Spurs under 21, under 18 Leagues and other youth news
- Thread starter Spursidol
- Start date
Mouse!
Fookin' Legend in Gin Alley
- Aug 29, 2011
- 6,303
- 19,262
Fredericks' strike won the game for Millwall.
Obika came on in the last 10 for Brighton as they lost 1-0 to Derby.
Carroll and QPR won 2-1 to go second in the table. Assou-Ekotto assist for the second goal.
Bad day for Swindon as they lost 2-0 to Gillingham.
Coulthirst didn't get on for Leyton Orient as they won 2-1 away to Crewe. Orient have brought in another striker in Dagnall who scored 2 today so it looks like Coulthirst's chances may be limited - annoying.
Obika came on in the last 10 for Brighton as they lost 1-0 to Derby.
Carroll and QPR won 2-1 to go second in the table. Assou-Ekotto assist for the second goal.
Bad day for Swindon as they lost 2-0 to Gillingham.
Coulthirst didn't get on for Leyton Orient as they won 2-1 away to Crewe. Orient have brought in another striker in Dagnall who scored 2 today so it looks like Coulthirst's chances may be limited - annoying.
Mouse!
Fookin' Legend in Gin Alley
- Aug 29, 2011
- 6,303
- 19,262
He came on with 5 minutes left last week and scored. Don't see what more he can do? Yet doesn't get used today at all. Let's hope he gets some minutes in the next match.
razzmaster
Well-Known Member
- Jun 21, 2008
- 2,328
- 13,162
Had a free ticket for QPR today so had a chance to see Carroll and Ekotto. Benny coasted through and looked like he was a class above the championship and pretty much did what he had to. Tommy on the other hand was disappointing. Have always liked what I've seen of him in the U-21s and in the Europa League, but he didn't ever take control of the midfield today and his passing was sloppy. I would imagine that he could step up a level with better players around him but based purely on today's performance, needs to improve a lot to make an impact at Spurs. Kranjcar is carrying a bit of timber but still oozes class.
Agreed! Dont like this at all. Not starting today but the just signed player does even though he scored last week wont do much for Shaq's confidence.
Great to hear about Fredericks! Is he sticking with RB while at Millwall or did he play in the midfield?
beats1
Well-Known Member
- Feb 22, 2010
- 30,020
- 29,575
I seen Slade do this before FFS, he did it with Mpoku, he was their best player but then in the second half of the season he decided to use this tactic of bringing him on in the last 20 mins if they were losing or going for the win. I think because Shaq has pace he will do the same and it really pisses me off!
beats1
Well-Known Member
- Feb 22, 2010
- 30,020
- 29,575
Louis Van Gaal: Genius or Mad Man
Managerial Career:
Ajax - 1991-1997 - Eredivisie 1994, 1995 and 1996, KNVB cup 1993, UEFA CL 1995, UEFA cup 1992 and Intercontinental cup 1995
Barcelona - 1997-2000 - La Liga 1998 and 1999, Copa Del ray 1998
Netherlands - 2000-2002 - Failed to qualify for World Cup
Barcelona - 2002-2003 - Barcelona's worst season ever but may of been the most important season ever
AZ - 2005-2009 - Eredivisie 2009
Bayern Munich - 2009-2011 - Bundesliga 2010 and Pokal cup 2010
Netherlands - 2012-2014 - Qualified for World cup, unbeaten with 9 wins and 1 draw(against Estonia
)
Also worked at Ajax in 2004 as technical director before he resigned after falling out with another member, don't need to say who
Philosophy
He focuses on youth, if some of you think Tim Sherwood has been harsh to Capoue, well this man takes no shit and is the type of guy who will publicly say it and move the guy on. His focus on youth is unrivalled, he has I don't need tell you this as he may of been the biggest factor in two teams that won the CL one of which was very young. The
way that he makes his team play is different from your average dutch manager, he doesn't play a strict 433/diamond system, he does change the roles of the players that make it more like other formations like 3313 and 2323. He also does play other formations as well like 442, 4231 and etc.. The focus is on the team game, he doesn't give a shit about big name players if they aren't prepared to play like a team! Also interesting he says he always keeps one guy from the previous regime on his back room staff! Like Mourinho he selects the captains and he expects them to be very professional and a honest person but he wants a ambitious player as well. He very clearly states he picks the captain and not the team!
Attitude
Mourinho is famous for his style and has worked under alot of managers. If there was one manager from what I seen he is like from the people he has worked with its Van Gaal. Van Gaal is a Journo's nightmare and has been known to use a wide range of vocabulary during his press conferences. If you want entertainment then this man will give you it and this has caused for a lot of hate from journo's. However his attitude to players is different and he works very well with youth players. However this attitude can ruffle a few feathers, as he doesn't care if a player is worth millions or fuck all, if he thinks that he is better for the team he will be selected. He has done this throughout his career and dropped huge names in the process. He doesn't care about age and will only select team players.
Relationships
Now I told you the good bits about Van Gaal in the attitudes bit and as you read in there he does have good relationships with youth players and older players if they cohere to his standards, heres what happens if they don't! His man management is said to be very bad, which is true with big players. When meeting the Bayern squad, he announced his self in a Cloughie esque way and said I have the balls the to drop any player here. He then went on to drop his trousers and show them he had the balls
.
However as you read you will notice he will have alot of dressing room disputes and it is said that he often leaves players in tears. Also internal conflict is a norm under Van Gaal his relationship with the DOF got him sacked at bayern, and at ajax its unsurprising he fell out with people behind the scenes when he was Technical Director. But here is some quotes about playing under Van Gaal:
"Van Gaal is the Hitler of the Brazilian players, is arrogant, proud and has a problem. He has no idea of football. His type is sick, he's crazy."
- Giovanni
"I haven't had fun on the pitch once under van Gaal. I had had more than enough of it."
- Franck Ribery
Career
Ajax 1991 - 1997
At Ajax he probably built one of the most amazing teams in recent history to win the CL. His career was made from his results and trophy haul whilst here. It is worth noting that he doesn't have the typical ajax model. Cruyff's philosophy is more built around one player or two players(actually 1 and half but I would have to explain a whole load of shit) and the individual, Van Gaal focuses his style on the team and he himself is known to have a huge ego and full of himself. You can see this in any of his press conference, I always thought Mourinho was unique to our era(I know cloughie was similar) but after seeing Van Gaal I can see where he gets it from, to be honest he has taken alot. Now Van Gaal came in to the club which Cruyff runs pretty much and threw out the 1 and half player idea and basically said there are no more big players and this is a team. He is the big personality and big player in the team. Anyway he did very well at Ajax and won the CL with a very young team with some experience.
Heres the team he beat that famous Milan team with:
With only 2 players in their over the age of 25 beating the team that just killed the dream team the season before, is some achievement. They made the CL final again but this lost to Juventus but worth noting that the team had lost Seedorf, Rijkaard(retired) and Overmars(was injured and missed the final). He did however introduce new younger players to the team like Musampa (18) and Wooter (19). Note these ages are not the age at the start of the season but the end!
He then finished at Ajax and had earned himself a knighthood at the end of it.
Barcelona 1997-2000
Now at Barcelona he did well on paper but it wasn't smooth sailing. The issues with his personality became apparent at barcelona. The press hated him here and he would also fall out with the big players! At Barca he didn't use the 433/343 formation he used at ajax but chose to go with a 2-3-2-3 formation. He played 3 players up front and this is where the issues in the dressing room started. He played Rivaldo on the left whereas Rivaldo wanted to play in the middle. There were other issues with him trying to implement his philosophy at the club and was struggling to do this. Also the fact he brought 8 dutch players probably didn't help the dressing room.
