Doing it his way: Van Gaal’s A to Z of football

LOUIS VAN GAAL is one of the great men of Dutch football, but he has never quite earned the recognition that his success deserved.

Three Eredivisie titles with Ajax, and the Champions League in 1995. The KNVB Cup, the European Super Cup, the World Cup for clubs.

Van Gaal collected trophies like other people collect coats, notably his wife Truus, a feisty lady who enjoys shopping: “‘How many coats do you need?’ he tells me. I tell him to move to Spain or Italy because the money is so good there.”

Being an obliging husband, he did this back in 1997, moving to Barcelona and forthwith acquiring two La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey. Truus, meanwhile, acquired a few coats down on Las Ramblas.

But the Barca fans were discontented with Van Gaal’s policy of bringing in Dutch players, and when he returned for a second stint at the club it turned into a PR disaster, and he was sacked in January 2003.

“Gentlemen of the press: congratulations. I am going,” he told his farewell press conference. And that seemed to be that.

Van Gaal became Technical Director at Ajax and swore he would never return to the front line. That resolution lasted all of 18 months, when he found himself back at the club where he finished as a player and began as a coach: AZ Alkmaar.

AZ are a provincial side from a provincial city, best known for its famous cheese market and as the source of John Lennon’s first guitar. The club has one title to its name and no great history — it used to be known as AZ 67, after the year it was founded.

But AZ president Dirk Scheringa had big ambitions, including a new stadium, and a bit of persuasion (as well as a bit of cash) enabled him to get his man.

It nearly worked. On the final day of the 2006-7 season, AZ were in a three-way tie for the title with Ajax and PSV, only for the dream to blow up in their faces literally in the dying minutes.

Many thought Van Gaal would resign. He stayed. Last March, with the team struggling to stay clear of the relegation zone, it was announced he would be leaving. Again he stayed, this time in response to an appeal from the players.

This season, AZ lost their opening two games. Their next match was against the champions, PSV. The big city journalists turned up in force to prepare his funeral.

Truus rode to the rescue. “There are a lot of people who don’t like Louis. You can see how retarded the football world is. The Van Gaal era is over, were the headlines. And when AZ won, I can’t help myself and yell:

‘Too bad for your Saturday night eh! You came all the way for nothing.’”

They haven’t been beaten since. At the winter break, they led Ajax by three points and the question was whether a young team could take the pressure.

But both the team and coach have kept their nerve. With 12 matches left, AZ have an 11-point lead over Twente — coached by Steve McClaren, in his first season in Holland.

Ajax are back in third, 14 points adrift, after taking just four points from five games since the campaign restarted.

Whether because of Marco van Basten’s inexperience, or because of the transfer of their captain and leading scorer, Klaas Jan Huntelaar to Real Madrid, Ajax have lost their way.

And AZ are implacable. They let in two goals in their first game of the season and then went 10 games before conceding another goal at home, in their 3-1 win against Willem II last Saturday.

Their disciplined defence, backed by an excellent young Argentinian goalkeeper, Sergio Romero, gives them a huge advantage in a league where defending has never been a number one priority.

Last season they let in 53 goals, so far this season just 12: it has been an astonishing turnaround.

Where next for Van Gaal? He seems committed to AZ and their ambitions to become a top club — there are plans to expand the new stadium’s capacity from 17,000 to 40,000 over the next 18 months. But he’s also spoken of other challenges, including managing Holland for a second time and working in England.

As for the retirement option, Truus seems to have given up: “Louis can’t help himself. He believes in himself and his methods. I told him last year: we have a nice house here, a nice house in Portugal. Why do you still want to do it? Stop. Go and do motivationals or analyse on TV. Make good money and don’t carry any responsibilities. Two years back, the English TV offered him a job. I liked it. Good money, interesting lifestyle. But he refused. I’d thank the Lord if he quit.”

You wonder whether there is job in London that might interest him. Especially as the shopping is so good.