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Secret radio service the OKW (Amt Ausland/Abwehr).

The Abwehr was a German military intelligence (information gathering) organization from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr ([ˈapveːɐ̯], German for defence) was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post–World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only. After 4 February 1938, its name in title was Foreign Affairs/Defence Office of the Armed Forces High Command (Amt Ausland/Abwehr im Oberkommando der Wehrmacht).

Despite its name implying counterespionage, the Abwehr was an intelligence-gathering agency and dealt exclusively with human intelligence, especially raw intelligence reports from field agents and other sources. The Chief of the Abwehr reported directly to the High Command of the Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, or OKW). Intelligence summaries and intelligence dissemination were the prerogative of the Operations Branch (as distinct from the Intelligence Branch), of the OKW, and through it to the intelligence-evaluation sections of the Army (Heer), the Navy (Kriegsmarine), and the Air Force (Luftwaffe).^[1] The headquarters (HQ) of the Abwehr were located at 76/78 Tirpitzufer, Berlin, adjacent to the offices of the OKW.^[2]

The Abwehr before Canaris[link]

The Abwehr was created in 1921 as part of the Ministry of Defence when Germany was allowed to form the Reichswehr, the military organization of the Weimar Republic. The first head was Major Friedrich Gempp, a former deputy to Col. Walther Nicolai, the head of German intelligence during World War I. At that time it was composed of only three officers and seven former officers plus a clerical staff. By the 1920s it was organized into three sections:

• I. Reconnaissance
• II. Cipher and Radio Monitoring
• III. Counterespionage

The Reichsmarine intelligence staff merged with the Abwehr in 1928.

In the 1930s, with the rise of the Nazi movement, the Ministry of Defence was reorganized; surprisingly, on June 7, 1932, a naval officer, Capt. Konrad Patzig, was named chief of the Abwehr, despite the fact that it was staffed largely by Army officers. But perhaps not surprisingly, due to the small size of the organization and its limited importance at that time, it was unsuitable for a more ambitious Army officer. Another possible factor was that naval officers had more foreign experience than their Army counterparts and understood more of foreign affairs. However, all three services eventually developed their own intelligence staff.

Because of Abwehr-sponsored reconnaissance flights across the border with Poland, Patzig soon had confrontations with Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS. Army leaders feared that the flights would endanger the secret plans for an attack on Poland. Patzig was fired in January 1935 as a result, and was sent to command the new pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee; he later became Chief of Naval Personnel. His replacement was another Reichsmarine captain, Wilhelm Canaris.

The Abwehr under Canaris[link]

Before the War[link]

Before he took over the Abwehr on 1 January 1935, the soon-to-be Admiral Canaris was warned by Patzig of attempts by Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich to take over all German intelligence organisations. Canaris, a master of backroom dealings, thought he knew how to deal with them. But even though he tried to maintain an at least cordial relationship with them, the antagonism between the Abwehr and the SS did not stop with Canaris at the helm.

It came to a head in 1937 when Adolf Hitler decided to help Joseph Stalin in the latter's purge against the Soviet military. Hitler ordered that the German Army staff should be kept in the dark about Stalin's intentions, for fear that they would warn their Soviet counterparts. Accordingly, special SS teams, accompanied by burglary experts from the criminal police, broke into the secret files of the General Staff and the Abwehr and removed documents related to German-Soviet collaboration. To conceal the thefts, fires were started at the break-ins, which included Abwehr headquarters.^[3]

1938 reorganisation[link]

Canaris reorganized the agency in 1938, with the Abwehr being subdivided into three main sections:

• The Central Division (also called Department Z—"Abteilung Z" or "die Zentrale" in German): acted as the controlling brain for the other two sections, as well as handling personnel and financial matters, including the payment of agents. Throughout Canaris's tenure it was headed by Generalmajor Hans Oster.
• The Foreign Branch, ("Amtsgruppe Ausland" in German) (later known as Foreign Intelligence Group) was the second subdivision of the Abwehr and had several functions:

1. liaison with the OKW and the general staffs of the services,
2. coordination with the German Foreign Ministry on military matters, and
3. evaluation of captured documents and evaluation of foreign press and radio broadcasts. This liaison with the OKW meant that the Foreign Branch was the appropriate channel to request Abwehr support for a particular mission.

