Louis Van Gaal is a boss in the Fergie mould

Sir Alex Ferguson and Louis van Gaal both have similar methods of management.

Louis Van Gaal isn’t just a disciplinarian he’s a full-blown dictator!

But if reports that he’s set to take over at Manchester United prove correct, his methods won’t come as too much of a shock to the club’s top players.

After all, they used to work for Sir Alex Ferguson! Van Gaal and Sir Alex are very different characters in lots of ways.

But in one very important sense they’re exactly the same. They both believe their way of doing things is the ONLY way!

For 27 years at Old Trafford, Sir Alex never allowed his players to dictate his approach, and the trophies poured in.

If he is the next United manager, Van Gaal, similarly, will take control of United from top to bottom by applying one simple rule: “It’s my way or the high way.”

The likes of Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and even Ryan Giggs wouldn’t be shocked by that because it’s how they’ve functioned for years.

You don’t survive under Sir Alex for as long as those guys did without being able to abide by rules, so I can’t see them having problems surviving under Van Gaal.

Unless, of course, the Dutchman doesn’t want them!

For me, that’s the most likely source of controversy. Not whether the new manager falls out with his top players, but whether he kicks them out altogether.

Make no mistake, I think David Moyes was let down badly by players he should have been able to rely on.

But no matter how important those players perceive themselves to be, it’s something Van Gaal simply will not stand for.

Just like Sir Alex had no problem dumping big players once they had outlived their usefulness (David Beckham) or got too big for their boots (Roy Keane and Jaap Stam), Van Gaal won’t think twice about a dressing- room clear-out of his own.

And while I think Ryan Giggs will be handed a role by the new manager, I reckon Wayne Rooney could find himself marginalised, though not for either of the reasons above.

The problem for Wayne is simpler Robin van Persie.

Van Gaal and Van Persie are very close. So close, in fact, that their wives go shopping together when they’re both in London.

Let’s not forget Van Persie is also a devastatingly good player, who, at the World Cup, could be playing for his future club manager in a position Rooney covets.

What chance does that give Wayne of claiming the striking role he desperately wants under Van Gaal? A very slim one I’d say.

Sir Alex rarely hesitated under such circumstances. If Louis Van Gaal does, THAT would be the real shock.