Louis Van Gaal

Author: Maarten Meijer
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0091960150
Category : Soccer managers
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Book Description
The first definitive insider biography of the new Manchester United manager So who is Louis van Gaal? An inflexible ex-PE teacher who only knows how to act like a dictator, or a soccer visionary that has made him one of the greatest ever European managers? Wherever he has gone, van Gaal has been accused of being a domineering disciplinarian and a control freak. He is certainly, by his own admission, a man who leaves nothing to chance. A disciple in the 1970s of Rinus Michels’ Total Football philosophy, he is a fascinating contradiction—an ultra-individualist utterly devoted to the collective effort. He believes in the team over the individual, in always having a plan, and a team prepared to follow that plan. Van Gaal led the young Ajax team he molded to Champions League glory in 1995, went on to win titles across Europe with Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, and Bayern Munich, and is currently in his second stint as national coach of Holland. It is a career that has never been short on color and drama—from fallouts with players to rants at the media wherever he has managed. Dutch soccer commentator Maarten Meijer’s has written the definitive biography of van Gaal—both the man and his methods. It offers the best psychological insight so far—from his earliest roots to his greatest triumphs—into the man given the task of returning the glory days to Manchester United.

O, Louis

Author: Hugo Borst
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473521424
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
‘Am I so smart or are you so stupid?’ – Louis van Gaal I started out wanting to write a book about Marco van Basten. I still do, but I dread the moment when I have to write something I know will make him unhappy. He’s not a man you wage war on. With Louis van Gaal it’s different: as a journalist he leaves you no choice. You’re not worthy of the name if you aren’t prepared to return fire when he starts yelling. Hugo Borst is an award-winning writer, journalist and TV pundit. He is also a close friend of Louis van Gaal. Well, he used to be. O, Louis is Hugo’s attempt to get to grips with this larger-than-life character. Full of outrageous stories and unintentionally hilarious encounters, Borst details his quest to understand the man and the breakdown in their friendship. He interviews an array of experts who each interpret the great manager from the perspective of their own field – a cleric, a politician, a psychiatrist, an impersonator, a theatre director, writers, poets and a trio of keen comic minds. Through these meetings as well as through his own encounters with Van Gaal, Borst is finally able to unlock the personality of this exceptional, talented, infuriating and even, occasionally, loveable man. ‘This book will sell well. Everything that has my face on it sells well’ – Louis van Gaal

The Coaching Philosophies of Louis Van Gaal and the Ajax Coaches

Author: Henny Kormelink
Publisher: Reedswain Inc.
ISBN: 1890946036
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Book Description
The methods and philosophies of the coaches at one of the most successful Clubs in the history of European soccer. The current Manchester United manager made a name for himself in the world of football while at dutch super club Ajax Amsterdam. This book chronicles his time in charge there with unprecedented inside access to the methods and philosophies that produced not only championship teams but also world class players.

The Barcelona Inheritance

Author: Jonathan Wilson
Publisher: Bold Type Books
ISBN: 1568588534
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Book Description
From Cruyff's "Total Football" to the epic rivalry between Guardiola and Mourinho, a gripping chronicle of the rise and fall of Barcelona's dominance in world soccer. Barcelona's style of play -- pressing and possessing -- is the single biggest influence on modern soccer. In The Barcelona Inheritance, Jonathan Wilson reveals how and why this came to pass, offering a deep analysis of the evolution of soccer tactics and style. In the late 1990s, Johan Cruyff's Dream Team was disintegrating and the revolutionary manager had departed, but his style gave birth to a new generation of thinkers, including Pep Guardiola and Joséourinho. Today, their teams are first and second in the Premier League, marking the latest installment in a rivalry that can be traced back twenty-five years. The Barcelona Inheritance is a book about the tactics, the personalities, the friendships, and, in one case, an apocalyptic falling-out that continue to shape the game today.