• Abwehr I. II. & III. constituted the third division and was labeled "counter-intelligence branches" but in reality focused on intelligence gathering. It was subdivided into the following areas and responsibilities:

• I. Foreign Intelligence Collection (further subdivided by letter, e.g. Abwehr I-Ht)

G: false documents, photos, inks, passports, chemicals

H West: army west (Anglo-American Army intelligence)

H Ost: army east (Soviet Army intelligence)

Ht: technical army intelligence

I: communications—design of wireless sets, wireless operators

K: computer/cryptanalysis operations

L: air intelligence

M: naval intelligence

T/lw: technical air intelligence

Wi: economic intelligence

Attached to Abwehr I. was Gruppe I-T for technical intelligence. Initially Abwehr I-K was an offshoot technical research unit, a small fraction the size of its British counterpart, Britain's Bletchley Park. Its importance later grew during the war to match its British counterpart in size and capability.

• II. Sabotage: tasked with directing covert contact / exploitation of discontented minority groups in foreign countries for intelligence purposes.

Attached to Abwehr II. was the Brandenburg Regiment, an offshoot of Gruppe II-T (Technical Intelligence), and unconnected to any other branch outside of Abwehr II. Gruppe II-T.^[4]

• III. Counter-intelligence division: responsible for counter-intelligence operations in German industry, planting false information, penetration of foreign intelligence services and investigating acts of sabotage on German soil. Attached to Abwehr III. were:

IIIC: Civilian Authority bureau

IIIC-2: Espionage cases bureau

IIID: Disinformation bureau

IIIF: Counter espionage agents bureau

IIIN: Postal bureau

Abwehr liaisons were also established with the Army, Navy and Luftwaffe High Commands, and these liaisons would pass on specific intelligence requests to the operational sections of the Abwehr.

Abwehr I was commanded by Colonel Hans Pieckenbrock, Abwehr II was commanded by Colonel Erwin von Lahousen and Abwehr III was commanded by Colonel Egbert Bentivegni.

Ast / Abwehrstelle[link]

Under the structure outlined above, Abwehr placed a local station in each military district in Germany, ("Wehrkreis"), called 'Abwehrstelle' or 'Ast'. Following the German Table of Organisation and Equipment^[5] model of Abwehr headquarters, each Ast was usually subdivided into sections for

espionage (I),

sabotage (II), and

counter-intelligence (III).

Typically each Ast would be commanded by a senior Army or Naval officer and would be answerable to Abwehr HQ. in Berlin. Operations carried out by each Ast would be in tandem with the overall strategic plan formulated by Admiral Canaris. Canaris in turn would receive instructions on what intelligence gathering should take priority from the OKW or, increasingly after 1941, the Führer, directly. In practice however, each Ast was given considerable latitude in mission planning and execution- a facet of the organisation which ultimately damaged its intelligence gathering capability.

Each local Ast could recruit potential agents for missions and the Abwehr also employed freelance recruiters to groom and vet potential agents. In most cases, the agents who formed the Abwehr were recruited civilians, not officers/soldiers from the military. The recruitment emphasis seems to have been very much on quantity not quality. The poor quality of recruits often led to the failure of Abwehr missions.

Abwehr operational structure in neutral countries[link]

In neutral countries the Abwehr frequently disguised its organisation by attaching its personnel to the German Embassy or to trade missions. Such postings were referred to as "War Organisations" ("Kriegsorganisationen" or "KO's" in German). In neutral but friendly Spain for example, the Abwehr had both an Ast and a KO while Ireland had neither. In friendly countries of interest, occupied countries, or in Germany itself, the intelligence service would normally organise "Abwehr sub-stations" ("Abwehrleitstellen" in German or "Alsts" in German), or "Abwehr adjoining posts" ("Abwehrnebenstellen" in German). The "Alsts" would fall under the jurisdiction of the geographically appropriate Ast, which in turn would be supervised by the Central division in Berlin.

