Louis van Gaal's book reveals colour-coding of player personalities

Ryan Giggs and Louis van Gaal in discussion during Manchester United season opener against Swansea

No one-man Teams

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has revealed in a new book My Vision just exactly how he builds his teams. He reiterates the importance of teamwork and shoots down the idea of building teams around one world-class player.

The Dutch manager said that his aim is to improve each and every player in the team.

“If you don’t know how to get the best out of each talent in your squad, you’re wasting your time,” he said.

“I am constantly asking myself these questions – how do I get the best out of my players? Why is one player giving me more than the other? And how can I influence that as a manager?

“If I want to create a winning team, I have to make sure each individual is trained in the perfect way. So, I spend more time on individual improvement than on team improvement. As the sum of all the individual improvements will define the success rate of the team.

“This is why I am not a great believer in one world-class player in a team. I will never build a team around one world-class player.”

“That leads to disaster. What happens when that one player gets injured? It would mean the team will collapse, as they can’t do without him.”

These words might be hard to take for Manchester United fans who were hoping for the club to sign Arturo Vidal, Angel Di Maria and other marquee players.

Blue, Green and Red players

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager also reveals an interesting colourful way of grading player personalities- blue, green and red.

“A blue player is intellectual and is always looking for structure and security in his job on the pitch,” he explains.

“A green player is very emotional, sensitive for different emotions or a different atmosphere in the squad.

A red player is creative, full of power, will want to work and is always focusing on the future.

As a manager, I can work towards each category of players.

When I scout a player, or study a player, I look for TIPS. It stands for technique, imagination, personality and speed.

Over the years, I have realised that the ‘P’ for personality has become more important because of the virtual society we live in.”

Who is going out?

His philosophy also involves teaching players to evaluate themselves.

“What do I do to get more dedication on the job from my players? I confront them with their own work ethic and attitude.

“The players have to fill in questionnaires from time to time. I let them do it on the internet. I teach them to look at themselves as professionals and as a person.

“As a manager, I have found that I am dealing with players who are not able to perform at the level I expect and players who don’t want to perform how I want.

“Both categories of players will be shown the door.” he says in the book.

Could this signal the end for players like Anderson, Hernandez and Fellaini?

Buy The Coaching Philosophies of Louis Van Gaal and the Ajax Coaches here