He did win two la ligas and a copa del ray but despite this, it isn't considered a great time due to the conflicts above and his failure to win CL. In his first 2 seasons in the CL, Barcelona got knocked out at the group stage, losing out to Newcastle, Dynamo Kyiv and PSV, and in the second season to the finalists Bayern Munich and Manchester United. In his final season he did make the semi final but then lost to Valencia who made it to a all spanish final with Real Madrid. The lack of CL led to his Resignation.
This was his system that won the league:
Netherlands 2000-2002
Well this was nothing short of a disaster, he had a good team but it all blew up. Everyone who follows international football knows that there is always a fight in that dressing room. Interesting that internal conflict was so bad considering he gave alot of the players their debuts. Anyway they lost out in qualifying to Mick McCarthy's ROI team and Portugal, the team did largely include his Ajax team which made the terrible form even more crazy. This is the team that he could of played and it should of been in the world cup:
Barcelona 2002-2003
Well we're back here again. To describe this season in one word, disaster, would be quiet fitting. He had the worst start to a barca season ever and was 3 points from the relegation zone when he left. However to some this is remembered as a important season. Van Gaal said during his time at Barca said that he dreams that one day the team would be full of players from La Masia. Well ten years after he left his dream came true more interesting is during that period he turned changed the culture of Barca. He gave debuts to players despite the first team being knocked out of CL and Barca B struggling. Unlike managers before he gave the youth players a opportunity to perform in the first team. Since then Barca B players often get playing time in the first team despite being very competitive at the highest level.
He also got the youth teams training with the first team and kept a interest in the youth team. There is one video of him talking to Alba when he was a kid and asking him where he played and etc. during a dinner. His good work with young players may have to do with the fact he use to be a PE teacher before he went in to management. Anyway that team which consisted of 11 La Masia players four of them last year 4 of them, (Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Valdes) were given their debuts under Van Gaal. As well as them, other players were promoted like Reina, Motta, Gabri and more. Worth noting that when he left he was labelled as a failure and this is considered as the dark ages in barca's history, also there was even more falling out behind the scenes as well during his time there.
AZ 2005-2009
AZ isn't a big club in the Netherlands and had a 8,000 seat stadium when he joined them and were moving to a 17,000 seat stadium. It is fair to say he did do a great job. They had only won the Eredivisie once before he joined them. In his first season, he managed to take AZ to a 2nd place finish, they lost to Groningen in the play offs for the CL spot and lost to Real Betis in the Round of 32 in the Uefa cup.
The next season they were in the run for the title and with one game to go, AZ were leading the Eredivisie by goal difference. In their last game they lost 3-2 to Excelsior(who finished in the relegation play off spot). PSV won the title after winning 5-1 and having a better goal difference of one goal than Ajax. Had AZ won their match they would of had a even better goal difference than both of them. Its worth noting that Ajax and PSV teams included the likes of Sneijder, Huntelaar, Affelay, Babbel, Farfan, Alex, Cocu, Kluivert, Kone, Heitinga, Vermaelen, Davids and Emanuelson. They then lost to Ajax by penalties in the KNVB cup and then lost the play off for the CL to ajax once again. They also lost to Werder Bremen in the quarter finals of the Uefa cup after beating Newcastle, Fenerbache and finished above seville and Braga in the group stage.
The next season was a disappointment and the results didn't go their way and the club got was out of the Uefa cup and KNVB cup in the early rounds. They did sell two of their best strikers who got 55 goals between them and didn't replace them straight away(thats not going to happen with us though). Louis Van Gaal during the season handed in his resignation and said he will leave at the end of the season. There was uproar from the squad and he said. he would change his decision and give the players a chance to prove themselves. The next season was a different story, AZ for the second time in their history, won the Eredivisie after having finished 11th the season before. They had gone in a run of 28 games unbeaten after losing their first 2 matches and went 11 games without conceding a goal. The Ajax team also included Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Anita, Van Der Weil, Alderweireld and Suarez. This was his 442 team for AZ that won the title:
Romero (22)
Swerts (26) Jaliens (30) Moisander (23) Pocagnali (21)
Schaars (25) De Zeeuw (25) Da Silva (26) Martens (24)
Dembele (21) El Hamdaoui (24)
It is also worthing noting these words from Louis, the season before he won the league; "We only have a budget of 16 millions euros, compared with 65 million for Ajax and 60 million for PSV, but we have been in the top three the last two seasons and we got to the final of the cup, which we only lost on penalties. The president is a wealthy man but he doesn't want to bump up the budget for the sake of just spending more. Money isn't the be all and end all"
Bayern Munich 2009-2011
He then went back to a big club again and had a big impact, now at bayern there was always going to be big personalities in the dressing room. The first season was nearly their greatest ever but they didn't have the best start. Luca Toni who was one of their best players the season before, he was sold after falling out with Van Gaal. They then gained form and looked to do a historic treble, they won both the league and Pokal cup. In the champions league they beat Man Utd in the quarters and Lyon easily in the semi's. They lost to Mourinho's inter in the final and it is worth noting that the squad wasn't as strong as it is today and Ribery was suspended for the final. This was the team in the final:
Once again the youth was major feature in the sides, with Muller making a meteoric rise during the first season and other players who are in the side today were given debuts or alot of game time. Players like Badstuber, Alaba(who converted to a LB), Kroos and Contento. It is also worth noting that he had converted Schweinsteger in to a defensive midfielder where he has since stayed.
Netherlands 2012-
There is no point in saying much other than they qualified unbeaten and won all their matches except for a draw against Estonia. They are playing alot of young players and playing the old guard with VDV set to become the most capped outfield player if he plays the next 4 games.
Will he be a good fit, depends will he fight with Sherwood, Baldini and Levy? I can see him getting on well with Sherwood(if he goes back to old role) and for me the issue would be whether he can get on with Baldini and Levy. Another issue is, if the players aren't getting his methods then, who will Levy pick a old manager who will likely have only two years on his contract or his investment. We don't seem to have major personalties or egos other than Ade but its worth noting he worked well under Mourinho. We don't have a Van Gaal captain imo other than dawson but even then, is he it? Worth noting that his philosophy is close to AVB in THEORY. However Van Gaal has implemented it and has had good defensive records and scored a shitload of goals at the SAME time.
If anything doesn't make sense, just highlight and I will correct it, as I'm not reading this shit again, its too fucking long. I gone beyond fucking wikipedia here for you wankers, you're lucky nasser hussain sounds so boring otherwise i wouldn't of finished this shit. As a parting gift here are some famous quotes by the mad man or about him:
"Van Gaal really has Alzheimer's if he writes stuff like that. You wonder whether he has one or two screws loose."
- Johan Cruyff
"When executed properly it is winning football,"
Bielsa
"My jaw dropped when I saw Van Gaal's Ajax play, They did everything a football team should do perfectly in my eyes."
Guardiola
"He's open to other ideas, but they must understand he won't budge."
Frank de Boer
"Am I this brilliant or are you the one who is that stupid?"
- Reaction to an 'ignorant' question from a journalist
"The Bavarian attitude to life suits me perfectly. Why? [Bayern Munich's club motto is] 'Mia san mia,’ 'We are who we are' and I am who I am: confident, arrogant, dominant, honest, hard-working and innovative."
At his first press conference as Bayern Munich coach
"If we can strengthen our squad, we'll buy. But I'm not the kind of coach who just goes out and buys for the sake of it. I'm a coach who wants to - and can - improve players."
On his philosophyas a coach
"Running is for animals. You need a brain and a ball for football."
