Netherlands name squad for Belgium friendly

New Dutch national coach Louis van Gaal has named his 24 player squad for an international friendly against neighbours Belgium on August 15.

As expected Louis van Gaal has made some changes to the players he has called-up after the Netherlands disastrous Euro2012 campaign in which they finished last in the Group of Death without even a point.

There are six players in his squad in Bruno Martins Indi, Ricardo van Rhijn, Nick Viergever, Stefan de Vrij, Adam Maher and Bas Dost who could get their Oranje debut next week. Van Gaal is having a look at so many players ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.


NETHERLANDS

Goalkeepers
Tim Krul (Newcastle United), Maarten Stekelenburg (AS Roma), Michel Vorm (Swansea City)

Defenders
John Heitinga (FC Everton), Joris Mathijsen (FC Malaga), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Ricardo van Rhijn (Ajax Amsterdam), Nick Viergever (AZ Alkmaar), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Jetro Willems (PSV Eindhoven)

Midfielders
Ibrahim Afellay (FC Barcelona), Urby Emanuelson (AC Milan), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Adam Maher (AZ Alkmaar), Wesley Sneijder (Internazionale Milan), Kevin Strootman (PSV Eindhoven), Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur)

Forwards
Bas Dost (VfL Wolfsburg), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (FC Schalke 04), Dirk Kuyt (FC Liverpool), Jeremain Lens (PSV Eindhoven), Luciano Narsingh (PSV Eindhoven), Robin van Persie (FC Arsenal), Arjen Robben (FC Bayern Munich)

Netherlands appoint van Gaal as new coach

60 year old Louis van Gaal has been re-appointed by the KNVB as the national football team coach of the Netherlands in place of Bert van Marwijk, who resigned after the Oranjes lost all their three group matches at Euro2012 in Poland and the Ukraine.

The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has given Louis van Gaal a two year contract until the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, his second term with the Oranjes whom he had coached earlier between 2000-02 but had then failed to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan/South Korea.

KNVB director Bert van Oostveen said, "We were looking for a coach with experience, personality and professional skills. Van Gaal has earned his credentials nationally and internationally and we know him as a dedicated coach."

In his last assignment Louis van Gaal had on April 9, 2011 be fired by German giants FC Bayern Munich after a chequered 22 month stay in which he won the German league and cup double besides reaching the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, but in the season thereafter he wasn't able to push the club towards success. Earlier van Gaal had successfully coached Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam, Spanish giants FC Barcelona and Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

Van Gaal isn't an easy coach to deal with as an example earlier this year showed when he was supposed to be named as Technical Director of former club Ajax Amsterdam, but Dutch legend Johan Cryuff even went to court to block van Gaal taking over.

About his latest role van Gaal said, "I'm glad the KNVB approached me, this is the challenge I have been waiting for."

Ajax name van Gaal as new General Director

Dutch football giants Ajax Amsterdam have named former coach Louis van Gaal as their new General Director. Van Gaal will take-up his new assignment in July 2012 as a replacement for Rik van der Boog, who had left the job earlier this year.

Van Gaal is a controversial figure and former Ajax star Johan Cruyff has been very critical of the new appointment, which he thinks is a big mistake by the club. Cruyff had been favouring the appointment of former striker Marco van Basten.

The 60 year old Louis van Gaal will work alongside Director of Sports Danny Blind and Commercial Director Martin Sturkenboom, who will be General Director until van Gaal join, as part of a new leadership structure at the home of the four-time European Club champions.

Van Gaal had been Ajax assistant coach from 1988 to 1991 before he became the head coach in 1991. He stayed until 1997 which was a time of success for the Amsterdam club. They won the UEFA Cup (1992) and UEFA Champions (1995) besides local Dutch titles. Van Gaal returned in 2003 for a season as Director of Sports.

Van Gaal had on April 9, 2011 be fired by German giants FC Bayern Munich after a chequered 22 month stay in which he won the German league and cup double besides reaching the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, but in the season thereafter he wasn't able to push the club towards success. Earlier van Gaal had successfully coached Spanish giants FC Barcelona and Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

Lahm writes autobiography, creates controversy

Germany and FC Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has gotten himself into serious trouble with his upcoming autobiography, though it hasn't been released so far but only excerpts have been published in the German tabloid Bild.



The book titled 'The Subtle Difference' is about Lahm's observations over the years of his professional career about his coaches and teams. The first excerpts have been about Rudi Voeller, Juergen Klinsmann, Felix Magath and Louis van Gaal; with some harsh criticism from Lahm about their coaching and style of players management.



