How Louis van Gaal has quickly implemented his philosophy during his third-stint as Netherlands boss – tactical analysis

After an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic in the Round of 16 of Euro 2020, Frank de Boer was relieved of his duties as the manager of the Dutch national team.

His appointment was one shrouded in controversy back at the end of September 2020 and many fans and pundits believed it was the wrong appointment.

Before he was appointed a year ago, the former Manchester United and Ajax head coach Louis van Gaal was one of the favourites to succeed Ronald Koeman, who left to take over as the manager of FC Barcelona, but the legendary Dutch coach opted against doing so.

Nonetheless, less than a year later, following de Boer’s sacking, van Gaal was back at the helm of the national team for his third stint since the turn of the 21^st Century.

The 70-year-old has been in charge for three games so far, winning two and drawing his debut match against Erling Haaland’s Norway. The Oranje have looked really solid and have adapted to van Gaal’s philosophy quite well, one which is built on positional play and ball retention as well as high pressing.

This article will be a tactical analysis of the Netherlands under van Gaal in the form of a team scout report. It will be an analysis of the tactics used by the manager from his opening three games in charge, solely focusing in detail on how the team set-up whilst in possession of the ball.

Formation and starting XI

Van Gaal was last in charge of the national team back in 2014 when he coached the side to a third-place finish in the World Cup held in Brazil. The philosopher deployed a 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 for the most part during the qualification phases of the 2014 World Cup but switched to a 5-2-3 for the actual tournament.

One of the main reasons for this was because of the loss of Kevin Strootman through injury and so van Gaal believed that a back five was the correct way to get a rather weakened Dutch team to perform.

This time around though, the Netherlands have played with a 4-3-3 again as van Gaal now has the players at his disposal. From just three games in charge of the team, it is very evident what he believes is his best starting eleven, including Frenkie de Jong as the fulcrum in the ‘6’ position.

Van Gaal handed a debut to 23-year-old goalkeeper Justin Bijlow in a 1-1 draw with Norway last week. The Feyenoord number one is now seemingly the manager’s first-choice in goal having started in all three games so far.

In defence, van Gaal has fluctuated between who his starting fullbacks should be. Daley Blind and Tyrell Malacia have been utilised at left-back while Denzel Dumfries and Jurriën Timber have been fighting for the right-back berth, although it seems as though van Gaal prefers Dumfries and Blind.