In a well-attended press conference, national coach Louis van Gaal gave a press conference this afternoon together with Memphis Depay. Tomorrow, the Orange will play the quarterfinals at the World Cup against Argentina. “A top country with top football players in their selection. The tournament really starts for us tomorrow,” says Van Gaal.
“I don’t want to detract from the other countries we have beaten, but now we have a different opponent,” the national coach continues.
Worst coach
The Argentinian Angel di Maria played under Louis van Gaal at Manchester United. The footballer then announced that he thought Van Gaal was the worst trainer of his career. An Argentinian reporter asked what the national coach thinks of that. “He’s a very good footballer. When he played at Manchester United he had a lot of private problems. His house was broken into. That affected his form. One of the few players who has said that. Usually it’s the other way around. I think I’m sorry,” said Van Gaal.
“We are a country that can become world champions because we are a team”
Defensive football?
The Dutch national team has been criticized for its defensive play in recent weeks. “Football is changing and it is not the case that we only defend. That is precisely not true. How we defend depends on the opponent. It is much more difficult to play as offensively as Ajax did twenty years ago. We are a country that has a chance to become world champions because I hope we are the best team,” Van Gaal parries the criticism.
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Penalties
In the last game between the two countries, Argentina won. That was in 2014 and then the Argentinians won on penalties. Louis van Gaal and his technical staff have been busy practicing and stopping penalty kicks in recent months. “It’s not like we’re forcing players which way to shoot,” says Van Gaal.
The Netherlands – Argentina starts on Friday at 8 p.m.
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