Philipp Lahm was surprised at the reactions and had to come out with a public statement which said, "Of course, I did not want to attack or offend Rudi Voeller, Juergen Klinsmann and other people. Rather I wanted, as is clear from reading my book, to portray my honest opinion about the work under different coaches and at different times."



All this hasn't gone down well with the football establishment in Germany with even the German FA (DFB) having to come together to discuss if any action would be taken against Lahm but the captain will not lose the armband as many in the German media speculated.



"We want mature players to make their opinions known, however in this case, Philipp has over-stepped the mark," said team manager Oliver Bierhoff.



And the same opinion was German national coach Joachim Loew who said, "There are a few passages in the book which I don't like, because here we have a young player openly criticising his trainer after they have worked together successfully for a long time."



"We will talk about this together next week," Loew added.



The autobiography has come in for heavy criticism by numerous Bundesliga coaches who cannot understand how Lahm could simply write such a book.

Butt returns into Bayern Munich goal

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich face Bayer 04 Leverkusen in a crucial match on Sunday. On one side there is the issue of UEFA Champions League qualification for the Bavarians, while Leverkusen are still in the hunt for the championship and it is Jupp Heynckes last game as Bayer 04 coach before he rejoins Bayern Munich in the summer.

But this is also the first game after Louis van Gaal was fired last Sunday. And his former long-time assistant Andries Jonker will be in-charge for the first time. And Jonker has had a thorough look at the players and has decided to do a switch in goal.

It means a comeback for 36 year old Hans-Joerg Butt as Bayern Munich No. 1 in place of 22 year old Thomas Kraft, who was one of the reasons the management say that van Gaal was fired as without any pressure he changed his goalkeeper in the winter and that brought unnecessary tension into the team and club.

Confirming the decision Jonker said, "I have to ensure Bayern Munich qualify for the Champions League. I think there's a better chance with Butt at the moment, but it is also not easy for Butt, but easier than it would be for Thomas. I have confidence Joerg will do his job well."

On Sunday evening we will know if this move pays off as Jonker will have to replace red carded Arjen Robben while Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery look doubtful as Ukrainian Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is likely to get a start in midfield.

Bayern Munich fire Louis van Gaal

German Bundesliga giants FC Bayern Munich have fired their Dutch head coach Louis van Gaal after their 1-1 derby draw against 1.FC Nuremberg yesterday, which has resulted in Bayern now being only fourth in the league table after Hannover 96 won 2-0 against Mainz 05. At the end of the season this would mean Bayern would miss out on the UEFA Champions League and they would only play in the Europa League. And that would be tough on the Bavarians as Munich is set to host the 2012 UEFA Champions League final.

A statement from the club said, "The decision to part company with Van Gaal was taken jointly by the board of directors, the director of sport and the FC Bayern Munich club president, acting in the interests of the club as a whole. As well as Louis van Gaal, his assistants Frans Hoek, Jos van Dijk and Max Reckers have also been relieved of their duties."

Fellow Dutchman Andries Jonker has been appointed interims coach until the end of the season with Hermann Gerland and Marcel Bout as his assistant coaches plus Walter Junghans as goalkeeping coach. But the arrangement will remain interim as the new coach Jupp Heynckes will take over in July.

A turbulent 22 months in-charge of FCB came to an end for van Gaal last night. The experienced coach had a terrible start in Munich in 2009 with less then six month's into his reign he was nearly fired, then came success as Bayern Munich won the German double of league and cup, but the club would lose the UEFA Champions League final to Inter Milan in Madrid.

This season things simply hasn't worked though van Gaal's contract was extended until 2012 last September. Poor results in the Bundesliga which saw Bayern initially struggling to stay in the top five, then unnecessary defeats to Schalke in the German Cup semifinal and Inter Milan in the pre-quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League saw van Gaal's say diminish. But by then it had already been decided that van Gaal would stay only until the end of the season.

But there was one final aim for van Gaal as coach in Munich, to finish amongst the top Bundesliga three to at least get to the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. And with that looking to be in danger the management thought it had to react now not to lose out on the lucrative Champions League.

Bayern Coach van Gaal & his four future options

FC Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal has his own mind. A current example is when the Dutchman talks about his own future. Van Gaal has a contract until summer 2012 with Bayern Munich, but as he himself says he is considering four options for his own future following the end of his contract.

