Even the likes of Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson can’t claim that they won their first game at Old Trafford as a manager.
That accolade is reserved for Garry Monk, who saw his Swansea players come from a goal behind to stun Manchester United and silence the Theatre of Dreams with a historic 2-1 victory. But Monk wasn’t the only novice manager stepping out the tunnel that day – it was Louis van Gaal’s first official game as a Premier League manager too.
Speaking exclusively to UCFB as part of the LMA Insight Series, Monk said: “We were little old Swansea, not talked about too much. All the focus was on Manchester United, as you’d expect, and obviously Louis van Gaal, a world-renowned manager. He had to turn up there on what seemed to be a big celebration for his arrival and we spoiled the day!”
While the iconic win will be etched in the minds of Swansea fans, it is perhaps less fondly remembered by the swarms of media who had travelled overseas for the big game. Monk recalls, smiling, how they eagerly awaited interviewing Louis van Gaal after what was presumed to be an easy win at home to Swansea.
Monk said: “I distinctly remember the post-match interviews. Generally, overseas there’s two or three main broadcasters, but this one was packed, there was something like 21. But they’d all come for Louis Van Gaal’s first game at Manchester United.”
Garry Monk has the best win rate (40%) of any @SwansOfficial manager in the #BPL (Rodgers had 32%, Laudrup 27%) pic.twitter.com/wXNDU5O98u
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 10, 2015
He added: “I’m this man they don’t really know walking into all these interviews, you know when they’re thinking ‘you’re not really the one I want to be interviewing, [the one] who’s supposed to have won.’ I had some fun with that.”
But none of that mattered to Monk. He’d secured three points, a first ever win at Old Trafford for Swansea, and an impressive start to his managerial career. Chances are he wasn’t too concerned about the interviews either.
He finished: “For Swansea to beat Manchester United at any moment, for a club like Swansea – where we’ve been, where we’ve come from. Any time you beat those type of teams, those superteams, it’s a very good achievement.”
