by john@staustell » Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:41 am
Van Gaal:
Ajax (1991–1997)[edit]
Van Gaal was Ajax manager from 1991 until 1997 and had a very successful tenure.
After serving out his contract at Ajax (1997), Van Gaal received his knighthood in the Order of Orange-Nassau.[3]
Barcelona (1997–2000)[edit]
He moved to Barcelona in 1997, taking over from Bobby Robson and helped the team win two league championships (1997–98, 1998–99) and the Copa del Rey once. Despite this success, he clashed with the media and came under criticism. Van Gaal expressed that it was difficult to implement his football philosophy at Barcelona due to cultural differences, and that he struggled hard as some players were unwilling to follow his lead.[4] His rows with Rivaldo are an example of this. Van Gaal insisted Rivaldo play as a left winger, whereas Rivaldo argued that he wanted to play in the centre, in effect undermining Van Gaal.[5]
Van Gaal eventually left the Catalan side on 20 May 2000,[4] days after losing the league title to Deportivo de La Coruña, uttering the immortal line: "Amigos de la prensa. Yo me voy. Felicidades." (Friends of the press. I am leaving. Congratulations.)[6] He returned to the Netherlands to manage the Dutch national team in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Dutch National Team and return to Barcelona (2000–2003)[edit]
Under Van Gaal, the Netherlands finished third in its qualifying group behind Portugal and the Republic of Ireland, failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986. Van Gaal stepped down as manager on 31 January 2002 to be replaced by Dick Advocaat. After this, speculation began that Van Gaal would succeed Alex Ferguson at Manchester United once Ferguson claimed he would retire that year. According to Van Gaal, Ferguson decided against retiring and the deal fell through.[7][8] He returned to Barcelona for the start of the 2002–03 season, but left the job in January 2003 with Barcelona just three points away from the relegation zone.[6][9]
Return to Ajax (2004)[edit]
In 2004, he returned to Ajax as a technical director, but resigned later that year due to an internal conflict.
AZ (2005–2009)[edit]
Van Gaal with AZ.
In January 2005, it was announced that he would replace Co Adriaanse as AZ manager on 1 July 2005.[10][11] Under Van Gaal, AZ finished second in the Eredivisie in 2005–06 and third in 2006–07. Van Gaal also led AZ to a runners-up finish in the 2006–07 KNVB Cup and lost a 2007–08 UEFA Champions League qualification play-off to Ajax 4–2 on aggregate.
Van Gaal initially announced he would leave AZ at the end of the 2007–08 season due to disappointing results, with the club finishing 11th in the Eredivisie.[12] However, when several players of the AZ squad pointed out that they would like Van Gaal to stay with AZ, Van Gaal said he would give the players a chance to prove themselves.
AZ started the 2008–09 season with two losses: 2–1 to NAC Breda and 0–3 to ADO Den Haag, but after that the Alkmaar-based club remained unbeaten until 18 April, topping the table ahead of FC Twente and Ajax for the entire season. AZ had the best defensive record in the Eredivisie and the second-best goalscoring record, behind Ajax, thanks to its offensive duo of league topscorer Mounir El Hamdaoui and Brazilian Ari. They were crowned league champions on 19 April, one day after AZ suffered an unexpected loss at home to Vitesse, which ended a string of 28 unbeaten games. That same day Ajax, the only opponent still in theory able to surpass AZ, lost 6–2 to PSV.[13][14]
Bayern Munich (2009–2011)[edit]
On 1 July 2009, Van Gaal took over as coach of Bayern Munich.[15][16] Van Gaal referred to his new employer as a "dream club".[17] He got off to a poor start as Bayern coach, winning only one of his first four matches in charge and by November the club was on the brink of a first round Champions League exit following two losses to Bordeaux. With Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga, speculation was rampant that Van Gaal was on the brink of a departure from Bayern even earlier than his predecessor Jürgen Klinsmann. Van Gaal however kept insisting he is a prozesstrainer meaning that his team needs time to play the way he imagines.[18] On 28 August 2009, Van Gaal strengthened his team by signing compatriot Arjen Robben from Real Madrid, this reunited the two, with Van Gaal selecting Robben for his debut in the Netherlands U20 team.[19][20] In addition, Van Gaal instilled many youth players are fixtures in the starting 11, including Thomas Müller, Holger Badstuber and also converted the winger Bastian Schweinsteiger into a defensive midfielder. A feud with Italian striker Luca Toni who had played an important role in Bayern's 2007–08 league and cup double led to Toni's move to Roma. However, Bayern Munich's form improved with two Champions League victories including an impressive 4–1 victory over Juventus in Turin, which allowed them to progress from their group in second position behind Bordeaux. By March, Bayern had moved on the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal and were top of the Bundesliga ahead of Leverkusen.
On 8 May 2010, FC Bayern were crowned Bundesliga champions following a 3–1 win at Hertha BSC,[21] making Van Gaal the first ever Dutch coach to win the Bundesliga.[22] 15 May 2010, Bayern won the DFB-Pokal with a 4–0 defeat of SV Werder Bremen, thus securing the domestic double.[23]
In the Champions League, Bayern won 4–4 on the away goals rule in the quarter-final against Manchester United[24] and 4–0 on aggregate against Olympique Lyonnais in the semi-final,[25] securing them a spot in the final, where Van Gaal was to meet his former pupil and assistant at Barcelona José Mourinho,[26] who was coaching Internazionale. Bayern lost the Champions League final 2–0, handing Inter a first Italian treble and thus failing to secure the treble themselves.[27] On 25 May 2010 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge expressed his desire to extend Van Gaal's contract as the club was very happy with his performance, even though Van Gaal still had one year of his contract to fulfill.[28] At the end of the season Van Gaal was voted Manager of the Year by the German professional footballers in the yearly poll organized by VDV (professional players' union in Germany) and kicker.[29][30][31]
Van Gaal's Bayern started the 2010–11 season by winning the DFL-Supercup, which had been reinstalled after a 14-year absence.[32]
On 7 March 2011, Bayern Munich declared that Van Gaal's contract was to be cancelled after the end of the 2010–11 season.[33] However, he was instead sacked on 10 April 2011 after losing the third place in the Bundesliga.[34]
“I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.”
