Manchester United seemed to have finally pulled the plug on Louis van Gaal’s doomed tenure at Manchester United on Monday after the press reported the imminent arrival of controversial Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho to succeed the Dutchman.
Louis van Gaal has always been a coach who divides opinions and managed to ruffle many feathers during his time at United. While there were flashes of brilliance from time to time, the Red Devils flattered to deceive under their Dutch coach.
Van Gaal’s time at United was characterized by poor performances like the 4-0 loss to second-tier club MK Dons early in his reign. Although more than £250 million were spent on transfers, the team hit a new low when the club failed to score in the first half of 11 consecutive games at the Old Trafford midway through the season.
The Dutchman came to United with a great reputation, having led Netherlands to the semi-finals of the World Cup. He has won numerous league titles and also won the Champions League with Ajax early in his career.
He failed to live up to expectations at Manchester United after boasting a track record of trophies and bows out with his reputation in tatters, although he somehow managed to win the FA Cup. We compare Louis van Gaal’s tenure at Manchester United with his record at other clubs.
#1 Ajax ( 1991-1997)
Louis van Gaal made his senior managerial debut with Ajax where he trained the “Golden Generation” of Dutch footballers. He won three consecutive Dutch Eredivisie titles with Ajax in 1994.1995, and 1996 and went unbeaten in the league and Champions League in the 1994-1995 season. That Ajax side beat Milan in 1995 to win the Champions League that season.
The 64-year-old helped usher in a new era in Dutch football with his Ajax team. The squad formed the backbone of the Netherlands national team for the next few years with players like Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank and Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger, and Edwin van der Sar in the side.
Ajax reached the finals of the Champions League again in 1996 but lost out to Juventus on penalties. Van Gaal left the club after serving out his contract till 1997. He received Dutch knighthood for his services to Netherlands football. He later had a short stint as technical director when he fell out with manager Ronald Koeman.
This stint was arguably the peak of Louis van Gaal’s career as manager. He never managed to scale the same heights since and his Manchester United career is in stark contrast to this.
#2 Barcelona (1997-2000), (2002-2003)
Louis van Gaal took over Barcelona in 1997, replacing the legendary Booby Robson. He helped the Catalans to two consecutive league titles in 1998 and 1999 and also won a solitary Copa Del Rey.
In spite of his success on the pitch with the club, he never successfully implemented his philosophy at the Catalan club due to ideological differences. This was the time when he started falling out with players. He famously had disagreements with Rivaldo who wanted to play as a central striker despite the Dutchman’s insistence that he play on the left wing.
Louis van Gaal left in the year 200 after losing out on the La Liga to Deportivo La Coruna. He infamously blamed his departure on the press, saying, “Friends of the press. I am leaving. Congratulations.” He went on to coach the Dutch national team for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
He returned to Barcelona in 2002 on a three-year contract but the results were unimpressive resulting in Louis van Gaal being sacked as manager with Barcelona in 12th place, just three points above the relegation zone.
#3 AZ Alkmaar (2005-2009)
Louis van Gaal took over at AZ Alkmaar in 2005 and finished second in the league in his first season. He finished third in the 2006-2007 season and proclaimed that he would leave at the end of the 2008 season due to bad results.
He was persuaded to stay by the players and won the Eredivisie in his last year at the club, even going unbeaten in the league for 28 games before leaving for Bayern Munich.
#4 Bayern Munich (2009-2011)
Bayern Munich came in for Louis van Gaal after AZ Alkmaar’s brilliant showing in the previous season. He labelled Bayern Munich to be his dream club and immediately signed up compatriot Arjen Robben to bolster the attack. He suffered a bad start at Bayern, winning only one of his first four matches in charge.
He continued to defend his team’s performances saying that his philosophy required time to be absorbed by the players. He brought in Thomas Muller and Holger Badstuber and converted then winger Bastian Schweinsteiger into a defensive midfielder.
The changes worked to an extent as the Bavarians reached the finals of the Champions League, losing out to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan at the final hurdle and won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal.
His contract was later terminated in 2011 after his team started playing drab, unadventurous football and Bayern president Uli Hoeness commented, “‘Football should be enjoyable, but there has been nothing enjoyable about football at FC Bayern for a while now.”
