Louis Van Gaal to take on the Levy Project
Daniel Levy met Louis Van Gaal on Sunday 22nd January at his home in Noordwijk. The meeting lasted all afternoon and the pair agreed to talk again. Tottenham want Van Gaal and Van Gaal wants Tottenham.
The project Daniel Levy has been embarking on is one that fits our financial model, this is buy young and improve players so they have a sell on value. The benefits of that are that wages are lower and a team can grow together to form an effective unit. Having all teams within the club adopt the same approach, by that I mean the same tactics, the same system, a player emerging from the Development squad already knows how the first team play. That should mean they can slot in easier and if a player leaves the club have a replacement who knows the role while they decide whether to use a Development player, a squad player or buy a new player.
The Spurs chairman brought in Andre Villas-Boas to take this project forward but when push came to shove was found wanting. A quality businessman does not wait for everything to go wrong before they take decisive action and Levy didn't wait either. AVB was removed and a new man to take the project forward was sought.
That man in Daniel Levy's eyes after his discussion with him was Louis Van Gaal. However with a World Cup coming up in the summer the Dutchman was never going to leave his national side during the middle of a domestic season. The solution was to appoint an interim manager and thus Tim Sherwood was appointed to the role in all but name. Sherwood will be fully aware of the situation and if Levy sees him as the long term manager, or Head Coach as we have at Spurs these days, the making him the number two under Van Gaal will have been discussed. In those circumstances one can see the reason Sherwood was given the role. The 18 month contract will have been a smoke screen so the media didn't latch on to him being an interim manager and he having then to go through what Rafa Benitez had to endure at Chelsea.
The discussion between the two men will have been about the project Spurs have and whether Van Gaal can work within the confines of the project and bring success or at least Champions League football.
When you understand that Van Gaal likes to work with young players and took a youthful AZ Alkmaar side, a club who had never won a thing, to the Dutch title and the Champions League you start to see the attraction. The Dutchman has worked at some of the top clubs expected to win titles, Ajax in Holland, Barcelona in Spain and Bayern Munich in Germany showing he can produce winning sides with or without money.
The one ingredient he requires in for a player to listen and take on board his methods. If he does that it doesn't matter how old they are, but they must do as they are told. Daniel Levy will not have to go out to buy superstars, which will appeal, as the team ethic is everything in all Van Gaal sides and he achieves success with it. Each cog has a job to do and if all cogs are doing their job they don't have to be big names on big wages.
Sir Alf Ramsey, the story goes, picked Jack Charlton for England and Jack didn't believe it. He is said to have told Sir Alf that there are better centre-halves than me but Sir Alf told him he was what he needed for the role he wanted him to play. As we know Jack Charlton won a World Cup winners medal as a result. That is the same methodology Louis Van Gaal uses today, he wants a player to fit a role, not a role to fit a player.
Van Gaal is always right, even when he is wrong is his mindset. You do it my way or you leave, simple as that. If a player wants to stand up to him then there is only one result, the player won't play very often.
That is the one stumbling block on the horizon. Daniel Levy won't have 'a star' on wages being frozen out, it's a waste of money. AVB and Levy clashed over Emmanuel Adebayor and Benoit Assou-Ekotto was frozen out as well. Whilst Van Gaal is not worried about having stars there are some names on wages, Adebayor being one, who may throw a strop if he is not in the Head Coaches plans.
Football, indeed society is impatient. Football fans call for give a manager time, yet don't want to stand in a queue at their local supermarket. The class society has made way for the money society and materialism. People must have goods now and not wait, results in football mirror society. You don't get them quickly, you go and we'll get someone who can. It hasn't taken Brendon Rogers that long at Liverpool to transform the club and overtake us again.
Van Gaal will get 18 months to show progress, 2 years probably to bring Champions League football before Daniel starts getting itchy feet. However if, as seems likely, Tim Sherwood is being groomed then the Dutchman may have a little more breathing space and we may see a longer reign.
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Related Article:
What can Spurs expect from Louis Van Gaal
Will Sherwood be asked to take on Levy's Project?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is going to be really enjoyable is his battle with the media, Spurs will have their own massive ego to rival Mourinho and Van Gaal bristles at any complaint. The Dutch media say he is looking forward to working with, if with is the right word, the media over here.
Nothing has been decided thus far. There are two candidates both managers of their national side, Louis Van Gaal and the Italian Cesare Prandelli.
