Ryan Giggs has revealed that Louis van Gaal has been key to his managerial career after the Welshman learned vital lessons while assisting the former Manchester United boss.
Giggs spent his whole playing career at Old Trafford under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, winning 13 Premier League titles in the process.
He had 23 years to pick up tips from the legendary United manager before making the step up himself after he hung up his boots in 2014.
The Wales manager took interim charge of Man Utd after David Moyes was sacked before becoming assistant to Van Gaal when he arrived in the summer of 2014.
The Dutchman was widely criticised for his tactics and management style at Old Trafford but Giggs, who is now manager of the Welsh national side, credits his former colleague for shaping his managerial career.
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“Obviously I had different international managers, but that's only obviously a short space of time. That's why I talk about Louis (van Gaal), regarding my coaching, because I'm actually two years in the meetings, [taking] responsibility, and I talk so fondly of him because that was really my first coaching role. Whereas when you're playing, you don't know the preparation,” Giggs told The Official Manchester United Podcast.
“You don't know what the manager's seen on the videos. Players get seven or eight minutes of watching the opposition, but the coaching staff watch hours and hours.
“So that is completely different, it's completely different, even though you've worked under a manager for so long. It was more sort of the man-management and the different things that Sir Alex would do that I've picked up on, whereas with Louis obviously I've seen first-hand different systems, why you play the different systems, the reasons for this and the reasons for that, It was a really good experience.”
Giggs enjoyed two years alongside Van Gaal before leaving United in 2016 following the arrival of Jose Mourinho and he secured his first full-time management job in 2018 as head of the Welsh national team. And the 46-year-old said it was his four games in interim charge at Man Utd that convinced him to pursue a career in management.
“Amazing experience, amazing, and one, really, that made my mind up that I wanted to become a manager,” Giggs said about his time in charge at Old Trafford. “I would say up until then that I was still unsure.
"I just felt comfortable. I felt comfortable decision-making. I felt comfortable in that position. It was a brilliant experience. I was still doing my pro licence, but actually being in the job, having to make the decisions, all the pressure that you put yourself under, you can't prepare yourself for that.”