Why didn’t Netherlands proceed attacking at extra-time? It’s a query that may hang-out even the followers of Louis Van Gaal. Nobody was shocked by how they performed for the a lot of the sport – defensive, hiding, biding, ready for a counter-attacking second that by no means got here. When the scoreline pressured them, Van Gaal modified colors. He introduced within the taller strikers Wout Weghorst and Luuk de Jong and despatched his captain Virgil Van Dijk ahead. The sport started to vary.
Leo Messi may need decried it as ‘lengthy balls and tall gamers’ however that’s presumably coming from a person who fretted if his dream was over when the 2 Dutch objectives got here. Messi’s teammate Angelo Di Maria had earlier known as Van Gaal the “worst coach” he had ever performed underneath (this was throughout their Manchester United days), and Messi’s phrases suggests he empathises with that sentiment.
However Van Gaal’s story is completely fascinating. An extended-standing grudge in opposition to the good late Johan Cryuff; by the way its results nonetheless appears to spill over on the sports activities pages of Netherlands newspapers. A lot of the criticism in opposition to Van Gaal’s ‘defensive’ strategies on this world cup are likely to have a reference to Cryuff. As a comparative sigh of what may have been.
Ruben Jongkind, a coach who in his 30s had labored with Cryuff to turnaround the famed membership Ajax’s fortunes, had advised this newspaper concerning the basic distinction between the 2 males. In Jongkind’s telling, it’s not as drastic because it’s made out to be today.
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“I might say the distinction between them was the distinction between gentle blue and darkish blue – each wished enticing game-play, funding in youth however the place it differed was in the best way they labored to realize it. Van Gaal was structured and believed in management within the system.
“Cruyff believed that by means of chaos and freedom, we create the system. He was extra fluid, versatile. Van Gaal was capable of mould a bunch of gamers like a machine. Cruyff was a creator. At the least that’s how I see it,” Jongkind advised The Indian Categorical.
So the machine-moulder, who would remind everybody after the quarterfinal defeat to google his identify and Netherlands that the staff hasn’t misplaced as soon as in 20 video games underneath him (and he wouldn’t depend this penalty-shootouts loss as a loss!), was letting the sport roll alongside.
As soon as the 2 objectives got here in, and the sport moved to further time, he switched again to his older methods.
Virgil Van Dijk dropped again. The partitions began to shut in once more. The watch for the shoot-outs started.
Even the participant Martin de Roon would ponder concerning the missed alternative.
“Maybe we should always have continued like this [attacking even in the extra time],” mentioned De Roon after the sport. “Argentina had a tough time with our opportunistic recreation, however I feel it was additionally logical that Van Dijk went again once more.” Logical, within the van Gaal’s world.
A few days in the past, for the nth time, a query on his ‘defensive’ techniques had propped up in a press convention. On whether or not deep inside he prefers the outdated Dutch attacking means as he did earlier in his teaching profession.
“I get the identical query from you each time however you don’t perceive that soccer is evolving,” van Gaal mentioned in a tone of exasperation.
“It’s quite a bit more durable now to play attacking soccer than it was 20 years in the past once I was coach of Ajax. Once I got here up with that extra defensive system in 2014 (on the World Cup in Brazil), I additionally acquired a number of criticism however now half the world performs like that. Soccer has developed in the direction of it.
“At this World Cup we see that the outcomes are very tight, even between huge groups and supposedly smaller international locations, as a result of compact defending is just simpler than attacking. Nevertheless it’s not true if it appears we’re solely defending. I hope that’s clear now.”
It’s the rationale he dropped again the tempo within the extra-time, but once more selecting to go together with his plan A regardless of the attacking Plan B had saved him earlier. As he mentioned, google his outcomes; it’s in his favour.
When he had simply taken over as coach of Bayern Munich in 2009, the German tabloid press had gone to city saying that he likes to march round within the dressing room, shouting, “I’m like God! I by no means get unwell and I’m at all times proper!” A number of months later, he would handle the difficulty: ‘I’m not God.If I have been God, I might win every little thing on a regular basis.”
For an extended whereas now, he had been successful every little thing. Soccer video games, battles with most cancers, and was on his closing hoorah at Qatar the place his press conferences would alternate between annoyance at his strategies to hilarious meme-worthy sequences of him planting kisses or speaking about planting kisses to his gamers.
It appeared he would win this time too till Leo Messi and the shootouts intervened. One in every of his closing moments on a soccer subject as a nationwide coach was to obtain a mouthful from Argentine goalkeeper yelling at him to “shut the f*** up” to even Messi spraying verbals at him. Not the perfect means, however then as he has mentioned, he’s no god.