Reporter Han Bing reported that next week's personal documentary of the 70-year-old Dutch national team coach Van Gaal will be released, but the Dutch fans have received two bad news in succession: first Van Gaal was unfortunately infected with the new crown virus, and then he has received more than 20 radiation treatments in the context of the TV station's self-disclosure of prostate cancer and the concealment of the condition from the Dutch national team players. Although Van Gaal admits that the prostate cancer mortality rate is low and he is also actively cooperating with the treatment, considering his age, the Dutch media is discussing whether Van Gaal should continue to coach the national team.
As soon as the news of Louis van Gaal's prostate cancer came out, official institutions such as UEFA and the Netherlands Football Association, as well as clubs such as Manchester United, Ajax, Barcelona, Alkmaar and other clubs he had coached, expressed their condolences. The Red Devils interim manager Rangnick, who recently refuted the Dutch boss's claim that Manchester United is a commercial club, also sent condolences to his predecessors.
The Dutch Football Federation declined to say when it began to learn of Van Gaal's condition: "The matter between the Football Association and the coach should be limited to them. However, the Dutch "Common Daily" exposed that when the Dutch Football Association appointed Van Gaal as the manager of the national team in August last year, he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and the Dutch Football Association should have learned of Van Gaal's health.
Despite suffering from cancer and receiving multiple radiation therapies, the 70-year-old Van Gaal still hopes to continue to lead the team to participate in the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year. After all, this is the last chance for him to coach the Oranges for the third time, which is the last chance of his coaching career to chase the highest honor in the world of football. Van Gaal is still angry about the shame of not being able to bring the Netherlands to the final round of the 2002 World Cup 21 years ago, and although he has successfully qualified for the Netherlands this time, he still hopes to win the honor of the big game for the Netherlands again in 34 years.
However, mainstream media such as the Dutch newspaper Telegraph, Mass Daily and Common Daily have raised their own concerns about whether Van Gaal's physical condition is suitable for continuing to coach. In particular, will the morale of the Dutch players be affected after the illness is made public? These are all unavoidable questions.
Before the World Cup, the Netherlands also competes in the UEFA Nations League, in the same group as Belgium, Wales and Poland. The pressure on the national team coach in the UEFA Nations League group stage is not great, but the World Cup is not small. At the very least, having Van Gaal temporarily step down to focus on recuperation and be replaced by other coaches is a humanitarian approach acceptable to both the Dutch football community and fans.
Previously, many coaches in European football have fallen ill or temporarily left their posts due to personal reasons that had to give up their jobs. Villanova, who succeeded Guardiola in June 2012 as Barcelona's successor, had to undergo surgery six months after parotid cancer recurred and underwent a six-week round of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. During this period, assistant coach Lula took over as manager. In March 2013, Villanova returned to the coaching staff, but due to fatigue, he had to formally resign in July due to the recurrence of the old disease. Nine months later, Villanova died.
In November 2017, Argentine coach Berrizo, who had been coaching La Liga powerhouse Sevilla for less than half a year, was also diagnosed with prostate cancer. However, he chose to stick with the coaching and regretted being fired a month later due to the team's poor performance. His life experience of struggling with illness and court opponents was made into a documentary by Amazon Prime. Berizzo has been coaching since then, coaching Athletic Bilbao and the Paraguayan national team, and was just sacked by the Paraguayan Football Federation last October due to poor results. From Berrizzo's experience, prostate cancer did not affect his career, but he was 18 years younger than Van Gaal after all, in his prime.
Spanish national team coach Enrique also resigned abruptly in the summer of 2019 due to his daughter's serious illness, and was replaced by Moreno, who brought Spain to the final round of Euro 2020. However, in November 2019, Enrique returned to the position of manager of the national team, which also caused widespread controversy. Enrique's precedent has also raised concerns about whether to change the coach, but the media has already proposed a suitable candidate - Koeman, who just left Barca last year and has been idle. The rejuvenated Dutch team laid the foundation stone after Koeman took office in early 2018, not only completing the replacement of the old and the new, but also almost winning the UEFA Nations League championship in 2019. In August 2020, Koeman was invited by Barca to leave the Dutch national team, which had no suspense, and paid a penalty out of his own pocket.
Van Gaal's personal wishes are important, but after all, he is old and seriously ill, and continuing to teach is indeed somewhat contrary to the spirit of humanitarianism. Even if the Dutch Football Federation now supports Van Gaal's personal decision, it must be prepared with both hands. Van Malwyk has just announced his retirement, Hiddink and EdVarcat are the losers of the dutch team's consecutive big matches, and there is no doubt that Koeman is the best B plan. Perhaps before the start of the European League in June, the Dutch Football Association will make a decision on whether to change the coach.