Van Gaal better than Mourinho and Guardiola, says Litmanen

Former Ajax and Barcelona forward Jari Litmanen has voiced his admiration for Louis van Gaal and claimed the Manchester United manager is better than Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.

Litmanen worked with Van Gaal at Ajax between 1992 and 1997 before they were reunited at Barcelona in 1999.

“Pep Guardiola is good and so is Jose Mourinho, but Van Gaal is the best coach in the world,” Litmanen was quoted as saying by Italehti.

“And everybody will agree with me when they look back in 25 years’ time or so.

“It happened to me numerous times that I disagreed with something Van Gaal said and he then turned out to be right after all. Van Gaal was pretty much always right.

“He is always looking for perfection and gives the players a lot of responsibility. Everybody is a bit of a coach under Van Gaal.

“I could also have joined Roma, Milan, Bayern, Atletico and Liverpool in 1999, but I picked Barcelona. Van Gaal was the best coach I ever worked with. He was demanding and honest. He saw everything.”

Litmanen won five Eredivisie titles with Ajax during his career and also lifted the Champions League in 1995. He later went on to win the UEFA Cup with Liverpool in 2001.