Giggs was seen coming out of a hotel in the seaside town of Noordwijk, 20 miles southwest of Amsterdam, and it is understood that the discussions took place at Van Gaal's luxury home a few hundred yards away.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach is expected to be installed as United's new manager. Old Trafford chief Ed Woodward faces an awkward conference call with analysts from the New York Stock Exchange n Thursday to explain the club's poor performance and search for a new boss.
Van Gaal, 62, is said to have offered Giggs the job as his assistant although it is unclear if the United icon has accepted yet.
The Holland coach made the most of a day off from his World Cup camp in Hoenderloo to return to Noordwijk and meet Giggs, having arranged the talks last week.
Dutch training will resume on Thursday when more foreign-based players, including United striker Robin van Persie, join up with the squad ahead of Saturday's warm-up game against Ecuador.
Van Gaal honoured a commitment to attend a book launch in Amsterdam on Wednesday night but refused to answer questions about United.
Giggs, meanwhile, flew in by private jet and was driven to the exclusive Hotel Orangerie and then to Van Gaal's home nearby where an underground garage enabled him to arrive unseen. He returned to Manchester to attend Wednesday night's Premier League Under-21 Final between United and Chelsea at Old Trafford which the Blues won 2-1.
During their meeting, Van Gaal is understood to have emphasised his commitment to playing attacking football, as well as outlining the role Giggs would have in the new set-up.
The 40-year-old grew disillusioned with United's cautious style under Moyes as well as his own peripheral role in the backroom team before taking charge as interim boss for the final four games of the season following the Scot's sacking.
If he accepts the job, Giggs will be one of two assistants to Van Gaal, who prefers to have a Dutch coach and one with close links to the club by his side, as was the case during his time in charge at AZ Alkmaar, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Van Gaal is keen to draw heavily on Giggs's knowledge and insight of United. He is particularly interested in the youth academy and has already picked the former Wales international's brains over the top young players coming through at the club, as well as the senior stars who could be coming and going this summer.
In his last home game in charge, it was notable that Giggs gave senior debuts to James Wilson, 18, and 20-year-old Tom Lawrence.
The identity of his other, Dutch, assistant remains unclear however. Van Gaal has not offered Patrick Kluivert the job and Rene Meulensteen, United's first-team coach under Sir Alex Ferguson, remains a possibility.
Frans Hoek is almost certain to join Van Gaal at United as goalkeeper coach along with video analyst Max Reckers.
The new management will have a major rebuilding job on their hands after a dismal season at Old Trafford descended into bickering and acrimony among the players.
0 comments:
Post a Comment