On his basic approach to the game
"I have the body of a God. Lederhosen suit me. But I also have a belly."
With a hint of irony ahead of one of Bayern Munich's now traditional visits to the Oktoberfest
"If I were a God, I would win everything. I'm no God."
On his irony and himself
"If another coach were to come in, whose record can compare with mine? Who would need to come? [Sir Alex] Ferguson has won more titles than me. Maybe [Fabio] Capello too. But they’re both busy."
During a time of crisis at Bayern Munich
"I hope the level of desire is greater than their fatigue. But the body isn't as strong as the spirit. And we have some wimps."
On his players' physical condition
Managerial Career:
Ajax - 1991-1997 - Eredivisie 1994, 1995 and 1996, KNVB cup 1993, UEFA CL 1995, UEFA cup 1992 and Intercontinental cup 1995
Barcelona - 1997-2000 - La Liga 1998 and 1999, Copa Del ray 1998
Netherlands - 2000-2002 - Failed to qualify for World Cup
Barcelona - 2002-2003 - Barcelona's worst season ever but may of been the most important season ever
AZ - 2005-2009 - Eredivisie 2009
Bayern Munich - 2009-2011 - Bundesliga 2010 and Pokal cup 2010
Netherlands - 2012-2014 - Qualified for World cup, unbeaten with 9 wins and 1 draw(against Estonia
)Also worked at Ajax in 2004 as technical director before he resigned after falling out with another member, don't need to say who
Philosophy
He focuses on youth, if some of you think Tim Sherwood has been harsh to Capoue, well this man takes no shit and is the type of guy who will publicly say it and move the guy on. His focus on youth is unrivalled, he has I don't need tell you this as he may of been the biggest factor in two teams that won the CL one of which was very young. The
way that he makes his team play is different from your average dutch manager, he doesn't play a strict 433/diamond system, he does change the roles of the players that make it more like other formations like 3313 and 2323. He also does play other formations as well like 442, 4231 and etc.. The focus is on the team game, he doesn't give a shit about big name players if they aren't prepared to play like a team! Also interesting he says he always keeps one guy from the previous regime on his back room staff! Like Mourinho he selects the captains and he expects them to be very professional and a honest person but he wants a ambitious player as well. He very clearly states he picks the captain and not the team!
Attitude
Mourinho is famous for his style and has worked under alot of managers. If there was one manager from what I seen he is like from the people he has worked with its Van Gaal. Van Gaal is a Journo's nightmare and has been known to use a wide range of vocabulary
during his press conferences. If you want entertainment then this man will give you it and this has caused for a lot of hate from journo's. However his attitude to players is different and he works very well with youth players. However this attitude can ruffle a few feathers, as he doesn't care if a player is worth millions or fuck all, if he thinks that he is better for the team he will be selected. He has done this throughout his career and dropped huge names in the process. He doesn't care about age and will only select team players.Relationships
Now I told you the good bits about Van Gaal in the attitudes bit and as you read in there he does have good relationships with youth players and older players if they cohere to his standards, heres what happens if they don't! His man management is said to be very bad, which is true with big players. When meeting the Bayern squad, he announced his self in a Cloughie esque way and said I have the balls the to drop any player here. He then went on to drop his trousers and show them he had the balls
.However as you read you will notice he will have alot of dressing room disputes and it is said that he often leaves players in tears. Also internal conflict is a norm under Van Gaal his relationship with the DOF got him sacked at bayern, and at ajax its unsurprising he fell out with people behind the scenes when he was Technical Director. But here is some quotes about playing under Van Gaal:
"Van Gaal is the Hitler of the Brazilian players, is arrogant, proud and has a problem. He has no idea of football. His type is sick, he's crazy."
- Giovanni
"I haven't had fun on the pitch once under van Gaal. I had had more than enough of it."
- Franck Ribery
Career
Ajax 1991 - 1997
At Ajax he probably built one of the most amazing teams in recent history to win the CL. His career was made from his results and trophy haul whilst here. It is worth noting that he doesn't have the typical ajax model. Cruyff's philosophy is more built around one player or two players(actually 1 and half but I would have to explain a whole load of shit) and the individual, Van Gaal focuses his style on the team and he himself is known to have a huge ego and full of himself. You can see this in any of his press conference, I always thought Mourinho was unique to our era(I know cloughie was similar) but after seeing Van Gaal I can see where he gets it from, to be honest he has taken alot. Now Van Gaal came in to the club which Cruyff runs pretty much and threw out the 1 and half player idea and basically said there are no more big players and this is a team. He is the big personality and big player in the team. Anyway he did very well at Ajax and won the CL with a very young team with some experience.
Heres the team he beat that famous Milan team with:
Van Der Sar (24)
Reiziger (22) Blind (33) Rijkaard (32) De Boer (24)
Davids (22) Seedorf (19)
Litmanen (24)
George (24) --------- Overmars (22)
De Boer (24)
Subs: Kluivert (18) and Kanu (18)Reiziger (22) Blind (33) Rijkaard (32) De Boer (24)
Davids (22) Seedorf (19)
Litmanen (24)
George (24) --------- Overmars (22)
De Boer (24)
With only 2 players in their over the age of 25 beating the team that just killed the dream team the season before, is some achievement. They made the CL final again but this lost to Juventus but worth noting that the team had lost Seedorf, Rijkaard(retired) and Overmars(was injured and missed the final). He did however introduce new younger players to the team like Musampa (18) and Wooter (19). Note these ages are not the age at the start of the season but the end!
He then finished at Ajax and had earned himself a knighthood at the end of it.
Barcelona 1997-2000
Now at Barcelona he did well on paper but it wasn't smooth sailing. The issues with his personality became apparent at barcelona. The press hated him here and he would also fall out with the big players! At Barca he didn't use the 433/343 formation he used at ajax but chose to go with a 2-3-2-3 formation. He played 3 players up front and this is where the issues in the dressing room started. He played Rivaldo on the left whereas Rivaldo wanted to play in the middle. There were other issues with him trying to implement his philosophy at the club and was struggling to do this. Also the fact he brought 8 dutch players probably didn't help the dressing room.
He did win two la ligas and a copa del ray but despite this, it isn't considered a great time due to the conflicts above and his failure to win CL. In his first 2 seasons in the CL, Barcelona got knocked out at the group stage, losing out to Newcastle, Dynamo Kyiv and PSV, and in the second season to the finalists Bayern Munich and Manchester United. In his final season he did make the semi final but then lost to Valencia who made it to a all spanish final with Real Madrid. The lack of CL led to his Resignation.
This was his system that won the league:
Hesp
Reiziger-----Bogarde
Ferrer---------Celades----------Sergi
Guardiola----Enrique--
--Figo----------------------Rivaldo
Anderson
However despite the negativity from the spanish press and what he did probably changed barca in the biggest way. Barcelona B wasn't the great source of players it is now but in his two spells he did changed the way Barca think in a huge way.Reiziger-----Bogarde
Ferrer---------Celades----------Sergi
Guardiola----Enrique--
--Figo----------------------Rivaldo
Anderson
Netherlands 2000-2002
Well this was nothing short of a disaster, he had a good team but it all blew up. Everyone who follows international football knows that there is always a fight in that dressing room. Interesting that internal conflict was so bad considering he gave alot of the players their debuts. Anyway they lost out in qualifying to Mick McCarthy's ROI team and Portugal, the team did largely include his Ajax team which made the terrible form even more crazy. This is the team that he could of played and it should of been in the world cup:
Van Der Saar
Reiziger--Melchiot---Stam--De Boer--
Cocu
Seedorf ---- Davids
Zendon ------------- Overmars
Kluivert
Reiziger--Melchiot---Stam--De Boer--
Cocu
Seedorf ---- Davids
Zendon ------------- Overmars
Kluivert
Barcelona 2002-2003
Well we're back here again. To describe this season in one word, disaster, would be quiet fitting. He had the worst start to a barca season ever and was 3 points from the relegation zone when he left. However to some this is remembered as a important season. Van Gaal said during his time at Barca said that he dreams that one day the team would be full of players from La Masia. Well ten years after he left his dream came true more interesting is during that period he turned changed the culture of Barca. He gave debuts to players despite the first team being knocked out of CL and Barca B struggling. Unlike managers before he gave the youth players a opportunity to perform in the first team. Since then Barca B players often get playing time in the first team despite being very competitive at the highest level.
