[FM19] Louis van Gaal's Red Army (AZ / Alkmaar Zaanstreek)

[y0lo]

CLUB DETAILS

HISTORY

FACILITIES

MANAGEMENT

Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON (born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former player. He was formerly manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich, the Netherlands and Manchester United. Van Gaal is one of the most decorated managers in world football, having won 20 major honours in his managerial career.

Before his career as a coach, Van Gaal played as a midfielder for Royal Antwerp, Telstar, Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and AZ. He is also a fully qualified physical education teacher and has worked as such at high schools during various stages of his career as a semi-professional footballer.

"Louis van Gaal, who as a defensive midfielder for Sparta Rotterdam in  the late 1970s was said to resemble “a slug on sandpaper”, or a medieval knight clunking around in a full suit of armour. Tall, bolt upright, he ran, in the words of one spectator, “as if he’d swallowed an umbrella” and would direct games from the centre circle, recycling possession, barking instructions at his team-mates and rolling his eyes at their technical shortcomings regardless of their seniority. He was not only a control freak but a battler, too, his flattened nose  testimony to his fearlessness in attacking aerial balls with his “Minotaur noggin”."

TACTICS + PHILOSOPHY

I have picked two shapes well used by Louis van Gaal. In his prior spell at AZ, bringing them the league title, Louis used a more direct 4-4-2 shape. But with the current selection of players, the 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 look like the best fit. The variation in the midfield diamond allow for more flexibility depending on the opponent players and the players available.

Louis' obsession is with the reality of being sucker-punched by faster opponents who exploit the space in behind a high pressing 'Total Football' unit to break out.

As such, this later phase Louis Van Gaal football starts from a negative premise that his teams must be super secure against turnovers in possession through a very deliberate, orchestrated style of secure, possession obsession build-up play.

He wants to move the opponents defenders around through passing in front of them until they break their discipline and leave a gap to exploit. It is a war of attrition, death by 1,000 cuts.

To Louis, the collective and the team is more important than the individual.

So a cautious mentality is taken along with instructions that ensure patient build up play. Another priority is to keep good shape with and without the ball, so the team is organized and ready in a structurally sound shape incase of losing possession. Risks are kept to a minimum, the priority is to keep the ball and more direct counter attacking play is only used when necessary. Play is stretched when in possession by use of the 'Wider' instruction, so we can look to switch play and use the whole of the pitch in order to help dominate possession. The defensive shape is preferred to be more narrow, so the team is compact and structurally sound.

The philosophy remains to play out of the back and keep the ball, but certain things can change depending on the scenario. For example, if an opponent decides to park the bus and look to counter attack, then we will lower our defensive line and line of engagement whilst increasing our urgency to press, so the opponent is forced to take risks and is lured into a trap. There are may also be a case, if we are behind, we will remain patient but we will place less emphasis on holding a shape when in possession in order to allow for more opportunity to counter attack more directly if needed by removing 'Hold shape' to default 'Both'.

Ideally the players need to be tactically intelligent and technically capable across all positions. This type of football requires the core attributes of good intelligence and decision making as well as first touch and passing ability, as we look to keep the ball and force the opponent into an error. Stamina is important for the urgency within our press, but other physical traits are not so important as the basic technical and tactical.

Preseason training will focus heavily on bringing the players up to speed with the tactical philosophy and ensure the players know the system well. Fitness will be improved by match practice and friendly matches.

AZ FIRST TEAM

JONG AZ

EXPECTATIONS

This season I am not aiming to challenge for the title. But still, our aim is to win every game. In any case, this year is about introducing the philosophy and developing a squad which is very young, but full of promise. The adjustment to the philosophy may take some time. I am lucky to have many great youngsters at my diposal, many who have been with the club since youth level. I will give many opportunities to these youngsters even if that comes with a risk. AZ have also qualified for a Europa League spot, but will have to play three two-leg ties in order to qualify. My short-term goal is to qualify for this tournament as it will allow more opportunity for the young players. There are even some players in Jong AZ who I will look to give time too, so squad depth will not be a problem.

[y0lo]

KEY PLAYERS

YOUTH PROSPECTS

Brightest prospect. Excellent decision making for such a young age. I will look to rotate him between Inside Left and Striker in order to find where he performs best in the system. So I will train him as a Poacher to improve his basic attacking abilities.