Speaking to the Sunday edition of the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung he talked about those four options. Number one is to become the coach of a big national team and lead them into the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, number two is to return to his home club Ajax Amsterdam and become the clubs Director of Sports, number three is to extend his contract at Bayern Munich, while number four would be to end his coaching career altogether.

A few days earlier he had told German tabloid Bild something similar, "After 2012 I will only sign one more contract, either extending with Bayern, with a national team or at Ajax Amsterdam as general manager.

And van Gaal had also said, "I'm not working for the money any more. I am just doing it for fun."

Such interviews and those personal options once more highlight Louis van Gaal and his character. He is a straight forward guy, who likes to organise and plan things, ideally well in advance and even if it looks arrogant he shows what he is capable off and what we wants. The only real ambition left for him as a coach is to guide a team in a FIFA World Cup.

International Match Date - International Anger?

The date August 11, 2010 is causing a lot of international debate then that date is an official FIFA international match day. This means that only a month after the end of the 2010 FIFA World Cup the world football governing body has fixed a match date with most World Cuppers just back at their clubs and then off again for international duty.

Especially here in Germany the issue has made headline news with Germany to travel to Copenhagen to face Denmark on August 11. Top coaches Louis van Gaal and Felix Magath have questioned the logic behind such a friendly date in August with players preparing for the long season ahead. And it is a question which can be asked by affected club coaches. Van Gaal had eight players in the German squad plus another five player with different national teams and has been lamenting that he has difficulties in pre-season preparations with most of his first eleven still not in training.

The Club vs. Country debate goes on around the planet, but the Bayern Munich coach does have a point here. A few days ago van Gaal said, "The players return on August 2 and then they must go away again on international duty on August 9. That simply cannot be the case, it’s nonsense."
"If FIFA are a little reasonable, they would take this date out so soon after a World Cup. I hope that Mr Sepp Blatter listens to us, because this just cannot happen."

If the FIFA president is listening isn't known. But surely such a date don't really help the players, who often will go into such matches without any motivation. A different date later in the football calendar year would be more suitable, but many will say an international match date less would be good. One will see if anything happens...

The Special One vs his Mentor

When Bayern Munich take on Inter Milan tomorrow night at the Bernabeu in the final of the UEFA Champions League it will see two good friends facing each other on the sidelines. Bayern's Louis van Gaal and Inter's Jose Mourinho are long time friends and even ahead of such a big match the duo are texting each other, maybe even talking over the phone. The duo have a lot in common, especially their arrogance but when it comes to football their philosophies differ. Mourinho plays result oriented football, while van Gaal's teams play creative and attacking football. The two have huge respect for each other.

Both coaches can create history as both club have won the domestic double of league and cup. But no Italian or German club has ever won the treble.

Dutchman Louis van Gaal and Portuguese Jose Mourinho know each other very well since the their days together at FC Barcelona. And the "special one" as Mourinho refers to himself will face his mentor, who not only used him as a translator at the Catalan giants, but also helped him develop as a coach before venturing out to become one of the best coaches in world football.

Mourinho's story shows that with determination and talent you can get somewhere in life, but how often does it happen. Besides van Gaal the other big mentor or rather a father figure for Mourinho was the late Sir Bobby Robson. Actually under the Englishman the Portuguese started his career as a translator and coach at top clubs in Portugal before Robson took Mourinho with him to FC Barcelona in 1996. But Robson only stayed a season before moving on and in came Louis van Gaal with a big reputation after having had a very successful spell at Ajax Amsterdam.

The duo worked together for three years and Mourinho was one of the trusted deputies of the Dutch General. Mourinho now was no longer only a translator, but fully part of the FC Barcelona coaching staff taking care of press conferences, training the team and interacting with the players. Van Gaal even entrusted him with the job of coaching Barcelona's 'B' team.

Van Gaal left Barcelona to take on the job of Dutch national coach and it also meant Mourinho moved on. He moved back to Portugal as assistant coach of German Jupp Heynckes at Benfica Lisbon, but the German only lasted a few weeks and Mourinho was suddenly head coach. It didn't last too long due to internal politics at the club, but Mourinho was on his way. He moved on to Uniao de Leiria before getting the chance to coach FC Porto in 2002.

At FC Porto Mourinho would win the Portuguese league title before being surprise winners of the 2004 UEFA Champions League, a 3-0 win against Monaco in the Arena auf Schalke. But on the way Mourinho would beat Manchester United and due to this win the Premier League would now show interest in the coach.

