Ajax (1991–1997) Van Gaal was Ajax manager from 1991 until 1997 and had a very successful tenure. Under Van Gaal, Ajax became the
Eredivisie champions three times, in
1994,
1995 (notably going the entire
1994–95 season unbeaten in both the league and the
Champions League) and
1996. He also led Ajax to the
KNVB Cup in
1993 and the
Johan Cruyff Shield in 1993, 1994, and 1995. On the European scene, Ajax captured the
UEFA Cup in
1992 and the
UEFA Champions League in
1995 after beating
Milan in the
final. The latter win was followed by a 5–1 aggregate win over
Real Zaragoza in the
1995 UEFA Super Cup. Late in 1995, Ajax beat Brazilian side
Grêmio on penalties to win the
Intercontinental Cup. Ajax was so successful under Van Gaal's leadership that during the 1990s, the
Netherlands national team was dominated by Ajax players such as
Patrick Kluivert,
Marc Overmars,
Dennis Bergkamp,
Frank and
Ronald de Boer,
Edgar Davids,
Clarence Seedorf,
Winston Bogarde,
Michael Reiziger and
Edwin van der Sar. After serving out his contract at Ajax in 1997, Van Gaal received his knighthood in the
Order of Orange-Nassau.
Barcelona (1997–2000) Van Gaal moved to
Barcelona in 1997, taking over from
Bobby Robson, and helped the team win two
La Liga titles (
1997–98,
1998–99) and the
Copa del Rey once. His rows with
Rivaldo are an example of this: Van Gaal insisted Rivaldo play as a left winger, whereas Rivaldo argued that he wanted to play in the centre, in effect undermining Van Gaal. Van Gaal eventually left the Catalan side on 20 May 2000, A 4–0 win over
Cyprus was followed by a 2–0 defeat to
Portugal. In 2001, the Netherlands beat
Andorra,
Cyprus and
Estonia, but despite leading group leaders Portugal 2–0 with seven minutes left, drew 2–2 and fell three points behind second-place Republic of Ireland, who were unbeaten. When the sides met in
Dublin, Van Gaal boasted before the match that his squad was so much more talented, even the Irish fans would want them to qualify. Ireland went down to ten men after 58 minutes but scored nine minutes later and won 1–0. The Netherlands fell seven points behind them with two games left to play, meaning that they failed to qualify for the
World Cup for the first time since
1986. Van Gaal stepped down as manager on 31 January 2002 to be replaced by
Dick Advocaat. After this, speculation began that Van Gaal would succeed
Sir Alex Ferguson at
Manchester United once Ferguson claimed he would retire that year. According to Van Gaal, Ferguson decided against retiring and the deal fell through.
Return to Barcelona (2002–2003) Van Gaal returned to Barcelona for the start of the
2002–03 season on a contract until June 2005, but results were inconsistent. The club won a record-equalling ten successive matches in
the Champions League but struggled in
La Liga. After four wins, four draws and three defeats from their opening 11 league matches, Barcelona lost three matches in a row, to
Real Sociedad, relegation-threatened
Rayo Vallecano and
Sevilla. Two wins and a draw improved things but after successive defeats to
Valencia and
Celta Vigo, he left by mutual consent on 28 January 2003 with the club in 12th place, just three points above the relegation zone and 20 points behind leaders Real Sociedad. Riquelme had been bought to replace Rivaldo, whom Van Gaal had released on a free transfer, despite having a year left on his contract. The two had fallen out during Van Gaal's previous tenure and after Van Gaal returned, Rivaldo said: "Van Gaal is the main cause of my departure. I don't like Van Gaal, and I am sure that he doesn't like me, either." Van Gaal replied that Rivaldo's lack of commitment was the reason he was released, saying that he "was only interested in making more money and playing less. He was chosen as the best player in 1999, but he has not handled himself well since then and has not behaved like a footballer should. He had illusions about Barca and was requesting to take holidays when important Champions League games were approaching. He then hides back home in Brazil. He plays for Brazil like we needed him to at Barcelona, and he has proved this in the World Cup finals, showing he reserved himself for Japan." Rivaldo joined
AC Milan and won that season's Champions League. However, due to his poor performances throughout the season, he won the Bidone d'Oro Award in 2003, which is given to the worst Serie A player during a particular season.
Return to Ajax (2004) In 2004, Van Gaal returned to Ajax as a technical director, but resigned later that year due to an internal conflict with
Ronald Koeman.
