deal. Hiddink is a master of not answering questions. I always answer questions.”

There did not seem to be a whole lot of love between the two when Hiddink – who failed catastrophically as Dutch national manager after Van Gaal prospered so richly – was asked tonight what he made of suggestions that his compatriot might be sacked. “It’s difficult for me to judge,” he replied. “You are close. You have better judgement than I have,” which was not exactly a vote of support.

Ironic that these two compatriots and contemporaries, whose career contours have criss-crossed, should find themselves in near identical situations: seeking to resurrect big beasts of the Premier League; desperately lacking a serviceable striker in their quest to do so; both enjoying the luxury of world-class goalkeepers. (David De Gea and Thibaut Courtois were the high point of the game). Where Hiddink scores is essential humanity: a capacity to understand what makes the modern footballer tick.

His own side’s ragged performance – which did not warrant the point – revealed the size of his own task, though in the aftermath you felt that he is the man for a crisis. His superior English helps, but the gold-rimmed spectacles he revealed in his press conference belie the fact that the schoolteacher in him has gone. He is collegiate, democratic and can operate in a way which brings the best from his group. They like to say in the Netherlands that Hiddink was born a Protestant and lives as a Catholic, while with Van Gaal the opposite applies. The Cavalier and Roundhead at work.

Trying to unpick any kind of meaning from Van Gaal is a test in itself and never was that truer than here. There was a dignity about the fashion in which he walked away from his press conference on Friday, bidding those who had suggested Manchester United had made representations to Jose Mourinho, to “enjoy the mince pies”. But last night he had to spoil the effect by spelling out the choreography. “I walk with quietness because I want to make my point,” he said.

Sometimes, minimum words can have maximum effect. There was a point during a tortuous explanation about his declaration on Saturday that he does not necessarily walk away from a job but “sometimes I do it by myself” when you wanted this pedantry to stop. The press utterances are only half-truths in any case. This is a man who is far less at one with his world than he had us believe. Yes, United’s board does support him. It has been encouraging him to tough out this difficult spell. But he is the one in the relationship who has harboured grave doubts about his capacity to fulfil his task here.


 The Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal, left, before the game at Old Trafford 
 (Getty)

His players did enough to validate his claims that he is entitled to stay. There was a 25-minute first-half spell, when woodwork was struck twice, in which Old Trafford ignited and the good times seemed to be back. Wayne Rooney navigated the ball around with deftness. Anthony Martial seemed so released from Van Gaal’s football-by-numbers that you wondered whether the manager had said to him: “I’ll be off tonight, so play as you please.” United were better than a sixth 0-0 draw in 14 matches.

But then the cold reality of this United incarnation resurfaced. The linchpin of defensive midfield, Bastian Schweinsteiger, could not control midfield. Ander Herrera, frequently in possession, could make little of it. Daley Blind laboured. Ashley Young flickered very intermittently. Rooney dropped to the perimeters of the six-yard box to seize possession at one stage. United visibly slowed.

The story of how they responded when Cesar Azpilicueta fouled Rooney in the penalty area told the story of how this club has changed utterly. The broad smile Martin Atkinson allowed himself a few seconds after waving play on is not something he would have contemplated back in the days when Sir Alex Ferguson breathed fire in his technical area. Such are the shifting patterns when the manager keeps his seat and his tongue, nursing a black file of notes as Van Gaal does. Ferguson had no 0-0 draw in his last 116 games at the helm, incidentally. The change has been absolute.

United abhor the idea of a change of managerial direction as much as Mourinho wants them to call him with a job offer. They will hope against all hope that the apparent ease of home matches with Swansea City and Sheffield United may make Van Gaal’s terrain less undulating. But Hiddink seems set for the smoother five months up ahead.

“Everyone was convinced, after one year of a championship and a lousy half year, that could not carry on the same path,” he said of Chelsea’s position, with breathtaking simplicity.