Manchester United’s sacking of Louis van Gaal STILL shocks the Netherlands boss and his tactical methods, Chelsea legend Ruud Gullit claims… as his ‘beloved’ system failed during his time at Old Trafford.
Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal is still reeling from his sacking from Manchester United, former Barcelona and Chelsea legend Ruud Gullit has revealed.
The 71-year-old was sacked by United in 2016 after just two seasons in charge, despite winning the FA Cup by beating Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium just 24 hours earlier.
Van Gaal, who is currently in his third term as Netherlands boss after being reappointed last year following his retirement, is set to lead them through the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal (pictured) is still reeling from his sacking from Manchester United
Van Gaal was sacked by United in 2016 after just two seasons in charge at Old Trafford.
Dutch legend Gullit believes the experienced manager uses his failure at United to get a different perspective on his tactics, despite having been so successful with the Netherlands in the past.
Gullit told The Mirror: ‘Van Gaal always thinks it’s the system and his tactics that make a team successful. But he failed at Man United with the so-called system of his.
‘When he played the World Cup in Brazil with the Oranje, he loved the 3-5-2 system. So he thought he could take that with him to Manchester United.
Dutch legend Ruud Gullit (pictured) has claimed his failure at United changed his perspective
“But there I had a completely different group of players and it’s not the system that wins, it’s the team, and the best players that win the games.”
“At United he had to go back to the drawing board.”
The Netherlands finished third in the 2014 World Cup under van Gaal, losing to Argentina in the semi-finals, but beating hosts Brazil in the clash for third place.
The Netherlands finished third in the 2014 World Cup under van Gaal after beating hosts Brazil
Gullit added: “He needs to get this right if he wants to surrender on high, because while he may think he’s a great coach, in 2010 Bert van Marwijk took us to the final and only lost after extra time.”
Van Marwijk is the better coach, not Van Gaal, who never reached a World Cup final.
“What I don’t like is that Van Gaal still tries to claim all the success when the team is doing well.”
“We have a good backbone in the team with Virgil van Dijk as the central midfielder, Frenkie de Jong as the midfield playmaker and Memphis Depay as the key striker.
‘The problem for some is that they haven’t played much this season. You have to be in top shape to play every three days and in the knockout phase you might have to play 120 minutes.’
The Netherlands will face Qatar, Ecuador and Senegal in the group stage.
Van Gaal will be looking to take it one step further now that he is back in charge as he takes on the likes of Qatar, Ecuador and Senegal in the group stage of the tournament with ambitions of advancing to the knockout stages.
The Dutch begin their Group A campaign against Senegal on Monday with Van Gaal insisting they have a chance to be crowned world champions in their first news conference earlier this week.
“I think we don’t have the best players in the world in our squad, but I believe in team building and tactics and we have players who can execute the coach’s tactical plan.”
