Netherlands Boss Danny Blind Says He Rejected Coaching Offer From Man United

Newly hired Netherlands coach Danny Blind admitted he turned down an offer to be coach of Manchester United. Blind said he rejected a “fantastic offer” to join Louis van Gaal’s backroom staff at United last year.

Blind, who replaced Guus Hiddink on Wednesday as the new Oranje boss until August 2018, said the offer was fantastic, but was overshadowed by his ambitions of being manager of his country’s national team according to reports of ESPN. The 54-year-old had been an assistant of Hiddink and had the same position for Van Gaal when the Dutch finished third place in the 2014 World Cup.

"I had a fantastic offer from Manchester United. 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?" Blind told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.

Hiddink vacated his post earlier this week after a disappointing run in qualifying for the European Championship leaving Netherlands in third place of Group A behind leaders Iceland and the Czech Republic. Dutch’s Current spot in the group standings left Blind a lot of overhauling to do.

“Do I feel confident about qualifying? We know what we have to do: win four matches, starting with Iceland on 3 September. We can’t afford to lose any more games. But with our quality we are more than able to do it,” Blind said as per Irish Times.

The new coach also said that their main goal is Euro 2016 and they are hopeful to have some new players in September with Arjen Robben and Kevin Strootman coming back to fitness. Blind was Ajax manager from 2005 to 2006 and was one of several members of Netherlands’ coaching team that Van Gaal wanted to take to Old Trafford last summer. He is the father of Manchester United midfielder Daly Blind, who was acquired last summer from Ajax in a £14 million deal.