Louis van Gaal tried to clone Ajax at Barcelona
In his first two years at Camp Nou he signed eight Dutch players
President Josep Lluis Nunez brought Louis van Gaal to the Barca bench back in the day and he wanted to implement the Ajax philosophy there. To do that he had to bring in a number of Dutch players, mainly from Ajax, with whom he had won the European Cup in the 94-95 season, with one of the youngest teams in the competition's history.
The 97-98 season was his first as Barca coach and Van Gaal won three titles - La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the European Super Cup. It was Barca's first double in 39 years. He did so with a squad into which he brought three Dutchman. Right back Michael Reiziger, left back Winston Bogarde and goalkeeper Ruud Hesp. The latter was from a modest side in Holland, Roda, while the others came to Camp Nou via AC Milan after being formed at Ajax. Bogarde was signed in January 1998.
The second season he won La Liga again. He brought in Frank and Ronald de Boer in January. Patrick Kluivert came from AC Milan - the player who scored the goal that won Ajax their European Cup. Then from PSV came Phillip Cocu and Bolo Zenden.
Van Gaal later returned under Joan Gaspart, in the 2002-03 season he suffered - also bringing in another Dutchman, Marc Overmars.
Topics with the letter
