4 best footballers who started thanks to Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal is one of the greatest football managers of all time and someone who has won titles in most of the biggest leagues in the entire world, to the point of some considering him the last great Dutch coach in the world of football. Regardless of personal opinions about him, there is no denying that van Gaal achieved a lot in football, and one thing he was really good at was giving young players a chance to prove themselves.There are a lot of great players who were given their first chance thanks to van Gaal's willingness to trust youth and the list of amazing footballers that has debuted under him would be very long. However, here are four strong candidates for the best footballers who started because of him, mainly taking into account their achievements and the context of their careers through the years.
Marcus Rashford
It is very likely that a lot of people will claim that van Gaal gave debuts to players who are a lot better than Marcus Rashford and that would be a fair assessment, but it is important to consider the context. Manchester United have been struggling since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson back in 2013, which is why the debut of Rashford and his career with van Gaal in early 2016 is one of the few bright spots for the Red Devils in this period.The Englishman started as a striker with the Dutchman and eventually turned into a winger throughout the years, being the only post-Ferguson player to score more than one hundred goals at United during this era. When considering the many different stars who have struggled in the club, Rashford's contributions have been notorious, and has managed to become the fifteenth best goalscorer in the club's entire history, and itall started with that debut that van Gaal gave him.
At the moment he won't be scoring many United goals though, as he is currently on loan to Aston Villa, after he has had difficulty getting along with United's new manager, Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim.
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Clarence Seedorf
There is no denying that Ajax in the 90s was van Gaal's peak as a manager, having won absolutely everything at club level and building what is perhaps Dutch football's last great team, at least as of this writing. Several players could be selected from that edition of Ajax, but midfielder Clarence Seedorf's career path deserves the spot.The Dutchman's combination of physical strength, technique, and football IQ made him one of the greatest midfielders of his generation while also being a lynchpin in van Gaal's Ajax side during their 1994/95 UEFA Champions League win. His career would see him thrive in Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and, especially, AC Milan where he spent an entire decade.
Thomas Müller
While van Gaal was only in Bayern Munich for two years, he did win a Bundesliga title and reached a UEFA Champions League final. However, another major contribution of his time there was the debut of Thomas Müller, who would go on to become one of the greatest players in the club's entire history.Moreover, it makes sense that a tactically savvy manager like van Gaal would have given Müller his debut in 2009 and quickly made him a key player of his when considering his movement without the ball and high football IQ. The German always had a great knack for scoring and cemented his place at Bayern thanks to van Gaal's input.
It is difficult for younger generations to envision an era of Bayern where Thomas Müller wasn't a part of the squad these days and everything started with that debut handed by van Gaal.
Xavi Hernandez
There is a strong argument to be made that Xavi Hernandez, perhaps most commonly known as just Xavi, is the best example of Louis van Gaal's way of handling young players and the positive ramifications this has on the team throughout the years. While most people these days know that Xavi is a pillar of the history of FC Barcelona, his integration into the first team was a rather bold move by van Gaal in the late 90s and the club was all the better because of it.That is because Barcelona had a veteran in the shape of Pep Guardiola in midfield, who was already the club's captain and the team's driving force when it came to passing and distribution of the ball. Guardiola and van Gaal didn't have a lot of issues but the Dutchman saw Xavi rising through the ranks in La Masia, so it made sense to get the most out of him.
It would be during the 1998/99 season when the Spanish midfielder would cement himself as a capable starter and even won an award as the youngster of the year in La Liga during that period. Barcelona would also win the league that year, proving that van Gaal's method of handling young players was working.
The following season Guardiola suffered a major injury and Xavi was ready to take over as the team's creator. While it is true that he would reach his prime under Pep's guidance almost a decade later, most of his beginnings are due to van Gaal giving him a chance at such a key moment of his development.
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