Canaris and Die Schwarze Kapelle[link]

During his reorganisaton, Canaris took care to surround himself with a hand-picked staff, notably his second-in-command, Hans Oster and Erwin von Lahousen, Section II Chief. All but one were not members of the Nazi party. The exception was Rudolf Bamler, who was appointed as chief of Section III by Canaris to gain the trust of Himmler. Canaris did make sure to keep Bamler on a short leash however, and restricted his access to operational information. Canaris had good reason to do this because unknown to the High Command and Hitler, during his reorganisation Canaris had peppered the chief operational and administrative staff of the Abwehr with men more loyal to him than to the Nazi Government. While outwardly Canaris appeared to be the model of intelligence-gathering efficiency, evidence exists that he secretly opposed, and actively worked against the wishes of his Commander in Chief. Canaris, Oster and the Chiefs of Abwehr sections I.,II., and III. were all heavily involved in what the Security Police Sicherheitsdienst were to later dub "The Black Orchestra" ("Die Schwarze Kapelle" in German), a plot to overthrow the Nazi regime from the inside.^[6] Canaris's operational decisions, his choice of appointments and their decisions, and crucially for the Third Reich- the input each plotter had into Abwehr operations, are all tainted by these secret dealings.

The Abwehr during World War II[link]

Under Canaris the Abwehr expanded and proved relatively efficient during the early years of the war. Its most notable success was Operation Nordpol, which was an operation against the Dutch underground network, which at the time was supported by the British Special Operations Executive. In March 1941, the Germans forced a captured SOE radio operator to transmit messages to Britain in a code that the Germans had obtained. Even though the operator gave every indication that he was compromised, the receiver in Britain did not notice this. Thus the Germans had been able to penetrate the Dutch operation and maintained this state of affairs for two years, capturing agents that were sent and sending false intelligence and sabotage reports until the British caught on. On the other hand, evidence published by Anthony Cave Brown in Bodyguard of Lies suggests that the British were well aware that the radios were compromised and used this method to feed false information to the Germans regarding the site of the D-Day landings.

But it was ineffective overall for several reasons. Much of its intelligence was deemed politically unacceptable to the German leadership. Moreover, it was in direct competition/conflict with SS intelligence activities under Reinhard Heydrich and Walter Schellenberg. The animosity between the SS and Abwehr did not stop there. Many of the Abwehr's operatives—including Canaris himself—were in fact anti-Nazi and were involved in many assassination attempts against Hitler, including the most serious one on July 20, 1944. Canaris even employed Jews in the Abwehr and used the agency to help a small number of Jews to escape from Germany into Switzerland. But perhaps the biggest reason was that Canaris himself sought to undermine the Nazi cause.

Canaris made the United States one of Abwehr's primary targets even before America's entry into the conflict. By 1942, German agents were operating from within all of America's top armaments manufacturers. Operation Vinland, a particularly intriguing case, centered around a female Abwehr agent who infiltrated a US Naval shipyard in the Midwest (Evansville, Indiana) but escaped. Despite a very public debacle codenamed Operation Pastorius that resulted in the executions of six Abwehr agents sent to the United States to sabotage the American aluminum industry, the Abwehr scored some notable successes in America. Its greatest victories were in the area of industrial espionage, as agents managed to steal the blueprints for every major American airplane produced for the war effort.^{[dubious – discuss][citation needed]}

Despite the Abwehr's many intelligence coups, its effectiveness was more than negated by agents who—with Canaris's blessing—aided the Allies in whatever covert means were necessary. He personally gave false information which discouraged Hitler from invading Switzerland (Operation Tannenbaum). He also persuaded Francisco Franco not to allow German forces to pass through Spain to invade Gibraltar (Operation Felix). He even provided intelligence to the Allies on German intentions as well.

The SS continually undermined the Abwehr by putting several Abwehr officers under investigation, believing them (correctly) to be involved in anti-Hitler plots. The SS also accused Canaris of being defeatist in his intelligence assessments, especially on the Russian campaign. One such briefing reportedly resulting in Hitler seizing Canaris by the lapels, and demanding to know whether the intelligence chief was insinuating that Germany would lose the war.

The Frau Solf Tea Party and the end of the Abwehr[link]

On 10 September 1943, the incident which eventually resulted in the dissolution of the Abwehr took place. The incident came to be known as the "Frau Solf Tea Party."

