During the quarter-final against Argentina, Louis van Gaal left his notebook lying around – a free notebook he had brought from a hotel in Zeist – so that an observant photographer could photograph the plan B of the Dutch national coach. Remarkable: it seems that Van Gaal writes Messie with “ie”.
Michael Van Damme
Dutch national coach Louis van Gaal had scribbled down a strategy in advance for when his basic plan – Depay and Bergwijn as striker duo with Gakpo behind it – would not work. The intention was of course that the new attack plan remained secret, but it leaked out during the match.
According to the notes, Wout Weghorst and Luuk de Jong would form the new striker duo with Davy Klaassen behind them. Cody Gakpo would move to the left and Teun Koopmeiners had to play from the right.
© REUTERS
In the end, Van Gaal did not do exactly as he had envisioned. After all, De Roon had already been replaced at halftime. And in the end he chose Berghuis behind the strikers instead of Klaassen.
