Jonny Evans played for the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, but the former Northern Ireland defender has credited Louis van Gaal for opening his eyes to a different way of playing football.
Louis van Gaal managed Manchester United between 2014 and 2016.
The Dutchman’s tenure will be remembered for questionable recruitment, mixed results and one major trophy.
Van Gaal’s highlight at United came when he won the FA Cup, but his dismissal would come just days later. It ended United’s 12-year wait for FA Cup success and marked the first trophy won by the club since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
He also managed to qualify for the Champions League in his first season at Old Trafford, after guiding United to a 4th-placed finish in the Premier League. The team failed to back that up in his second season as they finished 5th – missing out on a top-four finish due to goal difference.
United opted to replace Van Gaal with Jose Mourinho in 2016.
Jonny Evans learned a lot from Louis van Gaal
Former United defender Jonny Evans appeared on Monday Night Football to provide coverage of Sunderland’s 1-1 draw against Everton in the Premier League.
The 37-year-old graduated from United’s academy in 2006 and spent a further nine years at Old Trafford before being sold to West Brom in 2015.
Sadly for Evans, Van Gaal did not see the centre-back as part of his long-term plans. He played just 17 matches in the 2014/15 campaign
The decision to sell Evans was later seen as a mistake by many, and he would return to the club in 2023 when his contract at Leicester City expired.
However, Evans claims that Van Gaal opened his eyes to a different way of playing football, which helped him throughout his career.
“If you go by names, you’d probably say Van Gaal,” Evans said when asked which manager stood out in his career, excluding Ferguson.
“He was the total opposite to Sir Alex. You talk about players being themselves, but I learned so much from what he had to say and it opened my eyes to a different way of playing football.”
Evans was then asked if Van Gaal made a difference to his own game or his tactical awareness as a defender. He replied: “Your own game… both. The tactical side of the game, but also in terms of the detail of each pass and analysing it. Some players found a bit too much, but I only had a year with him. I feel that the stuff I had with him, I was able to take for the rest of my career.”
Sir Alex Ferguson left stunned by Jonny Evans exit in 2015
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill previously revealed that Ferguson was left stunned when Van Gaal sold Evans to West Brom.
Evans was 27 when he joined West Brom for a fee of £6 million, leaving a club where he won three Premier League titles.
“In September after last year’s Euros, there was a conference in France for the coaches and Sir Alex was there talking about it and he openly said to me that he could not believe Van Gaal had sold Jonny from United,” O’Neill told the Belfast Telegraph in 2017.
“Having seen him come through, Sir Alex felt Jonny would spend his whole career at United or certainly to the latter stages of his career.
“I think there were a lot of factors why he ended up at West Brom. In the previous two years he had an injury and at Manchester United they had Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.
“Then Jonny and there was a succession plan that didn’t happen because of the change in manager.
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