Frau Johanna (or Hanna) Solf was the widow of Dr. Wilhelm Solf, a former Colonial Minister under Kaiser Wilhelm II and ex-Ambassador to Japan. Frau Solf had long been involved in the anti-Nazi intellectual movement in Berlin. Members of her group were known as members of the "Solf Circle." At a tea party hosted by her on 10 September, a new member was included into the circle, a handsome young Swiss doctor named Reckse. It turned out that Dr. Reckse was an agent of the Secret State Police (Geheime Staatspolizei, or Gestapo), to which he reported on the tea party, providing several incriminating documents.

The members of the Solf Circle were tipped off and had to flee for their lives. But they were all rounded up on 12 January 1944. Eventually everyone who was involved in the Solf Circle, except Frau Solf and her daughter (the Countess Lagi Gräfin von Ballestrem), were executed.

One of those executed was Otto Kiep, an official in the Foreign Office, who had friends in the Abwehr, among whom were Erich Vermehren and his wife, the former Countess Elizabeth von Plettenberg, who were stationed as agents in Istanbul. Both were summoned to Berlin by the Gestapo in connection with the Kiep case. Fearing for their lives, they contacted the British and defected.

It was mistakenly believed in Berlin that the Vermehrens absconded with the secret codes of the Abwehr and turned them over to the British. That proved to be the last straw for Hitler. Despite the efforts of the Abwehr to shift the blame to the SS [Schutzstaffel], or even to the Foreign Ministry, Hitler had had enough of Canaris and he told Himmler so twice. He summoned the chief of the Abwehr for a final interview and accused him of allowing the Abwehr to "fall to bits". Canaris quietly agreed that it was "not surprising", as Germany was losing the war.

Hitler fired Canaris on the spot, and on February 18, 1944, Hitler signed a decree that abolished the Abwehr. Its functions were taken over by the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt or, RSHA) and Major General of Police Walter Schellenberg replaced Canaris functionally within the RSHA. This action deprived the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) and the anti-Nazi conspirators of an intelligence service of its own and strengthened Himmler's control over the military.

Canaris, by this time a full admiral, was cashiered and given the empty title of Chief of the Office of Commercial and Economic Warfare. He was arrested on 23 July 1944, in the aftermath of the "July 20 Plot" against Hitler and executed shortly before the end of the war, along with Oster, his deputy. The functions of the Abwehr were then totally absorbed by Amt VI, the SD-Ausland, a sub-office of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA, which itself was part of the Schutzstaffel or SS.

Chiefs of the Abwehr[link]

• Colonel Friedrich Gempp (1921–1927)
• Major Günther Schwantes (1927–1929)
• Lieutenant-Colonel Ferdinand von Bredow (1929–1932)
• Rear Admiral Konrad Patzig (1932–1935)
• Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (1935–1944)
• Brigadier General (Generalmajor) of Police (SS Brigadeführer) Walter Schellenberg (1944–1945)

See also[link]

• 20 July plot
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Eddie Chapman, a prominent British double agent who infiltrated the Abwehr and fed intelligence to MI5 during World War II. He was so trusted by the Germans that he is the only British citizen to ever have been awarded the Iron Cross.
• German Resistance
• Hermann Giskes—Leading light in the Abwehr Englandspiel operation in the Netherlands
• Irish Republican Army – Abwehr collaboration in World War II
• Operation Salaam, a long-range mission into British-held Egypt during World War II
• Oskar Schindler, another Abwehr agent
• Hans Oster, Canaris' deputy

Notes and references[link]

Bibliography[link]

• German Espionage and Sabotage Against the USA in WW2 at ibiblio.org. Includes details on structure of Abwehr.
• Bodyguard of Lies, by Anthony Cave Brown, New York, Harper and Row, 1975, ISBN 1-58574-692-4.
• Ladislas Farago, The Game of the Foxes: The Untold Story of German Espionage in the United States and Great Britain During WWII, David McKay Co. Inc., 1971. ISBN 978-0-553-12342-5.
• Simon Kitson, The Hunt for Nazi Spies: Fighting Espionage in Vichy France, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2008
• Lauran Paine (1984). The Abwehr: German Military Intelligence in World War Two. Xs Books. ISBN 0-7091-9628-8. 
• Gabriele Zaffiri, Abwehr - il servizio segreto militare del Terzo Reich (Italian lenguage), Nicola Calabria Editore, Patti (Me), 2008, ISBN 978-88-95544-91-5