Another very bright prospect. Stengs can be a complete attacking midfielder. Maybe I will look to train him at central midfield, but will also improve his quickness whilst he is young. For now, his best position is Inside Right. Stengs is also 6'2" and good in the air, which is not so common amongst inside forwards.

A solid defensive left back. Flair is 1. No nonsense but has good crossing ability. Even though he is young, I trust him to play well as part of the first team.

Good decision making, physical attributes and decent ball playing ability. Could play on the wings, but I will look to develop him in central midfield as I am spoilt for choice in attacking midfield. His intelligence will be useful in the centre. I will train him as a ball winning midfielder so his defensive stats can balance out and make him more well rounded.

Versatile player with great promise. Intelligent and can control the game in the midfield. Will be fouth choice centre back and second choice anchor man. Training him as a no nonsense centre back to aid this. Needs to improve his stamina.

Another versatile player with good potential. Will look to rotate between central midfield and inside forward, but will primarily be a second choice inside left forward. Very high tackling but low aggression seems odd. Will look to improve his passing ability so he may suit more central midfield in the future, due to physical inefficiencies.

[y0lo]

TRANSFERS

Budget €3,500,000

I identified certain areas that needed improvement, as well as the need to offload a few players in order to make room for some of the young players coming through.
Attacking midfielders Mats Seuntjens and Ilias Bel Hassani make way

The centre back options are very limited. Ron Vlaar is our best defender and captain, but is now old and will struggle to play twice per week throughout the season. I also have reservations about Vlaar when we use often use a somewhat high line. Hatzidiakos has good potential, but is sent on loan so he can develop from first team footbal as his decision making ability is too low at this time. Midfielder Stijn Wuytens and Teun Koopmeiers are capable centrebacks and provide good depth. Teun is a young player so I will look to shape his defensive attributes as he rotates between defence and anchoring midfield, as an understudy to Stijn Wuytens. So, this means I will look to sign two first team centre backs.

At left back we have two prospects - Owen Wijndal and Thomas Ouwejan. I have chosen to move Thomas Ouwejan to Jong AZ, with potential for a loan move if an Eredivise club comes in for him as I do not see him as good enough to be the starting left back, so I will look for a high quality replacement.

SIGNINGS

Romanian Bodgan Tiru is an aggressive defender with good intelligence, good defending attributes and good basic ball control ability. I will look to improve his strength. He will rotate with Ron Vlaar as second choice defender.

Mexican defender Cesar Montes is a fine prospect who I have signed on loan with an optional future option to buy for €6,000,000. Great defensive and ball playing abilities. Excellent intelligence. High jumping. Only 21 years old. He could easily play in defensive midfield or fullback if trained. However, like Tiru, he needs to improve his strength. Will be my first choice centre back, but trained as an Anchor Man to improve versatility and focus on keep improvement areas.

Another Romanian, left winger Nicusor Bancu joins to be trained as my first choice left back. Aside from low positioning, his stats fit perfectly for an attacking wingback and I will look to train him to this position. He is an intelligent player who works very hard but can also provide an outlet in attacking transitions.

--

The rest of my signings are young players of age 18 or younger who are to help bulk up the Jong AZ squad and some I hope will be able to break in through to the squad as soon as possible. I am very excited about these prospects.

Norwegian central defender Erik Sandberg, 18 years old but already great all round defensive attributes in all areas - physical, mental and technical. Good basic ball playing abilities. He is my 5th choice central defender and will certainly play first team games this year, but for now, will stay in Jong AZ.

Colombian defensive midfielder Gustavo Carvajal was signed for very little but has great stats already at 18, especially in the physical level. I see him as a holding midfielder. I will look to train him as an Anchor Man to improve his defensive attributes and train him as a centre back for versatility, due to his low dribbling and off the ball ability.

Another Romanian - Alexandru Matan was my most expensive signing, though most of that will be payed over long installments. Along with Stengs, he is my brightest prospect at attacking midfield. I will include him in the Europa League squad if qualifed. Signed at 18 years old (now 19 in screenshot), he will qualify as a home grown player once he has completed his years of development at AZ.

Serbian striker Dejan Joveljic signed from Red Star Belgrade. Has all the potential attributes for a complete striker with great development already at such a young age. I am sure he will score many goals for Jong AZ and he will be a part of my Europa League squad if qualified. Signed at 18 years old (now 19 in screenshot), he will qualify as a home grown player once he has completed his years of development at AZ.

