Bayern Munich’s Uli Hoeness: Louis van Gaal was nearly sacked in 2009

Uli Hoeness en Louis van Gaal (PROSHOTS)

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Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has launched an attack on former coach Louis Van Gaal revealing the club came close to firing the Dutch tactician in December 2009.

The 59-year-old coach was shown the door eventually in April this year after the club struggled in the Bundesliga.

However, Hoeness has stated the Bavarian giants were on the verge of sacking the former Barcelona man after only five months in charge due to a poor start.

“If Van Gaal had not won the last Champions League group match against Juventus in his first season, he would not have survived the winter break,” the president told Bild.

“Unfortunately for him, the subsequent success with winning the double and reaching the final of the Champions League seem to be where he fell.”

Hoeness was also keen to highlight how the atmosphere in the Bayern camp changed during Van Gaal’s tenure.

“Under Louis van Gaal, I learned one thing: you can have one of the best experts but if it’s not fun, I do not want him in charge. I want success for this club but even more, I want there to be fun in football,” he added.

The club president concluded his criticism of the Dutchman by declaring the side were ‘too nice’ while playing for Van Gaal.

“The team certainly were too nice. We had no yellow cards or hard fouls. That was not the players, it was the system. Louis van Gaal believed that you can look away when the opponent has the ball,” he added.

Bayern have since appointed Jupp Heynckes as the club’s new man in charge with the veteran officially set to take over on July 1.