He also got the youth teams training with the first team and kept a interest in the youth team. There is one video of him talking to Alba when he was a kid and asking him where he played and etc. during a dinner. His good work with young players may have to do with the fact he use to be a PE teacher before he went in to management. Anyway that team which consisted of 11 La Masia players four of them last year 4 of them, (Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Valdes) were given their debuts under Van Gaal. As well as them, other players were promoted like Reina, Motta, Gabri and more. Worth noting that when he left he was labelled as a failure and this is considered as the dark ages in barca's history, also there was even more falling out behind the scenes as well during his time there.
AZ 2005-2009
AZ isn't a big club in the Netherlands and had a 8,000 seat stadium when he joined them and were moving to a 17,000 seat stadium. It is fair to say he did do a great job. They had only won the Eredivisie once before he joined them. In his first season, he managed to take AZ to a 2nd place finish, they lost to Groningen in the play offs for the CL spot and lost to Real Betis in the Round of 32 in the Uefa cup.
The next season they were in the run for the title and with one game to go, AZ were leading the Eredivisie by goal difference. In their last game they lost 3-2 to Excelsior(who finished in the relegation play off spot). PSV won the title after winning 5-1 and having a better goal difference of one goal than Ajax. Had AZ won their match they would of had a even better goal difference than both of them. Its worth noting that Ajax and PSV teams included the likes of Sneijder, Huntelaar, Affelay, Babbel, Farfan, Alex, Cocu, Kluivert, Kone, Heitinga, Vermaelen, Davids and Emanuelson. They then lost to Ajax by penalties in the KNVB cup and then lost the play off for the CL to ajax once again. They also lost to Werder Bremen in the quarter finals of the Uefa cup after beating Newcastle, Fenerbache and finished above seville and Braga in the group stage.
The next season was a disappointment and the results didn't go their way and the club got was out of the Uefa cup and KNVB cup in the early rounds. They did sell two of their best strikers who got 55 goals between them and didn't replace them straight away(thats not going to happen with us though
). Louis Van Gaal during the season handed in his resignation and said he will leave at the end of the season. There was uproar from the squad and he said. he would change his decision and give the players a chance to prove themselves. The next season was a different story, AZ for the second time in their history, won the Eredivisie after having finished 11th the season before. They had gone in a run of 28 games unbeaten after losing their first 2 matches and went 11 games without conceding a goal. The Ajax team also included Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Anita, Van Der Weil, Alderweireld and Suarez. This was his 442 team for AZ that won the title:Romero (22)
Swerts (26) Jaliens (30) Moisander (23) Pocagnali (21)
Schaars (25) De Zeeuw (25) Da Silva (26) Martens (24)
Dembele (21) El Hamdaoui (24)
Bayern Munich 2009-2011
He then went back to a big club again and had a big impact, now at bayern there was always going to be big personalities in the dressing room. The first season was nearly their greatest ever but they didn't have the best start. Luca Toni who was one of their best players the season before, he was sold after falling out with Van Gaal. They then gained form and looked to do a historic treble, they won both the league and Pokal cup. In the champions league they beat Man Utd in the quarters and Lyon easily in the semi's. They lost to Mourinho's inter in the final and it is worth noting that the squad wasn't as strong as it is today and Ribery was suspended for the final. This was the team in the final:
Butt
-- Lahm --- Van Buytan -- Demichelis --- Badstuber
Van Bommel -- Schweinsteiger
Robben ----------- Muller ------------ Altintop
Olic
The next season was a disappointment on all fronts, the league results started to disappoint and after losing to Dortmund in the league, they were 16 points off the title in february and had also lost in the Pokal cup to Schalke in the semi final. He also fell out with Ribery during this season and had internal conflicts within the hierarchy. It was announced after the defeat to Hannover that his contract was going to be canceled at the end of the season. A week after the announcement they were knocked out of the CL by Inter Milan on away goals in 2, having led the tie with 1 away goal. Then in april he was sacked, after 3 wins and a draw since the announcement of his contract being cancelled.-- Lahm --- Van Buytan -- Demichelis --- Badstuber
Van Bommel -- Schweinsteiger
Robben ----------- Muller ------------ Altintop
Olic
Once again the youth was major feature in the sides, with Muller making a meteoric rise during the first season and other players who are in the side today were given debuts or alot of game time. Players like Badstuber, Alaba(who converted to a LB), Kroos and Contento. It is also worth noting that he had converted Schweinsteger in to a defensive midfielder where he has since stayed.
Netherlands 2012-
There is no point in saying much other than they qualified unbeaten and won all their matches except for a draw against Estonia. They are playing alot of young players and playing the old guard with VDV set to become the most capped outfield player if he plays the next 4 games.
Will he be a good fit, depends will he fight with Sherwood, Baldini and Levy? I can see him getting on well with Sherwood(if he goes back to old role) and for me the issue would be whether he can get on with Baldini and Levy. Another issue is, if the players aren't getting his methods then, who will Levy pick a old manager who will likely have only two years on his contract or his investment. We don't seem to have major personalties or egos other than Ade but its worth noting he worked well under Mourinho. We don't have a Van Gaal captain imo other than dawson but even then, is he it? Worth noting that his philosophy is close to AVB in THEORY. However Van Gaal has implemented it and has had good defensive records and scored a shitload of goals at the SAME time.
If anything doesn't make sense, just highlight and I will correct it, as I'm not reading this shit again, its too fucking long. I gone beyond fucking wikipedia here for you wankers
, you're lucky nasser hussain sounds so boring otherwise i wouldn't of finished this shit. As a parting gift here are some famous quotes by the mad man or about him:"Van Gaal really has Alzheimer's if he writes stuff like that. You wonder whether he has one or two screws loose."
- Johan Cruyff
"When executed properly it is winning football,"
Bielsa
"My jaw dropped when I saw Van Gaal's Ajax play, They did everything a football team should do perfectly in my eyes."
Guardiola
"He's open to other ideas, but they must understand he won't budge."
Frank de Boer
"Am I this brilliant or are you the one who is that stupid?"
- Reaction to an 'ignorant' question from a journalist
"The Bavarian attitude to life suits me perfectly. Why? [Bayern Munich's club motto is] 'Mia san mia,’ 'We are who we are' and I am who I am: confident, arrogant, dominant, honest, hard-working and innovative."
At his first press conference as Bayern Munich coach
"If we can strengthen our squad, we'll buy. But I'm not the kind of coach who just goes out and buys for the sake of it. I'm a coach who wants to - and can - improve players."
On his philosophyas a coach
"Running is for animals. You need a brain and a ball for football."
On his basic approach to the game
"I have the body of a God. Lederhosen suit me. But I also have a belly."
With a hint of irony ahead of one of Bayern Munich's now traditional visits to the Oktoberfest
"If I were a God, I would win everything. I'm no God."