Mourinho joined FC Chelsea in 2004 just after the Champions League win and the south-west London club hoped for a new era under the Portuguese. The club did win six trophies under Mourinho, but club owner Roman Abramovich wanted to win the one catch prize in European football, the UEFA Champions League and here Mourinho just couldn't deliver and had to leave.

After nearly a year out of the job Mourinho joined Inter Milan in the summer of 2008 and has had two very successful years at the club, which could culminate in winning the Champions League tomorrow. And the question is would Mourinho leave San Siro if he wins the title and stay in Madrid to take up one of the most difficult coaching jobs in the world that at Real Madrid.

Only time will tell...

Louis van Gaal - A successful Coach

When Bayern Munich announced that Louis van Gaal would be the clubs new coach last summer, I was sceptical if the Dutchman is the right man for the job.

I never doubted the class and coaching qualities of van Gaal, but I had my doubts if he would be able to adopt to Bayern Munich as the Bavarian giants live in their own ecosystem.

And he luckily proved me wrong though initially things headed towards failure, but Bayern Munich kept trust in their coach and it has paid off.

Bayern now have won the Bundesliga title and could still win the German Cup and the UEFA Champions League, a rare treble which no German club has ever achieved.


The only way, the van Gaal way

Aloysius Paulus Maria van Gaal, as is the full name of Louis van Gaal, is a coach with an own philosophy. And for him there is only one way to success, his way.

The Dutchman is feared by the media and fans alike. He is described as unfriendly, arrogant and van Gaal himself knows he isn't the most loved man on the planet.

But this seems to be a compliment these days for successful football coaches.


Sloppy start

At the first press conference in Munich van Gaal said, "The Bavarian lifestyle fits me like a warm coat. "Mia San Mia" (we are who we are) – and I am who I am. Self-confident, arrogant, dominant, honest, industrious, innovative. But also warm and familiar."

This raised high expectations after Bayern had not won the German Bundesliga title in the last couple of seasons. And the Bavarians see the Bundesliga title is like a birth right for them.

But the start was mixed for Bayern and van Gaal. The coach with his own ways didn't seem to fully reach his players, while the management was getting nervous as in late autumn it looked it Bayern could face another season without a trophy.

German international Philipp Lahm even gave an interview with a German newspaper warning the club and his team mates not to lose their focus. Lahm was heavily fined by the club, but now in retrospect one can say, it was an important part of the puzzle.


Hard work pays off

Then came the final Champions League group match in Turino against Juventus and Bayern came home with a 4-1 win and moved on. Since then the team looked like a transformed set-up, the coach had changed a little, became more communicative with his players and realised their needs, while the players started to understand the philosophy of their coach.

Whatever van Gaal was doing, he was doing it for the success of the team and the club. And once understood it was a transformed side.

The team started to challenge for the top position in the Bundesliga, went through to the final of the German Cup and had memorable nights in the Champions League, beating against AC Fiorentina, Manchester United and Olympique Lyonnais on the way to the final.


Young talent

Names count nothing for van Gaal, only performance does.

And it showed once more in Munich. Italian striker Luca Toni, a crowd favourite, was too often injured and was causing problems in the team when not chosen. Van Gaal sent Toni away to AS Roma.

The coach was betting on youngster Thomas Mueller, who became his utility man upfront. Mueller played as a striker, a withdrawn striker, as a play maker even on the wings and he went on to score 20 goals in all competitions.

The 20 year old youngster delivered in his first full season for Bayern and has even gone on to represent the senior German national team.

Besides Mueller other Bayern youngsters who made the transition from the second team to the first team were defenders Holger Badstuber, Diego Armando Contento and David Alaba.

And once more it showed van Gaal's talent to spot and promote youngsters with potential.

At Ajax Amsterdam he started the successful careers of Edwin van der Sar, Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert.

And at FC Barcelona the trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol had their first professional experience under van Gaal.


A changed Man

And Louis van Gaal seems to be a transformed man. The year in Germany has changed him for good.

And this was most evident in the last couple of days.

Yesterday before the match in Berlin, he was shaking hands with kids and gesturing to them.

At half time he changed clothes. Out of the suit and into a tracksuit knowing a beer shower was coming after the game. He evaded a number of his players, but in the end van Gaal was drenched in beer. Earlier he had said his players shouldn't dare to throw beer on him.

He partied long with his players and today on the balcony over the Marienplatz in Munich he was seen dancing with the Bundesliga title, saying to the fans, "We are now champions of Germany, but we could be champions of Europe."

What a year it has already been for van Gaal in his first year as Bayern Munich coach, but it could be a record breaking season for Bayern.