10 Things Man Utd Want You To Forget About Louis Van Gaal

10. His Obsession With Dutch Players

All through his managerial career, Louis Van Gaal has showed a penchant for signing players from his home nation, and it€™s led to him receiving criticism from a host of his former associates. Due to players based in the Netherlands leagues being engrained in €œtotal football€ and the Dutch ideology of football - of which Louis Van Gaal has based his entire managerial philosophy around - the 63-year-old has been guilty of favouritism towards fellow Dutch players to build his squads around. €œIf they are at the level I want them to be, then I will sign Dutch players. Dutch players are usually cheaper than players of other nationalities and they have usually been very well educated in the Netherlands, I believe. They have to be of a level that can play well in the English Premier League. You have to ask if that is the case with every player," said Van Gaal, as Manchester United manager, reported on ESPN. It hasn€™t been plain sailing in previous jobs he€™s held as a result, with Van Gaal often being accused of ignorance towards the club€™s culture and identity, due to his apparent disregard to sign players of the same nation the club is from. It never goes down well when a manager overlooks home talent too frequently, and it certainly didn€™t bode well when Van Gaal was in charge of Spanish giants Barcelona. The players took it as offensive that he didn€™t deem the existing squad good enough to represent a club many of them had spent their entire professional and youth career at, while the media felt the clubs€™ identity was lost following an influx of Dutch arrivals. Despite the ongoing criticism, Van Gaal has never been reticent to sign Dutch players for any of the clubs he€™s managed.