Louis van Gaal

Personal information
Full name	Aloysius Paulus Maria van Gaal
Date of birth	(1951-08-08) 8 August 1951 (age 60)
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	RKSV de Meer
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1972–1973	Ajax	0	(0)
1973–1977	Royal Antwerp	43	(7)
1977–1978	Telstar	25	(1)
1978–1986	Sparta Rotterdam	248	(26)
1986–1987	AZ	17	(0)
Total		333	(34)
Teams managed
1986–1988	AZ (assistant)
1988–1991	Ajax (assistant)
1991–1997	Ajax
1997–2000	Barcelona
2000–2002	Netherlands
2002–2003	Barcelona
2005–2009	AZ
2009–2011	Bayern Munich
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON (Dutch pronunciation: [luˈwi vɑn ˈɣaːɫ]; born 8 August 1951 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football manager formerly in charge of Ajax, Netherlands, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich. Before his career as coach van Gaal played as a midfielder for Royal Antwerp, Telstar, Sparta Rotterdam and AZ. Van Gaal is also a fully qualified gymnastics teacher, and has worked as such at high-schools during various stages of his career as a semi-professional football-player.^[1]

After a brief spell as coach at AZ, Van Gaal served as assistant coach under Leo Beenhakker at Ajax, and eventually took over as head coach in 1991. Under his lead, the club won three league titles, the UEFA Cup, and the Champions League. Van Gaal moved to Barcelona in 1997 and won two Spanish league titles and one Spanish Cup. After some disagreements at Barcelona, he was appointed coach of the Dutch national team, but then failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Another brief spell at Barcelona followed, before he became manager of AZ. After having won the Dutch championship with AZ in 2008–09, he was hired by Bayern Munich on 1 July 2009.^[2] In his first season at Munich, he secured the German league title and won the German Cup, and made it to the final of the Champions League.

Van Gaal is an avid promoter of attacking football, educated in the best traditions of the Total Football by Ajax and the Dutch national team of the 1970s. As a coach he is known as a slow starter who frequently finds his players needing ample time to grasp his tactics and intent of play. Generally his teams gather results in the second or third season under his coaching, an exception being the 2009–10 season when he grasped the German Bundesliga title and lost the UEFA Champions League final with FC Bayern Munich. During several periods in his career, Van Gaal has had his troubles with the media. He is known to be very blunt with media representatives he perceives to be asking him 'stupid' questions.

Playing and early coaching career[link]

As a youngster, Louis van Gaal started playing for the Amsterdam amateur side RKSV 'De Meer'. At the age of 20, he joined the second team of Ajax, but was never chosen to play in the first team, which at the time boasted players such as Johan Cruijff and Johan Neeskens in the midfield positions. After playing a few matches for Royal Antwerp, he returned to his homeland and made his Eredivisie debut for Telstar under the guidance of manager, Mircea Petescu, whom he followed to Sparta Rotterdam. Van Gaal later joined AZ, where he also became assistant coach in 1986. After a short career at AZ, he returned to Ajax to become Leo Beenhakker's assistant. When Beenhakker left in 1991, Van Gaal took over as manager.

Management career[link]

Ajax (1991–1997)[link]

He was Ajax manager from 1991 until 1997 and had a very successful tenure. Under Van Gaal, Ajax became the Eredivisie champions three times, in 1994, 1995 (notably going the entire 94–95 league season unbeaten in both the league and the Champions League) and 1996. He also led Ajax to the KNVB Cup in 1993 and the Johan Cruijff Shield in 1993, 1994, and 1995. On the European scene, Ajax captured the UEFA Cup in 1992 and the UEFA Champions League in 1995 after beating Milan in the final. The latter win was followed by a 5-1 aggregate win over Real Zaragoza in the 1995 UEFA Super Cup. Late in 1995, Ajax beat Brazilian side Grêmio on penalties to win the Toyota Cup (formerly Intercontinental Cup). Ajax were also Champions League runners-up in 1996 after losing to Juventus on penalties.

Ajax was so successful under Van Gaal's leadership that during the 1990s, the Dutch national team was dominated by Ajax players such as Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank and Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger, and Edwin van der Sar.

