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Van Gaal had two seasons at Bayern before being let go. Empics Sports Photography Ltd.

Rummenigge: Bayern's possession game was created by van Gaal

The Bayern Munich CEO paid tribute to their former manager.

BAYERN MUNICH CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says the club owe much of their current success to former coach Louis Van Gaal.

The current Manchester United coach led the Bavarians for two years from 2009, coming within a Champions League final of sealing a famous treble. He was sacked in 2011 following a third-place Bundesliga finish, but Rummenigge believes his impact is still being felt at the Allianz Arena.

“If you see our ball possession today, I would say the first steps were the benefits from Louis van Gaal,” Rummenigge told The Times.

“We hired him to bring a new philosophy and I believe — I still believe — that from the technical and tactical point of view, he’s a very good coach.

“He changed the system here and I’m convinced he will do it as well at Manchester United.”

The reigning German champions sit four points clear at the summit of the Bundesliga ahead of Saturday’s clash with Dortmund, well on course to claim what would be their third straight league title. It would make it two league titles in two season for coach Pep Guardiola, from whom Rummenigge says is still learning.

“Even now, I have learnt a lot from how he interprets football, which is totally different to what I had in my mind before,” Rummenigge continued.

“He has a fantastic philosophy. The main basis is the midfield, ball possession, controlling the ball in midfield. He is doing that, I would say, in a different style to how he did it at Barcelona.

“Here we come a bit quicker to the conclusion, which maybe takes in part of our culture in Germany.”

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    Mute Leighton Cullen
    Favourite Leighton Cullen
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    Jun 2nd 2024, 7:45 PM

    After that loan spell be interesting to see where Troy goes to next. Might be a player that be best suited to playing in a European league team. I honestly think if he got a move to France or Germany he would get a good few goals next season. The competition for the strikers in the Irish squad will be huge next season.

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    Mute Leonard Barry
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    Jun 2nd 2024, 10:27 PM

    @Leighton Cullen: If he is on Tottenhams books and has really come on as a player then I think he will return to them and be given his chance to make the first team squad, otherwise he will be released by them and end up god knows where. Too often we get overexcited about an Irish lad playing abroad and scoring a few goals only to find it all ends in failure and disappointment.

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    Mute Mark Carolan
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    Jun 2nd 2024, 10:58 PM

    @Leonard Barry: he’s too slow for the Premier league.. and not good enough for a team with ambitions of a top ten finish. Looks like he got it together towards the end of the season, was in and out of the team for the first half of the season. Love to see him establishing himself in Europe. Could carve a very good career out for himself.

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    Mute Reamonn Mac Thomais
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    Jun 2nd 2024, 8:25 PM

    Well done troy!
    Great attitude this season

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    Mute Kevin Scully
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    Jun 2nd 2024, 9:04 PM

    He is young enough to still make it but old enough that I would have my doubts about consistency

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