Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal made the headlines again at the weekend for his hotly-debated World Cup goalkeeper substitution, but who are the men who will assist the Dutchman come next month?
Van Gaal, who said in the previous round he had used the cooling break in the Netherlands’ last-16 victory over Mexico to somehow conjure two late goals, took off Jasper Cillessen for Newcastle United’s Tim Krul with 44 seconds of extra-time remaining and the substitute keeper saved two Costan Rican penalties.
It all means very little rest for the European Cup winning coach, whose Dutch side will now play Argentina in the last four therefore keeping Van Gaal in Brazil until the final weekend as United, meanwhile, prepare to embark for their USA tour on the 18th.
United announced on Sunday that Van Gaal’s line-up of Ryan Giggs, Marcel Bout and Frans Hoek would be joined by Albert Stuivenberg, a man who knows all about the strength in depth of the Dutch having worked with the under-17s from 2006-13 and the under-21s for the following season.
He is a winner too, having led the under-17s to back-to-back European championship glory in 2011 and 2012.
“We are thankful to Stuivenberg for his contribution to the development of Dutch talent. He did a fantastic job with the under-17s and we wish him luck in the new direction that he now takes,” said FA technical director Jelle Goes.
Stuivenberg will work closely with Giggs, United’s record appearances holder and one of the game’s most decorated players, which makes a change from the upheaval of 12 months ago when David Moyes replaced Sir Alex Ferguson’s staff with his own troops, upsetting many Old Trafford fans.
In Bout, who Van Gaal knows from their success at AZ Alkmaar in the 2000s when they won the Dutch league title in 2009, there is further evidence of a winning past.
Bout also worked with Van Gaal at Bayern Munich and then the Dutch national set-up, providing coaching back up, technical analysis and scouting services. His speciality is the latter and with transfers skyrocketing, his role in bringing young, untapped talent to Old Trafford could prove invaluable to the club’s future.
Goalkeeping coach Hoek was instrumental in the early days of former United keeper Edwin van der Sar’s career, Hoek himself having played in goal for 12 years in Holland.
Hoak has worked at Ajax, Barcelona, Poland and Bayern Munich alongside names such as Sir Bobby Robson, Jose Mourinho, Leo Beenhakker and Van Gaal.
Like Germany’s Manuel Neuer at the World Cup, Hoek is an advocate of involving the goalkeeper in play as much as possible so United supporters can expect to see a lot more of the in-form David De Gea, who shone last season while so many of his teammates never produced their best.
Main image courtesy of FIFATV via YouTube, with thanks.