After serving out his contract at Ajax (1997), Van Gaal received his knighthood in the Order of Orange-Nassau.^[3]

Barcelona (1997–2000)[link]

He moved to Barcelona in 1997, taking over from Bobby Robson and helped the team win two league championships (1997–98, 1998–99) and the Spanish Cup once. Despite this success, he clashed with the media and came under criticism. Van Gaal expressed that it was difficult to implement his football philosophy at Barcelona due to cultural differences, and that he struggled hard as some players were unwilling to follow his lead.^[4] His rows with Rivaldo are an example of this. Van Gaal insisted Rivaldo play as a left winger, Rivaldo arguing that he wanted to play in the centre, in effect undermining van Gaal.^[5]

Van Gaal eventually left the Catalan side on 20 May 2000,^[4] uttering the immortal line: "Amigos de la prensa. Yo me voy. Felicidades." (Friends of the press. I am leaving. Congratulations.)^[6] He returned to the Netherlands to manage the Dutch national team in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Dutch National Team and return to Barcelona (2000–2003)[link]

The Dutch national team failed to qualify for the World Cup Finals, and subsequently Van Gaal stepped down as manager on 31 January 2002 to be replaced by Dick Advocaat. After this, speculation began that Van Gaal would succeed Alex Ferguson at Manchester United once Ferguson claimed he would retire that year. According to Van Gaal Ferguson decided against retiring and the deal fell through.^[7][8] He returned to Barcelona for a short spell, but left the job halfway during the season to be replaced by Radomir Antić.^[6][9]

Return to Ajax (2004)[link]

In 2004, he returned to Ajax as a technical director, but resigned later that year due to an internal conflict.

AZ (2005–2009)[link]

Van Gaal with AZ.

In January 2005 it was announced that he would replace Co Adriaanse as AZ manager on 1 July 2005.^[10][11] AZ finished the 2006–2007 season in third place in the Eredivisie, three points behind champions PSV and runners-up Ajax. Van Gaal also led AZ to a runners-up finish in the 2007 KNVB Cup. AZ failed to reach the UEFA Champions League after losing to Ajax 4–2 on aggregate.

Louis van Gaal initially announced he would leave AZ at the end of the 2007–08 season due to disappointing results.^[12] However, when several players of the AZ squad pointed out that they would like Van Gaal to stay with AZ for the 2008–09 season, van Gaal said he would give the players a chance to prove themselves.

2008–09 season: Eredivisie champions:
AZ started the 2008–09 season with two losses: 2–1 to NAC Breda and 0–3 to ADO Den Haag, but after that the Alkmaar-based club remained unbeaten until 18 April, topping the League ahead of Twente and Ajax for the entire season. AZ had the best defensive record in the Eredivisie and the second-best goalscoring record, behind Ajax, thanks to its offensive duo of league topscorer Mounir El Hamdaoui and Brazilian Ari. They were crowned league champions on 19 April, one day after AZ suffered an unexpected loss at home to Vitesse, which ended a string of 28 unbeaten games. That same day Ajax, the only opponent still technically able to reach them, lost 6–2 to PSV.^[13][14]

Bayern Munich (2009–2011)[link]

On 1 July 2009, Van Gaal took over as coach of Bayern Munich.^[15][16] Van Gaal referred to his new employer as a "dream club".^[17] He got off to a poor start as Bayern Munich coach, winning only one of his first four matches in charge and by November the club was on the brink of a first round Champions League exit following two losses to Bordeaux. With Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga, speculation was rampant that Van Gaal was on the brink of a departure from Bayern even earlier than his predecessor Jürgen Klinsmann. Van Gaal however kept insisting he is a prozesstrainer meaning that his team needs time to play the way he imagines.^[18] On 28 August 2009 Van Gaal strengthened his team by getting Arjen Robben from Real Madrid, this reunited him with Van Gaal who debuted him in the Dutch National U20 team.^[19][20] A feud with Italian striker Luca Toni who had played an important role in Bayern's 2007–08 League and Cup Double led to Toni's move to Roma. However, Bayern Munich's form improved with two Champions League victories including an impressive 4–1 victory over Juventus in Turin, which allowed them to progress from their group in second position behind Bordeaux. Also Bayern Munich moved on the semifinals of the German Cup and were top of the Bundesliga ahead of Leverkusen by March. On 24 March 2010 Bayern played the semi-final of the German Cup against Schalke 04. They won the game in extra time, advancing to the final of the German Cup.

