LOUIS VAN GAAL

'Aloysius Paulus Maria ("Louis") van Gaal' (born August 8, 1951 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football manager currently in charge of AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Contents

Career

Ajax

FC Barcelona

Netherlands and return to Barcelona

Return to Ajax

AZ

Honours

External links

Career

After a career as a football player for FC Antwerp, Sparta Rotterdam and AZ Alkmaar, he became an assistant-coach in 1986. After a short career at AZ Alkmaar, he went to AFC Ajax Amsterdam to become Leo Beenhakker's assistant. When Beenhakker left in 1991, the ambitious Van Gaal took over the lead.

Ajax

He was Ajax manager from 1991 until 1997 and experienced a very successful tenure. Under Van Gaal, Ajax became the Eredivisie champion three times - 1994, 1995 and 1996. He also managed Ajax to the KNVB Cup in 1993 and the Johan Cruijff Shield from 1993 to 1995. In the European scene, Ajax captured the UEFA Cup in 1992 and the UEFA Champions League in 1995 after beating AC Milan in the final. Late in 1995, Ajax beat Brazilian side Gremio on penalties to win the Toyota Cup (formerly Intercontinental Cup). Ajax were the European Cup runners-up in 1996 after losing to Juventus on penalties.
His success in Ajax was so great that during the 1990s, the Dutch national team was dominated by Ajax players such as Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Frank and Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger and Edwin van der Sar.

FC Barcelona

In 1997, he moved to FC Barcelona and helped the team win two league championships. Despite this success, he came under criticism and quit the job three seasons later and returned to the Netherlands to manage the Dutch national team in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Netherlands and return to Barcelona

The Dutch national team failed to qualify for the World Cup Finals, and subsequently Van Gaal was replaced by Dick Advocaat. He then returned to Barcelona for a short spell, but left the job after half a year to be replaced by Radomir Antić.

Return to Ajax

In 2004, he returned to Ajax as a technical director, but resigned later that year.

AZ

In 2005, he replaced Co Adriaanse as AZ manager. AZ finished the 2006-2007 season in 3rd place in the Eredivisie, 3 points behind champions PSV Eindhoven and runners-up Ajax Amsterdam. Van Gaal also directed AZ to a runners-up finish in the 2007 KNVB Cup. AZ failed to reach the UEFA Champions League after losing to Ajax 4-2 on aggregate.
Van Gaal has signed a contract with AZ through the 2010 season.

Honours

★ 1 x Champions League: 1994-95 (with Ajax)

★ 1 x Intercontinental Cup: 1994-95 (with Ajax)

★ 1 x UEFA Cup: 1991-92 (with Ajax)

★ 2 x European Supercup: 1995-96 (with Ajax), 1997-98 (with FC Barcelona)

★ 3 x Dutch Eredivisie: 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, (with Ajax) plus in 2003-04 (as Technical Director)

★ 1 x Dutch Cup: 1992-93 (with Ajax)

★ 3 x Johan Cruijff-schaal: 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96 (with Ajax)

★ 2 x Spanish League: 1997-98, 1998-99 (with FC Barcelona)

★ 1 x Spanish Cup: 1997-98 (with FC Barcelona)

★ 1 x Rinus Michels Award (2007)

External links

★

★ CV Louis van Gaal