Louis van Gaal, Manchester United manager since July this year, has been attacked by Bayern Munich chairman and his former chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Van Gaal was sacked by Rummenigge in 2011, less than a year after he won the league and cup double and reached the final of the Champions League final before being beaten by Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, missing out on a historic treble.
Van Gaal was sacked in his second season as his side sat fourth in the Bundesliga table and the board still feel some animosity towards the Dutch manager due to his attitude towards the club during his tenure at the Allianz Arena.
The Manchester United manager has been arrogantly crediting himself with the successes of his past teams for a decade now, labeling the sextuple winning Barcelona and sextuple winning Bayern Munich as his teams.
He has some claim towards such an achievement, giving Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Thomas Muller debuts and playing a key role in the development of Bastian Schweinsteiger, moving him from the wide areas into a defensive midfield role, where he plays today.
While the Bayern Munich chairman has praised him as a 'good and successful coach' but refused to label him in the same way van Gaal himself did, insisting Pep Guardiola, currently in charge at Bayern, was far easier to work with it.
"As soon as he presented gus autobiography in a snobby restaurant, I knew hard times were ahead. Louis van Gaal was not easy care. He wanted to 'Van Gaalise' our club. He has a huge ego." Rummenigge told German magazine, Spiegel.
The United manager has never claimed he is easy to work with throughout his career, constantly labeling himself as self-confident and arrogant. Infact, these attributes made van Gaal the ideal candidate for United fans.
'Pep's a genius. He's made Bayern a bit more professional. He's got high expectations, but he respects the culture of the club. He has many ideas, sometimes unusual ones, but never crazy." Rummenigge said.
Guardiola led Bayern Munich to the league and cup double, just like Louis van Gaal, in his first season as well as the FIFA Club World Club which they could feature in because of Jupp Heynckes Champions League victory the year before. His Bayern side currently lie top of the German First Division, and there doesn't seem to be much realistic competition to stop Bayern Munich winning it for the fourth season in a row.
Pep also strengthened the title winning side with two key players coming in from league rivals, Borussia Dortmund. The signings of Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze caused huge controversy as they topped the list of football's worst kept secret. But Rummenigge said instead of criticism coming towards Bayern for signings from their rivals, the club should be praised.
"If we hadn't signed them, they would now be playing abroad somewhere." The Bayern Chairman said. "Both make the league attractive. Gotze had an incredible offer from Manchester City while Real Madrid desperately wanted Lewandwoski, and would that have been better for the Bundesliga?"