Ryan Giggs revealed a shocking and unexpected encounter with one of Manchester United’s managers. Giggs, who played at Old Trafford for 24 years before becoming a player-coach and then interim manager in 2014, had worked with great managers like Sir Alex Ferguson. However, his experience with one of Ferguson’s successors was very strange.

After Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 and David Moyes’ unsuccessful tenure, Manchester United saw nine other managers, including Giggs, Michael Carrick, Ralf Rangnick, and Ruud van Nistelrooy (interim). When Louis van Gaal arrived as the new manager 11 years ago, with an impressive track record at Barcelona, the Netherlands, Ajax, and Bayern Munich, he seemed like a safe choice to stabilize the team.

Giggs spoke about his first meeting with Van Gaal in a hotel in the Netherlands on the “Rio Ferdinand Presents” podcast: “Louis was crazy. He opened the door, I was next to Ed Woodward, United’s vice-president at the time. Louis looked at me and suddenly punched me in the stomach.”

Van Gaal laughed and said: “You’re in good shape!” and gave a light tap. Giggs said he was shocked: “What is he doing?” But Van Gaal immediately surprised him by handing him a list of United players and saying, “Tell me who stays and who goes!”

Giggs said he reviewed the list and only disagreed with Van Gaal on one player. Van Gaal agreed with Giggs’ opinions, saying: “Yes, we’re on the same page.” This strange encounter marked the beginning of a unique relationship between Giggs and the Dutch manager.