Tuesday, 25th June, 2013

Holland national team head coach Louis van Gaal feels new Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola may find it hard to steer the German side forward with the language barrier proving to be a crippling deterrent.

Guardiola took a full-year sabbatical from football management after four years at the reins of Spanish heavyweights FC Barcelona, leading them to a total 14 titles along the way.



With Guardiola a free agent and then-manager Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes almost certain in not continuing his reign at the Allianz Arena and hinting at retirement at some parts, the Bavarian giants moved to appoint the Spanish tactician as their new boss.

But such a move may not be as quickly impactful as many predict, according to Van Gaal, who was quoted as saying by Voetbal Primeur: "Language would be a crucial factor for Guardiola, because for a Spaniard, speaking German will be a difficult language to learn, just as Spanish would be difficult for a Dutchman."

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Van Gaal was pertaining to himself as example in his statement, when he was appointed as Barcelona boss from 1997 to 2000. And while the Dutch manager was able to lead the Blaugrana to two league titles, a Spanish Cup and a UEFA Super Cup, Van Gaal admits he had difficulty managing the club at first.

"I compare his move to Bayern with my move to Barcelona. What I immediately said to my players was, ‘Correct me if I will make mistakes with my Spanish’", the now-Dutch national team coach said.

"But as to how Guardiola manages in his first time abroad, I’m very curious how that will go, especially with what he does with Bayern’s game", Van Gaal concluded.

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