During a senior playing career that spaned around 17 years, Saviola plied his trade at some of the biggest clubs in the world under a clutch of greatly revered coaches.

 

The 1999 Argentine Footballer Of The Year played under two Dutch tacticians in Van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard during his six-year spell at Barcelona, before he ultimately left the club with his deal expiring and moved to rivals Real Madrid.

 

 

Saviola has revealed when compared to Rijkaard, Van Gaal had a stronger personality and always made his presence felt as a coach with the way he approached the game.

 

The 39-year-old added that he never had any kind of issues with Van Gaal during the whole time they worked together, and stressed he learned a lot from him.

 

 

Asked who was the better manager out of Van Gaal and Rijkaard, Saviola told Inside Futbol: “I worked with both of them, I learned a lot.

 

“They were both very good coaches, I followed their advice and it worked out well for me because they both were considered two of the best coaches in the world back then.

 

 

“Van Gaal had a stronger personality, he was a coach who always made his presence felt in the way he looked at football, but personally, as long as we worked together, I never had the slightest problem with him.

 

“He stood out much more as a personality than Rijkaard.”

 

Saviola hung up his boots in January 2016, ending his career with his boyhood club River Plate, while Van Gaal is currently managing the Netherlands national team.