On his irony and himself
"If another coach were to come in, whose record can compare with mine? Who would need to come? [Sir Alex] Ferguson has won more titles than me. Maybe [Fabio] Capello too. But they’re both busy."
During a time of crisis at Bayern Munich
"I hope the level of desire is greater than their fatigue. But the body isn't as strong as the spirit. And we have some wimps."
On his players' physical condition
Last edited:
Did anyone else read that and think his methods sound like our timsLouis Van Gaal: Genius or Mad Man
Managerial Career:
Ajax - 1991-1997 - Eredivisie 1994, 1995 and 1996, KNVB cup 1993, UEFA CL 1995, UEFA cup 1992 and Intercontinental cup 1995
Barcelona - 1997-2000 - La Liga 1998 and 1999, Copa Del ray 1998
Netherlands - 2000-2002 - Failed to qualify for World Cup
Barcelona - 2002-2003 - Barcelona's worst season ever but may of been the most important season ever
AZ - 2005-2009 - Eredivisie 2009
Bayern Munich - 2009-2011 - Bundesliga 2010 and Pokal cup 2010
Netherlands - 2012-2014 - Qualified for World cup, unbeaten with 9 wins and 1 draw(against Estonia
Also worked at Ajax in 2004 as technical director before he resigned after falling out with another member, don't need to say who
Philosophy
He focuses on youth, if some of you think Tim Sherwood has been harsh to Capoue well this man takes no shit and is the type of guy who will publicly say it and move the guy. His focus on youth is unrivalled, he has I don't need tell you this as he may of been the biggest factor in two teams that won the CL one of which was very young. The
way that he makes his team play is different from your average dutch manager, he doesn't play a strict 433/diamond system, he does change the roles of the players that make it more like other formations like 3313 and 2323. He also does play other formations as well like 442, 4231 and etc.. The focus is on the team game, he doesn't give a shit about big name players if they aren't prepared to play like a team! Also interesting he says he always keeps one guy from the previous regime on his back room staff! Like Mourinho he selects the captains and interesting in a recent interview he expects them to be very professional and a honest person but he wants a ambitious player as well. He very clearly states he picks the captain and not the team!
Attitude
Mourinho is famous for his style and has worked under alot of managers. If there was one manager from what I seen he is like from the people he has worked with its Van Gaal. Van Gaal is a Jouno's nightmare and has been known to use a wide range of vocabulary
Relationships
Now I told you the good bits about Van Gaal in the attitudes bit and as read in there he does have good relationships with youth players and older players if they cohere to his standards, heres what happens if they don't. His man management is said to be very bad, which is true with big players. When meeting the Bayern squad, he announced his self in a Cloughie esque way and said I have the balls the to drop any player here. He then went on to drop his trousers and show them he had the balls
However as you read you will notice he will have alot of dressing room disputes and it is said that he often leaves players in tears. Also internal conflict is a norm under Van Gaal his relationship with the DOF got him sacked and at ajax its unsurprising he fell out with people behind the scenes when he was Technical Director. But here is some quotes about playing under Van Gaal:
"Van Gaal is the Hitler of the Brazilian players, is arrogant, proud and has a problem. He has no idea of football. His type is sick, he's crazy."
- Giovanni
"I haven't had fun on the pitch once under van Gaal. I had had more than enough of it."
- Franck Ribery
Career
Ajax 1991 - 1997
At Ajax he probably built one of the most amazing teams in recent history to win the CL. His career was made from his results. It is worth noting that he doesn't have the typical ajax model. Cruyff's philosophy is more built around one player or two players(actually 1 and half but I would have to explain a whole load of shit) anyway, Van Gaal is known to have a huge ego and full of himself. You can see this in his press conference, I always thought Mourinho was unique to our era(I know cloughie was similar) but after seeing Van Gaal I can see where he gets it from to be honest. Now Van Gaal came in to the club which Cruyff runs pretty much and threw out the 1 and half player idea and basically said there are no more big players and this is a team. He is the big personality and player in the team, to be honest. Anyway he did well at Ajax and won the CL with a very young team with some experience.
Heres the team he beat that famous Milan team with:
Van Der Sar (24)Subs: Kluivert (18) and Kanu (18)
Reiziger (22) Blind (33) Rijkaard (32) De Boer (24)
Davids (22) Seedorf (19)
Litmanen (24)
George (24) --------- Overmars (22)
De Boer (24)
With only 2 players in their over the age of 25 beating the team that just killed the dream team the season before is some achievement. They made the CL final again but this lost to Juventus but worth noting that the team had lost Seedorf, Rijkaard(retired) and Overmars(was injured and missed the final). He did however introduce new younger players to the team like Musampa (18) and Wooter (19). Note these ages are not the age at the start of the season but the end!
He then finished at Ajax and had earned himself a knighthood at the end of it.
Barcelona 1997-2000
Now at Barcelona he did well on paper but it wasn't smooth sailing. The issues with his personality became apparent at barcelona. The press hated him here and he would also fall out with the big players! At Barca he didn't use the 433/343 formation he used at ajax but chose to go with a 2-3-2-3 formation. He played 3 players up front and this is where the issues in the dressing room started. He played Rivaldo on the left whereas Rivaldo wanted to play in the middle. Other issues were with him trying to implement his philosophy at the club and was struggling to do this. Also the fact he brought 8 dutch players probably didn't help the dressing room.
He did win two la ligas and a copa del ray but despite this it isn't considered a great time due to the conflicts above and his failure to win CL. In his first 2 seasons in the CL, Barcelona got knocked out at the group stage, losing out to Newcastle, Dynamo Kyiv and PSV, and in the second season to the finalists Bayern Munich and Manchester United. In his final season he did make the semi final but then lost to Valencia who made it a all spanish final with Real Madrid. The lack of CL led to his Resignation.
This was his system that won the league:
HespHowever despite the negativity from the spanish press and what he did probably changed barca in the biggest way. Barcelona B wasn't the great source of players it is now but in his two spells he did changed the way Barca think in a huge way.
Reiziger-----Bogarde
Ferrer---------Celades----------Sergi
Guardiola----Enrique--
--Figo----------------------Rivaldo
Anderson
Netherlands 2000-2002
Well this was nothing short a disaster, he had good team but it all blew up. Everyone who follows international football knows that there is always a fight in that dressing room. Interesting that internal conflict was so bad as alot of the players were given debuts by him. Anyway they lost out in qualifying to Mick McCarthy's ROI team, the team did largely include his Ajax team which made the terrible form even more crazy. This is the team that he could of played and lets be honest, it shouldn't of failed to qualify:
Van Der Saar
Reiziger--Melchiot---Stam--De Boer--
Cocu
Seedorf ---- Davids
Zendon ------------- Overmars
Kluivert
Barcelona 2002-2003
Well were back here again. To describe this season in one word, disaster, would be quiet fitting. He had the worst start to a barca season and was 3 points from the relegation zone. However to some this is remembered as a important season. Van Gaal said during his time at Barca that he dreams that one day the team would be full of players from La Masia. Well ten years after he left his dream came true more interesting is during that period he turned changed the culture of Barca. He gave debuts to players despite the first team being knocked out of CL and Barca B struggling. Unlike managers before he gave the youth players a opportunity to perform in the first team. Since then Barca B players often get playing time in the first team despite being very competitive.
He also got the youth teams training with the first team and kept a interest in the youth team. There is one video of him talking to Alba when he was a kid and asking him where he played and etc. during a dinner. His good work with young players may have to do with the fact he use to be a PE teacher before he went in to management. Anyway that team which consisted of 11 La Masia players four of them (Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Valdes) were given their debuts under Van Gaal. As well as other players promoted like Reina, Motta, Gabri and more. Worth noting that when he left he was labelled as a failure and this considered as the dark ages in barca's history, also there was even more falling out behind the scenes as well.
