Louis van Gaal confirmed Netherlands will try out a new formation at the World Cup, but refused to talk about the possibility of becoming the new Manchester United boss.
- By Michael Bell
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Van Gaal was speaking at a press conference in Hoenderloo, and was expected to name his 30-man squad for this summers World Cup, but instead delayed the announcement until Tuesday night.
He said, “Everybody thinks that the process is already finished, but that’s not true. The players in foreign leagues need to show it as well. Only Van Persie and Robben are sure of their spot, but I’ve said that for a year and a half.
“I will name the preliminary squad tonight, because I want to tell the players myself if they make it. I don’t want them to hear it from the media. A couple of the young players of the recent stage made a good impression and could make the 23. But if a player doesn’t make the preliminary squad, then he won’t make the definite team.”
“We still need to judge the players from foreign competitions and we will do that in the next training stage and in Portugal (where Netherlands will train)
Ajax defender Joel Veltman let slip earlier in the week that Netherlands were trying out a 5-3-2 formation in training, instead of the usually favoured 4-3-3.
Van Gaal confirmed the new tactics, stating the injury to Kevin Strootman, and the lack of quality left backs forced him into the decision.
“It’s not a new system. Our Dutch philosophy about football still stays intact. We still want to play attacking football, only in another system.
“You can watch the friendly against Ecuador (This Saturday) and judge our new system. I’m aware of the fact that it’s a risk, but I do want to win. So if I think this is the best way, we will do this.
“When Strootman got injured, I already said that I was considering a new system. We don’t have another player like Strootman. France, for instance have Pogba and Matuidi, two players that I would like to pick.
“Everybody had a lot of enthusiasm because the players will play within their qualities. But it’s not sure that we will play this system, so I don’t want to talk about it too much.”
“I have my line-up in my head for more than five players. But that also depends on the change of system and the shape of the players at the moment we’re playing against Spain.”
Fans of Manchester United were left disappointed from the press conference, as Van Gaal refused to make any comment on potentially replacing David Moyes.
“We’re all here because of the Dutch national team. I don’t want to say anything about United. Last week I did, because there were some English journalists who came unannounced to the training stage. ”
“I said a few words and that became a story of 60 pages. We will have to wait and if you want answers, you have to ask Manchester United.”
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