It's hard to find a football fan over the age of 17 who wasn't a fan of Edgar Davids. The cool glasses-wearing, dreadlocked midfielder is a legend of the game - and deservedly so, he had a very decorated career.
A career which involved being managed by Louis Van Gaal at both club and international level. The pair were at Ajax together before Davids moved to AC Milan for a season - and reunited at international level after Euro 2000.
While the second period together coincided with the Republic of Ireland claiming a spot at the 2002 World Cup at the expense of the Dutch - Davids still believes in Van Gaal and says that Manchester United are 'blessed' to have him, and that he credits Van Gaal for a lot of his career:
He moulded me. That is for sure.
Van Gaal taught me the basics, the fundamentals of football and definitely made me the player I was.
That is what Van Gaal can do. Most youngsters have worked well under van Gaal. At Bayern Munich, before van Gaal, I'd never heard of (Thomas) Muller and now Muller is one of the best players and so on and so on.
When he leaves Man United, he will leave strong fundamentals for the next coach. He did that with almost all the teams he has been with. For that reason, I definitely think it is a blessing for Man United to have a coach like Van Gaal.
It's a rare backing for the beleaguered Man United manager who is widely expected to be without a job following this season. United could still make the top 4 and will be favourites in the FA Cup final with Crystal Palace. Indeed - there are similarities with Alex Ferguson here - because the last time United faced the Eagles in the FA Cup final was Ferguson's first trophy that ultimately saved his United career.
Can lightning strike twice?
Davids didn't stop there though, and he doubled down on his Dutch backing by picking Memphis Depay to turnaround a bad season and become a success:
Talent-wise, I still think Memphis can be one of the biggest revelations for next season in the Premier League.
Hmmm, we'll see about that one.
[Irish Independent]
See Also: The Picture That Utterly Shows Just How Different Edgar Davids Is To Other Managers
Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
