Manchester United sacking still impacts Holland boss Louis van Gaal’s tactical outlook

Holland boss Louis van Gaal is still affected by his dismissal 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 before.

Van Gaal, who is currently in his third stint as Netherlands national coach after being reappointed after retirement last year, will lead them at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Holland boss Louis van Gaal (pictured) is still affected by his dismissal from Manchester United

Van Gaal was sacked by United in 2016 after just two seasons at Old Trafford

Dutch legend Gullit believes the veteran manager is using his failure at United to have a different take on his tactics – despite being so successful at Holland in the past.

said Gullit The mirrorVan Gaal always thinks that it is the system and his tactics that make a team successful. But he failed at Man United with his so-called system.

‘When he played in the World Cup in Brazil Orange, he liked the 3-5-2 system. He then thought he could take that to Manchester United.

Dutch legend Ruud Gullit (pictured) has claimed his United failure has changed his outlook

“But there he had a completely different group of players and it’s not the system that wins, but the team – and the best players who win games.

“At United he had to go back to the drawing board.”

The Netherlands finished third at the 2014 World Cup under Van Gaal, losing to Argentina in the semi-finals, but beating hosts Brazil in the third place play-offs.

The Netherlands finished third at the 2014 World Cup under Van Gaal after beating hosts Brazil

Gullit added: “He needs to get this right if he wants to bow on a high, because while he may think he’s a great coach, Bert van Marwijk took us to the final in 2010 and only lost in extra time .

Van Marwijk is the best coach – not Van Gaal, who has never reached a World Cup final.

“What I don’t like is that Van Gaal is still trying to claim all the successes when the team is doing well.

“We have a good backbone in the team with Virgil van Dijk as central defender, Frenkie de Jong as playmaker in midfield and Memphis Depay as main 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 meet Qatar, Ecuador and Senegal in the group stage

Van Gaal will be looking to take things a step further now that he is back in charge as they take on the likes of Qatar, Ecuador and Senegal in the group stages of the tournament with ambitions to progress to the knockout stages.

The Dutch kick off their Group A campaign against Senegal on Monday, with Van Gaal insisting they have a shot at being crowned world champions during his first press conference earlier this week.

“I believe we don’t have the best players in the world in our team, but I believe in team building and tactics and we have players who can implement the coach’s tactical plan.”