Louis van Gaal will lift Manchester United by sheer force of will

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Louis van Gaal showed his determination to succeed at Manchester United and just why he earned the nickname 'The Iron Tulip' during a revealing episode at the World Cup.

"We'll see about that."

Some Manchester City fans in Brazil found themselves staying in the same hotel as the Holland squad and seized their chance to bait van Gaal when they spotted the Dutch boss walking across the foyer.

Emboldened, one of the City fans shouted across to van Gaal that he was wasting his time taking over at United, because newly-crowned champions City were going to dominate the Premier League for the next 10 years.

Van Gaal heard the verbal jibe, turned on his heels and strode across to his tormentor, fixing him with a look of disdain and declaring "we'll see about that" before marching away.

It was the kind of confrontation Sir Alex Ferguson would have relished and van Gaal's bullish and uncompromising response was also textbook Fergie, which will gladden United fans as they look to the new campaign with renewed optimism.

The incident serves to endorse van Gaal's reputation as a man of total conviction, one whose firm belief in his own talent and methods has underpinned his success at Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and more recently with Holland in Brazil, taking them to third place.

Van Gaal's teams have all played with a swagger and confidence, mirroring their manager, and if he can transmit that philosophy to United - and history suggests he can - the debacle under Moyes will seem like a trick of the mind to the footballing world.

United may not have the best squad in the Premier League, with City and Chelsea possessing a more complete pool of players, and Arsenal's transfer business this summer marking them out as credible title challengers. But United are better than last season's showing and it is inconceivable van Gaal will not lift them back into the top four next season, by sheer force of will as much as anything else.

The 62-year-old also knows he will need further reinforcements between now and the start of the season if United are to be title challengers again next term, having lost Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs, the latter now his assistant manager.

With midfielder Ander Herrera and defender Luke Shaw United's only recruits so far this summer, van Gaal will expect executive vice-chairman to secure the targets vhe has identified and deliver them bas promised, with Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen and Borussia Dortmund's World Cup winner Mats Hummels his top two defensive targets.