Flick admires Van Gaal, but prefers to keep his opinion internal for fear of ‘echo’

“Foppe de Haan, Louis van Gaal, Johan Cruijff, I focused on those trainers.” For the national coach of Germany, Hans-Dieter ‘Hansi’ Flick, meeting the Orange squad is not just a practice match. “I have read many books and seen videos about Dutch football”

57-year-old Flick not only mentions the match “special” because of the decades-old rivalry between the countries, but also because he largely derives his identity as a trainer from the Netherlands. “A small country with great players and trainers.”

One of his examples is the current national coach of the Netherlands, Louis van Gaal. Flick met the Dutchman over ten years ago at a dinner. At the time, the German was still the assistant coach of ‘Die Mannschaft’ and Van Gaal head coach of Bayern Munich. It wasn’t just about football. “It was pleasant.”

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