Louis Van Gaal Blasts Journalist Who Claims He Plays Defensive Tactics

Louis Van Gaal Blasts Journalist Who Claims He Plays Defensive Tactics

  • Louis Van Gaal, for a third time, took up the manegerial position of Netherlands national football team
  • Ahead of their crucial World Cup qualifying showdown with Turkey, a journalist has criticised the manager’s defensive tactics
  • Van Gaal hit back at the reporter claiming he does not have a vision in football and only has vision for newspaper

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Netherlands manager Louis Van Gaal has hit out at a journalist for criticising his tactics for being defensive the way Chelsea and Liverpool plays, Tribuna reports.

The former Barcelona and Manchester United manager is back with the Dutch national team following the exit of Frank de Boer after their poor Euro 2020 outing.

Van Gaal, Netherlands, Journalist, Claims, Defensive Tactics, Chelsea, Liverpool
Netherlands manager Louis Van Gaal has hit out at a journalist for criticising his tactics for being defensive the way Chelsea and Liverpool plays. Image: Broer van den Boom
Source: Getty Images

The first time Van Gaal was in charge of Holland was in 2000 and held on for just two years before being fired even though he returned for the second stint in 2012 to 2014.

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Manchester United then appointed Van Gaal as coach in 2014 and was at Old Trafford for just two years before being sacked and he has been at home ever since then. He is on his third stint with the national team.

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Following Netherlands’ 1-1 draw with Norway last week, the manager was criticised over his 5-3-2 formation which he used in helping the side reaching the World Cup semis in 2014.

During a pre-match conference ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Turkey, Van Gaal made attempt to cite results of other big teams as a point of reference.

The 70-year-old said via SPORTbible:

"Look at the [other teams] results.. Look at Italy, European champions, have now drawn twice.
"It's not all that easy. Defensive football has made its appearance and there is applause for that afterwards."

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Journalist Valentijn Driessen hit back saying the manager is playing defensive like Premier League clubs Chelsea and Liverpool: He said:

"But the one applauding is you. You also want to play like Chelsea and Liverpool."

The manager replied:

"Is that defensive football, in your eyes? Not at all, Valentijn! You have no idea at all. I'm sorry to say it, but you're just a journalist.
“You want to implement your vision, but you have no vision in football. You have a vision for the newspaper, fantastic. You attract attention, and so on.”

Di Maria blames Van Gaal for poor spell Manchester United

Meanwhile, Briefly News earlier reported that Argentine winger Angel Di Maria has blamed his unsuccessful reign at Manchester United on Dutch manager Louis van Gaal.

The 33-year-old spent just one season at Old Trafford despite joining the Red Devils in a deal of around £59.7 million from Real Madrid in 2014.

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He was offloaded to Paris Saint Germain in 2015 and has won four Ligue 1 titles among several other domestic silverware since then.

The attacker also spoke about United's iconic number seven jersey, adding that they spoke to him about it but he never cared, saying 'it was just a shirt'.

Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Kelly Lippke avatar

Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.

Tshepiso Mametela avatar

Tshepiso Mametela (Head of Current Affairs Desk) Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience writing for online and print publications. He is the current affairs Head of Desk at Briefly News. He was a news reporter for The Herald, a senior sports contributor at Opera News SA, and a reporter for Caxton Local Media’s Bedfordview and Edenvale News and Joburg East Express community titles. He has attended media workshops, including the crime and court reporting one by the Wits Justice Project and Wits Centre for Journalism in 2024. Email: tshepiso.mametela@briefly.co.za