A Season in the Red

Author: Jamie Jackson
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1781315418
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Book Description
What does it feel like to follow in the footsteps of Britain's most successful manager? To have your every decision, move and word scrutinised worldwide? How do you capture the heart and soul of Manchester United? With unrivalled access to Old Trafford, Jamie Jackson charts the disastrous ten-month reign of David 'The Chosen One' Moyes and the club's first season with the Iron Tulip, Louis Van Gaal: authoritarian, joker and self-proclaimed genius. Featuring revealing interviews and analysis of the key players and events - from the Glazers and their frontman Ed Woodward's vision, the captaincy of club stalwart Wayne Rooney, through to the testing times experienced by new arrivals Radamel Falcao and Luke Shaw - Jackson reveals why Moyes was always doomed to fail and how Van Gaal has reinvigorated United's chances of winning silverware again. From boot room to boardroom, pitch side to press room, A Season in the Red is the insider's story of life in the Red seat at the biggest club in the world.

Brilliant Orange

Author: David Winner
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408835770
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
The Netherlands has been one of the world's most distinctive and sophisticated football cultures. From the birth of Total Football in the sixties, through two decades of World Cup near misses to the exiles who remade clubs like AC Milan, Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea in their own image, the Dutch have often been dazzlingly original and influential. The elements of their style (exquisite skills, adventurous attacking tactics, a unique blend of individual creativity and teamwork, weird patterns of self-destruction) reflect and embody the country's culture and history. This book lays bare the elegant, fractured soul of the Dutch Masters and the culture that spawned them by exploring and analysing its key ideas, institutions, personalities and history in the context of wider Dutch society.

Dutch Soccer Secrets

Author: Peter Hyballa
Publisher: Meyer & Meyer Verlag
ISBN: 1841263273
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
Learn how a nation of about 16 million inhabitants can regularly produce world-class players or coaches like Johan Cruyff, Arjen Robben or Dick Advocaat and Louis van Gaal.

A Life Too Short

Author: Ronald Reng
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1446499022
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER OF THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR Why does an international footballer with the world at his feet decide to take his own life? On 10 November 2009 the German national goalkeeper, Robert Enke, stepped in front of a passing train. He was thirty-two years old and a devoted husband and father. Enke had played for a string of Europe's top clubs, including Barcelona and Jose Mourinho's Benfica and was destined to become his country's first choice in goal for years to come. But beneath the veneer of success, Enke battled with crippling depression. Award-winning writer Ronald Reng pieces together the puzzle of his friend's life, shedding valuable light on the crushing pressures endured by professional sportsmen and on life at the top clubs. At its heart, Enke's tragedy is a universal story of a man struggling against his demons. ‘It should be on every British football fan's reading list’ Metro

The Anatomy of Manchester United

Author: Jonathan Wilson
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1409144461
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Book Description
Award-winning football writer Jonathan Wilson selects ten landmark matches from Manchester United's history, from the first time they lifted the FA Cup, beating Bristol City in 1909, to the Cup victory of 2016 that proved to be Louis van Gaal's last game in charge. In doing so, he identifies the pivotal moments in the club's rise to being one of the foremost teams of the twentieth century. With his trademark tactical acumen, Wilson goes back to the matches themselves and subjects them to forensic examination, re-evaluating and reassessing, and going beyond the white noise of banal player quotes and instant judgements to discover why what happened happened. It is in this way, as far as possible, a football history of a great club. And because this is Manchester United, there is additional resonance. From the completion of Old Trafford in 1910, United have had a significant financial advantage. Yet their past has not been one of sustained success. As such, their history is also, to an extent, a history of English football, with all of its possibilities and frustrations.

Twelve Yards

Author: Ben Lyttleton
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698188373
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
An all-encompassing look at the penalty kick, soccer’s all-or-nothing play—its legendary moments and the secrets to its success No stretch of grass has been the site of more glory or heartbreak in the world of sports than the few dozen paces between goalkeeper and penalty kicker in soccer. In theory, it’s simple: place the ball beyond a single defender and secure a place in history. But once the chosen players make the lonely march from their respective sides of the pitch, everything changes, all bets are off, and anything can happen. Drawing from the hard-won lessons of legendary games, in-depth statistical analysis, expert opinion, and the firsthand experience of coaches and players from around the world, journalist Ben Lyttleton offers insight into the diverse attitudes, tactics, and techniques that separate success from failure in one of the highest-pressure situations sports has to offer.