AZ 2005-2009
AZ isn't a big club in the Netherlands and had a 8,000 seat stadium when he joined them and were moving to a 17,000 seat stadium. It is fair to say he did do a great job. They had only won the Eredivisie once before he joined them. In his first season he managed to take AZ to a 2nd place finish, they lost to Groningen in the play offs for the CL spot and lost to Real Betis in the Round of 32 in the Uefa cup.
The next season they were in the run for the title and with one game to go AZ were leading the Eredivisie by goal difference. In their last game they lost 3-2 to Excelsior(finished in the relegation play off spot. PSV won the title after winning 5-1 and having a better goal difference of one goal than Ajax. Had AZ won their match they would of had a even better goal difference than both of them. Its worth noting that Ajax and PSV teams included the likes of Sneijder, Huntelaar, Affelay, Babbel, Farfan, Alex, Cocu, Kluivert, Kone, Heitinga, Vermaelen, Davids and Emanuelson. They then lost to Ajax by penalties in the KNVB cup and then lost the play off for CL to ajax once again. They also lost to Werder Bremen in the quarter finals of the Uefa cup after beating Newcastle, Fenerbache and finishing above seville and Braga in the group stage.
The next season was a disappointment and the results didn't go their way it wasn't so rosy and the club got was out of the Uefa cup and KNVB cup in the early rounds. They did sell two of their strikers who got 55 goals between them and didn't replace them straight away. Louis Van Gaal during the season said he had handed in his resignation and leave at the end of the season. There was uproar from the squad and he said he would change his decision and give the players a chance to prove themselves. The next season was a different story, AZ for the second time won the Eredivisie after having finished 11th the season before. They had gone in a run of 28 games unbeaten after losing their first 2 matches and went 11 games without conceding a goal. The Ajax team also included Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Anita, Van Der Weil, Alderweireld and Suarez. This was his 442 team for AZ with a young squad:
It is also worthing noting these words from Louis, the season before he won the league; "We only have a budget of 16 millions euros, compared with 65 million for Ajax and 60 million for PSV, but we have been in the top three the last two seasons and we got to the final of the cup, which we only lost on penalties. The president is a wealthy man but he doesn't want to bump up the budget for the sake of just spending more. Money isn't the be all and end all"
Romero (22)
Swerts (26) Jaliens (30) Moisander (23) Pocagnali (21)
Schaars (25) De Zeeuw (25) Da Silva (26) Martens (24)
Dembele (21) El Hamdaoui (24)
Bayern Munich 2009-2011
He came back to a big club again and had a big impact, now at bayern there was always going to be personalities in the dressing room. The first season was nearly their greatest ever but didn't have the best start. Luca Toni who was one of their best players the season before, he was sold after falling out with Van Gaal. They then gained form and looked to do a historic treble, they won both the league and Pokal cup. In the champions league they beat Man Utd in the quarters and Lyon easily in the semi's. They lost to Mourinho's inter in the final and it is worth noting that the squad wasn't as strong as it is today and Ribery was suspended for the final. This was the team in the final:
ButtThe next season was a disappointment on all fronts, the league results started to disappoint and after losing to Dortmund in the league, they were 16 points off the title in february and they also lost in the Pokal cup to Schalke in the semi final. He also fell out with Ribery during this season and had internal conflicts within the hierarchy. It was announced after the defeat to Hannover that his contract was going to be canceled at the end of the season. A week after the announcement they were knocked out of the CL by Inter Milan on away goals in 2, having led the tie with 1 away goal. Then in april he was sacked, after 3 wins and a draw since the announcement of his contract being cancelled.
-- Lahm --- Van Buytan -- Demichelis --- Badstuber
Van Bommel -- Schweinsteiger
Robben ----------- Muller ------------ Altintop
Olic
Once again the youth was major feature in the sides, with Muller making a meteoric rise during the first season and other players who are in the side today were given debuts or alot of game time. Players like Badstuber, Alaba(who converted to a LB), Kroos and Contento. It is also worth noting that he had converted Schweinsteger in to a defensive midfielder where he has since stayed.
Netherlands 2012-
There is no point in saying much other than they qualified unbeaten and won all their matches except for a draw against Estonia. They are playing alot of young players and playing the old guard with VDV set to become the most capped outfield player if he plays the next 4 games.
Will he be a good fit, depends will he fight with Sherwood, Baldini and Levy? I can see him getting on well with Sherwood(if he goes back to old role) and for me would be whether he can get on with Baldini and Levy. The issue is, if the players aren't getting his methods then who will Levy pick a old manager who will likely have only two years on his contract. We don't seem to have major personalties or egos and thats good other than Ade but its worth noting he worked well under Mourinho. We don't have a Van Gaal captain imo other than dawson but even then is he it? Worth noting that his philosophy is close to AVB in THEORY. However Van Gaal has had good defensive records and scored a shitload of goals at the SAME time.
If anything doesn't make sense, just highlight and I will correct it, as I'm not reading this shit again, its too fucking long. I gone beyond fucking wikipedia here for you wankers
"Van Gaal really has Alzheimer's if he writes stuff like that. You wonder whether he has one or two screws loose."
- Johan Cruyff
"When executed properly it is winning football,"
Bielsa
"My jaw dropped when I saw Van Gaal's Ajax play, They did everything a football team should do perfectly in my eyes."
Guardiola
"He's open to other ideas, but they must understand he won't budge."
Frank de Boer
"Am I this brilliant or are you the one who is that stupid?"
- Reaction to an 'ignorant' question from a journalist
"The Bavarian attitude to life suits me perfectly. Why? [Bayern Munich's club motto is] 'Mia san mia,’ 'We are who we are' and I am who I am: confident, arrogant, dominant, honest, hard-working and innovative."
At his first press conference as Bayern Munich coach
"If we can strengthen our squad, we'll buy. But I'm not the kind of coach who just goes out and buys for the sake of it. I'm a coach who wants to - and can - improve players."
On his philosophyas a coach
"Running is for animals. You need a brain and a ball for football."
On his basic approach to the game
"I have the body of a God. Lederhosen suit me. But I also have a belly."
With a hint of irony ahead of one of Bayern Munich's now traditional visits to the Oktoberfest
"If I were a God, I would win everything. I'm no God."
On his irony and himself
"If another coach were to come in, whose record can compare with mine? Who would need to come? [Sir Alex] Ferguson has won more titles than me. Maybe [Fabio] Capello too. But they’re both busy."
During a time of crisis at Bayern Munich
"I hope the level of desire is greater than their fatigue. But the body isn't as strong as the spirit. And we have some wimps."
On his players' physical condition
Romulus
Well-Known Member
- Jun 14, 2012
- 6,955
- 11,147
thats what its all about when a youngster goes on loan. to play and compete at 1st team level, if the player doesnt impress the manager in training then theres no favors had. he may still get some games but lets be brutally honest, if he finds dagnall too tough to dislodge hes not getting anywhere near our team
My friend is QPR mad - she's a season ticket holder since she was a kid and goes to most away games too
I often ask her about our players when they're on load there
She's generally positive about anyone in a hooped shirt - she lived both Walker and Townsend and said they're top class, she likes BAE but she thinks Carroll is shit and hates that he keeps getting game time under Harry
Too weak, passing is shit and constantly gives straight out of okay or gets intercepted and just not good enough to play for them in her opinion.
She says maybe he will be good in pl but is shit for them and just way too scrawny and weak to play in the championship.