AZ (2005–2009) In January 2005, it was announced that Van Gaal would replace
Co Adriaanse as AZ manager on 1 July 2005. Under Van Gaal, AZ finished second in the Eredivisie in
2005–06 and third in
2006–07. Van Gaal also led AZ to a runners-up finish in the
2006–07 KNVB Cup and lost a
2007–08 Champions League qualification play-off to Ajax 4–2 on aggregate. Van Gaal initially announced he would leave AZ at the end of the
2007–08 season due to disappointing results, with the club finishing 11th in the Eredivisie. When several players of the AZ squad said that they would like him to stay with AZ, however, Van Gaal said he would give the players a chance to prove themselves. AZ started the
2008–09 season with two losses: 2–1 to
NAC Breda and 0–3 to
ADO Den Haag, but after that the Alkmaar-based club remained unbeaten until 18 April, topping the table ahead of
Twente and Ajax for the entire season, despite being predicted to finish as low as 13th by pundits. AZ had the best defensive record in the Eredivisie and the second-best goalscoring record, behind Ajax, thanks to its offensive duo of league topscorer
Mounir El Hamdaoui and Brazilian
Ari. They were crowned league champions on 19 April, one day after AZ suffered an unexpected loss at home to
Vitesse, which ended a string of 28 unbeaten games (surpassing the team's
1980–81 record of 25 unbeaten games). That same day Ajax, which was the only opponent that would have been able to surpass AZ given a win, lost 6–2 to
PSV.
Bayern Munich (2009–2011) On 1 July 2009, Van Gaal took over as coach of
Bayern Munich. He referred to his new employer as a "dream club". On 28 August 2009, he strengthened his team by signing compatriot
Arjen Robben from
Real Madrid; this reunited the two, with Van Gaal selecting Robben for his debut in the Netherlands U20 team. Van Gaal got off to a poor start as Bayern coach, winning only one of his first four matches in charge, and by November the club was on the brink of a
Champions League group stage exit following two losses to
Bordeaux. With
Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga, speculation was rampant that he was on the brink of a departure from Bayern even earlier than his predecessor
Jürgen Klinsmann. Van Gaal, however, kept insisting he is a "
prozesstrainer", meaning that his team needs time to play the way he imagines. in 2009 Van Gaal installed many youth players as fixtures in the starting 11, including
Thomas Müller and
Holger Badstuber, and also converted the winger
Bastian Schweinsteiger into a defensive midfielder. A feud with Italian striker
Luca Toni, who had played an important role in Bayern's
2007–08 league and
cup double, led to Toni's move to
Roma. Bayern Munich's form, however, improved with two Champions League victories including an impressive 4–1 victory over
Juventus in
Turin, which allowed them to progress from their group in second position behind Bordeaux. By March, Bayern had moved to the semi-finals of the
DFB-Pokal and were top of the
Bundesliga, ahead of
Bayer Leverkusen. On 8 May 2010, Bayern were crowned
Bundesliga champions following a 3–1 win at
Hertha Berlin, making Van Gaal the first ever Dutch coach to win the Bundesliga. On 15 May 2010, Bayern won the DFB-Pokal with a 4–0 victory over
Werder Bremen, thus securing the domestic
double. In the Champions League, Bayern won 4–4 on the
away goals rule in the quarter-final against Manchester United and 4–0 on aggregate against
Lyon in the semi-final, securing them a spot in the final, where Van Gaal was to meet his former pupil and assistant at Barcelona,
Internazionale coach
José Mourinho. Bayern, however, lost the
final 2–0, handing Inter a first Italian
treble and thus failing to secure the treble themselves. On 25 May 2010,
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge expressed his desire to extend Van Gaal's contract as the club was very happy with his performance, despite Van Gaal still having one year of his contract to fulfil. At the end of the season, Van Gaal was voted
Manager of the Year in the yearly poll organized by VDV (professional players' union in Germany) and German magazine
kicker. Van Gaal's Bayern started the
2010–11 season by winning the
DFL-Supercup, which had been officially reinstated after a 14-year absence. On 7 March 2011, Bayern Munich declared that Van Gaal's contract was to be cancelled after the end of the 2010–11 season. However, he was instead sacked on 10 April 2011 after losing the third place in the Bundesliga.
