Tag: van gaal

Louis van Gaal: a divisive success story

TO SOME, HE’S ONE OF THE BEST MANAGERS OF THE PAST TWO DECADES, willing to sacrifice style for substance and flair for formality. To others, he’s an unnerving disciplinarian, an expert at…

Amsterdam’s last night of European glory

IT WAS 14 SEPTEMBER 1994 and Ajax were up against AC Milan. Never before or since had a single football match transversed generations with such poignancy and awe. Under a pregnant Dutch…

Football’s next frontier: the rise of detailed analytics

Let’s introduce the cast. The narrative suppliers, predominantly journalists and mainstream media outlets, are tasked with the most day-to-day part of football coverage: match reports, press conferences, transfer news, and so on.…

The Ajax utopia under Louis van Gaal

It was hopeless – Patrick Kluivert was too quick, too aggressive and too alert for AC Milan to nullify his threat. Fifteen minutes after emerging from the bench to replace Jari Litmanen, the…