chance to reunite with Louis van Gaal at Old
Trafford last year because he had managerial
priorities of his own
New Netherlands boss Danny Blind has revealed
he turned down a "fantastic offer" to join Louis van
Gaal's backroom team at Manchester United.
Blind's appointment to succeed Guus Hiddink in
charge of the Oranje was confirmed on Wednesday
and he is tasked with turning around his country's
underwhelming start to Euro 2016 qualifying that
sees them languishing in third in Group A, five
points behind surprise leaders Iceland.
But the former Ajax man claims his career could
have taken a different turn, with the chance to join
Van Gaal at Old Trafford on offer.
"I had a fantastic offer from Manchester United," he
told Algemeen Dagblad .
"There were talks about United and Van Gaal a
couple of times last year. But I rejected that. If you
have ambition what is more beautiful than
becoming manager of your country?"
Hiddink's ill-fated second spell in charge of the
national side provoked fierce criticism inside and
outside the Netherlands but Blind insists he will
take his time to assess how he can tackle the
team's problems.
"I can't say what I want to change yet," he added.
"These are things I want to discuss with my staff
and the important players first.
"Do I feel confident about qualifying? We know
what we have to do: win four matches, starting
with Iceland on September 3. We can't afford to
lose any more games. But with our quality we are
more than able to do it.
"And in September we will hopefully have some
'new' players, with Arjen Robben coming back to
fitness and maybe Kevin Strootman. Euro 2016 is
our only goal. I don't look further forward than that
and I don't look back."
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