He also commented that Blaugrana managers that have succeeded him at the Nou Camp have given players too much leeway, hurting the discipline in the squad.
In case you didn’t know…
One of the most decorated managers in world football, van Gaal has won over 20 major honors in his long career. Having led a young Ajax side to the 1994-95 UEFA Champions League title, he went on to win both the 1997-98 and 1998-99 La Liga titles with Barcelona.
He enjoyed a successful spell in Germany with Bayern Munich and won the FA Cup during his time as manager of Manchester United. Van Gaal also guided the Netherlands to a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. On 12 March 2019, van Gaal announced his retirement from football, aged 67.
The heart of the matter
In an interview given to El Pais, the former Netherlands manager hit out at the current Barcelona side.
He went on to throw doubt on Messi’s title as the world’s best players and also took a shot at PSG’s Neymar.
He went on to elaborate that not just manager Ernesto Valverde but Messi is also to blame for Barcelona’s decline in Europe over recent years.
The former United boss went on to praise former Blaugrana boss and current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as the only manager to have properly handled Messi.
What’s next?
Barcelona start their pre-season with a friendly against Premier League side Chelsea. The match is scheduled for 23rd July and is set to take place at the Saitama stadium in Saitama, Japan.
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