I've been to a few games too when her dad hss not been able to make the game and she offers me the use of his season ticket I will go if free and when I seen them I kept a keen eye in Carroll and been disappointed every time. Not that bothered about his lack if strength because hopefully this experience will be toughening him up and good for his progress even if not good for QPR now (who cares?) but I have been very disappointed by his passing - continuously gives the ball away and or passes it straight out of play.
I expected his passing to be top draw at that level and honestly it's never looked to be which is the thing that concerns me more than his lack of strength or positional sense which you would hope improve with time (passing is supposed to be his major skill set so you'd expect that to shine at this level and so far by all accounts it has not)
beats1
Well-Known Member
- Feb 22, 2010
- 30,020
- 29,575
I did but I actually think TS was a better man manager, he has handled himself alot better than Van Gaal has in the past
thinktank
Hmmm...
- Sep 28, 2004
- 45,893
- 68,893
I like him.Louis Van Gaal: Genius or Mad Man
Managerial Career:
Ajax - 1991-1997 - Eredivisie 1994, 1995 and 1996, KNVB cup 1993, UEFA CL 1995, UEFA cup 1992 and Intercontinental cup 1995
Barcelona - 1997-2000 - La Liga 1998 and 1999, Copa Del ray 1998
Netherlands - 2000-2002 - Failed to qualify for World Cup
Barcelona - 2002-2003 - Barcelona's worst season ever but may of been the most important season ever
AZ - 2005-2009 - Eredivisie 2009
Bayern Munich - 2009-2011 - Bundesliga 2010 and Pokal cup 2010
Netherlands - 2012-2014 - Qualified for World cup, unbeaten with 9 wins and 1 draw(against Estonia
Also worked at Ajax in 2004 as technical director before he resigned after falling out with another member, don't need to say who
Philosophy
He focuses on youth, if some of you think Tim Sherwood has been harsh to Capoue well this man takes no shit and is the type of guy who will publicly say it and move the guy. His focus on youth is unrivalled, he has I don't need tell you this as he may of been the biggest factor in two teams that won the CL one of which was very young. The
way that he makes his team play is different from your average dutch manager, he doesn't play a strict 433/diamond system, he does change the roles of the players that make it more like other formations like 3313 and 2323. He also does play other formations as well like 442, 4231 and etc.. The focus is on the team game, he doesn't give a shit about big name players if they aren't prepared to play like a team! Also interesting he says he always keeps one guy from the previous regime on his back room staff! Like Mourinho he selects the captains and interesting in a recent interview he expects them to be very professional and a honest person but he wants a ambitious player as well. He very clearly states he picks the captain and not the team!
Attitude
Mourinho is famous for his style and has worked under alot of managers. If there was one manager from what I seen he is like from the people he has worked with its Van Gaal. Van Gaal is a Jouno's nightmare and has been known to use a wide range of vocabulary
Relationships
Now I told you the good bits about Van Gaal in the attitudes bit and as read in there he does have good relationships with youth players and older players if they cohere to his standards, heres what happens if they don't. His man management is said to be very bad, which is true with big players. When meeting the Bayern squad, he announced his self in a Cloughie esque way and said I have the balls the to drop any player here. He then went on to drop his trousers and show them he had the balls
However as you read you will notice he will have alot of dressing room disputes and it is said that he often leaves players in tears. Also internal conflict is a norm under Van Gaal his relationship with the DOF got him sacked and at ajax its unsurprising he fell out with people behind the scenes when he was Technical Director. But here is some quotes about playing under Van Gaal:
"Van Gaal is the Hitler of the Brazilian players, is arrogant, proud and has a problem. He has no idea of football. His type is sick, he's crazy."
- Giovanni
"I haven't had fun on the pitch once under van Gaal. I had had more than enough of it."
- Franck Ribery
Career
Ajax 1991 - 1997
At Ajax he probably built one of the most amazing teams in recent history to win the CL. His career was made from his results. It is worth noting that he doesn't have the typical ajax model. Cruyff's philosophy is more built around one player or two players(actually 1 and half but I would have to explain a whole load of shit) anyway, Van Gaal is known to have a huge ego and full of himself. You can see this in his press conference, I always thought Mourinho was unique to our era(I know cloughie was similar) but after seeing Van Gaal I can see where he gets it from to be honest. Now Van Gaal came in to the club which Cruyff runs pretty much and threw out the 1 and half player idea and basically said there are no more big players and this is a team. He is the big personality and player in the team, to be honest. Anyway he did well at Ajax and won the CL with a very young team with some experience.
Heres the team he beat that famous Milan team with:
Van Der Sar (24)Subs: Kluivert (18) and Kanu (18)
Reiziger (22) Blind (33) Rijkaard (32) De Boer (24)
Davids (22) Seedorf (19)
Litmanen (24)
George (24) --------- Overmars (22)
De Boer (24)
With only 2 players in their over the age of 25 beating the team that just killed the dream team the season before is some achievement. They made the CL final again but this lost to Juventus but worth noting that the team had lost Seedorf, Rijkaard(retired) and Overmars(was injured and missed the final). He did however introduce new younger players to the team like Musampa (18) and Wooter (19). Note these ages are not the age at the start of the season but the end!
He then finished at Ajax and had earned himself a knighthood at the end of it.
Barcelona 1997-2000
Now at Barcelona he did well on paper but it wasn't smooth sailing. The issues with his personality became apparent at barcelona. The press hated him here and he would also fall out with the big players! At Barca he didn't use the 433/343 formation he used at ajax but chose to go with a 2-3-2-3 formation. He played 3 players up front and this is where the issues in the dressing room started. He played Rivaldo on the left whereas Rivaldo wanted to play in the middle. Other issues were with him trying to implement his philosophy at the club and was struggling to do this. Also the fact he brought 8 dutch players probably didn't help the dressing room.
He did win two la ligas and a copa del ray but despite this it isn't considered a great time due to the conflicts above and his failure to win CL. In his first 2 seasons in the CL, Barcelona got knocked out at the group stage, losing out to Newcastle, Dynamo Kyiv and PSV, and in the second season to the finalists Bayern Munich and Manchester United. In his final season he did make the semi final but then lost to Valencia who made it a all spanish final with Real Madrid. The lack of CL led to his Resignation.
This was his system that won the league:
HespHowever despite the negativity from the spanish press and what he did probably changed barca in the biggest way. Barcelona B wasn't the great source of players it is now but in his two spells he did changed the way Barca think in a huge way.
Reiziger-----Bogarde
Ferrer---------Celades----------Sergi
Guardiola----Enrique--
--Figo----------------------Rivaldo
Anderson
Netherlands 2000-2002
Well this was nothing short a disaster, he had good team but it all blew up. Everyone who follows international football knows that there is always a fight in that dressing room. Interesting that internal conflict was so bad as alot of the players were given debuts by him. Anyway they lost out in qualifying to Mick McCarthy's ROI team, the team did largely include his Ajax team which made the terrible form even more crazy. This is the team that he could of played and lets be honest, it shouldn't of failed to qualify:
Van Der Saar
Reiziger--Melchiot---Stam--De Boer--
Cocu
Seedorf ---- Davids
Zendon ------------- Overmars
Kluivert
Barcelona 2002-2003
Well were back here again. To describe this season in one word, disaster, would be quiet fitting. He had the worst start to a barca season and was 3 points from the relegation zone. However to some this is remembered as a important season. Van Gaal said during his time at Barca that he dreams that one day the team would be full of players from La Masia. Well ten years after he left his dream came true more interesting is during that period he turned changed the culture of Barca. He gave debuts to players despite the first team being knocked out of CL and Barca B struggling. Unlike managers before he gave the youth players a opportunity to perform in the first team. Since then Barca B players often get playing time in the first team despite being very competitive.