If agreement can be reached with the Dutchman then I suspect he is first choice for the role, if for any reason that deal does not come off then Prandelli is waiting in the wings. All the signs are positive though that Louis Van Gaal is coming to White Hart Lane and he might just be the 'fit' we have been looking for.
It is an exciting prospect, but then we have been there before!
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| Van Gaal Spurs new Head Coach? |
The Spurs chairman brought in Andre Villas-Boas to take this project forward but when push came to shove was found wanting. A quality businessman does not wait for everything to go wrong before they take decisive action and Levy didn't wait either. AVB was removed and a new man to take the project forward was sought.
That man in Daniel Levy's eyes after his discussion with him was Louis Van Gaal. However with a World Cup coming up in the summer the Dutchman was never going to leave his national side during the middle of a domestic season. The solution was to appoint an interim manager and thus Tim Sherwood was appointed to the role in all but name. Sherwood will be fully aware of the situation and if Levy sees him as the long term manager, or Head Coach as we have at Spurs these days, the making him the number two under Van Gaal will have been discussed. In those circumstances one can see the reason Sherwood was given the role. The 18 month contract will have been a smoke screen so the media didn't latch on to him being an interim manager and he having then to go through what Rafa Benitez had to endure at Chelsea.
The discussion between the two men will have been about the project Spurs have and whether Van Gaal can work within the confines of the project and bring success or at least Champions League football.
When you understand that Van Gaal likes to work with young players and took a youthful AZ Alkmaar side, a club who had never won a thing, to the Dutch title and the Champions League you start to see the attraction. The Dutchman has worked at some of the top clubs expected to win titles, Ajax in Holland, Barcelona in Spain and Bayern Munich in Germany showing he can produce winning sides with or without money.
The one ingredient he requires in for a player to listen and take on board his methods. If he does that it doesn't matter how old they are, but they must do as they are told. Daniel Levy will not have to go out to buy superstars, which will appeal, as the team ethic is everything in all Van Gaal sides and he achieves success with it. Each cog has a job to do and if all cogs are doing their job they don't have to be big names on big wages.
Sir Alf Ramsey, the story goes, picked Jack Charlton for England and Jack didn't believe it. He is said to have told Sir Alf that there are better centre-halves than me but Sir Alf told him he was what he needed for the role he wanted him to play. As we know Jack Charlton won a World Cup winners medal as a result. That is the same methodology Louis Van Gaal uses today, he wants a player to fit a role, not a role to fit a player.
Van Gaal is always right, even when he is wrong is his mindset. You do it my way or you leave, simple as that. If a player wants to stand up to him then there is only one result, the player won't play very often.
That is the one stumbling block on the horizon. Daniel Levy won't have 'a star' on wages being frozen out, it's a waste of money. AVB and Levy clashed over Emmanuel Adebayor and Benoit Assou-Ekotto was frozen out as well. Whilst Van Gaal is not worried about having stars there are some names on wages, Adebayor being one, who may throw a strop if he is not in the Head Coaches plans.
Football, indeed society is impatient. Football fans call for give a manager time, yet don't want to stand in a queue at their local supermarket. The class society has made way for the money society and materialism. People must have goods now and not wait, results in football mirror society. You don't get them quickly, you go and we'll get someone who can. It hasn't taken Brendon Rogers that long at Liverpool to transform the club and overtake us again.
Van Gaal will get 18 months to show progress, 2 years probably to bring Champions League football before Daniel starts getting itchy feet. However if, as seems likely, Tim Sherwood is being groomed then the Dutchman may have a little more breathing space and we may see a longer reign.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Article:
What can Spurs expect from Louis Van Gaal
Will Sherwood be asked to take on Levy's Project?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is going to be really enjoyable is his battle with the media, Spurs will have their own massive ego to rival Mourinho and Van Gaal bristles at any complaint. The Dutch media say he is looking forward to working with, if with is the right word, the media over here.
Nothing has been decided thus far. There are two candidates both managers of their national side, Louis Van Gaal and the Italian Cesare Prandelli.
If agreement can be reached with the Dutchman then I suspect he is first choice for the role, if for any reason that deal does not come off then Prandelli is waiting in the wings. All the signs are positive though that Louis Van Gaal is coming to White Hart Lane and he might just be the 'fit' we have been looking for.
It is an exciting prospect, but then we have been there before!
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