Return to Netherlands national team (2012–2014) On 6 July 2012, Van Gaal was presented as the new Netherlands coach. "I am happy that the KNVB approached me", said Van Gaal, who was assisted by former Dutch internationals
Danny Blind and
Patrick Kluivert, both part of his successful Ajax squad from 1995. "This is the challenge which I have been waiting for." Van Gaal led the Netherlands through its
2014 World Cup qualification group as the team won nine and drew one of their ten matches with a goal difference of 34–5. Qualification was secured with two matches to spare, following a 2–0 away win against Andorra on 10 September 2013. Despite their successful qualifying campaign, expectations surrounding the Netherlands national team were comparatively low due to mixed pre-tournament friendly performances and the failure of the Dutch squad in Euro 2012, where they suffered three defeats out of three in the group stages in that tournament. In their first group game at the World Cup, at the
Estádio Fonte Nova in
Salvador, however, Van Gaal's Dutch team came from behind to defeat reigning champions Spain 5–1. The Dutch victory over Spain was attributed in part to Van Gaal's use of counter-attacking tactics which disrupted the
tiki-taka possession-based football of the Spanish team. His use of a
3–5–2 formation was notable, as opposed to the typical Dutch
4–3–3 and this helped the Netherlands to tactically take advantage of Spain's weaknesses. In their next match, the Dutch were trailing 2–1 to
Australia in the second half of their second group game, before winning 2–3 with the winning goal from young substitute
Memphis Depay. Ahead of the last game in the group, Van Gaal accused
FIFA of "playing tricks" in the scheduling of matches to advantage the home nation, as
Brazil were to play their last group match four hours after the Dutch, who they could meet in the round of 16 depending on their result. Brazil manager
Luiz Felipe Scolari reacted by saying: "It was FIFA who chose the kick-off time. Some people expressed a view that we were going to choose who we were going to play. Those sorts of comments are either stupid or ill-intentioned." Van Gaal also criticised the referees who had awarded penalties against the Dutch in both of their matches, calling the decisions "unjustified" and "incorrect". The Dutch won their last group match against
Chile 2–0 to advance through as group winners. They then defeated
Mexico 2–1 in the round of 16, coming behind from a
Giovani dos Santos goal in the 45th minute, with
Wesley Sneijder and
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scoring in the 89th and 90+2 minutes respectively. During their quarter-final match against
Costa Rica in the World Cup, Van Gaal made the decision to substitute first-choice
goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen for
Tim Krul in the final minute of
extra time; as Krul had not played at all in the Netherlands' four prior matches at the tournament, Van Gaal saved one of his three allowed substitutions to bring Krul on. This decision paid off, as Krul saved two of the Costa Rican penalties to send the Netherlands through to the semi-finals to face
Argentina. The Dutch team lost to Argentina in another penalty shootout. Van Gaal ended his tenure as Netherlands manager on 12 July 2014 when the Dutch beat the hosts Brazil 3–0 in the third/fourth place play-off match with goals from
Robin van Persie,
Daley Blind and
Georginio Wijnaldum.
Manchester United (2014–2016) Van Gaal was confirmed to replace
David Moyes as the new manager for
Manchester United on 19 May 2014, becoming the club's first manager from outside the British Isles. He signed a three-year contract coming into effect after the 2014 World Cup. Van Gaal said he had inherited a "broken" United squad, and that he would give youth a chance.
Ed Woodward said Van Gaal had "impressed everyone around the club" and that there was "a real positive energy and buzz around the place".
2014–15 season Van Gaal's first signings were midfielder
Ander Herrera for £29 million, and defender
Luke Shaw for £30 million. On 20 August, Argentine defender
Marcos Rojo was bought for €20 million from
Sporting CP and, on 26 August, United signed Argentine winger
Ángel Di María from
Real Madrid on a five-year contract. Di María's £59.7 million fee set a new record for a signing by an English club, and took the club's summer spending to a reported £130 million. On transfer deadline day, Van Gaal signed
Daley Blind from Ajax for a fee of £14 million and was granted an extension to sign
Radamel Falcao on loan from
Monaco for a reported £6 million. On 24 July, Van Gaal managed United for the first time as they beat the
LA Galaxy 7–0 in a pre-season friendly, using a 3–5–2 formation. Manchester United won the
2014 International Champions Cup under Van Gaal, winning the final 3–1 against
rivals Liverpool on 4 August. Van Gaal lost his first competitive game in charge, a 2–1 home defeat to
Swansea City in the opening match of the
2014–15 Premier League season. On 26 August, United lost 4–0 to
League One side
Milton Keynes Dons in the second round of the
League Cup; it was United's earliest League Cup exit. He won his first competitive game in United's fourth match of the league season, a 4–0 home victory over
Queens Park Rangers, with goals from Di María, Herrera,
Wayne Rooney and