On 8 May 2010, FC Bayern were finally crowned champions of the Bundesliga following a 3–1 win at Hertha Berlin.^[21] This feat made Louis van Gaal the first ever Dutch coach to win the Bundesliga.^[22] Bayern also won the DFB-Pokal on 15 May 2010, thus securing their domestic double^[23] and making Van Gaal the winner of the Cup in the Netherlands, Spain and Germany.

In the Champions League, a 4–4 away goals quarter-final win over Manchester United^[24] and a 4–0 aggregate win over Lyon in the semi-final,^[25] secured a spot in the final. Van Gaal was to meet his former pupil and assistant at Barcelona José Mourinho,^[26] who was coaching Inter Milan. Bayern lost the Champions League Final 2–0, handing Inter a first Italian treble and thus failing to secure the treble themselves.^[27] On 25 May 2010 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge expressed his desire to extend Van Gaal's contract as the club was very happy with his performance, even though Van Gaal still had one year of his contract to fulfill.^[28]

Van Gaal's Bayern also secured the German super cup in 2010 as it was reinstalled after a 14 year absence.^[29] At the end of the season Van Gaal was voted Manager of the Year by the German professional footballers in the yearly poll organized by VDV (professional players' union in Germany) and Kicker.^[30][31][32]

In addition, Van Gaal instilled many youth players are fixtures in the starting 11, including Thomas Müller, Holger Badstuber and also reinvented the winger Bastian Schweinsteiger into a defensive midfielder where he has played ever since.

On 7 March 2011, Bayern Munich declared that van Gaal's contract was to be cancelled after the end of the 2010–11 season,^[33] nevertheless he was sacked on 10 April 2011 after losing the third place in the Bundesliga.^[34]

Coaching philosophy[link]

When asked about his system in 2008, van Gaal said: "It's a footballing philosophy more than a system. A system depends on the players you have. I played 4–3–3 with Ajax, 2–3–2–3 with Barcelona and I can play 4–4–2 with AZ. I'm flexible. The philosophy stays the same though. I don't think that you can adapt it to every possible situation. You need the right mindset, and it depends on how the players see the coach and vice versa. The coach is the focal point of the team but you need to have an open mind, and so do all the players. Everyone needs to work together to achieve a common goal. Preparing your tactical formation is essential. Each player needs to know where he has to be, and that is why there needs to be mutual understanding because you need absolute discipline. This is a sport played by 22 men, and there are 11 opponents out there playing as a team. Each individual needs to know who he has to beat and be there to support his team-mates."

Career statistics[link]

Player[link]

Manager[link]

As of 24 May 2012

Honours[link]

Ajax

• Eredivisie (3): 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
• Johan Cruijff Shield (3): 1993, 1994, 1995
• KNVB Cup: 1992–93
• UEFA Cup: 1991–92
• UEFA Champions League: 1994–95
• Runner-up: 1996
• UEFA Super Cup: 1995
• Intercontinental Cup: 1995

Barcelona

• La Liga (2): 1997–98, 1998–99
• Copa del Rey: 1997–98
• UEFA Super Cup: 1997

AZ

• Eredivisie: 2008–09

Bayern Munich

• Fußball-Bundesliga: 2009–10
• DFB-Pokal: 2009–10
• DFB-Supercup: 2010
• UEFA Champions League: Runner-up 2010

Individual Honours[link]

• Rinus Michels Award (2): 2007, 2009^[35]
• Dutch Sports Coach of the Year: 2009^[36]
• Die Sprachwahrer des Jahres: 2009^[37]
• German Football Manager of the Year: 2010^[38]

See also[link]

• List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winning managers
• List of UEFA Cup winning managers

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Louis Van Gaal

• Louis Van Gaal Official Website (Dutch)
• Profile and stats at Voetbal International (Dutch)
• Louis van Gaal management career stats at Soccerbase
• CV Louis van Gaal (Dutch)
• Van Gaal: My football philosophy, from FIFA.com