Manchester United's Louis van Gaal says he was like Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp on the touchline.
Louis van Gaal knew it was time to calm down the night he performed a kung-fu kick during the Champions League final.
The Dutchman felt that Marcel Desailly’s challenge on his Ajax striker Jari Litmanen was so high that he felt compelled to do his own touchline impression of Jackie Chan.
It was an incredible sight.
A suited and booted Van Gaal leaping in front of the fourth official to illustrate his disbelief that the Romanian referee Ion Craciunescu had failed to award a penalty.
But Van Gaal knew he was wasting his energy.
And that’s why he will once again be sat on the Manchester United bench taking notes at Anfield on Sunday while Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp plays up to the gallery with his touchline histrionics.
“I did a karate kick,” said Van Gaal, laughing at the memory.
“It was the 1995 Champions League final, Ajax against AC Milan, and I did a flying kick.
“We won 1-0, but we should have had a penalty for a high tackle on Litmanen.
“I was angry, so I did a karate kick on the touchline – about a foot away from the fourth official’s face. I wanted to show him what had happened to Litmanen.
“It should have been a penalty, but the referee did not whistle for a penalty. And in that moment, I realised that a manager can never influence the referee by what he does on the touchline.
“I realised that you have to control your passion. I know a lot of fans like the manager to show he is angry and at Newcastle the other night I was angry when Jesse Lingard missed a chance to score.
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“I am a little bit older now. But I still see the referee from 1995. He is a UEFA controller of referees now – and he reminds me what happened that night.”
Van Gaal added: “Every manager has his own identity, his own personality and also his own philosophy.
“When I started my career, I was like Klopp.
“Sometimes I still come to the touchline because I am changing the players or I am trying to communicate with them, but I don’t stand there for 90 minutes because I don’t agree with that.
“I don’t think the referees in England are influenced by what the manager does.”
The last time Van Gaal and Klopp were club rivals, he finished third in the Bundesliga behind the German and got sacked.
Five years ago, when he was in charge of Bayern Munich, the Dutchman couldn’t come up with any answers as Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund beat their Bavarian rivals home and away and romped to the Bundesliga title.
“No,” was Van Gaal’s emphatic answer when asked if his departure from Bayern a month before that season ended was one of the biggest disappointments of his career.
“Why should it be? In this world, you can always leave a club. It is not strange to leave a club. We ended that year in third, I believe.
“Dortmund played a very aggressive pressing game – the kind that Klopp is showing now with Liverpool. At that time, German teams were not used to that way of playing.
"He also had a very good squad because he had Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus and Matts Hummels. Those players were in great shape and were part of a very good, very aggressive squad.”
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