He also got the youth teams training with the first team and kept a interest in the youth team. There is one video of him talking to Alba when he was a kid and asking him where he played and etc. during a dinner. His good work with young players may have to do with the fact he use to be a PE teacher before he went in to management. Anyway that team which consisted of 11 La Masia players four of them (Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Valdes) were given their debuts under Van Gaal. As well as other players promoted like Reina, Motta, Gabri and more. Worth noting that when he left he was labelled as a failure and this considered as the dark ages in barca's history, also there was even more falling out behind the scenes as well.
AZ 2005-2009
AZ isn't a big club in the Netherlands and had a 8,000 seat stadium when he joined them and were moving to a 17,000 seat stadium. It is fair to say he did do a great job. They had only won the Eredivisie once before he joined them. In his first season he managed to take AZ to a 2nd place finish, they lost to Groningen in the play offs for the CL spot and lost to Real Betis in the Round of 32 in the Uefa cup.
The next season they were in the run for the title and with one game to go AZ were leading the Eredivisie by goal difference. In their last game they lost 3-2 to Excelsior(finished in the relegation play off spot. PSV won the title after winning 5-1 and having a better goal difference of one goal than Ajax. Had AZ won their match they would of had a even better goal difference than both of them. Its worth noting that Ajax and PSV teams included the likes of Sneijder, Huntelaar, Affelay, Babbel, Farfan, Alex, Cocu, Kluivert, Kone, Heitinga, Vermaelen, Davids and Emanuelson. They then lost to Ajax by penalties in the KNVB cup and then lost the play off for CL to ajax once again. They also lost to Werder Bremen in the quarter finals of the Uefa cup after beating Newcastle, Fenerbache and finishing above seville and Braga in the group stage.
The next season was a disappointment and the results didn't go their way it wasn't so rosy and the club got was out of the Uefa cup and KNVB cup in the early rounds. They did sell two of their strikers who got 55 goals between them and didn't replace them straight away. Louis Van Gaal during the season said he had handed in his resignation and leave at the end of the season. There was uproar from the squad and he said he would change his decision and give the players a chance to prove themselves. The next season was a different story, AZ for the second time won the Eredivisie after having finished 11th the season before. They had gone in a run of 28 games unbeaten after losing their first 2 matches and went 11 games without conceding a goal. The Ajax team also included Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Anita, Van Der Weil, Alderweireld and Suarez. This was his 442 team for AZ with a young squad:
It is also worthing noting these words from Louis, the season before he won the league; "We only have a budget of 16 millions euros, compared with 65 million for Ajax and 60 million for PSV, but we have been in the top three the last two seasons and we got to the final of the cup, which we only lost on penalties. The president is a wealthy man but he doesn't want to bump up the budget for the sake of just spending more. Money isn't the be all and end all"
Romero (22)
Swerts (26) Jaliens (30) Moisander (23) Pocagnali (21)
Schaars (25) De Zeeuw (25) Da Silva (26) Martens (24)
Dembele (21) El Hamdaoui (24)
Bayern Munich 2009-2011
He came back to a big club again and had a big impact, now at bayern there was always going to be personalities in the dressing room. The first season was nearly their greatest ever but didn't have the best start. Luca Toni who was one of their best players the season before, he was sold after falling out with Van Gaal. They then gained form and looked to do a historic treble, they won both the league and Pokal cup. In the champions league they beat Man Utd in the quarters and Lyon easily in the semi's. They lost to Mourinho's inter in the final and it is worth noting that the squad wasn't as strong as it is today and Ribery was suspended for the final. This was the team in the final:
ButtThe next season was a disappointment on all fronts, the league results started to disappoint and after losing to Dortmund in the league, they were 16 points off the title in february and they also lost in the Pokal cup to Schalke in the semi final. He also fell out with Ribery during this season and had internal conflicts within the hierarchy. It was announced after the defeat to Hannover that his contract was going to be canceled at the end of the season. A week after the announcement they were knocked out of the CL by Inter Milan on away goals in 2, having led the tie with 1 away goal. Then in april he was sacked, after 3 wins and a draw since the announcement of his contract being cancelled.
-- Lahm --- Van Buytan -- Demichelis --- Badstuber
Van Bommel -- Schweinsteiger
Robben ----------- Muller ------------ Altintop
Olic
Once again the youth was major feature in the sides, with Muller making a meteoric rise during the first season and other players who are in the side today were given debuts or alot of game time. Players like Badstuber, Alaba(who converted to a LB), Kroos and Contento. It is also worth noting that he had converted Schweinsteger in to a defensive midfielder where he has since stayed.
Netherlands 2012-
There is no point in saying much other than they qualified unbeaten and won all their matches except for a draw against Estonia. They are playing alot of young players and playing the old guard with VDV set to become the most capped outfield player if he plays the next 4 games.
Will he be a good fit, depends will he fight with Sherwood, Baldini and Levy? I can see him getting on well with Sherwood(if he goes back to old role) and for me would be whether he can get on with Baldini and Levy. The issue is, if the players aren't getting his methods then who will Levy pick a old manager who will likely have only two years on his contract. We don't seem to have major personalties or egos and thats good other than Ade but its worth noting he worked well under Mourinho. We don't have a Van Gaal captain imo other than dawson but even then is he it? Worth noting that his philosophy is close to AVB in THEORY. However Van Gaal has had good defensive records and scored a shitload of goals at the SAME time.
If anything doesn't make sense, just highlight and I will correct it, as I'm not reading this shit again, its too fucking long. I gone beyond fucking wikipedia here for you wankers
"Van Gaal really has Alzheimer's if he writes stuff like that. You wonder whether he has one or two screws loose."
- Johan Cruyff
"When executed properly it is winning football,"
Bielsa
"My jaw dropped when I saw Van Gaal's Ajax play, They did everything a football team should do perfectly in my eyes."
Guardiola
"He's open to other ideas, but they must understand he won't budge."
Frank de Boer
"Am I this brilliant or are you the one who is that stupid?"
- Reaction to an 'ignorant' question from a journalist
"The Bavarian attitude to life suits me perfectly. Why? [Bayern Munich's club motto is] 'Mia san mia,’ 'We are who we are' and I am who I am: confident, arrogant, dominant, honest, hard-working and innovative."
At his first press conference as Bayern Munich coach
"If we can strengthen our squad, we'll buy. But I'm not the kind of coach who just goes out and buys for the sake of it. I'm a coach who wants to - and can - improve players."
On his philosophyas a coach
"Running is for animals. You need a brain and a ball for football."
On his basic approach to the game
"I have the body of a God. Lederhosen suit me. But I also have a belly."
With a hint of irony ahead of one of Bayern Munich's now traditional visits to the Oktoberfest
"If I were a God, I would win everything. I'm no God."
On his irony and himself
"If another coach were to come in, whose record can compare with mine? Who would need to come? [Sir Alex] Ferguson has won more titles than me. Maybe [Fabio] Capello too. But they’re both busy."
During a time of crisis at Bayern Munich
"I hope the level of desire is greater than their fatigue. But the body isn't as strong as the spirit. And we have some wimps."
On his players' physical condition
Total football.
No bullshit.
Bus-Conductor
SC Supporter
- Oct 19, 2004
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mill
Well-Known Member
- May 21, 2007
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The report I see called it a work experience loan and he played for their development squad I can't link it I'm on my phone
SlickMongoose
Copacetic
- Feb 27, 2005
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He can't play for their first team. He's playing for their U-21's.
They may be having a look to try to decide whether they want him for a full loan or not.
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