PRESEASON

Preseason was not great in terms of results, but a great learning experience with some tweaks made to the tactic in order to prepare for the new season. Alongside the opening Europa League qualifying games, the team is quickly adjusting to the tactics and familarity is nearly maxed out on all aspects. Unfortunately we had two major injuries - one to our strongest youth prospect Myron Boadu who broke his foot vs Vitesse and is out for 2-4 months. In addition, new left back signing Nicusor Bancu will miss the opening month of the season following a hamstring strain vs Groningen.

 

[y0lo]

AUGUST

(EUROPA LEAGUE QUALIFYING AND EREDIVISE OPENING)

The opening month of this season has gone perfectly. We have ensured qualification to the Europa League and won all of our opening league games. We have not conceded in 7 games, which is a new club record. The defence feels solid. On average we have around 60% possession with high pass completion %. After three games we are joint first place with Groningen.

Bjorn Johnsen is a stand out player and has provided important goals.

Fredrik Midtjso has been instrumental in central midfield, dictating our play.

Despite being second choice, Adam Maher has scored four goals in two starts - four beautiful goals outside the box.

Ron Vlaar and Cesar Montes have developed a good partnership in central defence.

[withnail316]

Good luck with this, the Netherlands is a great place to manage.

Isn't it strange though how 'AZ Alkmaar' is the accepted name in the football lexicon, considering the A in AZ is for the word 'Alkmaar'? 

[Minuy600]

3 hours ago, withnail316 said:

Good luck with this, the Netherlands is a great place to manage.

Isn't it strange though how 'AZ Alkmaar' is the accepted name in the football lexicon, considering the A in AZ is for the word 'Alkmaar'? 

That's why we only call it 'AZ' here in the Netherlands.

Seconding what Withnail has said, it has a great competition and since it's licensed from the start, one of the best leagues with the full package.

[withnail316]

22 minutes ago, Minuy600 said:

That's why we only call it 'AZ' here in the Netherlands.

Seconding what Withnail has said, it has a great competition and since it's licensed from the start, one of the best leagues with the full package.

Yep, and me too in my line of work as a commentator, but I'm in a minority. And not a criticism of the OP either, just to be clear - 90% of the time I hear the club mentioned by an English speaker, they say the second Alkmaar.

Anyway, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Best of luck (again)

[WillHoward42]

Following 

[ManUtd1]

Good luck, man! Dutch saves are always good fun.

[Deisler26]

Horny football is a go!

[SixPointer]

How’s montes doing? Was a monster for me with heerenveen? Won everything in the air and was nice on the deck! Also how did you start as LVG?

[y0lo]

TRANSFER WINDOW CLOSED

One more addition to the team is Yann Bodiger who joins from Toulouse on loan with an optional future fee of €4M. Tijjani Reijnders on loan to Arminia Biefield as I can't provide him with enough game time this year. Bodiger provides some steel in midfield with good ball winning stats alongside technical ability and intelligence for our patient play. He has similar attributes to Marko Vejnovic but is a much better defensive player (13 for tackling, 12 marking, 13 positioning) as opposed to Vejincovic '8' for these attributes. I would sell or loan Vejinovic but he has only just joined. Bodiger is also only 23 and I expect has some room for growth.
 

SEPTEMBER

Heracles end our perfect start with a good performance against us and though a point is deserved, we were close to being beaten. Final score 0-0.

The next stop is our first real test: Feyenoord at home who are also unbeaten.



Europa League Game 1 - we are beaten easily by Basaksehir. I hand 19 year old Alexandru Matan his full debut and is our best player on the pitch, scoring a goal and looking threatening when on the ball. The same can't be said for the rest of the team, it is an off night but I chose to prioritize the Feyenoord game and left out a few key players, instead giving our youngsters and backup players a chance.  We are tormented by Emmanuel Adebayor who wins MoM with two goals, the last in injury time as we looked for an equalizer.



We finish the month off with a 6-0 demolishing of JAC (an amateur side) in the KNVB Beker Cup - Albert Gudmundsson nets 4 goals in the first half. Dejan Joveljic makes his debut and scores. Lastly, a comfortable 2-0 win at PEC Zwolle, with goals from Helmer and Johnsen, leaving us top of the table.

 

 

[y0lo]

OCTOBER

October begins with another poor Europa League performance and loss (1-2 to Legia). Legia were lethal on the counter and we failed to make our chances pay after taking the lead. Vlaar and Koopmeiers starting at the back didn't provide the best solidity, but they have not been playing often and the focus has been placed on the league as the next game in a few days is Ajax.