Juan Mata. After ten league matches, United were in ninth place with 13 points and three victories, their worst start to the season since
1986–87 under
Ron Atkinson. Their poor run included a 5–3 defeat to newly promoted
Leicester City. The squad was suffering from injuries, including to new signings Herrera, Rojo and Falcao. On 4 February 2015, Van Gaal was charged by
The Football Association over comments he made about the referee
Chris Foy, saying: "Every aspect of a match is against us – the pitch, the referee" during United's goalless draw in an FA Cup fourth-round match against
Cambridge United. After a requested hearing with the FA, Van Gaal was cleared of his charges, but was warned of future conduct. On 8 February, Van Gaal was criticised by
West Ham United manager
Sam Allardyce for his
long ball tactics after the Hammers conceded a late equaliser to United. Van Gaal responded to the criticism with statistics which seemed to show that West Ham played more long balls than his side. His tactics were defended by fellow managers
Arsène Wenger and
Garry Monk. United's form improved as the season progressed. A run of seven consecutive Premier League wins was part of a ten-match unbeaten run that started with a 1–0 home win over
Crystal Palace on 8 November 2014 and was ended by
Southampton, who won 1–0 at Old Trafford on 11 January 2015. United completed another sequence of seven league wins in a row between 28 February and 12 April, concluding with an impressive 4–2 defeat of champions and
local rivals Manchester City. This was followed by three consecutive losses to
Chelsea,
Everton and
West Bromwich Albion. United were also knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the
2014–15 FA Cup by holders and eventual winners
Arsenal, who inflicted a 2–1 home defeat on Van Gaal's team on 9 March. In his
first season, Van Gaal led Manchester United to a fourth-place finish, three places and six points higher than the previous season.
2015–16 season During the summer transfer window, Van Gaal strengthened his squad by bringing in
Memphis Depay from PSV,
Matteo Darmian from
Torino,
Sergio Romero from
Sampdoria,
Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton,
Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich and
Anthony Martial from Monaco. United comfortably defeated
Club Brugge in the qualifying round of the
2015–16 Champions League to earn a place in the group stage. Domestically, United were solid in defence and went top of the
Premier League at the end of September; however, mixed results followed, leaving them in fourth position going into November. They were eliminated from the
League Cup by
Championship club
Middlesbrough and were eliminated from the Champions League at the
group stage on 8 December after a 3–2 loss away to
VfL Wolfsburg. They finished third in their group and subsequently dropped down to the
UEFA Europa League. Fifteen days later, Van Gaal walked out of a press conference after being questioned about his future, amid speculations of dismissal following a six-game run without a win. He concluded: "I wish you a merry Christmas and maybe also a happy new year when I see you." The new year began well for the Dutchman with wins against Swansea City,
Sheffield United and Liverpool, and a draw against
Newcastle United. Manchester United, however, lost to Southampton on 23 January, rekindling rumors about Van Gaal offering to resign, but having his resignation rejected by United executive
Ed Woodward. After a 3–0 defeat away to
Tottenham Hotspur on 10 April, several United players reportedly turned on Van Gaal in the dressing room, calling him "clueless" and questioning his tactics after he openly criticized young striker
Marcus Rashford and several other players and made several questionable decisions during the match, a result which left United four points off fourth-placed Manchester City. On 21 May 2016, Van Gaal won his only trophy with Manchester United, the
FA Cup, when his side defeated Crystal Palace
2–1 after extra time;
Jesse Lingard's winning goal made United match Arsenal's then-record of 12 FA Cups. Two days later, Van Gaal and the Dutch members of his staff were sacked by the club.
Hiatus from managing (2016–2021) On 17 January 2017, it was announced that Van Gaal had retired "for family reasons". He later said that it was only a
sabbatical. He announced his official retirement from football on 12 March 2019.
Telstar announced that during the
2021–22 Eerste Divisie, Van Gaal would be managing the Telstar squad for one single match as a charity event.
Third stint at the Netherlands national team (2021−2022) On 4 August 2021, Van Gaal came out of retirement to take charge of the
Netherlands national team for a third time. He replaced
Frank de Boer, who left the position in June following the team's disappointing
Euro 2020 campaign. Van Gaal's first match in his third stint at the Netherlands national team was a 1–1 draw against Norway on 1 September 2021. In the
2022 FIFA World Cup, the Netherlands finished top of Group A, then they defeated the
United States 3–1 in the round of 16. On 9 December, Van Gaal and his Netherlands side lost again to
Argentina on penalties, this time in the quarter-finals. Following their exit from the World Cup, Van Gaal resigned as head coach of the Netherlands national team, after 20 matches without defeat in his third stint. ==Style of management==