Away to Ajax follows



and Grind out a win vs Utrecht



Europa League Tie vs Lazio

Great match against Lazio, Europa League hopes remain alive





To finish off the month we play Heerenveen at home. I really like the look of the Heerenveen squad and see it as underperforming at this time as it sits in the lower half of the table.

The second round of the cup gives us a favourable chance against another a Semi-Pro side, FC Lienden. I decide to field a much weakened side with some of the Jong AZ backup players, as the Jong AZ first teamers are dealing with match congestion. FC Lieden put up a very good fight and we fail to create much in the way of meaningful chances, forcing the tie to ET.

OCTOBER SUMMARY

This is how the table looks.



ADO Den Haag and Willem II are both peforming well. ADO Den Haag especially, are playing some exciting football and lead the way with goal difference. PSV are performing below expectations, but the season is still early and I expect them to have a strong run.

Den Haag's Chinese 21yr old striker Zhang Yuning, on loan from West Brom has been fine form along with Thomas Necid. Both strikers are very good in the air, and this is a common trait of all top scorers in the Eredivisie. Giovanni Troupee, ADO Den Haag (on loan from Utrecht) right back, 20 year old  has been the best player in the league and leads the assist rankings.
 

And here is an update on Jong AZ who are leading the Keuken Kampioen. I'm not sure if this is a new feature, but I really like how you can select the starting 11 and subs by picking the squad in the 'B' squad page. Really helps you to rotate the players and aid their development (same with allowing B teamers to train with the first team).

[y0lo]

On 24/10/2018 at 13:23, withnail316 said:

Good luck with this, the Netherlands is a great place to manage.

Isn't it strange though how 'AZ Alkmaar' is the accepted name in the football lexicon, considering the A in AZ is for the word 'Alkmaar'? 

 

On 24/10/2018 at 17:16, Minuy600 said:

That's why we only call it 'AZ' here in the Netherlands.

Seconding what Withnail has said, it has a great competition and since it's licensed from the start, one of the best leagues with the full package.

I never questioned this before, it does seem strange, even the game says 'AZ Alkmaar'. I have updated the title post for greater accuracy.

I'm enjoying the competitiveness of the league and it will be good to have a winter break. I'm surprised it is ranked lower than the Belgian and Austrian leagues.

 

On 25/10/2018 at 01:07, Deisler26 said:

Horny football is a go!

A large part of my decision to manage as Louis is how much he makes me laugh. I forgot about that dive clip

So this is the right time to share some of my favourite van Gaal moments

 

Quote

Dealing with players: I will face the whole group when we discuss team tactics. I coach the starting eleven when we prepare for a game. I coach very personally. Up close and personal. In their face. I try to reach inside of them. Everything I do and say is to motivate. To make them better. More aware. Every time I see the players, I give them an evaluation moment. I tell them where they stand, in my book. I need to make them better. Or I need to make sure they perform better. And I tell them: I am giving you tools to become a better player. It’s not personal. I am not angry or negative. I see that there is room for improvement. I explain all players how I want to use them.

I love this image of Louis just standing right in their face and getting up close, I imagine this makes some players feel uncomfortable, but of course, Louis does not care.

On the subject of horny football:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cRWf9szxdY

And of course, the singing of his own chant, which is the inspiration for this thread title
 

 

[y0lo]

On 25/10/2018 at 12:07, SixPointer said:

How’s montes doing? Was a monster for me with heerenveen? Won everything in the air and was nice on the deck! Also how did you start as LVG? 

He's a very good player, just as you describe. I scoured the Mexican division looking for young centre backs from the influence of Hector Moreno, once of AZ brought into the club by Louis. I will certainly look to purchase him at the end of the year if we have the funds, though I do not usually like putting so much money up front at once.

I started as LVG by creating him and using the manager picture add on

You may run into issues like this though - a glitch in the matrix:

[john1]

Decent result against Ajax, away from home  

 

Haha, love it he says something about himself  

[SixPointer]

3 hours ago, y0lo said:

He's a very good player, just as you describe. I scoured the Mexican division looking for young centre backs from the influence of Hector Moreno, once of AZ brought into the club by Louis. I will certainly look to purchase him at the end of the year if we have the funds, though I do not usually like putting so much money up front at once.

I started as LVG by creating him and using the manager picture add on

You may run into issues like this though - a glitch in the matrix:

thanks man